The Clearing Skies

ok, I haven't posting in a while and I bookmarked this on my top sites and it mocks me every time I glance at it. Maybe I'll post something so the ghost of bloggers past leaves me alone.

The winter is finally subsiding! There have been numerous days with sunshine and blue skies! So many that I've lost count in fact!

To recap:

Christmas and New years great fun but I missed my family. I plan to spend the next holidays with them not matter where they or I are! Since this a college town and a lot those in our church are students, many when home for the holidays, so for a month between Dec and Jan it was kinda lonely. But then everyone came back and I left! I went to Germany to visit my folks for two weeks! It was amazing! There was lots of snow, good food, helping at the college, making cappuccinos and watching Jonathan be awesome at basketball.

Then back in Cork! To be honest I've been a little down since I came back. It was so refreshing to be with family and friends who have known me for a long time, then to come back and get back into building relationships mode was tough. I know God is with me and He is my friend. Its a struggle to let Him be so close when you want something else. But I'm coming out of it (I think the sunshine helps!) and in fact I am going to have dinner with three girls tonight!

Right now though I am going to be baking banana bread! It's like therapy! Plus it's kinda a creative outlet. Something I need right now! If you can believe it all my jewelry making equipment has been misplaced! We're not even positive what continent it is on! And I don't have the money to go buy replacements or any other are supplies right now. So baking will have to suffice! At least other people can really enjoy it afterwards!

My Room

This is my room in Ireland! I have been blessed to live in a great house and have a spacious room at an affordable price! Here are the pictures! I plan to to some decorating but that is an expense that is way down on my list of need!

My closet and chair. And of course the holy flag of Sweden. ;)

The view from my window! Not amazing but it gets good light in the morning!

My dresser and bed! Luckily the room came furnished!

My nice big bed with my Gustav Klimt curtain. He is one of my favorite artists!

Sick Bay

Eoin and I playing when he was sick with the chicken pox

So I've been out of commission since Wednesday night. I just have the common cold but it has really beat me up. So as I've been sitting here in my room for the last 48 hours I've had lots of time to think, to read, to update my iPod and to think of all the things I miss from America. Truly I can do just fine with what this wonderful has to offer. But there are a few things that take my fancy and tickle my taste buds that are not found in Europe.

If anyone reading this is overtaken by the Christmas spirit of giving and wished to bless me with a little package from abroad I would be most stoked!

• Goldfish Crackers - The rainbow colored ones, cause the purple ones taste best!
• Cold Cream - Ponds or generic brand, I feel like an old lady using this but it is the best makeup remover!
• Extra Polar Ice Gum - The little blue dots are so fun!
• Suave Rave Pump Hairspray - Most of the hair spray here is aerosol, and I prefer a pump, plus the Rave smell reminds me of high school!
• DayQuil/NyQuil - The capsules not the liquid, medicines like this you have to go to a pharmacy to get
• Trader Joes Chocolate covered Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites - pure bliss!
• Bobby Pins - I think Goody or Conair makes the one with no slip grip, a style must!
• Dr Scholls For Her Comfort Insoles - I do a lot of walking here!
• and last any puzzles for playing with Eoin. He is 4 years old, so maybe nothing with more than 20 pieces.

Thank you so much for reading and if you want to send one one and any of these things please send to:

Aan-Sofie Guzik

46 Ardfallen Terrace

Cork City, Ireland

Good Day

Yesterday was a great day! I showered in my house! Went to tea with a lady from our church. The tea was in support of Cork Penny Dinners, a soup kitchen in town. At the tea, I met the Mayor's wife, Tanya Murphy and we chatted a few lines. Then I found a cute new store/boutique and bought a friend the perfect Christmas gift. Next I went home and started cooking a traditional Swedish dish. A potato casserole type thing, it turned out great! Then I went to the Neglia's to watch Eoin. He was in a good mood and sweet if not a little hyper! We played and did muscle therapy. I minded him while Mike went to a prayer meeting. He would stay in bed so to get him to settle down I had to lie in bed with him, I almost fell asleep! Then I came home and cleaned my room!

A wonderful day!

Christmas Ball

Well last night was the 1st annual Calvary Cork Christmas Ball.

It was so much fun! We have been planning this for weeks and this week had been especially crazy. But it all came together and was amazing! Rachel, Jacq and I decorated, the place looked stunning! We strung ornaments on fishing wire and lined the ceiling with them! We put lights all over and huge silver snowflakes that we cut from wrapping paper. We had a mini christmas tree with fake presents and loads of candle all over the place to give a wonderful glow! There were loads of people there and almost everyone got on the dance floor for a bit. Some never left! The food was fantastic and the musical events delightful! (Goo job Siona, Hannah, Rachel, Aden, Ian!)I ran around all night, watching Eoin, setting up food, cleaning up, talking with people, dancing, filling water, taking out filled trash cans, and I had so much fun!

This was a fundraising event too! We charged 10 euros a ticket and the profits went to Jacq who is going to Brazil in March, and Ian who is helping with the church in Waterford. They were able to get a good amount of money to help out with their ministries.

Mission Christmas Ball......Success!

I got home at about 1:30 am and slept till 12:30! I haven't slept that much since I was jet lagging!

Anyway, it was such a good time and I am so grateful everything went well.

My hair and makeup for the ball!

And God has been blessing me so much lately! I was able to get enough support to make it though January with paying rent and everything. I will be hitting the pavement on Monday to find a job. Some students from the bible college in Germany came to Cork to visit for 2 days, my parents paid to have them bring 2 suitcases of my things for me! Christmas came early! So now I have more wardrobe and shoe options! I feel so blessing in this week! Praise and thanks you God!

Technically speaking

Okay I haven't broken my resolution! It hasn't been a full week since my last post so it's still 2 in one week if not a calender week! >_<

Anywho.....

So today is Monday the official day off for all church ministry people. I had planned an elaborately productive day but since I have not had more than 5-6 hours of sleep the last 4 nights I slept till 9:48 am! I had leftover apple pie for breakfast (more on that later!) and read for a bit in my bed! I am in desperate need of a shower, but it's still not working. Everything else works in our house. Washer, hot and cold, toilet everything! But not the shower! I have plans to go to a friends tonight and bathe but I feel really icky this morning. So instead of going about town like I have been on my day off, I have decided to stay inside! Since I felt icky I thought a little home beauty care was in order. I did my eyebrows, face mask, pore cleansing and hopefully a pedicure this afternoon! I love days off when you can pamper yourself just a little bit!

I have also been working on my CV, what the Irish call your resume. I can't remember if I mentioned it in my last post but I am going to try and get a job at a coffee shop here in town. Just 5-10 hours a week in the mornings. I have some time in the morning (I don't go to the Neglia's till 3 p.m.) that I'm wanting to fill with something productive and profitable! Times are hard in this economy and my support isn't what I hoped it would be. But God has provided me with the ability to be able to work in Europe so I'm going to try it! Please be praying that I find a job!

Back to the apple pie!

The American contingency in Cork were all busy Thursday so we planned to do Thanksgiving on Sunday! So yesterday we all got together at the Neglia's. Rachel did the turkey, her first which was amazing!, and the potatoes and vegetables. Dawn did the sweet potatoes, pumpkin pies and ham. Chris and Nada brought bread. And I did the stuffing and a spiced apple pie!

Everything was so amazing! I tried a new dinner strategy too! I used to put only a little and my plate and then go back for seconds (maybe thirds!). This time I piled my plate and took my sweet time eating it! I would eat then push the plate aside then chat and such and then pull the plate back! This had the added bonus of not having to get up from your seat, which though it might sound lazy, sometimes you are stuck in the middle seat against the wall and can't get out easily. Then it's perfect!

So we had a great time, the food was amazing the pies were classic and the company was impeccable! We played a really fun game too! I forget what they called it but it was Bible Charades. The only thing was you couldn't do anything with any member of the Trinity. No God, no Jesus, no Holy Ghost. Some did abstract things like "Goodness and Mercy shall follow me all the days of my life" (that took us a while to figure out) to funny ones like the woman riding the beast and obscure ones such as the dog licking Lazarus' sores! It was a lot of fun!

This week is going to be a busy on as we have our Christmas ball on Friday. Tomorrow we shop, Wednesday I bake, Thursday we decorate and Friday we finish everything we haven't done!

So keep me in your prayers this week and I will we back on Wednesday or Thursday with another post!

Picture I took at the Cork City Museum. I am proud to be in Cork!

Pre-New Years Resolutions

So I have this blog, and I want to use it to just tell what goes on in my day. The problem is I never blog! But I think about what I would blog all the time! While I walk various places about town I write blogs in my head. Then I get home and forget all about it! The internet can just jack in to my brian right?!

So here we go, my pre-New Years resolution. To blog twice a week until the end of the year. (Depending on how that goes we'll see what my actual New Years resolution is!)

Blog #1 for this week:

This week has been busy and crazy! We had a children's ministry meeting on Sunday. I'm in charge of lesson plans and crafts. I have 4 completely done and 3 more in progress! The crafts are so cute! We are going through Mark and the Fruits of the Spirit. The craft for Jesus' baptism is a paper plate with a slit in the middle in which a paper man goes in and out of! up and down, up and down! I'm having so much fun!

My landlady has a 9 month old daughter and upon hearing that I

made excellent sugar cookies asked me to make some for the christening! I thought she was just saying that but she was serious! So I made 80 sugar cookies and decorated each on! And of course true to my obsessiveness, no 2 were decorated alike! I also made 100 oatmeal cookies, all crispy and buttery! 180 cookies! She paid me 50 euros! The materials were about 20E and so I made 30E!

Which really helped out cause Eoin had his birthday party this Sunday as well and I made food for that! Plus gifts and such, so really, making those cookies gave me the money for Eoin that I didn't have before! Praise God for providing in miraculous ways!

So Eoin's birthday was a Peter Pan themed party, so much fun! So I made "Hook is a CodFish" Smoked trout cheese log and "Tiger Lily's" Chicken Curry Teepee Sandwiches! I had so much fun shaping the cheese into a fish and decorating each sandwich as a teepee! And the party was a blast! It was actually a joint birthday party for one of my new friends Jacqueline! She dressed up as Tinker Bell and Eoin was Peter Pan, Mike was Captain Hook, Rachel was Wendy, Aaron was a Lost Boy, Ann was Tinker Bell #2, Ester was Tiger Lily, Shane and Katie were Pirates, and I was some semblance of a pirate with a striped shirt, red shirt and black boots!

And then in the midst of all this there was the flood! But I'm tired of typing! I'm not used to this yet! So I will get to that later today I promise!