Authoress Inspired

Ch-ch-ch-changes

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 12:30:00 +0000

Life is about to change in so many ways, and—even as a writer—I'm not sure I have all the words to describe the emotional turmoil in my head right now. I suppose it's a mix of panic, terror, nesting, excitement, frustration, and just generally pressed for time.

The good news is we're ticking one thing off our list at a time. This past weekend, Will managed to get our nursery painted. We're going with a nautical theme, so we decided to paint the entire room a stark white with the exception of one wall, which is now a shade navy blue. We have curtains too, which are a cheery apple red. And I went all HGTV on the nursery and told Will in a moment of brilliance that I wanted some real natural rope to use as tiebacks for the curtains. I have no idea how that's going to work, but I have the rope!

This coming weekend, we're doing the first of two hospital tours. My doctor has privileges at both, so while I think I know which one I want to use, I'm going to give both a shot.

We sold Will's two-seater convertible and purchased what I affectionately refer to as a baby mobile—an SUV, which is exactly the type of vehicle I swore I'd never drive way back in my oh-so-cool college days. Not so cool anymore, are ya, Jen?

Irrationally, I'm also worried about travel. Travel has been such a large part of my adult life that I can't imagine not doing it anymore. I love experiencing the history, culture, food, and vibe of a new locale. I've always wanted to give my kids (if we had any) the same joy I get from experiencing this wide world. What if daycare and baby expenses eat up those funds? Will I care? Or will we adjust and find a way around it?

While we still have a lot to do (the mind reels at the to-do list), at least this whole baby thing is feeling more real. What I do miss is my writing. It's fallen to the wayside. I've been assured by my writer friends that the ideas and the desire to write will return. Right now, that feels like a distant memory on a forgotten horizon. I have a book idea or two to return to once the wheels start turning again, so all is not lost!

It's a...

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 12:30:00 +0000

BOY!

Will and I are thrilled to announce that on May 25th, we discovered we're having a baby boy.

While I have to admit I dreamed of pink dresses and big bows for a redheaded little girl, I'm just as thrilled with the prospect of a potentially ginger-haired boy—once I figure out what to do with one! Having a brother who's almost eight years old than me and a sister who's two and a half years younger, I certainly have more experience with girls than boys. But Will is over the moon with excitement just like any guy would be who dreams of a son. I think he's looking forward to a buddy he can roughhouse with, teach about cars, and banter with about sports.

Almost everyone who knows has asked if we've picked out a name yet. We have, but we're not planning to share it until he's born. Since I have difficulty even choosing dinner from a restaurant menu and am easily swayed by well-meaning (or not) criticism, we've determined it's probably best to keep it quiet since we both love the name. For now, he's just Baby Cook. What I can tell you about his name is that it has a definite European influence. I mean, could it be any other way? :)

I hope he knows how much his parents are looking forward to meeting him.

New York, New York

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 19:35:00 +0000

Back in May, Will and I traveled to New York City for the first time. At first, he wasn't completely excited about the trip since he'd been in high school (senior trip!), and at the time, it apparently struck him as a dingy, dodgy kind of place. Of course, he was only there for a day or two and didn't really see the parts of the city that I was determined to see. And since we've been to cities all over (London, Paris, Dublin, Monte-Carlo, Nice, Venice, Chicago, San Francisco...) but never New York, I thought it was time to see the Big Apple—especially since I'd never been. So with my reluctant husband's blessing, I started planning the trip way back in February, which is before we knew we were expecting.

As it turned out, New York became a sort of babymoon for us, which made it all the more exciting. Me being the travel planner that I am, I had a whole list of things we needed to do while we were there. But as it usually works out, we were unable to do all of the things on the list, but we did manage to hit the high points! The pictures you see in this post are my Instagram uploads from the trip, and here's a rundown of what we managed to see:

Top of the Rock/Rockefeller Center
Union Station
Times Square
Fifth Avenue shopping
Staten Island ferry/Staten Island
Battery Park
Central Park (We rented a boat!)
Museum of Modern Art
Brooklyn Heights Promenade
Empire State Building (102nd floor)
M&M's World
Midtown Comics
FAO Schwarz
The flagship Apple Store
Lombardi's Pizza
Chinatown

Perhaps the biggest disappointment on the list was MoMA. Will insisted on going, and since he rarely asks to go to any sort of museum, I gave in knowing it wouldn't be my cup of tea. It wasn't his either. We both walked away wishing we'd opted for a different museum or activity for that morning.

I'm sure I missed some things on that list because we covered a heck of a lot of ground! One of my favorite things was FAO Schwarz. Talk about a kid's dreamland! Amazing store, and it was just how I'd pictured it. I also loved the romantic boat ride we took in Central Park. The afternoon was perfect for it, and we felt as though we had the entire city to ourselves. I am sorry we missed the High Line park, which I really wanted to do. I would also have loved to go neighborhood exploring a bit more and hit some other museums, but with a limited amount of time, it's simply too difficult to hit every single thing on the list without rushing it. And I've traveled enough now to know a trip just isn't enjoyable when you rush through it.

I do want to give props to our hotel, which was Hotel Mela located just a couple of blocks off of Times Square. I found a deal on a room there through TravelZoo, which came with a full breakfast for two every morning at the adjacent French bistro (Saju), two welcome drinks (The Long Room), and an upgraded room. My only two disappointments were that 1) I had to settle for a Diet Coke as my welcome drink and 2) our room didn't have a view.

All in all, it was a fantastic trip. Next time, I want to see a show on Broadway and hit up all the places we missed this time around. Until next time, New York...

A Sucker For a Romantic Story

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:22:00 +0000

Downtown Honolulu, HI, view from Punch Bowl. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Sometimes, if you're lucky, you get to witness the unfolding of a great romantic story to be told for years to come. My good friends K and T are lucky enough to be the owners of one such story. Last week, they left for Hawaii as boyfriend and girlfriend with their families. They returned as husband and wife!

As it so happens, you can apparently propose on a Wednesday evening and have an entire sunset wedding—dress, makeup, hair, photographer, and all!—planned by Sunday. Weddings seem to be as common in Hawaii as they are in Las Vegas, which makes getting married there on a whim pretty easy to do. K and T did it, and I'm sure they'll be telling this story to their grandchildren someday. And me? All I could do is sigh with happiness when I thought about how romantic and special the trip was for them. Their parents were there to witness the event as well as K's sister. Married in paradise without the stress... I can't think of a better way to do it!

Congratulations, you two! You may become the inspiration for a novel one of these days.

Beef Jerky and Buffalo Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:47:00 +0000

Deutsch: selbstgemachtes Beef Jerky aus Rindfleisch English: self made beef jerky made from solid strips of beef (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I'll admit it. I like odd foods. I always have. But it seems to have gotten worse since I've been pregnant! I've always had a love affair with buffalo sauce, but at about week six, I had to have it every day. After that, the craving went away. Now, it would seem I've moved on to beef jerky. And Sprite Zero. Good grief, I wanted a Sprite Zero and beef jerky so badly at work last week.And salt. Anything salty is my friend these days. Now if I could just find beef jerky coated in buffalo sauce...

But I digress.

So what's a girl to do? Nothing at this point except enjoying the snacks in moderation! At least I'm not craving extreme amounts of sugar, right? RIGHT?!

Who Would've Thought It?

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:15:00 +0000

Sometimes, when you least expect it, something happens to change your world.

Will and I were just sure we would become parents through adoption. Really, it's the only way we've talked about becoming parents for a while now. But while we were in Ireland in August, we started to ask ourselves if that's what God really intended—if maybe He didn't have another plan for us. We decided to place it in His hands, and went went about our lives wondering when we'd have the cash to move forward with the adoption. In the meantime, we lived our lives as usual.

Then, on Valentine's Day, I had a sneaking suspicion that something was amiss. I took a pregnancy test, and voilà! Will and I are going to be parents to Baby Cook 1.0 in October.

We're excited, but I must admit I'm more than a little stressed! It's a lot to take in, and I'm still a little bit in shock. I haven't been sick, so I really have had a nearly symptomless experience so far—except for my extreme exhaustion lately. (Apparently, I'm really lucky—thank goodness.) As a result, I find it still a little bit hard to believe other than the little belly that's starting to appear.

So there you have it. This is part of the reason I've been so quiet. How can you blog and not talk about something this big? I'm happy to share the news with you, and hopefully, I won't be quite so absent now.

Home, Sweet Home

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Landscape photograph of Chicago, Illinois. Taken from Shedd Aquarium. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to revisit my old city of Chicago. My friend Kim was traveling there for a work event, and since she knew about my love affair with the Windy City, she invited me to come along. Since it's one of my favorite cities in the world—if not the favorite—of course I said yes!

Kim had never really spent time in Chicago, so I had some things in mind, particularly the food. Oh, you can't beat the food in Chicago! Our first night, after walking miles around the city all day, we popped over to the inventor of Chicago-style deep-dish pizza, Pizzeria Uno on East Ohio. You can't go to Chicago without experiencing the pizza, and luckily, Kim was a fan.

The next night, we were in the mood for French food. My favorite French restaurant in the city is called Kiki's Bistro located in River North. They make a bouillabaisse to die for. Unfortunately, it wasn't available! I settled for a great seafood dish as did Kim, and as it turns out, it was her favorite place we visited. You can't eat at an epically delicious French restaurant without having dessert, and I made a little pig of myself on the divine crème brûlée. (I always order it at Kiki's. There's chocolate on the bottom!)

Finally, I took my friend to my favorite Chicago steakhouse. Select Cut is a local place Will and I frequented when we needed a steak but didn't want to spend a fortune. It's in Lakeview and near the frozen custard shop called Scooter's that makes a great after-dinner dessert spot.

I guess what we really had was a food tour! But we also managed to hit the Montrose Dog Beach, tour my old neighborhood of Andersonville, and explored downtown and the Magnificent Mile. We were disappointed to miss the Chicago River being dyed green by only one day, but we managed to find a green fountain downtown. I think Kim had a good taste of the city, and I had a nice stroll down memory lane. I only hope it doesn't take another four years for me to return.

Learning Irish...in Middle Tennessee?

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Image via WikipediaOne of my goals for 2012 is taking a class to learn another language. I have an aptitude for languages, generally speaking, and after visiting Ireland in August, I chose Irish as my language to learn. Not only do I have some family history there, but I fell in love with the country and its people, making me all the more eager to learn more about the country as a whole.

After returning from our trip to County Kerry, which is an Irish-speaking area of Ireland, I started doing some online searches for local Irish classes. To my dismay, none immediately became apparent. I found places where you can learn online, though, and I started to consider that. But one day, after yet another Google search, I saw an article from a local newspaper featuring an interview with Éilís Crean, a native of Co. Roscommon, Ireland. She planned to offer Irish Gaelic classes locally soon, and thus I began an email correspondence with her to find out more about the classes. Fortunately for me, Éilís (pronounced Ā-lish) is a patient woman and tolerated my myriad questions. :)

Tonight, the first official class begins. Since I would love to use some of the language in an upcoming novel, this is a perfect opportunity for me. And if you're just interested in Irish culture and language, this would be a perfect opportunity for you as well. You can find out more about the classes here. We're using Micheál Ó Siadhail's book Learning Irish, so come along with us! It doesn't matter where in the world you're located since it's available via Skype. We have people from all around joining including Northern Ireland, Atlanta, and Boston. It should be a lot of fun for all.

Holiday Movie Favorites

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:30:00 +0000

There are a couple of holiday movies that make me smile every year. I can watch them on endless loops because, really, who gets tired of holiday movies? Christmas music is another story. Christmas music should never, ever start until after Thanksgiving is over. Never. If it does, I'm way over it by the time Christmas rolls around. So with that in mind, here are some clips from some of my favorite Christmastime movies. Enjoy!

Elf

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

The Holiday

Making 2012 Goals

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." -Les Brown

It's almost that time of year again. You know...resolution time.

I don't believe in New Year's resolutions. For me, they're that pie in the sky I'll probably never reach because they're too lofty and unattainable. Instead, I set goals. I set them high enough to be within reach but still a challenge. For instance, in 2011, I set a goal to read 50 books. As of today, I've read 37. I'm working on #38 now. While I won't hit 50 books this year, it was a challenge to read as many as I did, and within those 38 books, two were 600–800 pages each (the first two books in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series). I'm proud of myself for getting so close to that goal. That's approximately three books a month.

So what am I shooting for in 2012? Here are some ideas I have:

Meal planning and eating out less. I'm terrible at this one. If I have an Achilles' heel, it's eating out. I come home tired and hungry, and if Will is home, he's my enabler when it comes to eating out. It's part of the reason I've packed on some extra pounds. It's time to get it under control, which should correlate to getting my weight under control again.
Finish another full-length novel. What's considered a novel? It means 80,000+ words. Here we go again.
More quality family time with Will. Since Summer 2010, he's been working 50+ hours/week and taking classes toward finishing his degree. This means we've had less quality time together, and since he's set to graduate in May, that's soon coming to an end.
Attend more MCRW meetings. I've been a terrible member all year, attending meetings when I felt like it. My writing chapter is a wonderful place to learn and grow as a writer, and I haven't given it nearly the attention it deserves.
Get over my fear of query letters. I stopped at about #16, which is kinda pathetic.
Continue working out 3-4 times a week. My health will thank me.
Read 50 books. I will make it this time!
Finally travel to New York City. I've wanted to visit there since I was a kid. I think I've talked Will into it.

How about you? What are your goals for the upcoming year? What do you hope to accomplish? What would you like to be different for you in 2012?

Welcome to the Holidays

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:30:00 +0000

Image via WikipediaI turn into a Grinch this time of year. So...I'm apologizing for my absence from the blog. The traffic, the "gimme gimmes," the general commercialization of Christmas...it all sends me into hiding. I've been hiding from social media, from my blog, even from my (*gasp*) writing. Our offices at work are right across from a large mall, and there's an added 10-15 minutes to my commute time each evening now, which only adds to my holiday frustration. As a society in general, I feel we've forgotten what Christmas is really all about, and it saddens me. It makes me feel as though all the joy has been sucked out of Christmas.

I hope life will return to semi-normal after the holidays. And since Will's final tuition payment arrived in my inbox yesterday, I (hopefully) won't feel broke anymore! We haven't had debt since July 2007, but making those tuition payments for the past two years has felt like debt hanging over our heads. We've cash flowed every bit of it, and with multiple visits from Murphy, I am so over college tuition.

Merry Christmas (bah humbug)! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season. And if you don't hear from me, I'll be back in the New Year...writing.

Plans Change

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Financially speaking, the last couple of years have been difficult for me and Will. We've battled off multiple attacks of Murphy, paid several tuition bills in full, and took a trip to Ireland. (Okay, so the trip to Ireland was by choice, but Murphy and tuition? Those were kinda necessary.) And we still have one more semester of tuition to go before we're done with that.

We'd hoped to start an adoption this fall. We even filed a pre-application, sure that we would move forward as soon as we returned from Ireland. But...we haven't. Finances are one glaring reason, but there are others, too, that I prefer not to share. So for now, we're holding off. We know kids are in our future. If anything, we're more sure of that than ever. We're fairly certain God is leading us toward adoption. Still, the timing seems not quite right. We feel as though maybe we're getting a message that we're not there yet. And so we wait.

That's where we are. It feels like a good decision despite that pesky personality trait of mine that's always raring to go at full speed ahead. One thing I can be sure of is that God's timing is perfect even when ours isn't. I take great comfort in that.

The Hunger Games

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 14:15:00 +0000

Have I told you I love the book series The Hunger Games? No? Consider yourself told.

The trailer for the upcoming movie starring Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss was released this week, and I am stoked. I read the entire series earlier this year in just a couple of weeks, completely enthralled with this dystopian fiction, which I normally don't care for. One thing I'm happy about is how different it is from the other hot young adult novel series...Twilight. In my opinion, the Hunger Games series has much more depth and a lot more layers. While it was initially geared toward the YA crowd (i.e. teenagers), as a 30-year-old adult, I found it to be vastly entertaining. I think you will, too, and I hope the movie doesn't disappoint. Judging by the trailer, it won't.

NaNoWriMo

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:30:00 +0000

National Novel Writing Month has begun, and I'm hiding.

You see, every year, about 101 of you ask me if I'm participating. Ha! You're funny. All of you.

I'm a slow writer, and NaNoWriMo strikes a fear in my heart like that of a stunned deer standing in the oncoming headlights. Or, if you prefer a Dave Ramsey reference, I feel like the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train. Every year, I toy with the idea of signing up, and every year, I back away from the website like the vicious anaconda that it is.

It took me about two years to fully complete The Stolen Lady. And I'm sporadically working on my new contemporary novel—in first person, no less—and while I'd love to tell you that the new project is trucking right along...it isn't. I'm really struggling with my creativity right now, particularly plotting, and that makes moving a project forward rather difficult. But just like I did with TSL, I'll get there with the new (untitled) work.

Speaking of TSL, when I attended a Bob Mayer writing workshop with my local RWA chapter recently, some of my writerly friends told me I need to start querying again. I queried a bit heavily for a while, and I managed to send out 16 of them. But after 16 (apparent and not-so-apparent) rejections, I fizzled out. They encouraged me to get back in the game because with the positive rejections I've received, surely the right agent could be out there waiting for me to submit. So I may start that up again. We'll see.

One of the things I really took away from Bob's workshop was the need to work on your weakest areas. This should be an obvious assumption, but I really needed to hear it. My strongest point is character development. Often, I can actually hear the characters talking in monologues in my head...or even having conversations with one another. (No, I'm not crazy. I promise.) I obviously have no problem envisioning exactly who I'm going to write about; it's the what I have trouble with.

Bob also emphasized the importance of knowing whether or not you're a pantser or a plotter. What's the difference? Well, I'm your classic pantser. Basically, I don't know what I'm going to write until it appears on the page. As the story progresses, it meanders and wanders and often surprises the heck out of me because I didn't see this or that coming. A plotter plans the story out from beginning to end, often making full character sketches, outlining the plot, etc. Ideally, I'd like to fall somewhere in the middle. This is an area I simply must work on in order to get better.

By the way, if you ever have an opportunity, go listen to Bob speak. You can find his books on Amazon.com and BN.com, and he speaks all over the country at writing conferences, including the Romance Writers of America national conference.

Guest Appearance!

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:30:00 +0000

I made a guest appearance today on The Real Dealio. Over at The Real Dealio, you can find all of today's latest and greatest local deals, including those from Groupon, LivingSocial, and more. Each day, a different blogger takes the stage to tell a story and integrates the daily deals into the story. What a creative way to keep up with our Nashville deals! It's also a fun way to keep writers on their toes. I had to improvise quickly and efficiently while figuring out a way to integrate all (or some) of the deals into my post. And I had a lot of fun doing it.

You can check out my own contribution here.

If I die young...

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Here's yet another one of my current song obsessions for Friday fun. If you haven't caught on yet, I have sort of a thing for crossover country. There's a unique sound you don't get in pop or in pure country. I also love the balladic quality they often exhibit. This one is called "If I Die Young" by The Band Perry.

Books Hiding Under Your Bed

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Sometimes, as writers, we must come to some painful realizations. And sometimes, that means the books we've treated as our children—often spending more hours with them than with our own families—turn out to be "practice books." As one writer friend of mine put it, we all have books we hide under the bed never to see the light of day again.

I'm starting to think The Stolen Lady may be one of those books.

I put a lot of love and time and blood and sweat and tears into that book. And yet, what I'm hearing over and over again from the agents I've queried is that while the writing is good, it just doesn't "fit" into today's competitive market. One told me the book was "old-fashioned." I'm not insulted. It probably is a bit old-fashioned. I prefer a book to be character driven rather than plot driven, and many romance novels on the market today are plot driven. It's what's selling right now. But styles and reader preferences change, so at some point, maybe TSL will see the light of day again.For now, though, I think I'm going to focus on something else.

I've been quietly working on a new novel, one I've already written a couple of chapters for and scrapped because the beginning just wasn't right. Now, I'm trying something new: first person perspective. This will be a challenge because I won't be able to get into the heads of the other characters. I'm pretty much stuck in my heroine's head. I'm okay with that given the success Kristan Higgins has had with it. I've seen how it can work.

I'm notoriously bad at getting a novel started. I'm what other writers call a "pantster," so I usually have no idea where the book is going until I'm deep into the story. And then I fly by the seat of my pants until the end. This time, I'm going to loosely outline as I go and see where that leads. What I'm hoping it will do is give me something to refer back to as I write and not forget where I was going in the first place.

So...here we go with the writing updates again! I hope you enjoy the roller coaster ride with me.

Some More Irish Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 13:00:00 +0000

As promised, here are a few more memories from our trip to Ireland. I can't believe it's been over a month now. The time has flown by, and I miss it. There was a food festival in Dingle this past weekend, and it's shameful that I missed it!

I apologize for the lack of videos. I tried to upload a couple, but unfortunately, I got a "server rejected" message. Boo! If I can get them up on YouTube, I'll share them from there later.

Celtic cross tombstone.

Sheep crossing!

A Kerry horse.

Dingle's harbor.


A church in the Kerry countryside. The lighthouse on Inishtearaght.

Whoops!

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 23:19:00 +0000

I haven't posted those photos and videos yet, but I will! I haven't forgotten. Life was a little crazy this past week, and it slipped my mind. I'm still here!

Exploring the Dingle Peninsula

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 13:30:00 +0000

If you spent every waking moment of your vacation on the Dingle Peninsula, you wouldn't run out of things to do. There's always someone new to meet, a new pub to check out, another historic site to visit, and yet another spectacular view to take in. This part of Ireland is particularly known for its vast number of untouched historic sites, including the famed beehive huts, Gallarus Oratory, and the Blasket Islands only minutes away by boat. And let's not forget all of the famine cottages dotting the Irish countryside. (The cottage we stayed in was actually one of these completely restored.) Oh! And the beaches! The beaches are amazing if a bit too cold for this Southern gal to hop in for a swim.

One thing about this vacation: Will and I didn't feel the need to be constantly busy. The more we travel, the more we're learning that staying busy doesn't necessarily mean you're having fun—and you may be missing some of the more interesting parts of your trip by staying on the move. If you stay on the tourist trail, you'll never get to know any of the locals or come back with interesting stories from your travels. We decided to take each day as it came. If it was raining when we woke up, we decided to eat some breakfast, hop in the car, and find something to do indoors, such as the day we took a shopping trip to Killarney (where I bought a Celtic cross necklace and a claddagh ring) and visited Ross Castle. Most days, by noon or so, the rain cleared, and since Ireland is so far north, we had daylight until 9:00 PM or so even in late summer.

One of our favorite treks off the Dingle Peninsula was our day spent at the Cliffs of Moher and the medieval banquet at Bunratty Castle we did afterwards. A medieval banquet, in my opinion, is super cheesy and definitely a tourist trap kind of thing to do. But we'd never been to one before, and since it's done in an actual castle, it had more appeal than your average medieval banquet (think Medieval Times here in the States). We got to try mead! How cool is that? But that stuff is strong, and it's definitely one of those things where less is more.

A bed and breakfast called Slea Head Farm was just across the road from our cottage. One evening, as we were arriving back at Couminole Cottage after a day spent exploring, a woman and her daughter happened to be walking by from the B&B. We said hello, struck up a conversation with them, and made fast friends. As it turns out, the woman is an author named Anita Fennelly. She and her daughter spend some time every summer on Slea Head, and they stay at this same bed and breakfast every year. They were from Kilkenny, and several years ago, Anita spent a whole summer on the Blasket Islands, staying in a dilapidated barn there. After her experience, she wrote a book called Blasket Spirit: Stories from the Islands. We met she and her daughter Holly in Dingle one day as she went to the bookstores to sign her books. (In a town as small as Dingle, you're bound to see some familiar faces.) They were charming and friendly, and we adored them both. When we return to Dingle one day, I hope we run into them again.

The food! You wouldn't expect Ireland to have great food. On the contrary! Even the pubs serve up a delicious bowl of chowder, and almost every meal comes with a slice of Irish brown bread. But our best meal—and our favorite—was at Out of the Blue. It's a Michelin starred seafood restaurant on Dingle's main drag. The menu varies every day, depending upon what sort of catch the fishermen brought in. (How's that for fresh fish?) We'd been advised by a local that Out of the Blue or the Half Door were good places to go for fresh seafood even though they were a bit pricey. So we treated ourselves and went for it. We weren't the least bit disappointed, so if you find yourself in Dingle, go to Out of the Blue! Unless you're a fisherman, this will probably be the freshest and fanciest fish you've ever had.

Finally, for my last little story, I'll mention the evening we spent at Dick Mack's Pub and An Droichead Beag (The Small Bridge). We decided to spend some time listening to traditional Irish music the Friday evening before we left, and while Dick Mack's doesn't have music, we wanted to check it out. After all, this was the pub where Dolly Parton, Julia Roberts, Tom Cruise, Robert Mitchum, and more had been. What was special about this place that it drew celebrities? One word: atmosphere. It's a lively place with an old vibe. It's also a place where a lot of young people in Dingle and the surrounding areas start their weekends. While we were there having a drink (Will had Guinness while I had Bulmer's Irish Cider), a hen party (bachelorette party) showed up! A couple of guys from Cork chatted us up, bought us a drink, and told us they'd meet us down at An Droichead Beag. We really didn't expect to see them again. Things got a little rowdy at the pub with the hen party there, so we moved on to An Droichead Beag, knowing the music we were looking for had already started. We settled in, and the musicians were already hard at work.

A little later, despite not expecting to see Collum and Sean from Cork again, we were surprised when they did show while we were chatting with some guys from Australia. We also recognized some faces from Dick Mack's earlier. By the time the evening was over, we wandered out of the pub as a line of taxis showed up outside to carry the drunkards home. And drunk they were! We'd heard Ireland has a problem with alcoholism, but it wasn't until we saw the staggering, glassy-eyed people stumbling out of the pubs that Friday evening that we understood. The only explanation we can come up with is that there just isn't much to do in a community that thrives on agriculture and tourism, so the populace drinks as entertainment. It's the dark side of small town living.

I'll post some pictures and videos for your enjoyment next time.

Just a Kiss

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 02:45:00 +0000

I'm breaking my series of Irish posts just for tonight because I had to share my new song obsession, "Just A Kiss" by Lady Antebellum. Look for more of my Irish journey shortly, but in the meantime, enjoy!

Dingle

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 13:30:00 +0000

Dingle is a funny name, isn't it? In Irish, though, it's An Daingean. It's been Anglicized so that people like you and I can read it. Despite the funny name, this part of Ireland is known to be one of the most beautiful in the entire country. And because the Dingle Peninsula is less inundated with visitors than the famed Ring of Kerry, it means that as a visitor, you'll enjoy your time there a whole lot more than those trying to dodge tour buses on the Ring of Kerry just a bit farther south, which is exactly why Will and I chose to visit Dingle.

Dingle is a colorful little town with a population of about 2,000 year-round residents. Known for its fishing and a friendly bottlenose dolphin named Fungi, it is exactly the sort of place you'd think of when you think of small-town life in Ireland. Many of the locals speak the Irish language, their accents a bit more careful and lyrical than you'll find in the rest of Ireland. It's a Gaeltacht as I mentioned in my previous post, which means it's one of the few areas in Ireland where you're likely to hear the native language. Everyone speaks English, but every child in Ireland is required to learn Irish. It's an attempt to hold on to their culture and their history even when English is the predominant language in every part of their lives.

As the bays of the Dingle Peninsula slowly turned into harbors of the Atlantic Ocean, my breath caught. I was practically dizzy with excitement. This was the Ireland I wanted to experience. This was the Ireland I knew my ancestors must have known. And when we finally reached this little town situated on the Atlantic, I knew I'd never forget it...never retrieve that little piece of my heart. It was everything I could have imagined and more. With a bronze statue of Fungi in the center of town and only steps from the docks where fishing boats moored, the main strip of town is cheerfully painted all different shades of the rainbow. Office buildings and homes in pastels greeted us as though waving hello to long-lost friends. Even our favorite pub, An Droichead Beag (The Small Bridge), was colored a vibrant yellow.

Despite our reluctance to leave town, we were ready to find our cottage after four hours on Ireland's winding roads. We started down Slea Head Drive, which is certainly an adventure within itself if you consider it's tight lanes with room for only one vehicle to pass in particular spots. Wildflowers—thousands upon thousands of them—lined the road. It almost felt as though we were passing through a tunnel of them. And though we'd done this route on Google Maps several times before we ever left Nashville, we were still surprised when we had to drive through a stream on Slea Head Drive! Only in Ireland would you find a stream running directly over the road and straight down the side of a sheer cliff.

Finally, at last, we found it. Just over the hill and around the bend, past the life-sized crucifix, the Ryan's Daughter roadside marker, and the cafe, the little Irish cottage with the blue trim awaited us. And oh! What a view! The Blasket Islands, Coumeenole Beach, and fields full of sheep and horses greeted us, the sounds of farm life like a joyful symphony of the countryside.

How much more home could I be?

A stop on our trip from Dublin to Dingle not far outside of Dublin.

The view from the cottage on the first day.

Couminole Cottage at sunset.

Slea Head Drive.

The stream running directly across Slea Head Drive.

The beautiful crucifix.

I Fell In Love

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 13:00:00 +0000

I've fallen in love, and I'm not sure I'll ever be able to retrieve my heart. I left a big piece of it in Ireland.

Our first day in Ireland was spent in Dublin. We toured St. Patrick's Cathedral, ate at Harry's on the Green (where I had my first taste of an Irish Guinness), visited the historic Guinness Storehouse, and hung out on Grafton Street—dodging in and out of awnings and buildings to avoid the sporadic yet persistent drizzle. We were exhausted from our red-eye flight but determined to experience some of what Dublin had to offer. But by 8:00 PM, we were in our room at the Roxford Lodge settling in for a long slumber despite the fact that the sun hadn't yet gone down.

At Harry's on the Green

Inside the Guinness Storehouse

The famous barrels inside the Guinness Storehouse

St. Patrick's Cathedral

The chaos known as Grafton Street

Our second day, we rose early (for us), had breakfast at the hotel, and then began meandering toward the Dingle Peninsula, which was our primary destination. Along the way, we stopped for photos and had planned to visit Glendalough until we got there and realized our luggage and belongings would be fully exposed in our car while we explored. So much for that plan. Shrugging off that disappointment, we continued our journey.

As we approached Dingle and began to catch glimpses of the bays and Atlantic shoreline, my heart raced. We were about to be in County Kerry, rumored to be the most beautiful county in all of Ireland. Not only that, in my research, I'd discovered the Dingle Peninsula is a Gaeltacht, an area where the native Irish language is spoken. Would we hear Irish?

Stay tuned for the next installment!

SEVEN!

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Image via WikipediaIn seven days, Will and I will leave for Dublin. We'll be checking into this hotel. Then, after one night in bustling Dublin, we'll head on to this cottage about four and a half hours away on the southwestern side of Ireland—the very end of the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry. County Kerry is a Gaeltacht, which means it's an Irish-speaking region. We can expect to see signs in both Irish and English as well as hear the Irish language spoken. I love the idea that we're going to see a portion of traditional Irish culture instead of the typical tourist traps.

On our way to Dingle, I have some sojourns planned, so I expect it will take us longer than four and a half hours to get to our cottage, but that's as it should be. We'll stop first at Powerscourt Estate, meander over to Glendalough, and finally we'll end our tour at the Rock of Cashel before driving straight through to Dingle.

I can't believe it's almost here! It seems like I've waited and waited and waited, and now I'm going to get on a plane and do it. My heart is indeed happy.

Watch Your Words

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 18:00:00 +0000

I don't mean this to turn into simply an adoption blog, but I have to get something off my chest. Today, I was looking through my Google news alerts, and I came across this article. I normally don't read article comments, knowing they're rife with vitriol and uneducated (or uncaring) attitudes. But I did for this article, and boy, did I regret it.

Most of the comments were directed at parents who choose to adopt internationally, saying that they shouldn't get tax credits and that their choice to adopt internationally must have something to do with a current Hollywood fad. Obviously, most of the commenters are not adoptive parents nor ever will be since their ignorance was shining through. So let me set something straight because I'd rather get angry here than in a face-to-face conversation with someone who really doesn't know the first thing about adoption.

Our kid is in South Korea. You really can't argue with that. We're doing what we feel compelled to do both by God and by our hearts. Adoption is an incredibly complicated process with more winding roads than you can imagine. It's emotional and heart-wrenching and beautiful and heartbreaking. No one comes to the decision to adopt lightly, and as I've said over and over, you can't "accidentally" adopt like you can "accidentally" get pregnant. And it is a decision, no matter how you choose to do it. It's a long and expensive process. A private domestic adoption is approximately the same cost (perhaps a little less) of completing an international adoption. OK, if that's the case, then why choose an international adoption?

We looked over our options. There's foster care, with the ultimate goal of placing the child back with his or her biological family. There are foster-to-adopt programs, but did we really want to go through the possibility of it falling through? A relative stepping forward and offering to adopt instead of us? The emotional upheaval would be tremendous. Domestic adoption, while an attractive option for some, is not a good fit for us. Most domestic adoptions are open adoptions these days, and while some families can handle that delicate situation with the care it needs, we are not prepared to go down that road. As first-time parents, the emotional complexities of those relationships seem too much for us at this point. Up until the child is born and the paperwork signed, the mother has the option to back out. Could we handle that? Could we really walk away from that child after preparing for his or her birth and making plans? Or, in those rare cases, what if the birth mother or birth father changed their minds at a later date and decided to fight to get their child back? And then there's the "marketing" aspect of a domestic adoption. Personally, at this point, I'm not comfortable with creating a profile book for a birth mother to look over, trying to decide based on photos and stories about us if we're the right parents for her child.

Then we looked to international adoption. Since we've always talked about adoption and sort of knew that might be where are lives would eventually end up, it felt like the natural choice. At the end of the process, we're almost guaranteed to bring a child home. There's still a waiting process, but the timelines are more stable. We know for sure what the costs will be. And—for better or for worse—there's no birth family to contend with, possibly revoking the decision to place the child for adoption at the last minute. The children available in Korea have already been relinquished; they're just waiting for their forever families.

I don't look down on anyone who chooses to form their family the way they see fit. I ask the same in return. No one has to live with our family decisions but us. It's hard enough to answer questions from well-meaning family members and friends and coworkers and acquaintances and... Be kind. Don't ask me in the checkout line how much my kid cost me. Don't try to connect our adoption to some political agenda. And please don't ask me to explain my choice to a stranger. Our family may not look the way you expect it to or even want it to, but that doesn't make it any less of a family.

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