Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has come and gone already! I can't believe how fast this semester has gone by already. It seems like just the other day we stepped off the plane and gathered up our bajillion suitcases and set up house. We came into this empty dorm-ish apartment, and after purchasing the necessary kitchen items, bedding, and the beginnings of a craft stash for me, it finally started to feel like home. At this point, I feel like we're finally established in Dublin, to sit here comfortably for many more months to come until the dissertation in completed and I get that special sheet of paper I came here for. What has really settled it for me--what really makes it feel like it's our place--is playing hostess!

I hosted my first ever Thanksgiving on Friday. We couldn't find a turkey in Dublin (they're usually not available until around Christmastime) so we settled for a prestuffed chicken (thank you Donnes stores!) and a roast to feed about a dozen people that had confirmed that they were coming. I spent all of Friday cooking and cleaning in preparation for the afternoon's festivities and I had a blast putting everything together. I made two loaves of braided bread, an apple crisp, and my Momma's famous pumpkin roll! It was a potluck style celebration, so everyone who came contributed a dish. Mrs. Bee brought stuffed mushrooms (amazing) and Mr. Bee made an authentic green bean casserole! Mika worked hard peeling, boiling, and mashing three pounds of potatoes and it paid off! They were delicious. Other friends brought the utensils, plates, and decorations, puddings, tarts, and meringue cookies for desserts, and yummy appetizers like meat trays, cheeses, and smoked fish! We had an abundance of food and a great group of people to share it with.

Aaron and I are incredibly thankful for the opportunity to be here and have the relationships we have made in this city. It's been a great ride so far! We are so lucky to be able to celebrate like this. Before we started eating, Aaron led us in prayer, thanking God for the food that we were eating that many people in the world would never get to experience. Of course, we followed this up with the Thanksgiving tradition of going around and telling everyone what we were thankful for. Mrs. Bee mentioned Skype--it's amazing how appreciative we are of that!!

Aaron and I both got to talk to our families on Thanksgiving day. At ten pm our time, we saw the Knetzer side of things, as the family celebrated in Indiana. It was really tough for me not to be with them for the second year in a row. Then, an hour later, we talked with the Kopfs--this was the first time we've had a chance to talk to Aaron's brothers since we left, and it was so great! I alternated between laughing and tearing up. It's tough enough to be away from family, but the holidays make it even tougher! We're so looking forward to coming home... one month from today!!

Now that Thanksgiving is over, I'm so excited about Christmas. Everyone knows the day after Thanksgiving is when you start decorating for Christmas, right...? Well, that's what Ireland did for us on Saturday.

It snowed!! We were totally caught off guard (those are the best snow days). Aaron still had to go to work, none of the city really shut down, the buses were still running, so it didn't snow that much... but it was enough to be exciting and to make everything look beautiful!! As of today, Monday, school is still on and students are still leaving Trinity Hall for their classes. I don't know how much snow it takes for school to get canceled, but I heard it wasn't supposed to be much. Ireland doesn't really have the infrastructure to deal with a lot of snow/clean up the roads, etc. Maybe someday it will happen...

For some reason, blogspot isn't letting me post pictures, so I'll upload the most recent ones to my facebook page so you guys can see what we've been up to! Maybe later I'll come back and add some photos here... Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We are counting down the days until we're in America!