**So I am officially bad at blog post writing... I meant to post this last Thursday and here I am posting it on Monday... typical Anna Bruen move! I will post about my adventures from this past weekend and upcoming week towards the end of this week... I hope :) For now, keep in mind that the past weekend references used in this post are for the weekend of Feb. 8-10! (Oops)
This past weekend, my friends and I celebrated my 20th birthday which was such a blast. Now I know 20 isn't a big year to celebrate, but I ended up having close to 20 people at my party... how crazy?! I don't think I've ever had a party that big in my entire life! It was a weekend full of fun, laughter, and pizza!! :) SO thankful for my new friendships and my time in Ireland.
School: This past week of school has been fun, but very similar to the past few weeks. However, in my Early Ireland tutorial class, I had the opportunity to learn how to weave like the Irish in medieval Ireland. It was such a cool experience, and, with practice, I will become a medieval weaving master!!
Tourist Fun: The big tourist attraction for this week had to be our visit to The Guinness Storehouse. It was so cool and such a fun way to spend my birthday! I really enjoyed learning about the plants and other ingredients that are used to make Guinness... and the free Guinness at the top, of course. I decided to save my first ever tasting until I got to the Storehouse, and I am very glad that I did because they taught us how to properly drink Guinness and it was super fresh! I also went to the National Botanic Gardens this weekend with Ellen and I's friend, Lori. It was so calm and beautiful, and I cannot wait to go back in the Spring when everything is in bloom! This past weekend (Feb. 8-10), my friends and I celebrated my birthday in the city centre. We ate loads of pizza, shared lots of laughs, and danced the night away.. so fun, yet sooo tiring the next day... but totally worth it.
Something New: This week's something new comes in the form of an -amazing- new salad, belaying, Guinness, and Crazy Cabaret. The first new thing of the week was Guinness. Like I said in the paragraph above, I saved my first Guinness until I went to The Storehouse. It was actually quite good, and I am excited to bring my family here in a few short weeks! On Tuesday night, I went climbing again and finally practiced belaying. I wasn't super great at it, but I know with some practice, I will be belaying by myself in no time. I am so excited to see where climbing takes me as we all know this is well outside of my comfort zone! Last Wednesday, my friend Ciara and I went to Crazy Cabaret which was quite interesting. We decided that the event made us more cultured; although, we decided we will most likely not be attending another Crazy Cabaret show in the near future. The final new thing for this week was an avocado, tomato, and cucumber salad that I made myself for dinner last Friday. I found a recipe online, and it was delicious!! This has become another recipe that I can't wait to make Jonny when I see him next! This past week has been very relaxing yet surprisingly fun!
What I've Learned This Week: During this past week, I had the opportunity to listen to Chris Cook's message from the January 28th Salt Message (which I highly recommend everyone to go and watch). And it was SO good. He talked a lot about facing trials and how Jesus suffered and faced many trials for us because of His overwhelming love for us. For some reason, this sparked the realization of the self centeredness and selfishness that I have been dealing with for quite some time. I love to plan out my days, my weeks, and I am always a little bit frustrated when things do not follow the plans that I took the time to create. But what dawned on me during Chris’s talk is that each thing in my life that I grasp onto and try to plan out will always fall short of the perfection I wanted. Jesus is the only constant and never failing part of my life, and He is the only One who sustains and fulfils me, all else has and never will be enough. Through him, we are able to reconcile ourselves with a God who is so loving that He sent his only Son to us to endure God’s wrath to save a sinful nation. This week, I have learned and am striving to let go of my plans and self-centered tendencies and let the Lord work through me for His glory and honor.
(Here is the link for The Salt Co's Messages if you want to hear some GREAT news being shared: http://saltcompany.com/resource-library/)
*Weekly Tea Trivia: In the 20th century, a tea merchant named Thomas Sullivan accidentally created the tea bag.
Cheers, Anna