What were you grateful for this week?Genuinely kind people. 

What was the most difficult or challenging part of this week?Racing to catch my flight and making it by seconds. It was kind of difficult, but it was also super fun 🙂

Tell us about a “wow” moment you had this week.I had a few extra hours alone with [my host son] this week, so I played with him and taught him how to play a couple chords on my guitar. It was really fun and I already miss my little buddy SO much. 

Tell us about your week! I went to Ireland this week! It was the most incredible trip ever, and it definitely exceeded all my expectations. K and I slept in the airport for two nights, but our Airbnb on Saturday night totally made up for the hard wooden slats we slept on at the airport 🙂

We flew into Dublin on Friday night after barely making our flight in time, and then took a train all the way to the west coast of Ireland the next morning. It was a beautiful ride with plenty of sheep and mossy hills to admire, and we passed our time by drinking hot cocoa and drawing up hobbit hole floor plans.

We arrived in Sligo, Ireland, and immediately set off to find some pub food. We found an old pub called Hargadon’s and had a delicious lunch of fish pie, chips (fries), and burgers. 

After lunch, our Airbnb host picked us up, drove us around to show us the countryside and cool old castles. All of that was amazing, but when we arrived at Annahgmore (an old castle/house built in the 1700’s), I actually thought I’d died and gone to heaven. It was like stepping through a time machine back to the 1700’s. 

Honestly, I think everything in that castle looked like or could be in a museum, but the best part was that we could touch everything. Think winding staircases, original wood floors, gold crown molding, beautiful peeling wallpaper, servants quarters, stacks of really old sheet music, etc. K and I felt like princesses. 

My favorite discovery was an old wardrobe in our room, full of really old hats. I tried on hats for like two hours, it was so fun. Top hats, feathered hats, straw hats, army hats, you name it. There was also a sitting room downstairs with a grand piano that was hundreds of years old, and our host let us play it. (!!!!!!) Like, what?!! I felt like I had stepped into Downton Abbey, it was SO much fun. 

Church on Sunday, was amazing and I felt the Spirit so strongly. There were only 18 people in the branch including us, but I’ve never felt the Spirit so strongly in my whole life. All the people in Ireland are so loving and kind! 

One of my favorite parts of this week was playing my guitar with [my host son] and teaching him a few chords. I’m just starting to realize how much I’m going to miss my little buddy, and my host family. I can’t wait to soak up my last full week with them this week!