Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes

Hi friends!  Remember me?  No?  Well, I can't blame you, it's been a long time.

Ok, so this is an old photo.  I think I've lost my ability to take a decent photo (something about turning 30 perhaps?), but the expression on my face here sums up I feel like all the time these days: crazy and exasperated!  :)

We have a had a seriously busy couple of months over here and I've been mum on the main reason for the craziness, but not anymore.  Actually most of you readers will already know as we're FB friends too, right?

Husband and I have made a big decision.  It was a very hard decision and one we have deliberated over for months.  For a number of reasons (that I am not going to get into), we have decided to leave Ireland and return to the United States.  In September - which, I have to keep reminding myself, is next month.

See - I told you it was a big decision.  I am feeling very bittersweet about this move.  On the one hand I am looking forward to starting a new chapter (we've done that thrice already in our six years of marriage), and once again living near my dearest friends.  On the other hand, I'm really sad to be leaving my family.  My comfort is that the world is a smaller place these days and that my parents are over in the States quite frequently so I know I'll see them - it's my siblings that I won't see so much, and my aunts and uncles.  And that does make me sad - for myself and for Munchkin, as I'd have loved her to grow up knowing that they're nearby and that she can see them often.  But such is an international marriage - one of our families will is going to get the short end of the stick and I guess now it's my turn.  Doesn't make it any easier, however.

Siblings in Spain last month - missing them already and we're not even gone yet.  :(

So - in the last month here's what's been on our plates:  family holiday in Spain (which was fantastic and much-needed - photos to come); sorting, purging, packing-up and moving out of our much-loved apartment; move in with my very generous sister in her lovely house; doctors appointments, doctors appointments, doctors appointments to make sure everything is taken care of before we leave; in-laws arriving for a 10 day visit; fundraising, training and organizing our 10 or 20 mile hike in the Mourne Mountains to raise money, in Sue's memory, for the Galway Hospice Foundation.  It's been a tad busy here in Camp K.  We've all been feeling a bit like this:

We are two days away from our big fundraising hike and we're excited but anxious, too, that we're not going to reach our €5,000 goal (at this moment, we're at €4,398).  If you've donated already, thank you SO much, it means so much to us.  It was the only way we could think of to thank the Hospice for being so wonderful and such a support to Sue during her final days, and to us during that difficult time.  If you haven't donated yet - maybe you'd give whatever you can, no matter how small.  Every penny makes a difference, believe.  You can click here to donate and to read more about our challenge and about why we're undertaking this walk for the Hospice.

Back to the big change.  Our plan is to move most likely during the second week of September (tickets are going to be bought this week, and my in-laws have graciously opened their home to us while we settle down and get on our feet, so to speak.  So if you're in the DC area (or fancy a little visit to the Capital city) please let us know - we would love to see you and can't wait to catch up with our friends who are already there!

For now I'm going to leave you with some photos of our family holiday in Spain.  We stayed here:


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Near a little town called Montillón in Galicia in Spain.  It was in the mountains and we rented a beautiful villa owned by the most generous and thoughtful landlords.  We had a pool, tennis courts, a lovely big garden and games room and we had a really wonderful time hanging out, cooking and just spending time together.  There was also a small mountain near the villa which we hiked (several times, for some of the group) in preparation for our hike on Saturday.  It was a really lovely time and of course went too fast.  So here it is in photos:

Our villa

Every property had one of these Galician "Horreos" - they're used to store corn

Tiniest church ever.

We celerbated our 6th Anniversary on the day we traveled to Spain.  (Fun fact - we spent our 1st anniversary on a plane, too - due to plane troubles, we flew to Mexico a day later than planned, which ended up being our anniversary.)

The beautiful town of Biaona, where we stopped on our way to Porto to catch our flight home.

Walking through the streets of Biaona

Of course the photo never does justice -but the moon was incredible!  The way the clouds were somehow made it seem as though we could reach out and touch the moon.  It was beautiful.

More to come soon - I promise!