Thursday, October 8, 2015

The Whirlwind of Two Weeks

Woah... have I actually been back for two weeks?  It's hard to believe!  It feels like I never was away yet just got back at the same time.  It's such a surreal experience.  Here's a bit of what's happened since I left Iowa two weeks ago. 

My parents and I drove to Minnesota on Sept 23 where I would be flying out from that evening.  We met up with my two friends Kelsey and Bethie for lunch and stopped by the Newman Centre where we got a pic with Pope Frances.  Loved being able to see these two before leaving the country.


Yes it happened again.  My flight was delayed and I missed my connecting flight.  I'm so used to this happening that I don't even fret when it happens. They always put me on the next flight.  Rather, I pack my essentials ready for whatever may happen.  This time, stuck in London for 4-5 extra hours, I ate lunch and found a place to take a nap with my alarm set to get to my flight on time. 


When you see the Harland and Wolff cranes you know that you're home-! I was supposed to arrive a bit after noon and instead arrived close to 6:30 in the evening.  Fortunately all my luggage arrived and my lift was waiting.  It was good to be back in Belfast. 


I've moved house this year.  Before I left, I moved my belongings into storage knowing that I was going to be moving house when I get back.  I now live with two women named Mags and Elaine. They have had so many young Christian women live with them over the years, and I am excited for this new chapter of my Belfast life.


The day after I got back, I headed back to work.  There was a volunteer residential that I was apart of.  I literally jumped back into things.  My inability to speak clearly from a lack of sleep led to much comic relief.  My jet leg came in handy when I stayed up until 5 AM with one girl who refused to go to bed and had been drinking energy drinks all day long.  And of course while I was away, my already messy desk was attacked with sticky notes.  Two weeks later, it is still not much cleaner. 


After the volunteers residential, I had the day off to sleep, organise my room, and do laundry.  It was also a sunny day, so I took my prayer time in the back garden (yard).  I was loving life. 

Because I live further away from where I use to I find myself walking a lot more while listening to podcasts.  This American Life is by far my favourite podcast right now.  Highly recommend it to anyone looking for a new podcast to listen too.  It's been great exploring new places especially near the Lagan River. 

A treasured sight from my exploration. 

The best part of being back is catching up with friends especially over delicious food! Chris may hate me for putting up this picture, but it's way too good not too. I love being able to laugh with her. 

 Settling back into Belfast life is taking a bit longer than what is usually does.  Part of that is because of all the transitions of moving house and being away longer than originally expected.  Programmes are starting up and I am still catching up on things.  October is also an extremely busy month, so I literally jumped right back into things.  I'm so grateful for my time at home in Iowa, but it's also good to be back in Belfast. This is where God has called me to, and so here I will call home.