The UK-Ireland

We toured the UK "on the cheap"--packed super light and carried our luggage onto a RyanAir flight to Ireland.

Ireland was completely different from England-even more pastoral (which is hard to imagine), but it was obvious that the few freeways were very new; our GPS software (which we just bought last year) was outdated indicating roundabouts where there were now freeway exits. We had an interesting time of it.

It was also not as green as England--not what I had expected. But apparently there is a really bad drought there right now. Still, all in all, we had a lovely time.

Visiting the carrick-a-rede swinging bridge

Don't look down!

the Giant's Causeway

We love the self-portraits, can't you tell?!?

Northern Ireland was an additional culture shock inside of a culture shock. It really felt like a war-torn eastern European country, as far as I can imagine. Definitely the vibe was one of an injured city and the multitudinous murals spewing propaganda, while artistically amazing, were a bit creepy.

We had a few in mind that we wanted to see, so with map in hand,

we went on a jogging tour of Belfast.

Here's a fun story from Belfast. So, Andy and I stay in hostels when we travel abroad because we are frugal. In London we had actually stayed in dorm rooms with other members of the opposite sex and we were excited to be in Ireland because we had actually booked some hotel rooms. In Belfast though, we had booked dorm-hostel rooms again. When we received our keys we noticed that they were for the same room and we thought "Sweet! we just got totally hooked up with a private room...or maybe they thought "shawn" was a guy and we're going to be in a boys room..." We got to our room, turned the key, walked in to find 2 sets of bunk beds and some bags. "Maybe they thought "shawn" was a guy and we were going to be sharing with 2 other dudes." I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Well, turns out it didn't matter. When we came back from our jog, we entered our room to find a french couple spooning on the lower bunk. "What?!? We are sharing the room with another couple?" Okay, that was really weird. Probably the weirdest traveling experience I have ever had.

Back in Ireland, we visited the Marble Arch Caves-how could we resist a hole in the ground with an underwater river? Unfortunately water levels were 1" too high for us to go on the underground boat tour. Bummer.

We basically drove around the entire country, starting in Dublin, heading north, then west, down south so we could visit Skellig Michael. As luck would have it, weather was perfect for us to go out to Skellig rock.

I have no pictures, but this is also a great story. As we were riding out to the rocks, Andy and I had been relegated to the back of the boat where it was a bit cold (actually freezing) because this family of incompetent kids (you'll see what I mean) decided to rush onto the boat first so they could be in the cabin. It wasn't a big deal, just a little rude by my Southern standards. Anyway, it was a pretty bumpy ride and one of the kids, actually, a teenager...who should have been old enough to know to come outside if she was feeling sick...I say "should" because she didn't and she proceeded to vomit all over the inside of the boat's cabin. It smelled so bad that no one wanted to be in there anymore. But, to make matters worse...or maybe to make matters more humorous, several other people started puking too. Anyone seen The Office...the one where everyone starts throwing up? Well, it was kind of like that. And then, and then, oh and then...to top it all off...the girl's aunt asked if Andy and I could move and give up our seats to that chick..because she wasn't feeling well, which forced us to stand near the cabin door where the puke-smell was wafting our way. Of course, we said yes...begrudgingly.

FYI: Skellig Michael was a monastery built out on the rocks and is famous for its beehive-shaped stone houses. It is a world heritage site. Very very cool. For me it was up there with Macchu Picchu because of the fun boat ride out, the crashing ocean and the cool ruins.

View from the top.

A long, steep walk down

That is bird poop, not snow.

The Blarney Castle

complete with dungeon

I kissed the stone, but aside from the very unflattering angle from which they make you kiss it, a picture was expensive. So, I have no proof.

The UK-England

In May, Andy and I went to the UK for a couple of weeks. We got to visit family and some really cool sites. Here are some pics:

Family time in Summerbridge

Brimham Rocks

Fountains Abbey

Pateley Bridge

London serenade

Trafalgar Square

Watching the new Prime Minister roll into his new residence!

London Tower

Thailand Elephant Art Exhibit throughout the city

Tate Modern from the Thames

How we can afford to travel--dinner in a bag

Tate Modern-Andy Warhol

Tate Modern- Andy Howell's kind of art...

Borough Food Market-a feast for the senses

A long walk to Harrod's, but worth it-what a ridiculous store!

To be continued...Ireland

Prioritizing

So? What do I say after such a long silence? Hmmmm, anybody out there? :)

I have been waiting for the perfect moment to post perfect blogs of our perfect life. Alas, there have been no posts for nearly 6 months now. Oh well...

I was again reminded yesterday (by the lovely sister Julie Beck) that life is happening all around us, at all times, even when we are sitting in front of a computer screen. She said (I'm paraphrasing) "we have a need for prioritizing and precision, more than perfection, to align ourselves with the Lord. We can have full confidence in His promises when we align ourselves with Him." I love that...and I know it is true. In fact, I'm feeling a bit choked up just thinking about how eager our Heavenly Father is to bless us.

So, I actually have been very busy living for the last few months and just savoring life as it happens, without time to blog. If my silence has caused alarm, don't be worried, things have been good. Really good. I feel like I have been in a happy dreamland...almost like a sugar-shock after a cake-fest, but instead life has been the treat. Who doesn't just want to take a nap after "too much" of a good thing? (Lest you be jealous, there were parts of my dreamy summer that also felt like those dreams where you can't quite run fast enough no matter how hard you try!)

There are amazing women out there who can do it all...but, I'm not one of them (sigh). So, the blog has fallen a bit by the wayside. Thanks for allowing me a break (it was a good one).

I'll post some pics of our summer adventures shortly. But because of the difficulties of arranging so many pics, they will be in separate posts.

April Showers Love

It has struck me this week how very blessed I am to have people in my life that love me, but maybe even more importantly, love my child. I'll be honest...I'm not a KID kind of person, so the fact that we have so many people that genuinely love my child and (gasp) remember her name and ask me about her, even though we don't even see them on a regular basis, kind of floors me...and me makes me a little ashamed that I am not more engaged in others around me. I'm selfish.

So, here are some pictures of a most-unselfish friend, Shelley. She is really Evie's godmother of sorts (though we're not catholic). She is certainly Evie's godmother in a fairy-like way in that she bestows all kinds of wonderful things on Evie, including hugs and kisses.

a build-a-bear, complete with a matching outfit and "single ladies" music box

The Tall & Short of 2010

The Short is I have been waaaay too busy to post for the last 5 months...and a little lazy too. So, the purpose of this blog is to catch you up on the Howell Family adventures for the last few months.

December was probably like yours...that is, if your husband drove to Texas and you flew with your toddler to Houston, just to be picked up to drive to NC via 'Nawlins, Mississippi, the Gulf Coast, Florida, Alabama and Georgia! We had an amazing time.

Christmas was frankly amazingly great and amazingly bad all at the same time. If you were part of it, then you know this is no smack towards my NC fam. I love them dearly...we just happened to have some major disaster nearly every day for over a week. I am talkin' real disasters: people in the hospital, fraudulent credit card charges, cars breaking down, pinched nerve in my neck...I'll stop, but there is more. The good news is that with the bad, there was an overwhelming sense of peace and comfort for our Father in Heaven and it was a growing experience both personally and as a family.

In February I ran a 24+ hour relay race with 11 other crazy 30-something-year-old moms. It too was a mixed bag of emotions, triumphs, some girl drama and disorganization. But darn it if our memories don't just somehow drop the bad and turn everything golden. I look back and already a race that I swore I would never in my life EVER do again I am already conceding that, okay...I would.

Literally just an hour after crossing the finish line I got news that my dear Aunt Mitzi passed away. She had, I guess in the scheme of things, a brief (thankfully), but brave battle with cancer. She was and is amazing and her strength and courage astound me; as that of my family members who were on hand during her final days and hours. She will be deeply missed, but her example gave me the courage to face my own mortality with gusto. I was diagnosed with early onset osteo-arthritis just the day before my race. It was devastating for me as the Doc said "no more running. Period." When I heard about my Aunt Mitzi I just decided to give arthritis the "bird". I want to be healthy and live a good life, but I don't know how long I have, so I will do the things that make me happy and bring me joy. She certainly did and died with a clear conscience and touched countless lives with her courage and vision in her life and employment.

In March Evie turned 2. Wow. That is all I can say...and also, LOOK at the cute cake I made!(Thanks Elise for letting me borrow your stuff and giving me confidence...and thank you Al Gore for "inventing" the Internet on which I could research how to make a Nemo cake.)

Just prior to Evie's birthday, we ditched the kid and Andy and I spent some time on the Yucatan. It was a long over-due adventure as nearly everyone (it seems) that we know has already been there. What a great and relaxing trip. I highly recommend it to anyone with beach fever and a steel gut. I got some food poisoning and a tan.

Lastly, but certainly not least, we had a Howell Family reunion last weekend. Amazingly, everyone made it (except Hans who is faithfully serving his mission in Spokane). We had a wonderful time, great food, sledding, a new tradition the winter Howlympics, and fond memories already of our time together as a complete family. That is no small feat with 1 set of grandparents, 6 "kids", 1 son-in-law, 4 daughters-in-law, and 10 grandkids. Yowser!

Okay, I'll stop hanging my head in shame and try to post again...sometime this year.

OH, AND BTW--We did complete our 500 mile Adventure Challenge, early, with extra miles!!!