Snow Day!

I woke up at 7 AM today wondering what the world looked like beyond our bedroom walls.  And I was not that surprised when I saw the winter wonderland that was our backyard!

And after seeing the inches of fresh snow, I made the executive decision that I would be working from home today!  Peter's timing with the Internet set-up was truly impeccable!  Thank you Jesus for this option or else I would have been walking to the nearest coffee shop, which I suppose wouldn't have been so bad considering I love trekking through the snow.

So rather than having to rummage through my closet to find something to wear, I could just roll right out of bed, hence the difference in work outfits!

Look at our lovely backyard!  Check out all the snow on our flower pots and the snow in our bird feeder!  I love this so much.  Now I need to get back to work!

P.S. Thanks Bekah for telling me about Picnik - I truly can't get enough!  And please have patience with me as my template is in the process of changing even more!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow.

So I leave one city that was declaring flood warnings for another city that was declaring snow warnings!  Which would you rather have?  To be fair, I would rather have SNOW!!  But this much snow?  I don't know...the city of Belfast has seen nearly a foot of snow in the last 4 days, and it seems as though the snow isn't letting up!  The snow has been on the ground since last Thursday and it is now Wednesday...so SNOW has been on the ground for seven whole days!  That's a LONG time... a very long time if you ask me.  Because if the snow isn't melting and if it's still on the ground a week later, then that simply means its literally freezing outside...and let me tell you folks IT IS!! yesterday it was like -11 Celsius...which is 12 degrees Fahrenheit.  I mean that is COLD!  I can't remember the last time it was THAT cold in Seattle.

I mean don't get me wrong I love bundling up in layers...and wearing heavy coats and hats and my amazing gloves...but all those layers get old after awhile and then if you forget the said hat or those amazing gloves you are heartbroken because its just so darn cold!

But then you have beautiful moments like when we hiked up part of Cave hill and the snow was heavy on the trees and it was soooo quiet...or just yesterday we went to the Lagan Towpath and just walked along the trail...and we saw only like 3 people the entire time!  It was simply divine!  

Here are some pictures from the first night of snow!

We have Arrived!

So we have been in Belfast for nearly a week actually, and I suppose it's time that I finally got around to posting something on here about our time thus far!

We arrived last Sunday, after many hours of flying...and many airplane meals...and WAY too many movies. I think I watched 6 actually in a span of 10 hours and fast forwarded through some bits just to finish the films before we landed. I watched Letters to Juliet (loved it), Despicable Me, Grown Ups, Robin Hood (it was good, but a little long!), Charlie St. Cloud...maybe it was only 5..can't for the life of me remember the 6th.

When we arrived we went through immigration and then on to baggage claim. And Peter started to get a little nervous as everyone grabbed for their bags and disappeared soon after, and ours were still nowhere to be found! I was a little TOO hopeful and we waited for probably a little TOO long in hopes of seeing our bags come around on the turnstile. Much to our surprise, or mine at least, our bags did not ride the flight with us to Dublin. My darling husband had told me to pack another set of clothes JUST IN CASE our bags didn't show up with us. I, of course, reminded him that my bags ALWAYS show up...and if not it won't be the end of the world. Needless to say I packed an extra pair of jeans and a clean pair of undies, but what good were those things to me really?? At least I had my toothbrush and a few other things!

So Peter's sister, Ruth, picked us up at the airport and it was soo good to have arrived!! It was a beautiful, crisp, cold day, and as we drove through the rolling Irish hills my eyes started to fail me and I slept for a wee while. We arrived at the in-laws house a few hours later and stuffed our empty bellies full of glorious food and ended the meal with Mark's delicious chocolate guinness cake. I will be getting the recipe for that!

It has taken us a little while to get adjusted to the whole time thing, but know that we still have a few more weeks and by the time we are fully adjusted we will be flying back to Seattle!

We have enjoyed our first week tremendously...and now let me share with you some highlights.

Meals with the family and much laughter with the boys! Teaching Stuart how to play Wizard and all the fun that came with that! The Christmas market...and my new scarf and my amazing gloves. Irish music in a real irish bar where people were actually SPEAKING IRISH! Walking the streets of Belfast. the City Center - Christmas shopping and dinner with Peter
AND CAN't FORGET THE SNOW!!! soo much snow! hiking cave hill IN THE SNOW! and watching Peter, Mark and Stuart attempt to sled down a hill with a queen size mattress and last but not least...my NEW stocking from TKMAXX. its HUGE and amazing!