Back in Dublin!

Nothing like walking into your apartment (that you already hate) after 4 weeks away to find water all over the floor. Now we just hate it more. At least the cat was happy to see us! If anyone needs a cat sitter in Dublin I'm happy to recommend Alice at Maow Care. She was great keeping us updated with texts and pictures and it really put our minds at ease.

We had a great time in the US! We ate before eating, then had some more to eat. Thumbs up that I only gained 5lbs. Wes gained 8 AND he ran every morning (even when it was 12 degrees F)! I'm the winner of the Lowest Gainer competition! Woohoo! Besides eating (or while eating) we managed to hang out with lots of friends and family. Unfortunately we didn't get to see everyone, which means I come back feeling guilty. I tried Zumba for the first time and had a blast. I wish classes here didn't cost 10 euro each. They were only $6 in the US. Oh, and we went to the pizza shop 5 times, Panera 4 times, Chik Fil-A 3 times, shopped at Target, drank Dunkin' Donuts coffee, used fat free hazelnut coffee creamer in the mornings, visited some museums in Washington, DC, drove what felt like a million miles, babysat our nephews, had a delicious steak dinner finished off with awesome cheesecake, went to a wedding in Pittsburgh, had my hair cut and colored, drove up and down I-83 like 10 times, and listened to NPR whenever we had the chance.

Basically we did all-American things. It was fabulous! Here are a few pictures:

Kim, Samantha, and Kennedy invited me down to make gingerbread houses with them. I've never done that before and we had a blast!

Here is our completed gingerbread village! I don't like to brag, but I made the bakery....

We had Christmas with my family. It looked a lot like this - manic.

We chased a bird out of Kim and Frankie's house. Here's a tip: when you live in the woods and you put a wreath on your front door, there's a good chance a bird will build a nest in it. Then, when you open the door for guests, it will fly right inside! Voila! Too bad they already had a Christmas tree topper...

 
We went to a wedding in Pittsburgh. It was at Heinz Memorial Chapel on the Pitt campus. Gorgeous!

This is the only picture of us at the wedding and I'm highly annoyed that it was fuzzy. It looked okay when he showed it to me...probably too many Yuenglings!

We celebrated my nephew's 10th birthday. Yeah, yeah, he's cute and all, but that buffalo chicken dip in the front of this picture was to die for!!!

And we got to visit with my Grandma a couple of times. Awesome!