In my own wee world

Apologies

2007-12-14T22:51:00.001Z

I realise I haven't added anything to my blog in absolutely ages....sorry guys :-( to be honest I just haven't had the time!I'm now living in Leeds, England and have become a Social Work student and I'm busy busy busy!I don't really have time for much else other than study :-( however i shall definitely try to get something on here sometime in the next few months!For now, Merry Christmas!!! :-)

Room with a view.

2007-07-29T17:00:00.000+01:00

This is the amazing view that greeted us from our bedroom window when we arrived in Sydney!It was amazing and our immediate reaction was 'WOW!!!'.

Back in my 'home-land'! - 1st stop Sydney!

2007-07-23T20:27:00.000+01:00

Awww, I just spent 3 weeks in Australia and it was awesome! I miss it there so much and really felt like I was home again when I got there. I'm going to try and go through my trip over the next few posts...as we spent our first couple of days in Sydney I'll start there! We arrived at 5am Monday 2nd July and I was straight into action by meeting up with the lovely Jake for the day! Now Jake is one of the nicest guys you could possibly ever meet and we had the most fun day!We decided to go to the Aquarium and we had a lot of fun and saw some cool fish, seals, sharks, penguins etc. I even had to rescue him from a shark attack!(see pic!) It was an awesome way to start my holiday and I was very sad to say goodbye to him...had a wee sob when he left! Imagine crying on the first day of your holiday!ha ha!I'm not at all good at goodbyes!!!

I'll be back soon!

2007-07-21T18:42:00.000+01:00

oops....i've had a few complaints...seems far more people than i ever realised actually read my blog and i've been a bit slack recently!so, i'll be trying to update it really soon! awww,kinda cool that people actually read this thing! :-)

Shane Lynch shares his testimony

2007-04-29T16:36:00.000+01:00

A few weeks ago Shane Lynch (from Boyzone) came to church to talk about his time in the band, the personal battles he went through and how he became a Christian and now devotes his time to serving God. He was great and very inspirational. Was also cool to have someone of celebrity status speaking in church - it was packed out!

Justin Timberlake

2007-04-29T16:27:00.000+01:00

I went to see Justin Timberlake during the week...I had seen him a few years ago and it was one of the most entertaining concerts I'd ever been to, so I had to go again! It was amazing! The guy can sing, dance, play instruments...and he is soooo hot! A blessed guy! ;-)

reunited!

2006-12-29T20:49:00.000Z

This is me,anne and julia together for the first time in about 3 years! i'm back living in N.Ireland, Anne has been travelling and is now living in London and Juls is living in Edinburgh. We've been friends since school so it was so great to all be together again this christmas and even though we've been apart for so long nothing much has changed in our friendship and we were able to have the same laughs as always! Love these guys!!

Big Jonny and wee Jonny!

2006-11-13T13:56:00.000Z

This one's for you Jonny now that I know you read my blog! I love this pic.

Wee jonny!

2006-11-13T13:36:00.000Z

This is wee Jonny who I now sponsor. More about sponsorship later!

And it's finished!

2006-11-11T17:44:00.000Z

The team at work!

2006-11-11T13:56:00.000Z

We painted all of the inside and outside of the staff houses. We had to put a heap of coats on the walls and working in the heat meant that a tonne of water was consumed everyday!It was all good though,we made it as fun as we could and the ipod and speakers meant that there were some sing-songs too!The kids seemed fascinated by it and would stand and watch us throughout their breaktime (until some of us sneaked off to play with them!).

Before we started painting

2006-11-10T21:37:00.000Z

This is what the staff houses looked like before we started painting. They are pretty new as they were only built in February of this year. Looking at it it could be the same size as houses we live in at the minute but there are 8 teachers living there. There is no electric or running water at the minute. They cherish their homes though and feel blessed to have them.

Distracting class!

2006-11-10T21:32:00.000Z

Kiti kids

2006-11-10T20:39:00.000Z

Here are some more of the kids from Kiti.They really are such awesome children,they have so little but are so happy and so willing to learn and have so much respect for their teachers etc. We had so much fun playing with them and a couple of us used to skive off painting and sneak into their classrooms to see them and hear them sing!it was just amazing!

Kiti Primary School

2006-11-09T11:48:00.000Z

We started our first project at Kiti Primary School which was about an hours drive (depending on traffic!) from where we were staying. We were there to paint the staff houses as a number of staff actually live on the premises. Before we started working we had to obviously meet and play with the kids!!

Streets of Kampala

2006-11-03T10:56:00.000Z

This is what we passed through everyday.It was shocking to see at first but we soon got used to it and you can see that it's just like a city high street with shops,markets,people buying their food for the day etc. There was the usual hustle and bustle just with the extra excitement of the madness of the traffic and people trying to cross the road without getting hit!I found it so fascinating and always enjoyed our journeys through the local streets. It really does show how poor the place is but it's inspiring to see people doing everything they can to keep businesses running,to try their best to earn some amount of money each day.

The traffic was just crazy,with the roads being so poor - there are potholes everywhere, and with no real rules of the road,it was just a case of going for it and trying to get through the mass of traffic!Where there probably should only have been 2 lanes of traffic there were usually about 4!We had a few "life flashing before our eyes" moments but it always added to the excitement of the trip!The drivers there seem to have it sussed though as we saw no accidents despite the madness of the driving, it seemed to be a skill!Another reason for driving with a 'careful craziness' is the fact that if you were to knock someone down and kill them and there were witnesses that you had done it,you were basically assured of being killed.It's very much down to mob justice out there - they would definitely come after you if you had been responsible!

One hard part was seeing the huge rubbish piles at the sides of the road,the smell was one thing but then to witness people crawling over the top of them in search of food was something that will be imprinted in my mind forever.

Field of life

2006-10-31T22:26:00.000Z

This is the charity we went with,they're an Irish based charity but open to donations from anywhere! you can check them out on www.fieldsoflife.com

Kampala,Uganda

2006-10-31T22:20:00.000Z

Kampala from google earth - we stayed in a guest house in Kampala.

Couple of changes to get used to...

2006-10-31T13:16:00.000Z

It was quite strange getting used to sleeping under a mosquito net, especially when I woke up in the middle of the night and tried to get out of bed and found myself fighting with the net!it was also mighty hard trying to pee down a hole in the ground - girls will be with me on this one,it's far easier for guys!thankfully there were proper loos where we were staying but during the day when we were out working and travelling,we had to get used to the pit!it was the cause of a lot of fun and jokes and our toilet habits became quite common knowledge throughout the 2 weeks - the joy of being around blokes!ha ha!

Team Muzungu!

2006-10-31T12:35:00.000Z

I'll start off by introducing the team!We were affectionately known as Team Muzungu (muzungu means white man). As you can hopefully notice from the photo, I was in fact the only female on the team! Admittedly at the start I was a wee bit wary about that fact but after a very short time with these guys I soon realised that it was going to be fine!After being with them for 2 weeks I can honestly say that I wouldn't have changed the fact that I was the only girl for anything - I loved it!I officially have new adopted brothers and dads!

Starting from the top left the team are as follows:

Andy,Jonny,Jayne,Garvin,Steve
Bryan,Leigh,Chris,Neil

uganda report to follow sometime soon!

2006-10-30T16:49:00.000Z

Hey all,

Most of you are aware that I've recently come home from Uganda. Just to let you know that I will be writing about it and posting a few pictures very soon. It was the most awesome,challenging and emotional 2 weeks ever!

until then.... xo

wee mum!

2006-09-24T22:45:00.000+01:00

Our wee mum with her big children!

me and my wee bro

2006-09-24T22:31:00.000+01:00

Mum was just taking some photos of her darling children - here's me and my wee bro!

Spurs 1 Slavia Prague 0 - woohoo!

2006-09-16T22:30:00.000+01:00

These are a few pics from Spurs' first European match played last thurday.Spurs have not played in Europe for quite a few years so I am so excited to watch them this year!I'm also so glad we've got off to a good start as we definitely haven't done that in the Premiership!Here's hoping the good performance rubs off in their next league games.

Come on ye Spurs!!!

N.Ireland 3 Spain 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-09-09T13:25:00.000+01:00

Just in case you missed it - N.Ireland did in fact beat Spain 3-2 on wednesday night!Woo-hoo!Funnily it was nearly a year to the day after they beat England! (he he!)

Admittedly N.Ireland haven't really done much in the footballing world for a few years (long gone are the George Best days!) but I think that makes it even more exciting when they pull off something like this!

The girlies have a night out!

2006-09-02T14:38:00.000+01:00

My cousins and I try to meet up as much as possible to just hang out and have a laugh etc. We have a traditional special night out when we go to our favourite restaurant - Papa Joes!We had waited forever to actually make it to this night and we made sure it was a good one!Ali and Heather (sisters) - the bottom 2 pics - had just come back from America, and Lizzie - 2nd pic - is leaving to go back to university in Edinburgh (sob sob!) so it was a reunion and farewell evening. I love hanging out with these guys as they are so hilarious and we get on really well and well we can't really get rid of each other as we're related!

And we ate...

2006-09-02T14:34:00.000+01:00

We HAVE to all order chicken fajitas - it's against the rules not to!

And we posed!

2006-09-02T14:22:00.000+01:00

I'm wearing a dress!!!!

2006-09-02T14:14:00.000+01:00

Ok,so it's over jeans which i don't know if really counts - but,still it's been a LONG time since i've worn a dress.Not much of a girly girl you see!But hey I can live with this - think I shocked a few people when I bought it - ha ha!

Come on ye Spurs!

2006-08-24T20:29:00.000+01:00

After an embarrassing opening match performance against Bolton,Spurs regained dignity with an impressive performance against Sheffield United - woohoo!our new striker scored on his home debut and looks to be a good purchase if he continues this way!

Who could this be?!

2006-08-12T23:55:00.000+01:00

Show some love!

2006-08-12T23:53:00.000+01:00

Just trying to amuse myself!

2006-08-12T23:43:00.000+01:00

My favourite pic/drawing,not by me of course!

My wee bongo drumming man

Reunion in Belfast...

2006-07-27T17:16:00.000+01:00

Phill and I in front of Belfast City Hall

Phill and Mike

Remember Phill from my easyrider and melbourne blogs?well he was in Belfast with his friend Mike for a wedding a couple of weeks ago and i was able to spend the sunday with them both.it was great to catch up with him again and reminisce about our time in australia.poor mike though,he had to endure all our tales!with nothing much open on a sunday in belfast we ended up doing a tour around belfast on a big yellow bus!it was interesting for me too as we were taken places that i had never been before.for example,'the falls' which is the area that's in opposition to 'the shankill',the falls is a catholic area and the shankill a protestant area,these 2 places were where most of the troubles in belfast occurred and people were killed on a daily basis in certain places.thank goodness it's not like that anymore!!also,interesting fact of the day was that apparently a man from Northern Ireland actually invented air con - how ironic considering what our climate is like!

phill and mike seemed to enjoy their weekend in belfast and hopefully i'll be able to reunite with more pals from oz someday soon!

happy birthday april and theo!!

2006-07-12T19:00:00.000+01:00

Happy birthday to my wonderful wee aussie friend April and my awesome american mate Theo!!hope you have the best birthdays!!!miss you both!

Me&Shayela - the next morning was goodbye...sob!

2006-07-12T17:10:00.000+01:00

Irish dancing in the streets of Rome...

2006-07-12T17:05:00.000+01:00

real Italian food!

2006-07-12T17:00:00.000+01:00

Shayela's treat for me after being pick-pocketed!!

2006-07-12T16:56:00.000+01:00

Italian beggar...

2006-07-12T16:47:00.000+01:00

Roman statues...

2006-07-12T16:37:00.000+01:00

Saints through the window...

2006-07-12T16:35:00.000+01:00

Tombs and confessions!

2006-07-12T16:17:00.000+01:00

confession time!!
The grave of the last pope
The tomb of the apostle Peter - apparently
I had studied Latin in school and so recognised some words but others were beyond me!

Vatican drama...

2006-07-12T16:04:00.000+01:00

I was most impressed with the Vatican,everything else we had seen had been set in amongst the buildings in the city but the vatican was out on it's own and it looked so impressive. I was trying to imagine the millions of people that would have filled it when the last pope died.

The drama there involved Isaac,Shayela's brother leaving his backpack sitting against a railing and us going off to a cafe.it was only as we were leaving the cafe that it was noticed that it was gone and we raced back to the vatican to find it in exactly the same place as he had left it!was lucky as there was a $2000 video camera in it!amazing it was still there as there were hundreds of people around,anyone of them could have lifted it as it had been sitting there for over an hour!

The rest of the weekend dramas involved both shayela and her mum having problems getting access to any cash due to pin-number issues.i unfortunately couldn't offer any help as i had no money or cash cards!

on returning back through the train station that i'd had my wallet stolen we asked again to see if anyone had found it,i was hoping to even just get my wallet back as there was sentimental stuff in it.the guy there then produced a plastic bag full of wallets - they had all been stolen from people that day!!!unfortunately mine wasn't there and even after the guy so kindly went and looked along the train tracks for me,there was still no sign of it.aw well,it wasn't meant to be obviously!

despite all the disasters that happened,i did still have fun with shayela and her family and we were able to laugh about it all at the end of the day,i mean much worse things could have happened!

i was extremely sad to say goodbye to shayela again as i honestly don't know the next time i'll get to see her,but at the same time it was nice to get home after all the dramas!

Day 2 disaster...

2006-07-12T14:27:00.000+01:00

The next morning we all set out to make our way to the Vatican.We went to the underground station,got our tickets,went down the escalator and got onto the train...it was then that i realised i had been pick-pocketed!!!i'm always so paranoid about it happening having been in a few major european cities where i have been warned about it.generally i'm always careful with my stuff.the person must have been watching me as i know i had my wallet at the top of the escalator as i put my ticket back into it and then put it into my bag.now my bag was full with lots of other sorts of crap so they must have know exactly where to grab it from.i figure it must have happened when i first got onto the escalator as i walked down a few steps and then moved in infront of shayela,from that point my bag was between the side of the escalator and my body and shayela was right behind me.we got straight on the train and then i put my hand in my bag to make sure my wallet was there - but it wasn't!

From there we returned to the train station,no sign of it,we were then told where police station was and off we went. i didn't really react,i think i was in shock as ALL of my money was in it,my cards,my drivers licence and sentimental stuff from oz.i had meant to separate my cards and take some money out but i think being really sick the previous day took over and i honestly just forgot about it.

I then called my dad at home to get numbers to cancel my cards but then my credit ran out!it was scarier to think what would have happened if i'd been on my own,no money,no way of getting money and no way of contacting anyone,at least shayela and her family were with me!

So shayela and i embarked on a mission to find the police station which proved bit of a challenge as even policemen we talked to on the street weren't able to help us with directions!We eventually found it though and i filled out some forms and that was it.

Next stop,the Vatican...

A reunion in Rome...

2006-07-12T00:44:00.000+01:00

I just spent the weekend in Rome meeting up with my best bud from Oz - Shayela!!i had organised to meet her there while i was still in australia so it was something i looked forward to from the time i got home from oz.I've missed Shayela heaps so it was very exciting thinking about getting to see her again.

And what an eventful reunion...

The trip started after i'd had 3hrs sleep on the thursday night (due to my lack of organisation from being so busy at work and then staying up until midnight sorting stuff out and then having to get up at 3.30am to get ready to go to the airport).So,that was fine i tried to sleep a little bit on the plane journey and after being delayed on the runway for about an hour leaving Belfast,i eventually arrived in Rome just after 11am. The first scam happened when a very eager taxi driver basically kidnapped me after i got off the coach from the airport and took me to the hostel where i was to meet shayela,her mum,bro and sis.he gave me a price and i handed him some euros and looked in my wallet for the rest,thinking i could give him the exact money i asked for the note i'd given him back,however it had mysteriously changed from a 10 euro note to a 5 euro note in a split second!now,i know for a fact that i didn't have any 5 euro notes and the discussion in italian and english continued till i realised i just couldn't win and gave him the rest of the money.i was more interested in just getting to see shayela!

it was so awesome to see her again and felt like it had only been a couple of weeks since i'd seen her last rather than the 4 months since i've left oz.

we embarked on some sight seeing in the blistering heat and all was good until i started to feel sick and proceeded to search for corners in the streets where i wouldn't be noticed chucking up!so,i spent most of the rest of the avo spewing - lovely!i still continued to sight-see,i just needed to take spewing breaks every so often!ha ha!

so,after a bad night's sleep i ended up feeling quite a bit better in the morning.after only having left the hostel a short period of time we went to the underground station where the next bit of drama unfolded...

2nd disappointment of the day...

2006-07-01T23:30:00.000+01:00

England lost on penalties AGAIN!!!awww,i feel really gutted for them,they fought so hard after Rooney was sent off and gave it their all but once again the penalties ended it for them.The Portugal goalkeeper was amazing during the penalties,saving them all except the one from Hargreaves,and even then he was so close to saving it.It was so emotional seeing how fully gutted the players were,I feel bad for the older guys like Beckham who most likely won't play in another World Cup.I was totally supporting England to win but imagine what the English fans themselves must be feeling.

To all my english friends - i'm gutted for ya.

1st disappointment of the day...

2006-07-01T23:23:00.000+01:00

Awwww,Agassi lost. He was playing Rafael Nadal who is ranked number 2 and although agassi nearly took the 1st set,it just wasn't meant to be and he went out in straight sets.It was an emotional farewell and the usual tradition of only letting the players be interviewed on court after the final,was broken as Agassi was allowed to say a few words to all his fans.You could see the tears in his eyes as it really is his farewell to a tournament he has made exciting over so many years.I of course was blubbering away in my room!I never could cope with seeing him lose but seeing him be emotional as well was all too much!

come on agassi!!!

2006-07-01T01:04:00.000+01:00

With the world cup and wimbledon on at the minute it kinda sucks to have to work!i'm so glad to see andre agassi back in the tournament this year.it will be his final appearance as he's due to retire after the US Open this year.I've adored andre since i was about 11 years old and he became one of my biggest heros.I used to get so tense when i watched him play on tv,so much so,that when i was younger and he was beaten in wimbledon,my granny used to phone up to make sure i wasn't too upset!i used to cry and everything - i was distraught when he lost!

i loved him through his long hair days and still do in his bald days.he's one of the great tennis players,having won all 4 grand slams slows his talent.i think he made tennis "cool" with his alternative and wacky dress sense and style all those years ago.it was in my list of dreams to see him play someday,but i guess unless i make it to Wimbledon very soon or the US Open this year,that will be a dream that won't come true.

here's hoping he shows his talent all the way to the end of wimbledon!he last won it in 1992 so maybe,just maybe, he can have one last showdown on the grass courts.

"missing photo"

2006-07-01T00:48:00.000+01:00

I was sorting through some old photos tonight and came across this one - it's my "missing photo". it's from years ago when i was in america,when my friends saw it they thought it looked like one of those photos that are used on the side of milk cartons in the US when someone's missing and the parents etc are making the public aware. so ever since then it became my official "milk carton missing photo" if i ever happened to disappear!ha ha!think i better update it though!

look how long my hair is!and that's not when it was at it's longest!

On the train...

2006-06-14T23:31:00.000+01:00

I've got a bit off track from my aussie adventures!So,here we are back on track with my 2 day train journey to Adelaide!I did previously try to post this blog and had written heaps on it,then it crashed and i lost the whole lot!i honestly don't think i can spend so much time typing it all out again so i'll give the "shortened version".

So i left perth on a sunday morning on the indian pacific train.i was quite anxious about who i would be sitting beside as 2 days is a long time to be spent beside someone you don't want to be beside!i ended up beside a japanese girl who didn't speak much english so our conversation over the 2 days consisted of "sorry" when she wanted to get past me and "thank you" when she came back again - ha!i didn't really mind as she was nice to sit beside and i spent most of the time gazing out the window and listening to my ipod as we crossed the Nullabor,which is the longest straight stretch in the world.i tell you buying that ipod the week before i went to oz was the best purchase i've ever made,it became one of my best friends of the year!

we only had 2 stops on our journey where we were able to actually leave the train.the first one was 9 hours into the journey at Kalgoorlie.It was 10.30pm by the time we arrived there and we were to stay there for 3 hours.i was lucky enough to have my cousin living there,she came and picked me up,took me back to her house,fed me,made me a picnic to take back on the train and let me sleep on her couch for an hour - amazing!i had been to Kalgoorlie previously near the start of my year in oz as i went up to help my cousin who was helping to run a youth week up there.i had great fun!

i was back on the train just after 1am to try and find my seat in the dark and walking past rows of sleeping travellers.i eventually found it and settled down for a night of very broken sleep.i think that was the hardest thing about being on the train,i just didn't get much sleep.i was amongst the rest of the backpackers who had chosen the cheap option of just having a seat for the whole of the journey.they didn't recline much so sleeping on them was a tad difficult.i have to admit trying to have a shower was fun,sliding around the very small cubicle as the train was chugging along and trying to get washed was a challenge!i was more worried about crashing out through the door to be revealed to the rest of the carriage!

our 2nd stop was at a place called Cook,right in the middle of the Nullabor,where apparently only 4 people live - can you imagine that isolation?!as you can see from my photos,we were greeted by some interesting signs!

we finally arrived in Adelaide early on the tuesday morning.i really enjoyed the experience of the train journey,but part of me was glad to get off it and experience freedom again.the train travels on further to sydney,i think i might have been going a wee bit nuts by that stage!it was funny how being on the train that long affected your balance,i had 'train legs' for the rest of the day,i was so dizzy and felt like the ground was moving under me!

it was a great reflecting period for me as i spent most of the time in my own thoughts.most of the people around me were japanese so didn't speak much english so my only conversations happened in the food car with american,irish and german backpackers.i think it was a good time for me to think back on what the year had held for me and how much i felt i had grown and how blessed i had been with my experiences and the people i had met.it was an enjoyable time to sit and think back on everything.

soon i will blog about my time in Adelaide.

surf's up!!!

2006-06-12T23:07:00.000+01:00

Just thought i'd put up some of the surf style pictures i took while i was in australia.i loved to watch people surfing,i was just in awe by it.it actually really relaxed me,a calming influence but an exciting spectacle at the same time!paradox!!i did try it once,but alas i nearly drowned,maybe irish chicks and surfing aren't meant to go together!i would like to try it again someday but this time with miniature waves!!

World Cup excitement!

2006-06-10T12:10:00.000+01:00

The World Cup has started - woohoo!!!I'm actually totally excited!The opening day was great entertainment with heaps of goals already!Football galore for the next few weeks - yippee!

Still a geek!

2006-06-06T23:22:00.000+01:00

Happy Birthday Shayela!!!

2006-06-03T23:46:00.000+01:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHAYELA!!!

This is my most awesome aussie friend and I MISS her SO SO much!!!

I hope you had a really great birthday darl,you deserve it!I just wish I'd been able to join you in the celebrations!I hope you're practising your tin whistle!

Not long now til I see you - can't wait!!!
love ya xoxoxoxoxo

Geeks in the pink!

2006-06-02T21:36:00.000+01:00

I think I should go away more often as last night I was honoured with another welcome home gift!My cousin lizzie introduced me to this american artist called Jason Mraz,she raved about him while I was away and being the darling that she is,she got me his cd and tickets to his gig!

We got there for the doors opening so we could get a good position,we even managed to get our 'Geek in the pink' t-shirts before heading into the gig!It was all standing and we ended up in the 2nd row!It was just a really good night,he was great,we had a sing along and he interacted with the audience really well.some guys in the audience bought him and his band members a pint each and i ended up with half of one spilling ever so close to my head as they were passed over the crowd to them!

The venue is great,it's not that big and you're so close to the stage that you gain a whole new appreciation of the music.i've previously seen people like Beth Orton,Jurassic 5 and Bright Eyes play there,all great gigs.I also believe that U2 performed there in their really early days.

Another great night out - thanks lizzie!!

Although we both have to admit that we were REALLY disappointed that he didn't play 'Geek in the pink" - i mean,why?!

Just because...I think it's a cool pic!

2006-05-31T23:45:00.000+01:00

Party trick!

2006-05-29T16:56:00.000+01:00

Apparently I used to amuse my cousins with this 'curtain performance' when they were little!ha ha!

And more...

2006-05-29T16:48:00.000+01:00

Such posers!!!

2006-05-29T16:18:00.000+01:00

The night of posing begins...

2006-05-29T15:18:00.000+01:00

My saturday night was spent in the always wonderful company of my cousins!it was one of those 'let's crash my auntie's house for dinner' nights and it was fun as always!i just 'happened' to have my dad's camera in my bag so after ali decided she was bored after 2 seconds of the movie we were watching we had bit of a photo shoot instead!it all started off quite normal as you can see in the photos above but the next blog will show you how it turned into a living room version of 'america's next top model!'

Happy Birthday Jenna!!!

2006-05-27T12:35:00.000+01:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNA!!!

This chick is an absolute legend!She was my highlight of my trip up the west coast,it wouldn't have been as much fun without her!She has this amazing ability of being completely cheeky but adding this little smile afterwards and totally getting away with it!I officially adopted her as my little sister and I miss her heaps!Everyday was a laugh with her,even the bad days!

Love ya babe and hope you have an amazing birthday!Wish I could be there to help you celebrate!Someday we shall be reunited - Liverpool or Belfast?!Or maybe we should just go back to Oz!

Amy's on a book!

2006-05-23T16:30:00.000+01:00

hey check out this book,it's got my brother's girlfriend on the cover!yeah it actually is her!how funny!

what cool parents!!!

2006-05-22T01:03:00.000+01:00

Awww,look!it's my mum and dad!i found this photo the other day,it's when they were first married and the other one was taken last year.love it that they're still happily married after 30 years!my parents are awesome!

Any comments?

2006-05-22T00:35:00.000+01:00

I found this today and found it pretty interesting,please leave comments with your opinions of it...

An Atheist Professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem science has with God, The Almighty.He asks one of his new students to stand and.....

Prof: So you believe in God?

Student: Absolutely, sir.

Prof: Is God good?

Student: Sure.

Prof: Is God all-powerful?

Student: Yes.

Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill.But God didn't. How is this God good then? Hmm?

(Student is silent.)

Prof: You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?

Student: Yes.

Prof: Is Satan good?

Student: No.

Prof: Where does Satan come from?

Student: From...God...

Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?

Student: Yes.

Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything.Correct?

Student: Yes.

Prof: So who created evil?

(Student does not answer.)

Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?

Student: Yes, sir.

Prof: So, who created them?

(Student has no answer.)

Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?

Student: No, sir.

Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?

Student: No, sir.

Prof: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, or smelled your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?

Student: No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.

Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?

Student: Yes.

Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol,science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?

Student: Nothing. I only have my faith.

Prof: Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.

Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?

Prof: Yes.

Student: And is there such a thing as cold?

Prof: Yes.

Student: No sir. There isn't.

(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)

Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that.There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.

(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)

Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?

Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?

Student: You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence ofsomething. You can have low light, normal light, bright light,flashing light.... But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't.If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?

Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?

Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.

Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?

Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but man has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?

Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, then yes, of course I do.

Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?

(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)

Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even
prove that this process is an on-going endeavour, are you not teaching your own opinion, sir? Are you not a preacher rather than a scientist?

(The class is in uproar)

Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain?

(The class breaks out into laughter)

Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelled it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?

(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his faceunfathomable.)

Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.

Student : That is it, sir.... The link between man & God is FAITH.That is all that keeps things moving & alive.

Now guess who the student is........That young man was ALBERT EINSTEIN.......

Footie in the garden.

2006-05-21T00:20:00.000+01:00

This afternoon my bro,his girlfriend and I returned to our younger days and played a little football in the back garden. Chris bought a net for him and his friends to mess around with when they go for their 'lads weekend away' and we just had to try it out!When chris and i were younger we used to spend our summer days playing footie in the garden.Today Amy,his girlfriend,joined us and we managed to cause the usual damage - knocking over plants,holes in the grass,breaking garden ornament type things!but we still had fun and haven't revealed all the damage to our parents yet - shush,don't tell!

A little bit of Oz.

2006-05-21T00:08:00.000+01:00

I had a little bit of a moment of feeling like I was back in Australia on Thursday night. First of all my cousin Lizzie brought me some Milo from Edinburgh!i was so excited,i haven't had it since I was in Oz and you can't get it here at all.Lizzie had to go to a South African shop in Edinburgh to find it - how good is she?!Milo is like that missing drink when you offer someone tea or coffee here,in Oz it was "tea,coffee or Milo?".It's kind of like hot chocolate but slightly different and the genius of it is that you can drink it hot or cold!Plus it's supposed to have vitamins and minerals in it so you don't feel so bad for drinking so much of it!I'm so glad Lizzie found it as I was seriously considering getting some shipped over from Oz!

Later the same night,Liz and I went to a huge church in Belfast to see Hillsong London. It was such a great night, it's part of what I love about church - the absolutely amazing music that's played now. It's not all old hymns and choruses that people think of when they think of church (although some of the old stuff is pretty cool too). Church is such an exciting place to be nowadays!It gave me some more Oz memories as I visited Hillsong while in Sydney and it was just awesome.

Bye Juls....

2006-05-18T00:32:00.000+01:00

Aww,I had to say goodbye to my Juls tonight - sob!I've known her since school so she's seen me in my best and worst times and she's still my friend!She's moving to Edinburgh,she's an Architect and studied in Edinburgh and just loves it and decided to go back and I'm really proud of her for doing it!Plus,it means I've got her and my cousin to go visit now in Ed - love it!Will miss ya juls.

Go Barca!!!

2006-05-18T00:03:00.000+01:00

Tonight was the Champions League Final between Barcelona and Arsenal.Now usually I would back the english team but after Arsenal stole 4th spot from Spurs in the Premiership and also because they are our arch rivals,I was totally going for Barcelona!Oh,you've no idea how much I wanted Barca to kick Arsenal's butt!It also helped that I have a Barcelona shirt from when I visited the Nou Camp when I was on holiday in Spain with my friends when I was about 19.

It was a scary first few minutes when Thierry Henry came close a couple of times for Arsenal but then their goalkeeper got sent off and I thought woo-hoo Barca will dominate now!They did but after a dive from an Arsenal player Sol Campbell headed them in front after a free-kick.It looked like Barca were never going to score but finally they did in the 76th minute and then again in the 80th minute! 2 goals in 4 minutes! yee-ha! they won!

I just still wish Spurs had held onto 4th place then we would have been in the Champions League next year.But I'm still happy that Arsenal lost!

Take That on tour!!!

2006-05-15T00:00:00.000+01:00

Take That reunited!
amy with Take That in the background
the very gorgeous Jason Orange
the boys after their Beatles medley
when we first saw them!
piano gathering!
mobile phones instead of lighters!
very suave!

I've just got back from seeing Take That in concert and it was just amazing!okay,i know it's probably sad to admit I was a Take That fan,but i was,so there!i didn't get to see them in concert 'back in the day!' so I was thrilled to see them tonight!My absolutely wonderful little bro bought me the ticket for Christmas and I went along with his girlfriend,who is also a huge fan!

The night started off great as Beverley Knight was the support act,I didn't even know that she was going to be performing, I think she's brill so I was excited to see her.She has just got such an amazing voice!After a great performance from her we didn't have to wait too long before the boys came out - and the screaming started!I will admit that both amy and I got a wee bit emotional - ha ha!we were discussing afterwards that it was honestly like we were transported back to our early teens when we would have given anything to have seen them in concert,we were living our teenage dreams!

The show was just amazing,it was so well put together and pure entertainment.They played all their classics and we sang and danced and just had such a good night!They even walked through the crowd but unfortunately amy and i weren't in a section that was near to them.we did have amazing seats though and i attempted to take a few pics,they turned out a bit blurry as i had to use nightvision without a tripod but i think you can still tell it's them!

Poor gary barlow still can't dance but it was entertaining watching him try - bless him!wee mark owen is still as cute as ever,both howard and jason had the amazing bodies on show and their dance moves were great!robbie williams even made an appearance in the form of a hologram - ha ha!there was a show of fire for 'relight my fire' where beverley knight took lulu's role,then there was a rain show for 'back for good' where the boys got very wet and some of the crowd too!

During 'babe' instead of everyone waving their lighters,we caught up with the times and used our mobile phone lights instead - it worked really well!They finished with 'never forget' and it was just so good,the crowd got totally into it and it was a perfect end to a brilliant gig!

I really could talk about it all night,amy and I were as high as kites by the time it had finished!

I'm now proud to say that I've seen Take That in concert!!!woo hoo!!!

Whisked off to Ayr!

2006-05-14T17:00:00.000+01:00

Not content with staying in one place for too long,i was whisked off to Scotland yesterday for the day with my auntie and my cousins and a bunch of women/gals i'd never met before in my life!we headed off early to catch the boat over to Stranraer and then got a coach to Ayr.It was basically a shopping day,even though i don't really have any money i still managed to shop - ha ha!To be honest I was more entertained by my cousins and their friends!It was an experience spending the day with 18 and 19 year olds!I hadn't met most of them before so there was that inital 'gotta suss this chick out' kinda thing going on,but by the end of the day they were giving me heaps - bad influence from my cousins!

The pics are of my cousins and their friends,i didn't actually take any of Ayr itself as to be honest it just looks like any other town.It was a long day but a good one,thanks for all the fun gals!

PS - how white am I now?!?!

Which one is Pob?!

2006-05-11T00:43:00.000+01:00

Does anyone remember Pob?I might be showing my age here but he was from a kids show when I was wee and he used to write the alphabet with a magic pen!anyone know what i'm talking about?!

anyway,can you tell which one he is?!?

Easyrider friends

2006-05-11T00:09:00.000+01:00

craig,kev and phill.phill is from bradford and he just cracked me up!he has a degree in marine biology (i think!) and he just LOVES his animals!i swear he's david attenborough the 2nd!it was like having our own personal tour guide when we snorkelled the Ningaloo Reef or came across ANY type of animal.i was very impressed by all his knowledge and his obvious passion for wildlife.I got to meet up with him again in Melbourne where we had a great weekend (see blog on melbourne)
christian,me,paula and philip
jenna,gen and kev
philip and christian - the swedes!cool guys,even if they did keep stealing my seat on the bus!they had that ability to switch from swedish to english in a second so you were never quite sure what they were saying around you - sneaky!
me,ashley and paula.ashley was from canada and had such a great sense of humour which came out more and more as the trip went on.it was great as i got to meet up with her again in Brisbane and hang out some more,a really easy person to get on with.
gen and kev,couple from london.again such nice people!such an easy couple to be around and very entertaining!
paula and craig from liverpool.they were travelling along with jenna and the 3 of them together just cracked me up - very funny!just lovely people,totally glad i got to spend time with them.
jenna from liverpool - one of the coolest chick's i met on my travels!she was just awesome,always made me laugh then commented on how much i smiled,but it was because she was around making me smile!she put up with me taking heaps of photos of her and looked after me when i was sick.i was able to stay in contact with her a lot while i moved around oz,even calling her for company when I used to get lost!she became like a little sis to me.love her to pieces!

I thought I would dedicate a blog to some of the guys i met on the easyrider tour as we bonded very quickly - we were together 24/7!they were just the coolest gang to be with and i feel very blessed to have met them all.

More Melbourne pics...

2006-05-10T12:09:00.000+01:00

melbourne by night
Koala and her baby - how cute!saw these guys during our road trip.
phill bonding with a koala statue!
my other housemate - Miss Kitty
the crew i lived with in Melbourne
Phill and I noticed this sign at Flinder's Street Train Station in Melbourne - 'irishness' is everywhere!
reunited!me,adrian and stephen.
my road trip partners - stephen and jenny
the travellers,the car,the view - how could it get any better?!
watching the sunset over the Great Ocean Road
Damien - our driver and most generous guy!

Four seasons in one day - in Melbourne

2006-05-09T22:20:00.000+01:00

Melbourne - I loved it!I was fully blessed in Melbourne as I had practically run out of money but I managed to have the best time, most of it through such generosity from people I met.First of all I had a free place to stay as a friend,who's australian but I met in Ireland,arranged for me to stay at her brothers' and friends house,so i slept on their living room floor.it was great to see her again as she'd left ireland about 2 years ago.i spent time with her and then got to know melbourne city a bit better by just wandering around.also my friend phill who i'd met on the easyrider tour happened to be in melbourne at same time as me,staying with friends in st.kilda so i got to hang out with them one day,going to healesville animal sanctuary (phill loves his animals and so it was like having my own personal tour guide - he knows so much!) and then we went and found ramsay street and larked around there for a while,swinging off lamp-posts and everything - the poor people in that street must put up with so much from us tourists!the following day phill and i hit melbourne in style,i don't think i've ever walked so much in my life!we did everything we could fit into one day,from cake in aclan street,walking st kilda pier,the markets,melbourne museum,imax theatre,visiting rod laver arena,the MCG,walking along Yarra River,the casino,watching the 'pigeon fryers' and finally having a race on plastic horses in the games arcade!it was an action packed day and a most enjoyable one!

coincidentally another friend of mine,who i hadn't seen in nearly 2 years as him and his girlfriend moved to england,emailed me to say that he was in melbourne,and so was i!i also discovered that he'd been in touch with another friend of ours,who was australian but who we'd met in ireland (there are quite a few aussies who come to ireland!), who lives in melbourne.so,one evening,in a pub in fitzroy,i was with these 2 guys again,the last time we'd all been together was in a pub in bangor (my home town) when i said my final goodbyes to them both as they were both leaving in the same week!it was a tad surreal to be reunited in melbourne with no planning whatsoever!not only did i have a great night with them,i was also introduced to the couple who stephen and jenny were staying with and the guy,damien,was the most generous guy ever.he was horrified to hear that i wasn't going to get to see the Great Ocean Road as I'd run out of money,so much so that he decided he was going to take a day off work to drive me,stephen and jenny down it and go see all the sights along the way eg.the twelves apostles,london bridge,koala santuary,port campbell etc. as much as i protested that i couldn't let him do that,especially as he'd only known me for a couple of hours,he wouldn't take no for an answer and so it was arranged for the day before i left melbourne to fly back to perth.i was even more overjoyed when they rocked up at my door early in the morning in a vintage kingswood car which he'd done up and it just looked amazing!i love roadtrips,so with the cool car,cool music,cool people and oh the amazing scenery - i was in my element!we spent over 15 hours doing our road trip and i just loved it all!it was definitely the best day i could've ended my first period of travelling on.one of my favourite days in oz!sunset over the great ocean road view was a memory.ahhh,i wish i was there right now.

Sad about Spurs.

2006-05-07T17:05:00.000+01:00

I'm destroyed!Again comes the trauma of being a football (soccer) supporter. So,today was the last day of the season and it was a HUGE one for Spurs,basically for them to finish in 4th spot and qualify for the Champions League they had to win,or Arsenal had to lose,or they both had to draw...all of these possibilities occurred throughout the day as scores changed,leads changed and heartbeats became faster.There were early goals,equalizers,penalities saved,close chances...but alas,the final score was West Ham 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1 and Arsenal 4 Wigan 2 - so we missed out and I admit I cried and honestly thought I might throw up at one stage!We have qualified for the UEFA cup which at the start of the season we would have been more than happy with but to have been in 4th spot for so long and to have that opportunity to finish above our main rivals,Arsenal,would have just been glorious!

It didn't help that most of the team had got food poisoning and so were still pretty sick today during the match.There are actually police investigations going on regarding the food poisoning!I bet it was one of the Arsenal players,Sol Campbell maybe who deserted us for our rival team a few years ago!hmmm,suspicious I tell you!

The only other downfall would have been if we had managed to clinch 4th spot and then Arsenal went and won the Champions League final which is played in a couple of weeks,as then they would have taken our spot away from us anyway - oh the highs and lows and confusions of football!But today I am sad :-(

Brisbane - it rained!

2006-05-07T00:49:00.000+01:00

Next I travelled a weird route and went back on myself to Brisbane,having flown there from Sydney.actually the night i arrived in Brisbane I ended up sleeping in the living room in a couple's flat that i had never met before in my life!she was the sister of a girl i worked with for the huge amount of time i was in the cheese factory!so that was a bit random but very nice of them!i then moved onto the hostel the following day and it was weird as there were hardly any people in it and i even spent a night in the dorm by myself!actually there didn't seem to be that many people about generally in Brisbane while i was there.i think the bad weather had a lot to do with it,my trip to Byron Bay was even cancelled because of it!i spent a lot of time cruising about the town and trying to find things to do that didn't cost any money.i even ended up going to a Kylie Minogue exhibition - i loved her when i was little!and wow,she's so little!had her tour costumes on plastic models and she's just tiny!

It was great as just as I was starting to feel a tad lonely i walked into the YHA shop and there sitting at one of the computer terminals was Gen and Kev,the couple from london i'd met on the easyrider bus!hurrah!so i got to spend a day with them and we did some touristy things like go up Mount K'ootha to see the view over the city,it was a bit cloudy but it was still a great view.Gen and Kev are in a photo above.

The city did unusually have a beach in it which I would've loved to have hung out at but it rained!apart from the day i took the pic of course,think that was my first day and thought - "ooh,i'll have plenty chances to come back here and sunbake" - nah!although it was so great that the day i set off up the sunshine coast to Noosa,it was a sunny day and I truly appreciated it!

I would like to see Brisbane again when the weather's better and I have more money with me to see more things.

Surreal Sydney

2006-05-05T21:52:00.000+01:00

Well I don't know anyone called May to do a 'May in May' entry so I'm returning to Oz once more!Now I'm in Sydney!Have to put up the obligatory shots of the opera house and harbour bridge of course.

My dad flew with me to Sydney so I got to spend a couple of days there with him before he flew back home.We did all the touristy things like the harbour cruise,visited the opera house,went round the botanic gardens,did a city tour,went to paddy's markets (i thought it would be irish?!) and I just lapped up the fact my dad was taking me out to dinner at night so i got some proper food!it was great to see him again and sad to see him go.i was lucky enough to have a place to stay in sydney,lesley,a girl from my home town who has been living in sydney for 8 years and who i had actually only met once before,let me stay in her house for just over a week.i slept in her kitchen!i was just loving the fact i didn't have to pay any rent!she was great and took me to some 'sights' like the 'home and away' beach!ha ha!To experience Bondi Beach life we had lunch at the Bondi surf club and watched the surfers.i also got to meet up with my friend craig from busso who very kindly took me to the zoo and showed me about Manly.I also spent a day going up around the Blue Mountains and little towns nearby with some randoms on a tour - always enjoyable being with people from different countries and guessing their accents!

I was a bit daunted when i first got to Syndey because it was the first big city i had been to on my travels and it was BIG!i also kept getting lost which wasn't very comforting!i felt a bit more settled when i got to spend a day in Manly and was near the beach and it was smaller and my heart rate slowed a bit.I even ended up getting offered a job in Sydney as one of those people who hassle you on the streets to sign up to donate money to charities each month,but sydney was so expensive that there would be no way i could've survived.plus i hate hassling people!

Sydney was slightly surreal to me,one of those places that you always think of when australia is mentioned with the icon of sydney opera house.you see it so much on tv but as much as i did like sydney,i think there are much cooler places to visit and appreciate.it stressed me out at times because it was so big and busy and it felt a bit impersonal,think i'm more of a chilled city type!

April in April

2006-04-28T17:00:00.000+01:00

beach dancing
thongs for ears!
aussie flag performance
captain australia!
biker chick
aussie surfer!
doin her bit for the country
new 'Target' model
beautiful
surf chick
model extraordinaire!
loving some Coke

As it's nearly the end of April (the month!) and because I miss this chick so much, I thought I'd dedicate a blog all to beautiful April!April was the most photogenic person I met in Oz which is just as well as I did take a tonne of pics of her!She enjoyed making a toast and indulging in some scones with jam and cream - and a cup of tea of course!!

My favourite April quote was on Australia day on the way to the beach when she said:
"even the sound of surf makes me happy" - now that's a true surfer!

Apes,I'll never forget Australia day and our dancing, doing shots of diet coke,making lots of toasts,taking ridiculous photos and just having lots of fun!I miss you soooooo much and I hope I can see you again REALLY soon!it will always be 'all at heart my dear!'.love you xoxoxoxoxoxo

And then there was Cairns...

2006-04-26T19:44:00.000+01:00

So,from Darwin I flew to Cairns and I loved it!I'd stayed up the whole night in Darwin as my flight to Cairns was at 6am and I'd checked out of hostel so didn't have anywhere to sleep.However,the Easyrider crew arrived in Darwin that night so I got to reunite with them and have a bit of a dance at one of the local pubs!I wasn't able to check into my new place in Cairns until after midday so I remember crashing in a park in Cairns for a while,must've looked a bit dodgy!Anyway,that avo I cruised around Cairns and happened to notice a very interesting deal for a skydive and bungy jump!I took the leaflet with me and pondered it for a while because they are 2 things i've always wanted to do.At this stage I was totally on my own as I'd left the crew I'd been with and my dad was coming to see me in a couple of days so I thought I would just take the plunge and do it!the next morning i was jumping out of a plane at 14,000 ft and an hour an a half after that i was bungy jumping off a 150ft tower in the middle of the rainforest!it was an adrenaline filled day!the skydive was just amazing,we free-falled for a minute and the rush was incredible,seriously I was so in awe i didn't scream or anything!then the parachute came out and we slowly glided back down to earth,that took about 5 minutes and I got to steer for a little while!on one side of me was the rainforest,on the other was the great barrier reef - amazing!i was far more scared doing the bungy and for a wee moment wasn't sure if i could do it.however,after a brief counselling session from the 'bungy guy' i looked towards the horizon and jumped!oh it was amazing!

while in Cairns I also got to travel through the rainforest on a train and travel above it on a skyrail.then more amazing times came when dad and i went snorkelling in the middle of the great barrier reef and i finally found Nemo!!!

Cairns holds heaps of great memories for me and was definitely one of my favourite places.

The pics are of my dad on the boat going out to the middle of the great barrier reef,me with my attractive stinger suit on ( i might as well embarrass myself a bit more!), me bobbing about in the water over the reef,me after jumping off the tower for my bungy and me rigged up to do my skydive!

Happy 19th Birthday Lizzie!!!

2006-04-23T16:22:00.000+01:00

A sensible pic!wee lizzie all grown up along with ali.
Dr. Evvvviiiiiillllllll!
Banister dancer!
America's next top models.
No idea what's going on here!
Gonna vom!
A younger lizzie and heather,trying to strangle their big cuz!
Bottoms up!
Baby lizzie with a little jayne
Lizzie,me and ali - these girls used to show me some respect!ha ha!
ali and lizzie - girls with attitude!

This blog is dedicated to my beautiful cousin lizzie because it's her birthday tomorrow - Mon 24th April!So,here we see lizzie through the years from a little bub to the beautiful 19 year old that she is now.Lizzie's always been an awesome chick,and even though she'll always be my 'wee' cousin I see her as an amazing girl who I'm really proud of for taking the scary route of moving to edinburgh for uni, and it's developed her into even more of an awesome chick!

Lizzie,I LOVE the laughs we have and the ridiculous dances and photos shoots and girls nights out and how you make fun of me and get away with it and the deep conversations and just hanging out in general - I just love ya!!!I love being your big cuz!Happy Birthday dahl!!!

The race for 4th place...

2006-04-22T15:11:00.000+01:00

What an avo!seriously,it was a rollercoaster ride!anyone who knows me knows that I'm a mad Spurs supporter,have been since i was 9 years old.well they were playing arsenal today and it was a huge match as they're both fighting for 4th place in the league,which would mean they would also play in the Champions League next season.anyway,arsenal are a huge team and it's been like a million years since we beat them on their home ground,so it was a MASSIVE game!spurs played the best in the 1st half,with quite a few chances and then the moment of elation arrived when in the 2nd half we scored - YAY!!!!i actually physically lept out of my chair and my dad and bro were going crazy too!arsenal brought on 2 new players and we managed to hang on until about the 83rd minute when Thierry Henry,who you have to admit is bit of a genius player,did the dreadful deed of scoring.1-1 and then Edgar Davids got sent off for us and arsenal piled on the pressure some more,i swear i thought i was going to have a heart-attack!we thankfully managed to hang on until the final whistle and i was never so glad to hear it!2 games left in the season we HAVE to win them both!oh the emotions involved in being a football supporter.

And finally!

2006-04-22T02:05:00.000+01:00

All the photos i've put up are from australia.The kids are my second cousins,a couple of my bro and the others are friends with a few random shots added too!They're not the best pics but I thought the black and white added a different view when looking at them.

And some more...

2006-04-22T02:03:00.000+01:00

Bit of grey...

2006-04-22T01:36:00.000+01:00

I was feeling a bit grey tonight so I ended up printing out some of my pics in greyscale,just thought I'd share them with you!

Onto Darwin...

2006-04-21T00:15:00.000+01:00

I lost track of the aussie trip there for a couple of blogs,so now I'm back in Darwin!Well,Darwin wasn't my favourite of places,I mean it was grand,I did like it to a degree and am glad I visited it, but it's not a place I'd put at the top of my list to go back to.For starters you can't really go into the water without fear of getting eaten by a crocodile,you can't even lie on some of the beaches in case they're lurking there!I didn't get to do much in Darwin and it was one of those more lonely places.I have to say that the Mindil markets were great,the food was awesome and had some fantastic street performers.I also got to watch the sunset on Mindil beach with a few hundred other people!The 'jumping crocs' and getting to hold a couple of snakes were the highlight - oh and I did also eat the green bum of an ant!it tasted of lime!

Footprints...

2006-04-20T00:49:00.000+01:00

I was looking through the category of my 'random' photos earlier and found this one i'd taken on one of the beaches in Oz,it reminded me the 'footprints' story so i thought i'd post it as it's just really awesome!it never fails to encourage me so hopefully it'll encourage anyone who reads it now,even if you've read it a million times before!

One night a man had a dream.
He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the LORD.
Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.
For each scene he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him, and the other to the LORD.
When the last scene of his life flashed before him,he looked back at the footprints in the sand.
He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints.
He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life.
This really bothered him and he questioned the LORD about it:
"LORD, you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way.But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life,there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me."
The LORD replied:
"My son, my precious child,I love you and I would never leave you.During your times of trial and suffering,when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

Reunion with Reuben...

2006-04-19T01:13:00.000+01:00

Tonight I was reunited with my good friend Reuben!if anyone ever met Ruby the duck while on my travels in Oz,reuben was the one who gave me ruby and named it after himself!so,reubs told me he wanted to see my aussie pics - i think he got a tad scared when i showed him how many there were!the pic above shows my albums and bear in mind that i only put my best pics in them so there are many more photos about!it is always good to meet up with old friends and find that things haven't changed even though it has been a very long time since you've seen them.reubs and i tend to talk A LOT when we're together so we had to break up the conversation and promise a continuation at a later stage,otherwise we would have been here all night!

Awesome event on Good Friday...

2006-04-15T00:23:00.000+01:00

It's good friday and again we're reminded of the absolutely amazing thing Jesus did for us. I mean it just blows my mind that He went through such a horrific ordeal just for us.I could write heaps about it but it comes down to being the most incredible act in history and I just think it's awesome and I'm so glad I have Him in my life.

So,where was I in Oz?!

2006-04-14T23:51:00.000+01:00

So,let's get back to the Oz trip!I think we're hitting Exmouth next!More snorkelling was done here although at this stage I'd started to develop a chest infection so I was finding it a tad difficult to breath through the snorkel so I sat out most of the underwater frolics!Some people rated Exmouth over Coral Bay but I really don't see how that's possible (in my mind anyway!) I thought Coral Bay was far superior!After spending the night in Exmouth we basically drove for most of the next day to get us to Tom Price. There's a pic of us all 'in da hood' above and you can see the corrugated iron huts behind us that we had to sleep in!There was a cross-over of easyrider buses here though as our original driver was coming down to Perth with the new crew she had picked up in Broome,so we had a good night with more random backpackers!We got to spend the next morning in Karijini National Park and saw some more stunning gorges and did quite a lot of hiking and swimming in rock pools.At this stage I was well and truly coughing up a lung and on top of my severe lack of fitness I was struggling to get up the huge rocky hills to get out of the gorges!We now had a newly qualified doctor,a nurse and a physiotherapist on the bus so later that night as I was dying in bed I was well looked after and Dr.Rob even got his stethoscope out to listen to my chest and ordered me to get an anti-biotic when we stopped in Broome!So,after spending the night in a hostel in Port Hedland surrounded by barbed wire accompanied with the warning not to go out alone after 6pm (yikes!),we embarked on our final day's drive.We got to stop off at 80 mile beach which was amazing to see,there really were miles and miles of white sandy beach!Next stop was the final destination for some of us...Broome!A group of us spent about a week here and had fun on cable beach,going to the outdoor cinema,taking sunset camel rides - see pic - and hanging out in our beautiful hostel,seriously it was like a resort,had a pool and everything,it was awesome!This was the end of the road for my easyrider tour and after my inital fear when I got on the bus I had the best time and am so so glad I did it.I still keep in touch with some of the crew from that tour and hopefully I'll get to meet up with some of them at some stage.It was just a time of great experiences,great sights,little sleep,early starts,LOTS of driving,but oh so much fun and so many laughs and memories that will last forever.

25 years married!!!

2006-04-12T23:51:00.000+01:00

It was my auntie and uncle's 25th wedding anniversary at the weekend so my gandparents threw a party for them last night.I think it's awesome that they're still happily married!You can see them with their 4 kids (my adorable cousins!) looking very respectable for a photo session...however, afterwards in the next room photo-posing mayhem broke loose!!!

France interruption...

2006-04-12T23:24:00.000+01:00

I've been missing for the weekend as I ended up in Nice,France!I'm only home from Oz and I'm away again!My dad obviously felt that it had been far too long since we'd all gone away together as a family and along with the ridiculously cheap flights to Europe,he decided to take us all to France for the weekend.(He did have it all arranged yonks ago,wasn't just a spontanteous decision!)It was really nice,we just chilled,hung out in the town,did a few wee touristy things and just had a good time together.
Mum was understandably unimpressed though when chris,dad and I spent 2 hours in an Irish pub watching Spurs beat Man City!She worries about me watching matches in public as I get a bit excited and quite animated!think she thinks i'm going to get beaten up some day by a supporter of the opposing team - ha ha!
I actually really loved the fact that the morning that we flew there we flew over the Alps and saw them so clearly,it was stunning.Then on the night we returned we could actually see the Eiffel tower from the sky,how cool is that?!The pics above are just of Nice itself along with my mum,dad and bro.I'm such a lucky child!

Coral Bay rules!!!

2006-04-06T23:29:00.000+01:00

Coral Bay was one of my favourite places in australia,it was just so beautiful plus all of us who hopped off the bus there just had so much fun - it was amazing!we snorkelled the ningaloo reef,hired quad bikes and bombed around the beaches and sand-dunes on them - only me and 2 of the guys got told off for speeding (the shame!).we also just hung out,played soccer on the beach and had heaps and heaps of laughs!it was the best!oh,i can't forget the 6hr whale watching boat trip we went on and didn't actually see ANY whales!plus heaps of people started to get sea-sick,most enjoyable!we also had a mad israeli guy in our dorm who had carried a mannequins head around australia until someone stole it off him!imagine trying to get that onto the plane?!i have no idea why he did it!we all got slightly unnerved when he produced photographs of it and it actually looked like a real woman's head - yikes!so,we were slightly relieved when he only stayed in our dorm for one night!Coral Bay will always have great memories for me.

Day 3...

2006-04-06T00:33:00.000+01:00

The highlights of day 3 were the dolphins at Monkey Mia and hanging out with the pelicans.We got to visit the beautiful Shell Beach,which really is made out of shells!Didn't walk along it in my bare feet!We stayed the night in Coral Bay and here a group of us stayed for a few days and had some adventures of our own!

'Oz experience' continues...

2006-04-05T21:24:00.000+01:00

So,our first stop on the Easyrider tour was the Pinnacles Desert.It was pretty cool actually although those dark skies you see in the pic meant we didn't stay very long!We then did a lot of driving,got to know each other a bit better and stayed our first night in Kalbarri,where I ended up being one of only 2 girls in a dorm,the other 6 were guys!Well,I had to get used to sleeping in a room full of strangers,just didn't expect there to be so many males about!Everyone was so tired though that we just all got on with it as our leaving time each morning was just before 7am.

The next day we visited Kalbarri's gorges where did we did a lot of climbing about,took a lot of pics and then had a go at abseiling!The pic with heaps of us in it is the original crew that we started off with,they were great,we all got on really well.We're sitting in front of what is called 'Nature's Window', there were amazing views from the tops of the gorges. The abseiling was hilarious, the last time I'd tried it I was 12 years old so I was a tad rusty!First of all everyone did the 'normal' way of going backwards down the side of the cliff and that went grand. Next we were given the option of doing it forwards,I of course couldn't resist trying it!For those who have never done it forwards, you basically slide down the top part of the cliff on your bum then you sort of flip forwards then run down the side of the cliff!it was great fun until something happened to my rope and I got stuck half way down!then i started spinning!i didn't know what to do, i just started laughing until it got sorted out then i was off again,only to get stuck again a couple of feet from the bottom!i was so close but i just couldn't get my feet onto the ground!funny thing was that people started taking pictures like crazy as they all thought it was so funny!i did eventually get down though - phew!

After driving some more and checking out a few more things,like the Shark Bay World Heritage Centre and the Hamelin Pool Stromatolites we spent our second night in Denham.

interruption to 'oz experience'...

2006-04-04T23:08:00.000+01:00

I just got another batch of pics developed and found this one!i remember taking it in Hahndorf,South Australia...what does the world think of the Irish?!ha ha!

this is the oz experience!

2006-04-03T23:53:00.000+01:00

Over the next wee while I'm going to try and put on some pics and some ramblings about my travel experience in Oz!the first travel adventure started on this bus with a bunch of randoms and oh we had a lot of fun!i left perth at the start of september on this bus,i was on my own,i was very nervous,i didn't have a clue what i was in for, but i ended up having an awesome time and met some people i hope i'll still be in touch with for many years to come!each night we slept in a different town and there was always the option to stay in that town until the next bus came through a few days later,or if we stayed on the bus there was always the possibility that new people would 'jump on' in that town.so,i met a heap of new people and can honestly say that i got on with all of them,although one particular guy did test everyone's patience more than once!we were all secretly thankful when he only stayed on for one day!it wasn't a great first impression when the first thing he did was mock the northern irish accent!now,i've been very much used to that and take it all in good humour,but this guy just pushed,and broke the boundaries!However,as annoying as he was he did become part of the travelling experience and taught us all how to bite our tongues that little more often!

let the memories begin...

let me introduce you to....my bro!

2006-04-03T21:23:00.000+01:00

this is my darling little bro,chris!he's gorgeous hey?!love him to bits!the chick is his beautiful girlfriend amy,i call them the catwalk couple!

aussie dedication...

2006-04-03T14:15:00.000+01:00

I know i'm an Irish girl but I just LOVE australia, so here's my loyalty to my 'second home' in my room!All my beautiful aussie friends have signed it so everytime i look at it i am reminded of them.

soon to be a white irish girl!

2006-04-03T01:50:00.000+01:00

that is how white i'll be soon!irish weather sucks!