Why?

Why do stolen waters have to be sweet?
Why cant they taste sour?
Why do we have to enjoy doing things that are wrong?
Why is something better because its done in secret?
Why cant people just practice restraint?

And why the hell haven't I gotten any sweet waters?

I'm feeling VERY left out of the trend.

Random.

New Camera

So since I need to find something to write about and I am feeling rather chuffed with my latest purchase I decided to post about it.

As many of you know Angelo and I (or more correctly ANGELO) have a D80. which has pretty much been uncharted territory for me as I am terrified of changing a setting and calling down the wrath of Angelo...
Well I have secretly dreamed of being in the photographers club, clandestinely picturing myself sauntering down a lane looking terribly important with 3 kilos worth of equipment strapped to my neck carting a portable suitcase with an additional 20 kilos of lenses, flashes, tripods accessories etc etc...

Well that dream has now become a rather tangible reality.
Yesterday I was posting an ad on a Irish website where people can buy and sell their used or new unwanted items, anything from golf balls to elephants.
After posting my ad, I decided to type in Nikon into the search engine, up popped an ad posted 4 minutes previously of someone selling their Nikon D100 two lenses and extras for 150 euros. I chuckled a litlle thinking the poor guy must have mistyped the price, but decided to give him a call, just in case.... Much to my surprise he said that 150 was indeed the price and mentioned that there was another lens, speed flash, external battery pack, UV lens, case and all in perfect condition.
needless to say I picked it up an hour later as fortunately it was close by, when we picked it up the guy said he had been getting calls non stop but that he had already promised it to me, phew! BTW It was all in Puuuuurfect condition. :)
So at home I looked up the used prices on the items I had bought on amazon.co.uk, this is what I found:

Nikon MB-D100 Battery Pack For D100: 109 pounds
Nikon Af 70-300/4.0-5.6 G: 108 pounds
Nikon 60Mm F2.8D Af Micro Nikkor Lens: 319.99 pounds
Nikon 24-85 F2.8-4D Af Zoom Nikkor: 578.97 pounds
Nikon D100: 212 pounds
Nikon Sb-50Dx Speedlight: 79.99 pounds
UV lens: 20 pounds
Bag: 15 pounds

total: 1442.95 pounds

So basically I got all this at a KILLER price of 150 euros!
The man who sold it was sweet, obviously had no need for the money, was switching over to another brand and just wanted to offload the old stuff! WOOHOO!!!

And here it is pictured with external battery pack! (which by the way has a microphone so I can record myself squealing with delight)

On Love and Life

To many people love is like soccer; they run passionatly after an object only to kick it once they have reached it.

This quote makes me wonder what Love is really all about, is it really a gift or just some hormone induced feeling that we run after hoping that somehow it will make our lives more meaningful?

I can truly say that I have not found its made my life more meaningful, complicated yes, painful yes, difficult yes, comfortable yes, pleasant yes. But meaningful?

What is meaningful?

I guess it depends on how you define that word, my dictionary states that

meaningful:

• having a serious, important, or useful quality or purpose : making our lives rich and meaningful.
• communicating something that is not directly expressed : meaningful glances and repressed passion.
• Logic having a recognizable function in a logical language or other sign system.

Lets take the first example which seems the most pertinent, this states that in order for love to be "meaningful" it has to have a useful quality or purpose.

What useful quality has love given me?

Did it help me open a can of tuna quicker? Perhaps solve the problem of hanging space in my closet, ? No?
Well then surely love must help warm the bed at night? Well yes but couldn't the problem be just as easily solved by a good heater? And it most certainly wouldn't kick you at night.

True, so then what is it that makes Love so irreplaceable, that modern appliances cannot take its place?

Beats me, but it is nice at times isn't it? Even if it is just a hormone.

Love One Another

Love one another, but make not a bond of love
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

Fill each other's cup, but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread, but eat not from the same loaf.

Sing and dance together and be joyous,
but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone
though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping;
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.

And stand together yet not too near together;
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

We have moved!

Oooooooooooooour House is a very very very fine house
With one cat and a dog….

So our move is now behind us, phew… But what a move and what a house!
We are now living in a multi-millionaires home complete with cottage, pond, tennis court, sun room, outbuildings and a gorgeous flared staircase (think Gone with the Wind).
It has defiantly been an improvement on our last house, and being 15 minutes away from the country's biggest shopping mall doesn’t hurt either.




Sun room with tennis court behind



Grand staircase



I love big tables, this one fits 12.

Angelo's Birthday

So I have to post pictures of the meal I made for angelos birthday as I am rather chuffed about it hehe.
He didn’t get the traditional cake and ice cream instead I decided to make him a five course meal.
He wanted something different, and since I love to cook different kinds of food I decided to make something I had Never made before.
I settled on Turkish as I love their style of cooking and I picked the following:

Borek –appetizer - feta cheese and parsley in filo pastry.



Umak corbasi –soup- yogurt and mint soup with dumplings.



Eksili Kofte – main course – rice meatballs in sour sauce served with pita bread.



İç – Salad – tangy bulgar salad with feta, herbs, cucumber, onions, garlic, lemon and paprika.



Baklava – desert – pistachios in layers of filo pastry, covered in a sweet syrup.



My sister Kathy helped me and we started at 3 and finished at 8, as the filo pastry took Forever to layer and brush. It came out pretty good though and since there were no complaints except of the overstretched belly kind, I think they all liked it too!

The Borek was a real trip to make, i think it was too time consuming as the filo pastry is tricky to work with, It was nice, but next time I would make them larger with more filling rather then do lots of small ones individually.
The meatballs were my favorite as they had a kind of sour lemony taste, and was a nice change from the traditional meatballs in red sauce. They also had grains of rice in the meatballs instead of breadcrumbs, and it would cook inside the meat, this was a novel idea and something I want to experiment with more in the future.
The salad was Angelo's favorite but that was the one recipe I cheated on as I have made it several times before and it is also my favorite salad.
The soup was interesting, perfect as a starter as the mint was refreshing, but not with real substance, it was more of a richly flavored water with dumplings, hehe. Great as a starter not so great as a meal.
Baklava is one of my favorite deserts and although it didn't come out like the kind you buy in the store it was till fun to make and tasted delicious. I put extra lemon in the syrup that you pour over the baklava and I thought it tasted nice that way.
The Baklava took the longest too make as the syrup has to soak in the filo pastry for four hours, and the layering of the filo pastry took about and hour and then one more hour of cooking, so its a long and time consuming dish.

The Night of the Living Dead

The Gymathon is finally over. I say finally because as things stand now if I never hear another “invigorating” drum beat, or see a treadmill and energy drink it would be too soon.
Twentyfour hours and 5000 Calories have disappeared and I now feel like I can relate to road kill.

The day started off late for me I was scheduled to be the second team in to the gym and so didn’t get up till 8:00. After getting the food ready for the 100 people at the barbeque, chopping onions marinating chicken etc, we left at 11:30.
At 13:00 we were at the gym and it was a quick change into our sweats (which I have now banished to my laundry basket never to be seen again for at least a week I vow)

From 13:00 to 16:30 it was warming up on the treadmill, doing some light biking and taking breaks to fill out receipts or man the desk when needed.
At 16:30 Sam and I started to set up the barbeque as people were already starting to eye each other’s thighs in a way that just didn’t seem kosher. The die-hard marathoners had been going non-stop since 09:30 and looked like they had gone through a few sweatshirts already.

By 17:00 the massive barbeque was already pumping out burgers and it was just in time as Red Bull showed up and started making sure everyone know just how beneficial Red Bull was and made sure we took plenty to find out for ourselves.
By 18:30 we had loads of donated burgers, sausages and chicken handed out and we were ready to close up shop, by this time the gym was packed to bursting and the heat was like a sauna. Red bull left us with several cases of drink for the night shift and then left us with a screech of their convertibles tires, (those cars are too cute!)

At 18:00 a deejay had arrived and the gym started to break out into clusters of salsa dancers and even Irish folk dance, (led by Sam, with us girls valiantly following his “experienced” lead).
I had started to exercise in earnest at 19:00 with a break at 21:30, to announce the prizes, I alternated between the tread mill, bike and rowing machine. Leaving the more “relaxing” weights and various machines for your glutes, thighs, hamstrings, etc till when I was more tired.

At 22:00 several people left for home, leaving the two Sams, Josefine, Anj and Joe left with me to pump it out.
By 02:00 we had lost more then half our group and at 03:00 only me and Sam were left slowly doing abs, or biceps staring in almost hypnotizing concentration at the mirrors that lined the wall.

I had to take plenty of stretching breaks almost falling asleep with my hand wrapped around my foot and head on my knee. Thankfully they put on the Rocky series so we just needed to watch Balboa get hit on the face over and over again to motivate us, and it did help to pass time on the treadmill or bicycle as you didn’t seem to feel the hours pass. 03:00- 05:00 was the absolute worst I gave a totally new meaning to the term sleepwalking while on the treadmill. I found myself having to count to ten over and over again, to keep myself concentrated, as my mind would just slip like water through my fingers. This was probably because I walked uphill for over 1.5 hours at one time and repetition just makes your mind die. After walking for that long, I got off the treadmill and almost fainted the world started spinning so fast, I had to hold on to the bar and just take a few breaths. By then I was so out of it I walked into the men’s locker room to fill up my water bottle, and after opening the door and seeing two guys, one of them with just a tiny towel around his privates, I just stood there. I just didn’t understand why they were in the woman’s changing room, ha!

After 05:30 though things picked up and by 06:00 I didn’t feel so bad, I just alternated between stretching and some random machine just to keep from falling asleep, I found that the only way to stay awake during that long night was to “keep moving”. Originally we were going to leave at 10:00 but at 07:00 all the others who had taken naps, had gotten up already and so we decided to just hit the road, as there was no real reason for us to stay.

So at 07:30 we started home getting there in record time at 08:00 something and finally passing out in bed. A full twentyfour hour circle! Never again.
But it was very successful and we raised lots of support for both our charity and Special Olympics in Carlow, so it was worth it.

Its almost time...

so one more day to go and then it will be Gymathon time! I have asked to be there the full 24 hours as I want to try and see if I can make it... You know there is nothing like sweaty bodies and hooded sleepy eyes to make you feel alive, ha!
Well so far things have been lining up just great, we have gotten several butchers to donate meat, half the town to donate prizes (seriously guys I don't know what to do with all these gift vouchers and bric a brac!) and best of all Red Bull is sending down their wiings team! WooHoo, Red Bull gives you wiiiiiiiiiiiings, so feeling pretty confident about the wakey wakey part.

Sam and I are in charge of the barbeque so please please pray for good weather, the forecast is rain but where there is prayer there are Miracles!

I will let you all know how it went!

Goodbye Sean and Ann

After almost five years of working together Sean and Ann are moving to another country.
I will really miss their talents and part they played in my life.
I love you Sean and Ann!!!!

Gymathon time Again

So we are holding another Gymathon next month in the same gym which we held one last year in October.

This one however will be on a much grander scale then the previous one. We have gotten the experience needed from the last one, and know what areas need work, and now are attempting something on an entirely different level.

Thankfully we are giving ourselves allot more time to plan this event, as not only will there by a 24 hour Gymathon but also a presentation at the local mall, with different sports groups doing demonstrations such as martial arts and we will also be sectioning off a block around the gym where we will hold a barbeque!
All this will happen at the same time, so it will take some planning not to mention man power.

50 % of the proceeds will go toward our center's relocation to Dublin, and the other 50% will go toward the well deserving local Special Olympics branch in Carlow, towards new equipment in their gym!

And the miracles are already pouring in, on the first day of this project we managed to get the printing of the flyers and banners donated as well as a brand new barbeque worth 350 euros!

So we know that where the Lord leads he provides and we just need to go down the path he is laying before us.

The spinning Ring of fortune...

So today for the first time I did the ring test. Basically what this means is that, someone holds a ring strung on a a string over your palm (I have heard of other versions such as over your wrist), and watches the movements to determine how many children you will have, and what sex they will be.
The Ring starts to move either in a spiral movement which represents a girl or in a pendulum (side to side) movement which represents a boy. If you have more then one child then the ring will still in between movements before starting again. When the Ring is finished it will just stay still on the string.

First several people in the home without children did it and we had a good laugh, until the Ring accurately told us of all the children my Mother has had including the order of their gender.
Needless to say I was curious to try and the ring foretold that I would have two girls and then one boy, before it stayed still.
Angelo was next to try and I held my breath wondering if he would have ten children versus my three (divorce papers would have been served hehe). But amazingly enough the Ring foretold the exact sequence that I had, Phew...

So it looks like my family will be extended in the future!

Last night in Savannah.

After Denver we spent three more days in Savannah, we got to go to the beach and see dolphins, and laze around in the heat.
The last night which was a Saturday, Terry and Christina invited us out to the club where Terry and Angelo's brother Dj every weekend. Havi watched the baby for us and so we went to the hottest club in town.

We had such a good time, and I never had such great martinis! I always though Martinis were dry and with an olive, but boy was i wrong Martini is just a mixed vodka drink and we had pear, passionfruit and even champagne martinis, that last one was my favorite.
We even got to see a celebrity, turns out some famous actor was there and Chris got a picture with him, don't ask me his name because I cant remember for the life of me, but he played in I Robot with Will Smith, and was surrounded in the private lounge by his staff. But since the owner of the club is Chris and Terrys friend that wasn't a problem.

At three in the morning we stumbled home only to be dragged out of bed a 6:00 am for the four hour drive to the airport, God that was NOT fun, but the price we must pay to have a good time!
22 hours later we were home again in ireland, greeted by the wind and a sunny sky, (thank God).

Denver, home to the wild mustang.

After three fabulous days in the desert of Nevada we flew to the foothills of the Rockies, Denver, Colorado.
It was amazing, the prairies stretched out as far as you could see with the dark siluite of the Rockies forming the perfect backdrop. it was former plains Indian country and we saw deer, jackrabbits, prairie dogs and the famous buffalo roaming the plains.
The weather was cooler then Nevada and during the four days we spent there we experienced a window rattling thunderstorm which was nothing like the soft mist we get in Ireland, this was run for cover or you will be blown away kind of a rainstorm. The lightning was pretty impressive though, we saw it as we raced it driving home, the sky behind us was seething and streaks of lightning followed by crashing thunder painted the scene.
What amazed me the most about this country though was the way the sky seemed never to end. It was like it was somehow bigger there, no matter where you turned it just kept on going from one horizon to the other.

My family were so nice, my sister Nicky put us up and we loved every minute of our stay there, we lived like college students on beer and pizza (yum), and watched the kids run around like little indians in the back yard.
4th of July was great as well, Claudia got her first pony ride and loved the fireworks, the next day we had a big barbecue and the whole family crowded in to Ann's house where we ate elk burgers and organic sausages (they were great by the way).
Of course a Lykins reunion would not be complete without at least one night of drunken revelry and we did not disappoint, half of us don't remember what happened and the other half chose to pretend they don't either, at least there was no one with the presence of mind to take photos so evidence is non existent.

The last day Nicky and Phil took us to the Garden of the Gods, a good hours drive from where they live but well worth it, they are strange red rock formations that jut out of the landscape and are very impressive.

Here are the Photos from Claudia's first pony ride on the 4th of July.





Garden of the Gods





Me and my sisters.

Vegas Vacation

So we left the sultry south and their swamps and pleasant drawls to fly to Sin City, the one and only Las Vegas!
it was a very long trip from one coast to the other with a time difference of three hours, and we flew over the majestic Grand Canyon getting a birds eye view of one of the wonders of the natural world.
Upon arrival we were greeted by my sister and of course the desert heat, but coming from the humid south we really didn't mind that much.
The first day we stayed with my sister and we spent the day at the pool relaxing and taking in some sun, then the next two days my dear brothers paid for two nights at the Venetian hotel where they work and we got to have some tourist time on the fabulous Las Vegas strip. The sights and sounds were just so amazing I wont even try to describe it, it was like one big fairground with lights colors and so much glitz and glam it would put a showgirl to shame.

Enjoy the pictures!



Chris my eldest brother myself and Anna.




Inside the Venetian were the gondolas, wind their way through the hotel and the outside.




One of the hotels lobbies.



Dinner with my three brothers my sister and their loved ones.



Me and Chris and Min.



My brother Alec and us.



One of the many pools at the hotel at night, where we floated and watched the sun set and then the stars appear.

JAWS!!!! well baby jaws...

So yesterday I finally was raised from the dead. Yes I was sick the day after we arrived here. It was a awful virus that completely knocked me out for two days, I wasn't able to keep anything down and felt like there was an army of dwarfs hacking away at my skull looking for gold.

But thank God its over now and yesterday we went to the beach for the first time since arriving. It was allot warmer then the beach in Italy with warm breezes and balmy water. however where there is warm water there is...yepp thats right SHARKS! If they had told me this before I went to the beach I would have never put one toe in that water, but no it wasn't until some kid caught a baby one in his net right by the shore that they thought to tell me!
I mean yeah they put up a sandbar but anyone who has seen jaws knows that That just doesn't work.
I finally got the courage to pick it up before they released it back, so here is the picture.






Claudia posing.



With Uncle Gabe and Cousin Caroline and Kylie.

Accross the sky....

So tomorrow is the big day!
The day I will first lay my feet upon American soil, that is of course providing they let us in.
We have a full three weeks ahead of us, and I know it will pass quicker then I can imagine, but I still am looking forward to it.
I will finally post some recent pictures once we have some of our trip, and will hopefully update you all on our adventures.
Pray for us!

Where the sun never sets...

Well its been a few weeks now that I haven't had a laptop, I have sold my trusty apple as I have my sights set on higher things!
No not a Dell (as if!) but rather the latest model of the 13'' macbook. One of the advantages of living in a expensive country is that you can buy a computer in the States use it for two years and still sell it for almost what you paid for it.
So in two weeks I will be in the states, pick up my apple and once again be connected to the World!
But first a little update on all of you who love me but who I never seem to find time to talk to.

I went to Norway two weeks ago to see my family and friends. (sorry to all of you that I didn't get to see, I only had a few days, so you guys need to come see me soon!)
It was so nice to go back to Norway, I had forgotten how beautiful it is. On the long train ride from the airport I got a perfect view of the stunning mountains, glassy lakes, rolling hills and sweeping birches.
It was almost enough to make me want to move back and settle into one of those houses hanging over the ridge of a hill, with a birds eye view of the lakes below. Each house worth its salt has a porch to sit on and watch the sun as it slowly dips unto the horizon,only to stop and bob in the air as if it is undecided about what to do next. And then it decides that maybe its time to come back out and grace us with its presence.
At the time I was visiting it was only the beginning of the summer months and so there were a few merger hours from 1-4 where the sun would disappear, but as the months wear on it will become bolder and refuse to hide itself.

I had a great time and was able to speak with my brothers and see with my own eyes how big David has grown, I am so happy for the opportunity and cant wait till the next time.

Sorry I don't have any pictures but ryanair is getting too much to travel with these days, and every gram is precious.

London eye.