Birthday Adventure to Doolin, Ireland

So my sweet and loving husband took me this past weekend on a surprise birthday getaway to Doolin, a teeny town on the west coast of Ireland known as the traditional Irish music capital in the world. We started out our adventure by renting a car, which was an adventure all by itself, with neither of us having yet driven in Ireland (on the left hand side of the road).

Our favorite crisps and an awesome Dublin artist James Vincent McMorrow

Thank the Lord for Tom Tom!!!

With our handy Ireland Tom Tom we safely made it out of City Centre in one piece. I took the driver's seat being directed by my hubby, as I did not have a clue at this point as to where we were headed. Along the way, we stopped at various little towns off the freeway to scope out the used bookstores and charity stores (a favorite thing of ours... we love finding cheap treasures!) And let me tell you, we did! Ross came away with a sweet brown jacket and myself with two books. On one of our stops we found an adorable tea house for tea and lunch.

The first castle we stopped at

Ross pretended to be my knight and shining armor riding on a horse (in front of castle)

Once getting off the main freeway, we drove the smaller, and definitely more narrow country roads of Ireland. The craziest part about it was these teeny roads had the same speed limit as the motorways! There would be road signs reading, "Danger Ahead!" "Drive Slowly!" and the speed limit would still be 100 km (approx. 65mph). At points we were driving 40 km under the speed limit!

We finally arrived in the town Doolin which is right on the water. We watched the sunset go down over the ocean for the first time since leaving California. It was absolutely gorgeous weather the whole weekend!

Our first night, we went to the local pub within a 5 minute walk from our B&B to find the most AMAZING irish music! There was a group of 5-6 musicians having a jam session with there instruments and a Guinness in hand between each song. A flute, banjo, guitar, accordion, drums... (and a pint in between) all came together to create the most chill atmosphere. We really sensed a true taste of traditional Ireland, from the music at this pub to the amazing hospitality of Mave, the Irish grandma who ran the B&B.

The musicians' corner

The next day, we took the car out and continued to explore all the little towns surrounding Doolin. Exploring the small village shops and ruins of cathedrals, abbys, and *INCREDIBLE* castles filled our time. My absolutely favorite man-made sight was Dromoland Castle. It was straight out of a fairy tale! I don't know what it is about castles, but they put a smile on my face:) Saturday night we went back to the same pub for another great night of good food and music.

An abby ruin in Quinn

A sad face after finding out the castle was closed

My FAVORITE CASTLE yet... Dromoland!

Front entrance to Dromoland Castle

Lake in front of Dromoland

The first view of Dromoland as you drive up

The last day, Sunday, again was gorgeous weather! We saw the Cliffs of Moher (I know mom, we cheated and previewed a sight we are going to visit during your stay. They are amazing and we can't wait to go again!) They are massive cliffs that are absolutely breathtaking. These were by far the highlight of our trip (that is not man-made). Since I LOVED the castle, I had to make two separate categories of favorites!!!! On our drive home, we randomly stopped in a town along the route and stumbled upon a St. Patrick's day parade. You could tell it was the annual, small town parade will all the locals.

Cliffs of Moher

The parade

To wrap it up, Ross did good! He planned a fantastic and relaxing weekend that gave us a great opportunity to explore this beautiful country. I wish it could be my birthday every weekend!

Finally back in Dublin

My how much time has passed! Since we had the privilege of seeing many of you over our Christmas holiday it seemed unnecessary to post on our blog. Let us just say what an incredible blessing it was to see so many of you, our precious friends and family! It brought so much joy to our lives! Since finally having the chance to come back to Ireland with a Work Visa (hallelujah!!!!!) the Lord has BLESSED me (Suzanne) with tons of work! I am tutoring three nights a week for three different students. I am tutoring two girls in high school in math and one 5th grade American boy in American History. Within the past week I was able to visit about 15 elementary schools to give them my CV and offer my substituting skills :) I look back now to the time in November when I did the same thing (but offering to volunteer) and I see how the Lord used that in amazing ways to connect me to Rathgar Junior School. Since I have been back, they have been such a great connection! I feel incredibly blessed to have come across this school. So far, I have had three opportunities to sub for them, and two times this coming week! That is loads (as they would say here) of times since the school is very small. The Lord has been so good! Plus, two weeks ago, I was able to work all week for a friend over here. It just so happened to be the same week that many schools were closed for a mid-term break, a time I would not have been asked to sub! So with all that said, Ross and I are very eagerly looking forward to the ability to travel around and see some of this amazing country we live in.

A few weekends ago to celebrate the Day of Love, Ross and I were able to take a day trip up to Howth, a seaside city north of Dublin. After church, we took the train up the coast and spent the day having a picnic on the cliffs and hiking a couple of miles toward a lighthouse that overlooks all of Dublin. Because our picnic took longer than we expected, we didn't make it all the way to the lighthouse, but in some of the pictures you can see it way in the distance. It was freezing, but not raining... so we felt very lucky! I know many of you have seen the pictures I posted already on facebook, but if not here are some of them again and a video that we took. I apologize ahead of time for my cheesiness!

The Lighthouse

We have really enjoyed the friends we have made here! We have found Dublin to be a very artsy place. It is very common to be invited to a music/art venue. One of our friends from church has done several living room gigs where he plays his original music. A few weeks ago, he showed his artwork at a local cafe and had a few friends of his play music. Our entire house group through our church went to support him. Here is a video clip of the amazing group that played that night. Enjoy!

YIPPEE! What a great day in Ireland

As many of you know, we have been praying for a job for both Ross and I since arriving in Ireland. With the terrible economy here, it has been quite challenging to find work. Ross has been searching for a job that would be low stress, related to education, and something that would not require so much from him that it would keep him from excelling in his studies. Today we finally heard back from Trinity college on a note taking position that he applied for in September. It entails sitting in on Trinity courses and typing the notes from the lectures for deaf students who are unable to take their own notes. The job pays *great* and is offering Ross the perfect amount of hours that will allow him to make enough (together with his stipend) to completely cover our monthly bills, while at the same time not taking too many hours away in his week from working on his school work and dissertation. It is the perfect job! The woman that was previously employed had a baby and will not be returning. Ross was offered the job today and he starts tomorrow. Plus, it is no problem that he will be gone for 3 weeks at Christmas. It will start right back up when he returns in January!!! Also, he applied to teach an Ethics course for adults in an evening adult program. The director said that if 10 people sign up, that the course is his. Please be praying that that works out.

For those of you that don't know, I (Suz) have been volunteering at Rathgar Junior School, a private primary school. I have been there for four weeks now and it has been the perfect thing to do during this time that I am not eligible to work. I am applying for a working visa when I come home for Christmas so that when I return in January I will be eligible to work. The school I have been volunteering at has been fabulous to me! They have been so thankful to have me there, as I have been thankful to be able to spend time with kids while building relationships with teachers and the "headmistress" (aka principal). Today, a day that I don't normally volunteer, the principal called me to ask if I would substitute for a special needs assistant. (Even though I am not technically supposed to be "working", they are paying me!) The headmistress asked if when I come back in January if I could substitute for a teacher who will be gone for a week. I was so excited! In order to do this, I need to have my work visa processed in 3 weeks while I am home for Christmas. Please join us in praying that the paperwork is quickly processed by January 9th.

Anyways, it was all together an *AMAZING NEWS DAY* for the Inmans. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us. The Lord is so good and responded in abundance to your prayers.

Hiking in Glendalough

A few weeks ago, our friends Katie and Aaron took us to hike in the Wicklow Mountains. Within the beautiful hills, filled with fall leaves and green hills, there was a monastery and cemetery. This amazing monastery began in the 600's when a hermit priest, St. Kevin, secluded himself in these mountains. Later, he brought a group of monks here to Glendalough to begin this monastery. It was absolutely breathtaking! Enjoy the pictures.

The gorgeous curvy road on the drive to Glendalough

The chapel/graveyard apart of the monastery

A view of the monastery

One of many AMAZING celtic crosses in the cemetery

A patch of forest along our hike... the trees were so thick together!

Sitting on a log :) I know it's exciting!

A view of the hills during our hike

Far left: Rebecca a friend of Katie's visiting from Germany; Far Right: Katie and Aaron

One of my favorite pictures ever! It was so magical!

The view of the valley driving home... notice the specks of white in the grass... you guessed it! Sheep

The Northern Irish Coast

What an AMAZING weekend we just had in Northern Ireland. We went to a conference with our church at another Vineyard church called Causeway Coast Vineyard. We were both so encouraged and challenged! We left knowing that our lives would never be the same. At the end of the conference our friends Katie and Aaron took us to two famous sites on the coastline: Giant's Causeway (huge stones in the shape of octagons protruding from the coastline) and a rope bridge (the bridge went from the mainland to a small island). It was insane how windy it was! We have never been in such intense wind before. At one point Ross' entire body was leaning at a 45 degree angle and the wind was holding him up! The island was covered with grassy knolls that were bouncy! We felt like little kids running and jumping on the bouncy grass. With the wind, we were picked up as we jumped! It was one of the most exhilarating and freeing experiences playing on a grassy hill surrounded by the crazy ocean waves. The northern coast is absolutely beautiful, although the weather is definitely more extreme than Dublin. Enjoy the pics!

Giant's Causeway

The Coastline

A view of the island from a distance

A wee little path we walked on to get to the bridge (and yes they actually use "wee" in the North!)

The bridge from a distance

The bridge

The bouncy hill

Bouncy... bouncy... bouncy

New Hopes for Working

A lot has happened in the past fews weeks in regards to my (Suzanne) prospects of working.  Basically, because I have a stamp on my passport that only allows me a visitors status, I have been ineligible to work.  Upon discovering this I was very discouraged.  Thankfully, I found out about a Working Holiday Authorization that I can apply for at Christmas time while I am at home in the States.  This authorization will give me permission to work for a 12 month period of time.  Finding this option was an incredible blessing!  At a time when I was getting very discouraged, this was incredible news.  Ross and I will be flying home December 16 to go directly to the San Francisco Irish Consulate.  Please join us in praying that the authorization will take less than four weeks to process.  Also, pray that between now and when we leave for Christmas that I will be able to connect to a school to work at upon my return.  We are so excited to be coming home for Christmas especially with the ability to come back to Ireland mid-January with permission to work!  The Lord is good!

The Ole Abbey

Today after church we were kidnapped by some of our new friends and taken to explore a bit of the beauty of the Irish countryside. They took us to the largest castle in Ireland (where some scenes from Braveheart were filmed) as well as an old monastery that was built in 1120AD. It was absolutely breathtaking! We have learned that the Irish countryside is littered with historical ruins like castles, ancient graveyards, and monasteries. This was our first true taste of the rolling green hills and historical character of Ireland. It was just what we needed after a long and uneventful week (as I, Ross, was sick all week). Here are a few pictures of the monastery.