Ireland- Take 1

(After some interesting suggestions about how blog about my trip, I saw my friend Jess Hawaii blog & thought it was the way to go. A few short blogs, breaking up the trip. Thanks for the idea, Jess.)

Day 1

Depart US for Dublin, Ireland- I met up with my Mom and the rest of our tour group at the Newark airport for our overnight flight. Our tour guides were my Aunt Mary and Uncle Gerry so it was a family affair. A few weeks before we left, I found St. Patrick's Day shirts on clearance at Target and we thought it would be funny to wear them on the trip. We got a lot of looks from other people in the airport - it was pretty funny.

Yes, we know we are wearing the same shirt. (My Aunt, My Mom and me)

Day 2

Dublin, Ireland

We arrived Dublin in the morning. We drove to Malahide (a small town outside of Dublin) where we were to stay our first night. We stopped at a cafe for our first meal - a traditional Irish Breakfast. After checking in to our first B&B, we drove around Malahide & Dublin for a quick view of the sites. Since everyone was tired from the jet lag, we had an early dinner.

Our first Irish meal.

At the Malahide B&B. Heated floors = Heaven

Quick look of the Guinness Brewery in Dublin.

At our first Pub dinner, I had my first Irish Guinness. It was also my last. Don't judge people. Everyone told me that Guinness in Ireland tastes like Chocolate Milk. Let me be the first to tell you- it tastes like Guinness.

I Heart Ireland

Well, I'm home from vacation and back to reality. Trying to figure out the best way to tell everyone about the most amazing 10 days. I have about 500 pictures.... hummmm.

Bulls Game- Home Opener!

Our view from the cheap seats. Such a nice stadium, there are no bad seats.
View of the new famous Bull in left field.

Doug & I went to the Durham Bulls home opener with our friends Jason & Chad. Such a great night in Durham - beautiful weather. Wish the Bulls could have pulled out the win, but we had fun anyway. The $8 tickets are a bargain - they come with a free fireworks show. Can't beat that!

Willie's Life Jacket

Doug decided that Willie needed a life jacket. Here is the test run.

Relay Success!

Our view of Duke Chapel while walking around the Quad.

Me standing at the arch - the beginning of the relay in my HOPE shirt.
Flags that represent people who are currently fighting the disease.
We're off! The beginning of the Relay.

I want to thank everyone for support of my Relay for Life goal. It is certainly a tribute to my father that I was able to raise over $1,000 for the American Cancer Society. Thank you for making me the top money raiser at the event - I was so honored to walk for all of you who donated and in memory of my dad. It was certainly a memorable event and despite the rain delay and cold weather - it was a great triumph. Thank you!

Anniversary at the Melting Pot

(photo by www.rachelleb.com/)

It is our 2 year anniversary on Tuesday, but because Doug is on nights - we had to celebrate our anniversary this weekend. We went to a wonderful dinner at the Melting Pot on Friday night. It was our first time to try out this fondue restaurant - and it was a hit with us! We had heard that it can get really expensive, so I was happy to find a coupon which gave us a nice dinner at a reasonable price. It was a great way to begin our weekend and our 3rd year of marriage.