Birthday weekend part II

So last Saturday night, my good friend Joanne, decided we were gonna celebrate my birthday in 3D style... dinner, drinks and dancing. We went to her home town of Ballycastle, about 30 mins from where we live. We went shopping on Thursday evening (instead of Zumba!) and bought very cheap, but very sexy dresses. I'm actually gutted that we didn't get a photo together in our new dresses. I did try a new hairdo though, like a side bun-thing...

We went to a place called the Central for the first part of the evening.

I had the MOST AMAZING chicken stack ever! Its roasted chicken on a bed of champ (an Irish version of mash), with fried onions on top and a creamy peppered sauce! YUM!!! Karl had a bacon and avo (?) burger, which was really well presented.

After dinner, Stevie Wonder's Happy Birthday started playing and this cake arrived on our table. It was really very sweet (nearly cried, but didn't!).

After dinner, we gate-crashed a wedding. The girl in the pink dress and her hubby were invited to the evening do at a friends wedding (in a nightclub!?) so we all went along for a few drinks. After a few long and uncomfortable stares from the wedding guests (probably wondering who on earth we were), we moved to the Glenshesk, more commonly known as "Sin City."

And thats all I remember (just kidding!) We were home and in bed by 2am :)

Gluten-free weekend

Mark called us on Friday evening wanting to know what we were doing for dinner. I didn't even realise that they were coming to us on Friday eve, and panicked to get their cake done in time. Luckily it was ready when they arrived. We basically spent Friday evening in front of the fire, watching tv. On Saturday morning, Moira taught Christina and I how to make the St Brigid's cross.

Barry and Harpinder only arrived at around 6pm last night and then we had to get ready for the dinner. The ladies had pre-dinner cocktails :)

We arrived at the restaurant just after 8pm, and did the whole family photo thing

The waiter took his own sweet time to show us the specials menu, so Barry got up to give us the low down!

The in-laws are going on a cruise for Moira's 60th in May. They bought a package, all inclusive except for lunches and drinks, so we all put some cash together as a gift.

Add caption

 

We headed off to Johnny Joe's for a few drinks and some music. The music wasn't that great, so Harps took things into her own hands...

Christina HATES photographs! She's always trying to block my shot of her. This one came out pretty well though

I think we got home shortly after midnight. I attempted to take off my boots and failed! I had on a pair of socks, a pair of tights AND a large pair of woolly fleece socks on and shoved my feet into my boots, not thinking about how to take them off later. This is Karl trying to take them off for me..

Then came the cake-cutting ceremony practice round (Mark & Chris are getting married this New Years Eve)

Christina seriously at 6 slices of this cake last night. Since she can't eat gluten, its not that often she gets to eat cake, so she had more than her fair share of cake last night (and this morning for breakfast!)

Mark does this funny thing (if you beg him enough!) that he saw in Lethal Weapon. White bread brown bread in a South African accent. It was soooo funny that I dropped the camera (oops!) in this clip.

We all ended up sleeping at the in-laws last night. And needless to say we all slept quite late this morning. The rest of the day was spent sitting around, chatting, reading newspapers and watching Modern Family episodes. That was until Christina decided it was time to bake some more gluten free stuff! Christina made traditional Irish soda bread, which is delicious with butter and jam, especially when its hot off the gridle. 

And I tried these marble mini muffins out, also gluten free.  

Karl's granny is with us for the afternoon, and my mom-in-law jumped at the opportunity for another family pic (I look really fat in this photo because I'm squatting in a very uncomfortable position, and my shoulders are hunched so it looks like I have no neck. Well, thats my excuse anyway, and I'm sticking to it!)

Everyone has left now, and we are still at the in-laws place (its nice and warm). Sunday evening pizza is a bit of a tradition in this house. So after our pizza, we will head up the road to our own wee house. I need to gather all my things for my first day at my new job in the BIG CITY :)

Midweek road tripping

Karl had to go away to the other side of the country on Wednesday for his work teambuilding outing. They stayed at the exclusive Lusty Begs. So exclusive, that the hotel is built on its own island! It is also a wedding venue for the rich and the famous and brides-to-be arrive by seaplane. Well, my husband went away despite not feeling well, and got soaked on their afternoon canoeing trip. The plan was to return with his colleagues on Thursday eve, but instead I set out to fetch him early on Thursday morning so that he could recover. I left for my very own road trip to the other side of the country, and crossed 4 of the 6 counties in Northern Ireland: Antrim, Tyrone, L/Derry and Fermanagh.

If you look at the map above, I drove roughly from Ballymena (North-East) to Enniskillen (South-West).

It took me about 2 hours, and I occasionally stopped to take some pictures. We really do live in a beautiful country. My road trip anthem was a song by Michael Kiwanuka, called home again. Have a listen.

After I picked Karl up, we had brunch in the quaint riverside town of Kesh. This picture was painted on the wall of the coffee shop. 

After brunch, we decided to make the most of the trip and stay over at a B&B on Thursday evening between the villages of Cookstown and Dungannon. We were lucky to have an awesome view of the lough. A WHAT? Lol! A lough is Irish for a lake, and in Scotland they spell it: loch (lochness monster).

We did plan to get up and walk around it this morning after breakfast, but as usual, it was raining, so we drove around it instead and took photos, I know I know, it’s cheating! :)

On the way home, we passed the sign to a village called Ahoghill. 

Its my new word. Sometimes when I’m in a stupid mood (which is pretty often) I say my stupid word when Karl asks me a question. So for example, Karl: What do you feel like for dinner? Tarrin: Ahoghill or Karl: Are you warm enough? Tarrin: Ahoghill. And I change my stupid word as soon as I find another one that sounds funny. Try pronouncing it: A-hog-hill right? NO! Its pronounced:

We got home just before lunch, Karl has some work to do, and I need to do my hair. Going to a Mid-Antrim (Antrim is the county we live in) Motor Rallying Dinner tonight. Even though we don’t really feel like going, we’ll go, as the rest of the group are going. It also gives us girlies a chance to dress up. Apparently its dinner, a cabaret show and then dancing :)  We’re going to stay over at William and Joanne’s tonight as the dinner is close to their house (about 24km from our house). Will post pics soon.

My gratitiude list

We all get so caught up in what’s missing from our lives or what we can do to improve it, but we don’t often stop to count our many blessings, so I’ve decided to do just that: 

STOP and think of a list of things that I am grateful for.

I am grateful for/that:

 

A wonderful husband who goes over and above the call of duty EVERY TIME!

True friends who are there for you when it really matters

My parents (all five of them!)

My siblings and all the laughter they bring

My best friends

Hot baths

Decaf tea

Internet shopping

My part-time job which allows me to have pocket money AND me-time :)

Cold weather when I have to do my hair

Skype so I can catch up with my friends and family

Being able to read and finish my book in my own time

Coke Zero!

That I got to attend one of the most prestigious universities

My warm fleecy socks :)

Blackberry messenger

Learning to let go the things that don’t matter

Freedom to do things I am passionate about

Not having to do life alone

Chocolate

New beginnings

That I live in a beautiful area with easy access to the most amazing scenery

My swing cd set (4 cds)

My kindle

Date night ;)

My fireplace in the cold winter

That I have learned not to second guess myself and to stop ignoring my intuition

My health and the good health of those I love

For friendships: past, present and future

My toaster

Snow

My electric blanket

Nap time

Being able to travel

The little things

Today

Try it, it really helps/works.

Higher Love

I'm loving this song. Its an oldie, and the original artist is Steve Windward, but this cover is amazing! Have a listen if you can...