A Few Pics From Dublin

Our tour guide in Dublin; I think Sheri and I were the only ones laughing on the tour when he was cracking jokes. He really is a comedian!

Queen of Tarts!!! Had some good pastry treats! :)

Sheri looking serious in 'The Garden of Remembrance'

Part of the statue in 'The Garden of Remembrance'

Outside our Hostel in Dublin, loved the green door

Ferry from Dublin to Holyhead

the view from the deck of the giant ferry
playing "kings in the corner" on the ferry

the logo for the Irish Ferries

Something Small

Well this is definitely a first, as we are sitting on a train heading to London. I had no idea that you could have wifi on a train, but needles to say it is pretty exciting as this is a 5 hour train ride. We've really enjoyed our time in Ireland and Scotland as they both have so much great history, so much battle for independence. There is something about being here and walking where people have walked that makes it become more alive.

It's fun traveling with someone who is like you in many ways. One way that Sheri and I have struggled is feeling overwhelmed as we get into new cities, as it is loud and there are so many people. By nature we are just two introverted people, who occassionally like to be amoungst the poeple. What is great about this is that we don't mind sacrificing the major touristy spots to just go for an adventure. Not looking at a map but just walking in a general direction of where something should be and hoping that we come across it. Yesterday, Saturday 12th, we set out to find the coast and after about two hours of walking in the general direction we found a great spot. We just walked and sat and took off our shoes to enjoy the water and sand beneath our feet. What a joy it is to just be silent and enjoy all that our Father has created. The beauty of the land seems unreal at times.......breathtaking! This has been my favorite part about this trip so far, all the little things.

I've been reading a book called "Crazy Love" and have been going through the book of Matthew at the same time. I've really enjoyed what I've been reading so far as it challenges me on what a 'Christian' life should look like. I've thought a lot about what the term radical means in terms of the life of one who claims to follow Christ. It seems that the term 'radical' is seen in a negative light, even in the eyes of most Churches today. I know that when I used to think of what a radical was the first thought was those people who stand with signs on the street corner persecuting people as they come by. I have been struggling through it, wanting so much for my life to reflect that of a radical, but not like the people that I spoke of above. I don't see the love of Christ anywhere near those people, but I want to live as one of the radicals I find throughout scripture. There is a passage in Matthew 10 that I was reading a few nights ago as we were in our shaddy hotel room in Glasgow. There it talks about when Jesus was sending out the twelve, telling them to go to the lost sheep of Israel but as they go about Jesus tells them not to take anything with them. No gold or silver or copper, having no bag with an extra tunic or sandals or staff. I was challenged by Jesus's words, as this would be so hard, it rips me apart just thinking about it as I'm not sure if this is something that I could do. The faith involved to obey and go as He tells them to is amazing. Can you imagine how RADICAL that would look today? I believe there are probably people doing just this and man I pray that God would have grace and patience with me. That He would teach me what it means to truly love Him wholeheartedly. That one day I can honestly say to Him, "nope Lord there is nothing in my life that is before you."

Well, sorry I don't claim to be a writer but I wanted to let you all know a little bit more of what is going on as we travel. That our hope is to allow God to move us in this journey, not just for the sake of seeing cool things. Love you all, thanks for following as we love your support. Many blessings friends!

Amber

Scotland

Sorry it's been a while since either one of us has last blogged, the days have been going quite fast. The trip to Scotland has been quite interesting so far. For starters, if you ever find yourself on a train from Holyhead to Glasgow, make sure you read all the instructions on how to lock the bathroom door. It's quite humiliating to get caught with your pants down. And if ever in Glasgow, never stay at the Lomond Hotel. First thoughts were, sketchy. First words out of my mouth were, "Are we at a brothel?" Anyway's, we are surviving quite well and everything has been quite a learning experience. I know that I am learning so much about myself.
The ferry ride from Dublin, Ireland to Holyhead, Scotland was so fun! The ship was huge and it was amazing to stand out on the deck and look to the horizon. Although, the port water was disgusting and looked more like a rootbeer float than actual water.
The weather started out really cold, but warmed up for our stay in Glasgow. It has taken quite an adjustement from Ireland to Scotland with the people not being as open or friendly. Today we took things easy and enjoyed a picnic in the park at Kelvinton, then a tea at Costa's Coffee. I will post some picture of Dublin, but there aren't very many of Scotland yet. Hopefully tomorrow we will be able to take a walk out in the country or even a hike through the beautiful Scotland terrain.
With much love,
Sheri

Enjoying Ice Cream after we accomplished the Blarney

Sheri FINALLY kissing the stone :)

Sheri arguing with the poor man, "This is as far as I want to go!"

Amber without batting an eye kisses the stone "I shall never wash these lips again."

First Stop...Cork Ireland Part Amber

Plane ride wasn't too bad, didn't really struggle with jet lag as I was able to stay up but one hour through the nine hour flight. I really enjoyed the flight attendants on British airways as they were very helpful and polite. Once we arrived in London things started to get kind of difficult because we had no idea what the heck we were doing or where we were going. Apparently you have to fill out some sort of form as you go through customs just to have them approve of you in their country. The man at the customs desk wasn't so friendly, seemed to enjoy giving us a hard time and there is just something about those kind of people who take pleasure in making things harder for you that gets me feisty. As the man is grilling us with questions he asks, "Is this your first time here?" Stupidly I say "Yes...can you tell." Sheri at this point is cracking up as the man behind the desk sits in silence. Woops!

It hasn't been the easiest of transitions, the main reason being my pride and having to look like a moron everywhere I go. It's hard not knowing where you are going, relying on the locals to tell you after you've all ready asked them 20 times. But the Irish are very sweet people. Just as we would be walking along the street with our map people would stop us and ask us if we knew where we were going, with doubt in our minds we would ask for their suggestions. In our first full day here we took it upon ourselves to explore on our own. Feeling confident we trekked out to find the Blarney Castle, only to see that the route we had chosen wasn't for pedestrians. So we tried to follow along a narrow road that looked to follow the highway but soon found out that if we continued we might get hit by one of the many speeding cars going up and down this narrow road with no sidewalk. Came to this conclusion as we passed a couple of carcass's. So we walked back grabbing some lunch and trying to map out our plans to the rail station, we found the rail station and were able to see what our plan was for getting to Dublin on Saturday. As we left the rail station we were offered our first pint by two men, one I'm pretty sure was drunk in mid-afternoon, but we kindly refused. To finish the day we sat in a coffee shop, Sheri having tea and me a coffee, journaling and reading so that we might take time to reflect.
We were able to get to Blarney Castle today as we found a free bus that would take us there, pretty great if you ask me since everything is so expensive. What a fun and beautiful place, the hike up wasn't so bad. As you walked up the small steep stairway you could stop inside the different rooms, I took quite a few pictures out of the windows as we went. Once at the top I was so excited to kiss the stone. Had my camera out ready to take picture of Sheri as she went and so that she could take a picture of me too. Sheri did so great, she was nervous as she doesn't enjoy heights very much but after much "arguing" with the man he finally convinced her to just lean back and do it. The gap looked bigger as you were standing there looking at it than it really was as you lay on your back and held the bars to kiss it upside down. What a great start to our trip! As I said to Sheri as we were walking out of Blarney...."I shall never wash the lips again!"

First Stop...Cork Ireland Part Sheri

The flight felt long and unending with my legs and butt going numb and only being able to sleep for one hour despite it being a nine hour flight. So getting through customs was interesting and so was figuring out Heathrow London airport. I felt silly going up and down every escalator known to man and then wandering through different places until we finally found where we were supposed to be. All in all, it was definitely a learning experience. One that I hope goes smoother on the way back home. I really am enjoying Cork and all it's people. They are very kind and helpful despite my being a bit foolish about everything. I want to put one of them in my pocket and bring them home with me just so I could here them speak with their accent any time I wanted to. :)
The highlight was definitely Blarney Castle today which was amazing. It was a lot higher up than I had expected and the wind was really blowing hard. I did fine all the way up those narrow and seriously steep stairs, but as soon as I got out to the stone I did not want to do it. I even asked the guy if I could skip this part, but he wouldn't let me. He kept trying to persuade me to just lay back and all will be fine. I argued for a little bit, but he was the sweetest guy and was very patient with me. In the end, he really wasn't going to let me get out of it and I ended up actually leaning back and kissing the stone despite the long drop! Thanks Blarney Stone Guy! :) We also met some fun people along the way and a couple people from Israel. I don't feel all that short here and I have actually seen more bearded women than I ever care to, but I absolutely have enjoyed being here. Until next time, yeah?!