American to Irish English Jo's version

 Hey y'all! Trying to be consistent with posting!

I thought up a silly little post: giving y'all translations of daily Irish sayings to what we would say in America! I remember my first post in Ireland someone had told me I should make up a dictionary of everything I came across during my time- a wise thought that I have neglected until now! So if you ever find yourself in the land of Ire, here's a few of the common sayings I came across- nothing too crazy, its not another language as some might think but it is different (and very fun) !

Without further ado,

Irish:                                                                       American:

No bother!                                                            No problem!

Till                                                                        cAsh register (emphasis on the American a sound)

petrol                                                                    gas (specifically to make your car run)

grand                                                                    fine or good (when asked how are you?)

banjaxed                                                               broken

trousers                                                                 pants

motorway                                                             highway/ freeway

give out                                                                telling someone off or complaining (depends)

class                                                                      really cool- awesome

messing/messer                                                    making fun/ troublemaker

cop on                                                                 lock in/ understand and work with everyone else

yoke                                                                    zofia's favorite(SPELLED THE CORRECT AMERICAN                                                                             WAY) word, basically a catch all for "thing"

sound                                                                   adjective to describe a good person or in response to how                                                                                 are things

ring                                                                      call ( a phone call) ex. I'll ring her.

your man/woman                                                him or her over there

toilet                                                                    bathroom- PS don't say bathroom they don't know what that                                                                             is :)

fair play                                                            well done

stop the lights                                                   give me a break... used in many scenarios

mank                                                                disgusting

spuds                                                                potatoes

                              

thats all for now folks! there will definitely be a follow up post but this is all I can think of now!

and back to our regular scheduled program: PICTURES and GASP videos???

                                                soaked after our surfing class- I look class don't I?

    First video taken in Ireland- feat Waterford City Cathedral behind me- soaked awaiting our bus <3

                        Our weekly rosary walk around the grounds of Glencomeragh House!

                                    Our first sisterhood with CUPCAKES - the girls of HFM 9 having girl time <3

We each got a saint for the year that we wrote and gave to each other, I got the saint that I wrote down lol- St. Teresa of Calcutta!

                I gained an obsession with JustDance, and maybe played daily lol, the Wii never gets old!

Last but certainly not least: view from my front yard Slievenamon is the mountain on the left (climbed 2X)

                                                        ALL FOR GOD'S GLORY! 

xoxo, jojo

My Testimony and a little guide to HFM

 Hey y'all! In case anyone missed it:

My testimony: https://youtu.be/CXhyf1T6g1Y?si=aVGcOQWtIE-tnL4J

A little bit about HFM: https://youtu.be/ocKwLdmPLLo?si=jxCUN9EBFHd7AxSs

A few more pictures for y'all cause I'm feeling nostalgic <3

Above: A little photo op I helped out with for HFM ;) can u spot me?

Above: my amazing HFM family! miss you all terribly! <3

Winter Wonderland with Zofia and Faith <3

TTFN!!!

JMJ

LONG OVERDUE UPDATE

 Hello my lovely readers! I have returned from the dead! haha, but not really. :(

I wanted to apologize for dropping off the face of the earth with this blog! 

I am happy and healthy- thank you for all of y'all's prayers! 

I am currently living in Abbeville, LA after spending Sept- June in Ireland!

I am working with FMC as the Administrative Assistant for the foreseeable future- please keep my future plans in your prayers!

I wanted to make this post to re-introduce this blog: I will hopefully be posting regularly reflections of my life, from the past year that I spent in Ireland, to my little photo dumps, current thoughts that I want to share and general posts to keep y'all updated!

Thank you for your patience with me!

To reward any of you who are still with me- a few pictures to keep you engaged <3

Above: the fall photo shoot in Ireland with my friends Ava and Filippo! <3

Above: My new hobbies this past year have been perfecting my messiness, ukulele/guitar and begging for motorcycle rides from new friends XD

Above: adventures down the river: with Chiara, Filippo, Nicole and Tessie (taking the pic)

That's all for now folks!

Stay tuned- I'll be posting my Testimony video on here for anyone who missed it before! <3

JMJ

Touchdown in Ireland!

 Dear wonderful readers, I have returned- unfortunately I did not end up having time in my schedule to fit in another post before I left the country. However I had time tonight to write a little update! I pray that you are all doing well! My mother and I left the states on September 17th, from Lafayette, Louisiana. We had two checked bags, two carry-ons and three personal items (it was a real struggle for me to fit everything in my bags haha) 

The sunrise coming into Ireland! 

Praise be to God we passed thru TSA with no hiccups, made our flight to Houston, got on our connection to Newark with time to spare, and our final flight to Shannon touching down in Ireland on September 18th, 430am for us, 1030am for Ireland! None of the flights were delayed, every flight was perfectly on time and our bags made it all the way to Ireland with nothing missing! Praise the Lord, He is SO SO GOOD! We were a bit worried about customs- but also passed through with no issues! The lovely manager of my new missions company came personally to drive us back to Glencomeragh House!

in front of my new home!

In the 2 hour drive, we chatted, laughed, learned about Ireland, and listened to traditional Irish music! We enjoyed a delicious lunch, walked around the expansive, beautiful grounds and took much needed rests before dinner- or as they call it here- supper. We enjoyed a gorgeous Holy Hour- that is daily in the community. Then we called home and went to bed!

My Lord and My God 

The next day we slept in- and missed community breakfast but we managed to make it to the rosary at 830 and daily mass at 9. Mom and I got breakfast and tea after mass. Then we went to explore more of the property- it has two waterfalls, hundreds of flowers of all different varieties! After Irish stew for lunch-excuse me in Ireland its called dinner- We got a ride to the nearest town- Clonmel. We did a bit of shopping, got some necessities at a pharmacy, got another necessity- soft serve ice cream to walk around with because its VERY warm here- 70s and sunny, beautiful and VERY unusual for Ireland. The joy of the Lord in my response to his call to Ireland is very apparent in the sunshine and gorgeous weather! I got an Irish phone number and activated it with no issues, got some cash for the future from the bank and finally picked up some food at the local Aldi- our favorite grocery store!

After that we were picked up by the rest of the community that is here now, three 2nd year missionary girls, Fr. Patrick and Annette (the manager). We had a road trip to Holy Cross Abbey where we were blessed to venerate a relic of Saint Bernadette! She was making a tour around Ireland! My rosary is now a 3rd class relic of Saint Bernadette and Saint JPII! 

We stopped in a town on the way back to have a picnic supper- I suprised them all by putting my chips in my sandwich- which apparently is quite Irish of me- they call them Tayto sandwiches! I was incredibly blessed and surprised by a 2nd year missionary who bought me a box of chai- I had told her earlier that was my favorite tea.

We got back home a bit late so Adoration was cancelled in favor of early bedtime, we called home again and then headed off to sleep. I however couldn't find myself to be tired or able to sleep- which was the opposite with my mom the day before, she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow this time but the night before kept me up talking! After an hour or so- I went to the chapel we have a few doors down upstairs- I exposed the Blessed Sacrament and had a wonderful private adoration, I found great consolation being alone with Jesus and spent about 20 minutes with Him before I was truly exhausted and made my way back to bed and fell asleep instantly!

This morning we awoke to make it in time for breakfast. We attended the rosary and daily mass afterwards. We had a cup of tea in the conservatory- the sun room. Then we were able to do some laundry, take a stroll around outside. Lunch was DELICIOUS best yet- potatoes galore- a cheesy potato, salmon bake, fish-hash brown type cakes, peas and fried potatoes. After lunch my mom and I braved a walk on the country roads- they are quite narrow and they drive quite fast but we were blessed with breaks in the hedges to get off the road out of the way.

a photo op on an old Irish wall <3

After our walk we washed up- finished up laundry and went to supper- Toasties. Which is just grilled cheese in Irish speak! After supper we had Holy Hour and now here I am writing to you all!

Thank you, thank you, thank you all! for reading, for praying and supporting me! This journey was totally not my plan- but Praise God because He knows what is best for us! I am filled with joy and hope in this country and in this holy community! 

Know of my love and prayers for all you! 

God Bless, Jo

Can You Bake an Apple Pie?

So this post is just a silly one... but here's some context and backstory:

During my interview with Holy Family Mission one question was utterly unexpected. 

My interviewer asked me, "Can you bake an apple pie?"

They said it in context- asking if because I was American- I would know how.

I honestly answered, "I haven't yet, but I could follow a recipe."

I have always wanted to spend more time in the kitchen baking and/or cooking so I took this as a challenge to make a PERFECT American Apple Pie!

My mom found a recipe in her binder and I tried baking my first apple pie:

My family rated my first pie 8 out of 10.

A couple weeks later, a friend shared another recipe, this time with homemade pie crust. 

My sister Mallory (who loves to bake) helped me this time around and it turned out even better!

Praise the Lord- even in the silly small moments- we can glorify his name with delicious apple pies. <3

Beginning

 Hey y'all! So I've heard a lot of people have been wanting to keep up with all my travels in a blog or online journal of some sort. 

I'm a bit of a rambler and i wont have my mom to edit this haha so hopefully y'all will enjoy!

for now just a quick update on life so far:

I am fully funded for the next nine months to live in Ireland at Holy Family Mission. My mother and I have flights booked to leave September 17th from Lafayette, Louisiana. 

However even though I am fully funded any donation you feel called to give I will receive gratefully! You can donate on my GoFundMe or send any donation in the mail to my family's address- they will make sure I receive it in Ireland.

This blog will mostly consist of my photo dumps- because I take too many photos and little updates of what goes on over yonder.

I will leave you with a quote from my confirmation saint, Saint Mother Teresa:

God Bless you all!