Off to the Summit!!

The hubby thinks I'm a dork when I say that I'm so pumped for my little vacay to Minnesota to spend the next few days at the Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit. Does he really expect anything less from me when it comes to talking about orphans, foster care, adoption, and Africa? The best part is that I will be surrounded by others who share this passion and who just GET IT (a rare thing around my neck of the woods). I am so excited to grow my knowledge, faith, and passion for fulfilling His mission to care for orphans and to learn from the experts like Tom Davis and Steven Curtis Chapman. I know not everyone who reads this blog shares this passion but for those few that do (I'm thinking about you Leigh!!) I promise to post about the experience when I get back :)

I'm a Real Workin' Adult

Today marks my one-year anniversary with the American Cancer Society. I can't believe how fast the last year has gone. Last April, I was finishing up my internship at the children's hospital in Madison, preparing to graduate with my master's degree, in the final planning stages of the wedding, on the verge of purchasing our first house, and starting my first real-world job. When I say that I grew up in a matter of three months I am not kidding. I was forced to trade the luxurious student life (yes, after a year of full-time employment I can honestly say being a student is a piece of cake) for a good ole' 9-5 job (or in my case, 8-4:30 job).

While I've certainly complained about my job a time or two (or three or four) in the past year, I can honestly say that it is has been a great learning opportunity for me and it has really helped me to grow in my career. When I started my master's degree in Social Work I thought that I wanted to be a medical social work and work in pediatrics. While I certainly could still see myself in pediatrics, I certainly cannot see myself as a medical social worker. And my job with ACS has helped me to realize that. I am learning that my Social Work degree gives me so much flexibility and I can only imagine where the next few years will take me.

For the past year I have had the privilege of working with newly diagnosed cancer patients to help make their cancer experience a little easier. In the beginning, I thought I was armed with all the knowledge and experience to tackle this not-so-small task. Not a day goes by that I don't learn something new, mostly from my patients. Not a day goes by that I don't thank God for my health and say a prayer for my patients. In the past year I've learned that I will never have all the knowledge or experience to help someone cope with a terrible diagnosis like cancer. Rather, what I do have is compassion and an ability to work with some of the most emotionally vulnerable people walking this earth and for that God-given gift I am incredibly thankful.

Here's to celebrating one year helping to create a world with more birthdays :)

A Proud Wife

I haven't had much to write lately as we are knee-deep in home projects. Last weekend we tackled the first phase of our landscaping which included an overhaul of the front of the house. I have tried uploading pictures all week but for some reason blogger is being stubborn so I'll post pictures when we've got the entire project finished. I'm still working on finishing up both bathrooms. Always something around the house to keep me busy!

BUT with all those home projects aside, I had to write to say that I am one proud wife this week! The hubby accepted a new position on Wednesday that we have been praying about for a few weeks now. While he loves where he's at now and was recently promoted, there isn't any more room for growth within the company. My hubby is a determined, hard-working man and he has it set in his mind that it's his responsibility to provide for a family so he's been looking for a few months for an opportunity that would allow him to do that and to grow professionally. His new position is a huge step up in his career, it's something he truly enjoys doing, and it'll put us in a much better position financially (goodbye student loans!!). With wanting to start a family soon we know that it's important we continue to save (I hear kids are expensive) and pay off those pesky student loans we've accumulated. And I must admit that I was even more excited when I realized this might put us even closer to adopting (the sooner the student loans disappear, the sooner we can adopt). So it's been a happy happy happy week in the Irish house! And I'm incredibly proud of my hubby :)

A New Fear

Today I developed a new fear. Flying. I have always loved to fly - loved that an airplane could take my anywhere in the world. I have also always loved airports for the same reason. Today, those things changed.

I was all set to fly out early this morning to Minnesota for a few days of work meetings. What was supposed to be a short wait at the airport and a 50 minute flight turned into almost 5 hours of waiting at the airport and an hour and fifteen minute flight. First it was some weather delays. Then it was mechanical. The plane needed a new tire and when they took off the old tire they discovered it also needed new brakes (how they came to that conclusion I have no clue). So when I was supposed to be landing in Minnesota, the plane that I was waiting to board hadn't even left Minnesota. Lovely. Not only would I miss my first two meetings but I would be quite cranky after sitting next to business men yapping away on their blackberries all morning about fancy business stuff I didn't understand. The flight itself started rather smooth until we hit a little patch of weather. Bumpy. Bumpier. Rocking and shaking. Up and down. Screaming three month old baby in the seat next to me. The mom holding a barf bag for her own sake. Goodness. I couldn't have been happier to touch the ground.

So, as much as I love how airports and airplanes allow me to travel to all ends of the world, I certainly will be nervous when I board my plane home on Thursday night. Everyone always asks me how I managed the long flights to Africa and I always say that it was certainly long but that it was certainly worth it. Let's hope when the time comes to board a plane back to the continent I miss so much, these flying fears will have subsided.

I'm not sure what's worse... the flying, spending three days with my boss, or being trapped in the dreadful state of Minnesota (sorry, I tried to like it when I lived here but I still can't see the positives). I'm SO looking forward to being back home with the hubby on Thursday night :)

Bitten by a Bug

The hubby and I are on a roll with the home projects. We've been bitten by the homeowner bug and I kinda like it! No, our half bathroom remodel is not picture-ready yet... I just ordered a few things from Pottery Barn to complete the decorating and I can't seem to find a mirror that I like. BUT we did do a makeover to our full bathroom this weekend. In one whole day! We finally repainted and added a few new accessories. Again, waiting on a few things from the PB order to get here but I promise pictures soon. We also decided that we needed to start the landscaping re-do this year and that successfully began on Saturday. Dave decided to start tearing down this terribly overgrown, dead, ugly bush next to our patio (we've been calling the thing "The Green Monster" since we moved in). Its only purpose was to prevent our neighbors from seeing most of our patio but we decided since our neighbors are in their late 80's they likely can't see far out their window anyway (great logic, right?). And once all the other trees bloom this spring and summer, we'll have privacy once again! I'll be spending next weekend planting with mom to add a little color and life to the landscaping in the front, sides, and back of the house. We found a great deal at Home Depot on some mulch and our patio is piled high with bags waiting to be laid once the planting is finished. We plan to add a path from the driveway around the side of the house to the patio but we need to find some cool big stones first. It's always a never-ending list when you're a homeowner! It feels good to be tackling all these projects we've neglected for the past 10 months :)

I'm off to Minneapolis for the rest of the week for work. Dave's a little sad that I'll be gone... we haven't spent more than a day apart since we got married and we both prefer it that way. I'm not all that fond of Minnesota to begin with and spending three days with my boss will be like pulling all my teeth out BUT the weather forecast calls for temperatures near 80 degrees and Ikea isn't far from the hotel so I suppose I'll manage ;)

Finished Bedroom (finally!!)

As I said yesterday, we finally finished painting and updating our second guest bedroom. With both of our guest rooms we didn't want to spend too much time or money because we know that they will be kids bedrooms someday soon. The bedroom we just finished is the only room in the house with carpet (besides the den/office) and has been my least favorite room since we moved in. When we moved in, the walls were a bright red and the room felt very cold. I'm not a huge fan of the color red to begin with but this room was especially creepy to me and I decided it was best if we just shut the door for 8 months. I knew I couldn't keep that door closed forever so we finally decided to swap those red walls for a nice neutral gray. I got some cute black, white, gray, and yellow bedding from Target, hung a painting I had made in Africa (I've been searching for the right place for it forever!), brought in a few accessories also courtesy of Target, the nightstand and mirror from my bedroom set when I was a girl (cheap and easy solution to having no extra furniture!), and the room was ready for guests! This was a cheap and easy room makeover, that's for sure!

Before Pictures:



Two coats of gray primer to cover the red


The red's almost gone!!!!


After Pictures:









The Irish house is open and ready for guests :)

I'm Slipping

I was on a roll with blogging regularly and then the last week happened. Between Easter and trying to finish the bathroom renovation, I've lost track of time! That and the full-time job really puts a damper on my ability to blog freely. Anyways, we had a great (and busy!) Easter. We went to the sunrise service with my parents followed by breakfast at church with dad's side of the family. I used to enjoy going back to my parents church but since we've found our own church, one that really fits us, it's actually kinda awkward for me. Visiting this church only helped confirm that our new home church is in fact the perfect fit for us! After church and breakfast we visited with my mom's side of the family at grandma and grandpa's house before heading to Sheboygan for lunch with Dave's family. By the time we got home we were stuffed and in need of a long nap, which is exactly how I spent my afternoon :)

Our bathroom renovation is ALMOST done. Unfortunately, it was done with the exception of the decorating but we've had some minor setbacks, including new holes in our new drywall courtesy of a stupid shelf that wouldn't go into the wall just right. After several attempts, we realized we were doing more damage and that it was time to re-patch and start over. Once it's all decorated I'll post some pictures. After this project, I'm not sure I want to take on another one for a very long time. I should've listened to my parents when they told me home ownership wouldn't be all joyous!

We DID finish the spare bedroom renovation and I did take pictures. I'll upload those to the computer tonight and post tomorrow. I am so happy to finally be able to keep the bedroom door open and not have to look at icky red walls! We're now ready for lots of visitors!

Hope everyone had a great Easter! We had a lovely glimpse of spring here this past week. Dave survived Brewer's opening day and is now sporting a lovely sunburn courtesy of a beautiful Wisconsin spring day :)