Time for an August post... even though it doesn't feel like August...

Well, sometimes it's hard to think of a catchy title for these posts, so I just jotted down what ran through my head a moment ago.  Looking out the window at the grey sky now (it was blue about 15 minutes ago!), summer is definitely coming to an end here.  I think I've said it before that weather is the key conversation starter in Ireland... I was quite sick of chit chat always beginning with a weather review before realizing that I am guilty of it as well!  If it's a nice day, everyone's talking about it, and if it's a horrible day, everyone's commenting on how dull it is.  We didn't have much of a summer to begin with, but autumn is definitely coming early this year... the air is really cold and a warm jacket is quite necessary whenever leaving the house.  *sigh*  At least there's always Christmas to look forward to?!  :)

Anyway, I can't even remember what exactly Niall wrote in the last post, but I'll just recap on some summer happenings.  We feel blessed to have had some great visitors, busy working schedules, and most recently a fantastic holiday away in the sun.  Seth and Heidi & Nick and Cindy made their Ireland trips in June (at different times).  It's always surreal when familiar faces from home are in our wee apartment here in Belfast!  We loved having them.  The Alkers arrived first...

Cindy in da house!

It's kind of fun when your visitors are professional photographers... 

best buds, reunited!

27!

One of our favourite stalls at St. George's Market

the Alkers came to our Sunday softball game... in the rain... sounds fun right?!

I really don't like baking, so Cindy made the cake!

I had a day off work so I got to explore the North Coast with Nick & Cindy

this was actually taken after they continued on in their journey... somewhere on the West coast I think?

The next time I see Cindy she'll be a mum of TWO!  Come back soon :)

The Alkers did more exploring in the South of Ireland before heading home.  Only a couple of days after they arrived back in California, Mr. and Mrs. Ludwick set foot on Irish soil.  We felt blessed to have more friends who came so far to see us!  Ok ok, I know golfing in Ireland was on Seth's bucket list, but let's just say we inspired him to take the final plunge.  :)  We didn't get professional photos this time to document their stay, but we did our best!

As Niall mentioned, we all played in a little tournament that first weekend!

I have to say, of all the visitors we've had, Seth and Heidi scored with the weather!

we were meant to BBQ at a friend's house that night but it was cancelled... we still really wanted burgers so we made it work!

I knew that ironing board would come in handy ;)

The Ludwicks were lookin' sporty in their hip rental car!

Seth at Royal County Down in Newcastle... apparently Rory McIlroy golfed there that same day!

last evening, dinner date at Dirty Duck

Hmmm... I thought I had more photos from their stay, as the 2nd weekend we met them down in Naas at Niall's parents' house.  I can add those later if I find them somewhere else.  Either way, we had a wonderful time with them and hope they come back soon.  There are still more courses to be played, right Seth?!  :)  By the way... Niall just bought his first set of used clubs.  He is determined to play with you next time!

Moving on... as Niall said earlier, I had a month long teaching English job in July that went well.  I started a couple of days before the Ludwicks left Belfast.  The students were all international, and quite challenging to say the least (they were teenagers... enough said), but I am grateful for the experience and it's already opened up some doors for me.  I got the job through the language school where I completed my CELTA course earlier this year.  The full time hours were hard... especially since those were the early months of my pregnancy so some days I was REALLY tired (never sick though, thank goodness!).  Yes-- I'm pregnant-- I'm assuming most of you know?!  Sorry Niall and I didn't make any huge announcements on the internet, so I'll just casually refer to it every now and then from here on out!  We are very excited, though it still really hasn't hit us yet... for the first few months I don't think either of us really believed it!  But then we went to our first scan:

I made a roast chicken dinner that night to celebrate :)

It was so weird to see the little guy, or gal (we're not finding out), up on the screen!  Moving around and everything... crazy.  Our next big hospital appointment is in September.  Baby Madden is due at the end of January.  I'll keep you all posted!  :)

Back to summer stuff, the job was exhausting at times but knowing we were going on a holiday the Monday after I finished helped me get through!  I'll let Niall do a Sicily post so I won't say any more other than it was worth the work and the wait.  We've been back exactly 2 weeks now.   The first week was a bit hard for me-- I try not to let the weather affect my mood, but after 8 days of pure Mediterranean sunshine, it was hard not to be disappointed!  Our first day back it rained ALL day.  Work was slow but since then it has picked up and I am back in the swing of things now.  I'm still doing a few shifts a week at Soul Food which has been great, and I got hours tutoring students one-on-one at the language school which I'm also happy about.  It's good experience, the hours are flexible, and it's possibly something I can continue with next year.  I have my first meeting with a student from Sweden today so hopefully it will go well!

Just a week ago, we also had Bethany (a friend I've known since Jr. High school) and her husband Dean here a few days after we arrived back from our holiday.  Unfortunately most of the photos that were taken are on their camera!  Here's one from a pretty intense hike we went on in the Mourne Mountains.

Mr. and Mrs. Picone!

Well, I think I'll end with some random shots that have been taken over the last few months...

the Madden ladies did a 10k in Dublin in May... this was the first weekend after finding out I was pregnant! 

Also that weekend, we went down to Cork for Tony and Fiona's baby christening

weekend in Naas before leaving for Sicily

one of those rare but lovely sunny days!

same day... BBQ by the lake

The weather turned very quickly.  As you can see, this tends to affect my mood...

Niall sweetly made me some dinners while I was doing my teaching job.  Not bad, eh?!

Niall on the phone with mum after our first scan

My first baby gift!  Sent over by my dear friend Caitlyn.

We did a tennis camp the week before we left for our holiday... this was the hottest week of the summer!

Okay, I'm a little blogged out and tired of waiting for photos to upload, so I'll stop there!  Hope that gives you a better idea of how things are going over here.  We love you guys and hope everyone is doing very well... don't forget to shoot us an email every now and then, I love news from home.  :)  Signing off for now...

xox

erin