So, I wanted to do this on new years eve... but travelling takes a lot out of you annnd, I forgot. So... 2009. What a year for Kellie... alright, this is pretty much just going to come off as bragging I think, but I don't mean it like that, it's just interesting to look back.
Anyways, 2009...
12 Flights
NYC
Dublin
Galway
Belfast
Paris
Glasgow
Edinburgh
I started off the year ringing in my one year anniversary at Petsmart and wanting to quit soooo badly. I finally got to drop down to part time in April, which was honestly... probably the highlight of the first half of the year for me. My 21st birthday was also a lot of fun, but January-June is pretty much marked by things like break ups and my Uncle Ronnie dying.
It's the second half of the year for me that really stood out. The summer itself was pretty fantastic. Not only did I have one of my best summers ever because I got to see all of my closest friends on a regular basis, which kept me pretty happy but I also got to go see two shows on Broadway in NYC with my mom. And it was on the drive back home from that trip that I told my mom, my biiigggg news. That in about two months, I was going to move to Ireland for awhile. Moving to Ireland (not permanently) is something I had wanted to do for a few years already and it was the perfect time to do it. There was no way I wanted to continue my "career" at Petsmart, I wasn't seeing anyone and most of my friends lived in different cities/had serious boyfriends/were still in school/didn't have a lot of free time. So, after my super awesome summer that's what I did. The rest, anyone reading this probably knows since it's all been in my blog. But I've gotten to see some places on my must see before I die list (The louvre, Disneyland Paris, the shipyard where Titanic was built), as well as make some serious progress on my Celtic Thunder places tour (don't ask), got my first taste of living on my own (as well as proving to my parents that that's something I can do), met some fantastic people who I never would have met otherwise and overall, am having the time of my life.
And the best part about all that is... that's not even over yet. The 2009 portion of my Ireland trip is only the first 1/3 so there is still a lot more to do and see. So, 2010 will probably be more of the same as the second half of 2009 but I am totally okay with that. I'm in Ireland for another 6 months or so. Then I get to go home and enjoy some actual warm weather (hopefully)... after that, who knows?
Monday, January 11, 2010
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Home... today!
Well, I need to wake up soon and am still awake. But whatcha going to do. At 5:45 this morning I will leave on a bus for Dublin that is step one on the journey home. Just for Christmas. Don't worry Galway, you're not rid of me yet. Not really a whole lot to report, I'm just killing time waiting for things to charge and what not. I want to be totally ready to go tomorrow morning. No muss, no fuss. I want this whole thing to be an exciting experience, not a stressful one. Which it could easily turn into should anything go wrong.
I spent today finishing up my christmas shopping then hanging out with Sara and Olivia... I'm going to miss them for the 9 days I'm away but will be distracted by people I have missed for so much longer.
Well, that's pretty much it. So odds are this is it until the New Year. So Merry Christmas and Happy New Years to anyone who reads this. Love you all!
I spent today finishing up my christmas shopping then hanging out with Sara and Olivia... I'm going to miss them for the 9 days I'm away but will be distracted by people I have missed for so much longer.
Well, that's pretty much it. So odds are this is it until the New Year. So Merry Christmas and Happy New Years to anyone who reads this. Love you all!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Hospitals... Not fun in any country
So, some of you may remember me talking about Hannah. She is the girl that was supposed to be mine and Olivia's third roomate. Well, last Friday she finally arrived in Galway and gave me a story actually worth telling.
Last friday night was also Liv's 19th birthday bash. We invited a few people over. It was like me Liv, Sara, Hannah, Ewelyna, Luke, Gavin, Ross, Bryan & Rory. I don't think I forgot anyone. Anyways, Hannah got there a little before everyone else and almost right away wasn't feeling so great. She claimed it was her acid reflux but pretty quickly we were on the phone with the doctor, not sure what to do because she really wasn't feeling well. But after laying down in my bed for a bit she got a little back to normal. So, the party went on as planned. We all went out afterwards to Karma, it was a good time. Hannah stayed home and rested.
Saturday morning... Sara's hung over. Me and Liv are contemplating pancakes. Hannah starts feeling a lot worse than the night before. We're not sure what to do and so we get worried. Eventually we call a cab and take her to the hopsital. This is probably around 2 in the afternoon. We're there for 4.5 hours and the doctors say its a stomach infection she probably picked up on the plane and give her something for that as well as for her acid reflux. We head home, watch Mamma Mia (apperently watching Liv and I sing along is good craic... hehehehe) and then Liv, Sara and I head out with Rory.
Sunday rolls around, Hannah seems to be doing better. Without giving too many details she probably doesn't want shared. Around 8 we're getting Ewelyna to pick us up and we're back to the hospital. We are there until 6:30 the following morning, at which point Liv and I had to get home to get a little sleep before meeting Benny (landlord) so he can deal with some of the issues we have around here (on the bright side... my bedroom door now closes and we have a vacuum that doesn't need tape to hold it together). We have to leave Hannah there, and we really don't have any answers about whats going on. All three of us were so wiped by that point.
Luckily for me, GMIT is pretty slow this time of year so Liv had Monday off and could stick around. We visit Hannah for a couple hours, she is eventually admitted and actually gets a room rather than a bed in a hallway. At this point she has had an ultrasound and an X-Ray but there is still no definitive answers. Maybe her appendix?
So, not going to go into every single day. But after the fourth day, Liv and I had spent 24.5 hours in the hospital over four days and poor Hannah, lots more. Honestly, the days are kind of jumbled. But there were 2 days where we were there over 10 hours. The second one of those we both took a two hour break to go into town though. Yesterday I was there for 6 or 7 hours I think. Liv had to work. A friend came and kept me company for a bit while Hannah was sleeping.
This morning she called me to tell me she was being discharged and I worked on figuring out where she was going to stay as my flatmates and I are all leaving soon for a week or so over the holidays and I wanted to make sure Hannah was taken care of. She is feeling much better now but is still recovering (she had a procedure done to reduce swelling in her organs and that seemed to do the trick) and has only been in Ireland for about a week now. I can't even imagine how stressful that would be.
Anyways, I'm going to get to sleep. But I wanted to update everyone on all that as lots of people have asked. Aren't you glad I didn't get into all that jazz in my last post... blogging double time lately.
P.S. Sooooo excited to get home on Monday. Seriously.
Last friday night was also Liv's 19th birthday bash. We invited a few people over. It was like me Liv, Sara, Hannah, Ewelyna, Luke, Gavin, Ross, Bryan & Rory. I don't think I forgot anyone. Anyways, Hannah got there a little before everyone else and almost right away wasn't feeling so great. She claimed it was her acid reflux but pretty quickly we were on the phone with the doctor, not sure what to do because she really wasn't feeling well. But after laying down in my bed for a bit she got a little back to normal. So, the party went on as planned. We all went out afterwards to Karma, it was a good time. Hannah stayed home and rested.
Saturday morning... Sara's hung over. Me and Liv are contemplating pancakes. Hannah starts feeling a lot worse than the night before. We're not sure what to do and so we get worried. Eventually we call a cab and take her to the hopsital. This is probably around 2 in the afternoon. We're there for 4.5 hours and the doctors say its a stomach infection she probably picked up on the plane and give her something for that as well as for her acid reflux. We head home, watch Mamma Mia (apperently watching Liv and I sing along is good craic... hehehehe) and then Liv, Sara and I head out with Rory.
Sunday rolls around, Hannah seems to be doing better. Without giving too many details she probably doesn't want shared. Around 8 we're getting Ewelyna to pick us up and we're back to the hospital. We are there until 6:30 the following morning, at which point Liv and I had to get home to get a little sleep before meeting Benny (landlord) so he can deal with some of the issues we have around here (on the bright side... my bedroom door now closes and we have a vacuum that doesn't need tape to hold it together). We have to leave Hannah there, and we really don't have any answers about whats going on. All three of us were so wiped by that point.
Luckily for me, GMIT is pretty slow this time of year so Liv had Monday off and could stick around. We visit Hannah for a couple hours, she is eventually admitted and actually gets a room rather than a bed in a hallway. At this point she has had an ultrasound and an X-Ray but there is still no definitive answers. Maybe her appendix?
So, not going to go into every single day. But after the fourth day, Liv and I had spent 24.5 hours in the hospital over four days and poor Hannah, lots more. Honestly, the days are kind of jumbled. But there were 2 days where we were there over 10 hours. The second one of those we both took a two hour break to go into town though. Yesterday I was there for 6 or 7 hours I think. Liv had to work. A friend came and kept me company for a bit while Hannah was sleeping.
This morning she called me to tell me she was being discharged and I worked on figuring out where she was going to stay as my flatmates and I are all leaving soon for a week or so over the holidays and I wanted to make sure Hannah was taken care of. She is feeling much better now but is still recovering (she had a procedure done to reduce swelling in her organs and that seemed to do the trick) and has only been in Ireland for about a week now. I can't even imagine how stressful that would be.
Anyways, I'm going to get to sleep. But I wanted to update everyone on all that as lots of people have asked. Aren't you glad I didn't get into all that jazz in my last post... blogging double time lately.
P.S. Sooooo excited to get home on Monday. Seriously.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Almost home time
Alright... so Belfast was awesome. Probably one of my favorite trips so far. It definitely beat out Scotland just because I didn't get to see much.
Belfast- Giants Causeway was pretty cool, but it was raining so much that I couldn't climb around that much. Well, I could have but probably would have cracked my head open. And that would have been uncomfortable. I saw the front of Carrikfurgus castle, which is one of my strongest memories of the last time I was in Belfast. I'd like to go in it if I ever get back to Belfast. Which Liv and I are planning to do in April. I also did a Titanic walking tour, which I almost didn't do but am so glad I did. I learned a lot and it was really cool.
Another highlight was seeing Clonduff drive, specifically the house where my dad (and my aunts & uncles) were born. It felt pretty cool to walk around where I knew they had all walked when they were young. I wish I had gotten a picture of me in front of the house but no one was around, and I would have felt awkward anyway. Maybe I'll go back with Casey some time.
Plus, I did super well on my Celtic Thunder world tour... Which is basically my nerdtastic plan to see anywhere mentioned in a Celtic Thunder song. I saw the Mountains of Mourne on my bus ride back to Dublin. I also saw a foggy, barely visible Mull of Kintyre, Belfast and... Caledonia.
Scotland- So, Liv and I flew in to Glasgow, but after talking to everyone realised there wasn't anything we wanted to see there. So we wandered a little, giggled at West Nile Avenue and then got right on a bus to Edinburgh. Our first day we spent a lot of time in Edinburgh castle which is a pretty impressive place with a lot of history, going right up to WWII. (Side note: It's interesting but people here (Europe in general) mention World War II a lot more than people at home, because it was so much more of a reality for them, even people who weren't remotley alive for it, it had a much bigger impact). Got some pictures there and then just kind of wandered the city. St. Giles Cathedral made me happy (Buffy reference).
Then we checked into our hostel which was really cool. It was like a bunch of apartments with hostel rooms. So you were only sharing the kitchen with a couple bedrooms. The place was freeezzziinnnggg though. But, the first night we had the whole apartment to ourselves.
After checking in and unwinding for a bit we headed off to get dinner (Subway, shocking) and then went to the Elephant House, one of the cafes where J.K. Rowling worked on Harry Potter. Had some realllyy good hot chocolate there. Then back to the hostel to get dressed for a night out. We randomly wandered and just picked a pub. But of course, the one we ended up in was pretty clearly an 'irish pub'. Lots of Shamrocks and count downs to st. patricks day. Woo. Still fun though. Some weiirrdd Scottish men dancing around, but whatcha gunna do. Then we went and danced at a club, Espionage, which was a decent place and really close to our hostel, which was a plus because Scotland is def. colder than Ireland.
So, for day 2 of scotland there was a whole thing with pretty much a tour of the entire country. At first I wasn't going to go because I couldn't afford it. Then Liv, being the awesomest person that she is, offered to pay as my christmas present. So, we woke up super early, walked to the bus stop and found out there was only one seat left. Urggh. So I walked back by myself and went to bed. I spent the day shopping and wandering the city. Beautiful place, hard to find groceries near the royal mile though. But yeah, that was Scotland. I hope to get back at some point and explore a bit more.
Anyways, there is more news but I'm a little bored of writing at the moment and I imagine that was a lot to read so I'll go again later. The next blog involves a trip to Galways hospital (not for me though). Until then.
Belfast- Giants Causeway was pretty cool, but it was raining so much that I couldn't climb around that much. Well, I could have but probably would have cracked my head open. And that would have been uncomfortable. I saw the front of Carrikfurgus castle, which is one of my strongest memories of the last time I was in Belfast. I'd like to go in it if I ever get back to Belfast. Which Liv and I are planning to do in April. I also did a Titanic walking tour, which I almost didn't do but am so glad I did. I learned a lot and it was really cool.
Another highlight was seeing Clonduff drive, specifically the house where my dad (and my aunts & uncles) were born. It felt pretty cool to walk around where I knew they had all walked when they were young. I wish I had gotten a picture of me in front of the house but no one was around, and I would have felt awkward anyway. Maybe I'll go back with Casey some time.
Plus, I did super well on my Celtic Thunder world tour... Which is basically my nerdtastic plan to see anywhere mentioned in a Celtic Thunder song. I saw the Mountains of Mourne on my bus ride back to Dublin. I also saw a foggy, barely visible Mull of Kintyre, Belfast and... Caledonia.
Scotland- So, Liv and I flew in to Glasgow, but after talking to everyone realised there wasn't anything we wanted to see there. So we wandered a little, giggled at West Nile Avenue and then got right on a bus to Edinburgh. Our first day we spent a lot of time in Edinburgh castle which is a pretty impressive place with a lot of history, going right up to WWII. (Side note: It's interesting but people here (Europe in general) mention World War II a lot more than people at home, because it was so much more of a reality for them, even people who weren't remotley alive for it, it had a much bigger impact). Got some pictures there and then just kind of wandered the city. St. Giles Cathedral made me happy (Buffy reference).
Then we checked into our hostel which was really cool. It was like a bunch of apartments with hostel rooms. So you were only sharing the kitchen with a couple bedrooms. The place was freeezzziinnnggg though. But, the first night we had the whole apartment to ourselves.
After checking in and unwinding for a bit we headed off to get dinner (Subway, shocking) and then went to the Elephant House, one of the cafes where J.K. Rowling worked on Harry Potter. Had some realllyy good hot chocolate there. Then back to the hostel to get dressed for a night out. We randomly wandered and just picked a pub. But of course, the one we ended up in was pretty clearly an 'irish pub'. Lots of Shamrocks and count downs to st. patricks day. Woo. Still fun though. Some weiirrdd Scottish men dancing around, but whatcha gunna do. Then we went and danced at a club, Espionage, which was a decent place and really close to our hostel, which was a plus because Scotland is def. colder than Ireland.
So, for day 2 of scotland there was a whole thing with pretty much a tour of the entire country. At first I wasn't going to go because I couldn't afford it. Then Liv, being the awesomest person that she is, offered to pay as my christmas present. So, we woke up super early, walked to the bus stop and found out there was only one seat left. Urggh. So I walked back by myself and went to bed. I spent the day shopping and wandering the city. Beautiful place, hard to find groceries near the royal mile though. But yeah, that was Scotland. I hope to get back at some point and explore a bit more.
Anyways, there is more news but I'm a little bored of writing at the moment and I imagine that was a lot to read so I'll go again later. The next blog involves a trip to Galways hospital (not for me though). Until then.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Quick Update
I am currently sitting in a hostel in Belfast waiting for my tour to Giants Causeway to be ready to go. I wasn't originally going to do this but I'm opting to skip Bangor this trip so I had some extra time. Plus, it's chilly out today so hanging out on a bus sounds like more fun than hanging out in the cold wandering around a city I don't know.
Tomorrow I am going to see the house my dad was born in and doing a Titanic walking tour. I'm pretty pumped about both of those things. When I went to the atm this morning (I woke up earlier today than I have in a VERY long time. The fun-employed have no need for 8am wakeups, backpackers apperently do. Although, I really could have slept in later) there was a guy wearing a jacket with 'R.M.S. Titanic' on it and I got excited. I am such a Titanic junky.
I'm getting a little stressed about money. This week is going to cost A LOT of it. I might skip the trip to Germany with the roomates. Gotta be smart about all this right? Right! I dunno, we'll see. I will stress later when I have less to do. Anyways, that's it for now. I might come back online tonight and let the blogosphere know how Giants Causeway was... but lets face it, probably not.
Tomorrow I am going to see the house my dad was born in and doing a Titanic walking tour. I'm pretty pumped about both of those things. When I went to the atm this morning (I woke up earlier today than I have in a VERY long time. The fun-employed have no need for 8am wakeups, backpackers apperently do. Although, I really could have slept in later) there was a guy wearing a jacket with 'R.M.S. Titanic' on it and I got excited. I am such a Titanic junky.
I'm getting a little stressed about money. This week is going to cost A LOT of it. I might skip the trip to Germany with the roomates. Gotta be smart about all this right? Right! I dunno, we'll see. I will stress later when I have less to do. Anyways, that's it for now. I might come back online tonight and let the blogosphere know how Giants Causeway was... but lets face it, probably not.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Been Awhile
Sorry, I know I haven't blogged in awhile... you can thank the mysterious breaking power cable for that. My power cable broke which left me laptopless, so I've been using Liv's laptop whenever she's working or asleep. I on the other hand, have not been working. Boooo to that. I'm going to try again in the new year and for now just make the best of my time off.
This week, the flatmates and I decided to keep busy by going out a lot. We went to club K on both Monday and Tuesday, took yesterday off to relax and watch Buffy & Angel, tonight we're going out again for our friend Rory's birthday. Tomorrow out again with a friend of Liv and Sara's from work. Then Saturday, out again... just cause.
Theeen, next week I am thinking of going to Belfast for a few days. Not sure yet where I'd want to check out, I should email my dad about that and see if he can remember any of the places we went last time. We'll see how/if that goes. Then, for sure, next weekend Liv and I are heading to Scotland for a whirlwind tour of Edinburgh and Glasgow. Should be super exciting, and kind of crazy. We're only there for 2 days, eep! Then, shortly after we get back, it's Olivia's 19th birthday which will of course mean more going out, and other fun stuff like that. Plus, Sara has promised to make Oreo Cupcakes.
The next thing after that is heading home for 9 days for Christmas (soooo excited for that btw, then back here for New Years. Then, New Years day, we are going to treat like our Christmas, here at 3 Dun Leinn. Then after that we are leaving for either Norway or Germany for a few days. Should be epic.
That's basically all the news I have. It kind of sucks that I don't have a job at this point but I am here to experience things I couldn't at home, and that's what I'm doing. I will make the money situation work, I'm not worried... just need to make the most of what I have :)
This week, the flatmates and I decided to keep busy by going out a lot. We went to club K on both Monday and Tuesday, took yesterday off to relax and watch Buffy & Angel, tonight we're going out again for our friend Rory's birthday. Tomorrow out again with a friend of Liv and Sara's from work. Then Saturday, out again... just cause.
Theeen, next week I am thinking of going to Belfast for a few days. Not sure yet where I'd want to check out, I should email my dad about that and see if he can remember any of the places we went last time. We'll see how/if that goes. Then, for sure, next weekend Liv and I are heading to Scotland for a whirlwind tour of Edinburgh and Glasgow. Should be super exciting, and kind of crazy. We're only there for 2 days, eep! Then, shortly after we get back, it's Olivia's 19th birthday which will of course mean more going out, and other fun stuff like that. Plus, Sara has promised to make Oreo Cupcakes.
The next thing after that is heading home for 9 days for Christmas (soooo excited for that btw, then back here for New Years. Then, New Years day, we are going to treat like our Christmas, here at 3 Dun Leinn. Then after that we are leaving for either Norway or Germany for a few days. Should be epic.
That's basically all the news I have. It kind of sucks that I don't have a job at this point but I am here to experience things I couldn't at home, and that's what I'm doing. I will make the money situation work, I'm not worried... just need to make the most of what I have :)
Friday, November 6, 2009
This just might have made my week
So, today I got a package from home, and honestly... it's exactly what I needed. I've had kind of a blah week for whatever reasons. The job hunt has still been unsuccessful, although I got a dog walking gig with a dog named JoJo. Very cute!
Anyways, the package from my family included all the Christmas music from my dad, which is awesome. Feels more homey, ya know? Also included some Canada sticky things which are also awesome, and I just might go out tomorrow with a Canadian flag temporary tattoo.
Also got the puppy christmas t-shirt... love love! Plus, a Maple Leafs one which is perfect. Despite the fact that Liv, Sara and I don't really follow hockey. We've had a few debates over whose team is best. I have no illusions of the Leafs being any good, but hey, gotta support where your from =D Also, learned a semi-interesting fact... Sara at one point said that the Leafs have never won the cup. Did you know, that the Leafs have more Stanley Cup wins than both Albertan teams combined... Twice over! Alberta- 6, Leafs- 13. Actually, Ontario- 13. I had no idea the Sens had never won the cup. Poor little Ottawa.
Also, got some Alfredo Sauce which I have been crrraavvvinnng. And a pack of Swiss Chalet Gravy mix which I am realllly excited for!
Plus, the rest of the season (starting when I left) of SYTYCD Canada and some pictures of the fam, and my Molly dart flights. We're planning on playing darts tonight, which should be fun. Odds are Sara and Liv will be all, hmm, this is boring but I've been wanting to play darts since I got here. Excited!
So yesterday was a good day, that ended up having a crappy end... Today shall be a good day (package from home & christmas music = very good day) with a great night.
... That's the spirit!
Anyways, the package from my family included all the Christmas music from my dad, which is awesome. Feels more homey, ya know? Also included some Canada sticky things which are also awesome, and I just might go out tomorrow with a Canadian flag temporary tattoo.
Also got the puppy christmas t-shirt... love love! Plus, a Maple Leafs one which is perfect. Despite the fact that Liv, Sara and I don't really follow hockey. We've had a few debates over whose team is best. I have no illusions of the Leafs being any good, but hey, gotta support where your from =D Also, learned a semi-interesting fact... Sara at one point said that the Leafs have never won the cup. Did you know, that the Leafs have more Stanley Cup wins than both Albertan teams combined... Twice over! Alberta- 6, Leafs- 13. Actually, Ontario- 13. I had no idea the Sens had never won the cup. Poor little Ottawa.
Also, got some Alfredo Sauce which I have been crrraavvvinnng. And a pack of Swiss Chalet Gravy mix which I am realllly excited for!
Plus, the rest of the season (starting when I left) of SYTYCD Canada and some pictures of the fam, and my Molly dart flights. We're planning on playing darts tonight, which should be fun. Odds are Sara and Liv will be all, hmm, this is boring but I've been wanting to play darts since I got here. Excited!
So yesterday was a good day, that ended up having a crappy end... Today shall be a good day (package from home & christmas music = very good day) with a great night.
... That's the spirit!
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