On a Roll With the Wednesday Hodgepodge

I'm on a roll with the Wednesday Hodgepodge: Give it up for 4 weeks in a row! Joyce keeps cranking them out, week after week, with very few breaks.

1. January 24th is National Compliment Day. Is it easy or not so easy for you to accept a compliment? Share a recent compliment you've given or received.

It's not very easy for me to take a compliment. Recently, my name was drawn from other employees who completed online sessions from the Special Ed Dept. Everyone kept congratulating me on a job well done when I hadn't done anything at all...I just finished those little sessions so I could have a day off during the school year.

2. Ten little things you are loving right now.
I'm only going to keep it to 5...don't want to bore you just yet!

Reliving my Ireland vacation

My breadmaker. Makes fantastic pizza dough!

These 2 getting along...for the moment

My slow cooker. Have any good recipes to share?

CH & I love these! A better alternative to regular chips. They have "veggie" in the name, so they must be healthier, right?

3. Would people describe you as a positive person? Do you see yourself that way? I read here a list/description of eight things positive people do differently-

Positive people find something to look forward to every day, they celebrate the small stuff, they're kind, they stay busy, accept responsibility for their actions, forgive themselves, know when to move on, and resist comparisons

Which action on the list would you say you do regularly? Which action could you add to your life to give you a more positive outlook? If you're a positive person, what's something you do regularly that's not on the list?

Here's the thing: I try to be a positive person, and I would hope that people would describe me that way. The only thing on the list that I have to really work on is resisting comparisons. I do my best to steer clear of negative people, because they can certainly bring you down!

4. Homemade chicken soup, beef stew, or a bowl of chili...what's your pleasure on a cold winter's day?
Chicken Noodle Soup with a peanut butter & jelly sandwich and chips is the best lunch ever, but especially on a cold winter's day!

5. The best part of my day is....

My prayer time. After I've taken the shower and fed the dogs, it's "me & Jesus" time. It helps me get the day off to a good start and helps me focus on the important things.

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

Just in case you didn't notice, I've finally started writing about my trip to Ireland. I'm posting on Mondays & Thursdays for a total of 8 posts. As I'm looking up information about things my SIL & I saw, I realize just how little time we had and how much we missed. I definitely need to go back and see some more things!

Ireland: Galway- Part 2

MS' Irish friend said that he would rather spend more time in Galway than the town where he is from, even though when M & I researched, there is a lot of history in his town. YS mentioned that he wanted to go to Galway. What was the big deal with Galway?
Out of the places we went, the things we saw, and the people we met, Galway (and that area of Ireland) has my heart. The beauty of the rocky landscape, the stone walls that have been there hundreds of years, Galway Bay, and the Gaelic language swept me off my feet. A friend of mine said it sounded like I left a piece of my heart in Ireland, and I certainly feel like I did.
After a couple of hours' drive with a driver who made the trip "interesting", we checked into our hotel. At first, the young lady who checked us in seemed a little "stand-offish". She looked Irish: red hair, green eyes, but then she started talking. She was American. After we put our luggage in the room, we went back to the desk to see what we needed to make sure we saw since we had the rest of the day to explore. We found out that Dylan was from San Francisco and went to school in Galway to study ancient languages. M said she thought she was also getting a degree in art, but I honestly don't remember that part. Another employee was at the desk, and she pulled out a map and told us some things to make sure we saw. Joanna was Polish, and when I told her my maiden name we had quite the discussion. I explained that although my maiden name was Polish, I was actually German and explained that my ancestors were from the area of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland. She asked me if it was Silesia and my face dropped. M said she wished I could have seen my face when she said that. Anyway, Joanna is from that same region, although not the area where my ancestors were from.
Enough of that! The first thing we came to during our walk was St. Nicholas Collegiate Church.

This church is the largest medievel parish in Ireland. When we walked in, it felt medievel. It was quite chilly and dark, but it certainly was beautiful. The church was finished by 1320 AD.

A timeline of the church.

The Blessed Sacrament Chapel

The Chancel---the oldest part of the building

Close up of ceiling

The Transfiguration Window

Battle Standards of the Connaught Rangers, an army division used as part of the Napolenoic Campaign

Jayne Eyre's (yes, THE Jayne Eyre!) final resting place is at this church

The outside of the church was magnificent. I couldn't get the whole church in 1 picture.

I wish I had been able to read the pamphlet as I walked around the church. I think I have the captions correct, but it's very possible I don't. 1 more interesting fact about this church: Christopher Columbus worshipped here. 

We left there and found a walkway that Joanna told us about. It was a very peaceful, beautiful walk around the water.

We made our way to the Galway Cathedral:

The outside of the building was pretty impressive

The Cathedral was built on the site of the jail 

Even though the Cathedral looks old, it was finished in 1965.

The dome is gorgeous!

The Organ Gallery

White sculpted Stations of the Cross

Even though it's a "young" church, the details were amazing.

Crucifixion mosaic

M pointed out that the sun was reflecting through the stained glass:

This is over the front door.

We left the Cathedral and continued our walk...which led us to Galway Bay.

But first...another church! This one is St. Mary's, and it faces the Bay. You've heard of the Claddagh? Well, that's where this church is...in the Claddagh region.

The Dominicans have been here since the 1200's but I couldn't find exactly when the church was built.

Side altar

Sacristy

Organ in the back of the church

View of the church

Grotto outside of the church

St. Bernadette

Okay, now for the Bay:

If you've seen Ed Sheeran's video for "Galway Girl", at the end he was in one of these blue houses.

We saw a rainbow!

Monument to Christopher Columbus

Spanish Arches

Galway has a wondeful pedestrian shopping area.

We had our first meal here.

One morning we walked down the sidewalk to see a bunch of kegs sitting out. I asked the pub worker about it, and he said that they put the empty kegs out the night before (maybe Thursday nights?) and, like the milkman used to do, they are replaced by full ones just in time for the weekend!

Galway has a big music scene, but we didn't get down to the pub in Salt Hill that Joanna told us about. We did get to see a street band perform. I didn't stay around very long...you never know about pick pockets taking that opportunity!

Ed Sheeran's Galway Girl:

Galway Girl from P.S. I Love You: