The Missing Years (now with more pictures)

I've been away from this blog so long - I quit for a mental health break and that went on for over a year! Here's what I've been up to since you saw me last:

First, because it's the biggest news, Mike and Sam got Married!  In September of 2016.

It was a beautiful wedding, they are madly in love.

In July of 2015 Jeff and I went to IRELAND boo yah! 

Blarney Castle, Ireland

We started in Dublin and stayed there for a couple days, seeing the sights.  Then we hopped on a 5-day bus tour of most of Ireland.  It was the best way of seeing as much as we could in our timeframe.  And boy, did we see a lot.

Ireland looks exactly like those calendars you get, you know the ones where you're thinking 'oh, the whole place cannot possibly look as wonderful as all that'?  but yep, it does. 

Village of Cashel, Ireland

We are planning on going back at some point because I cannot imagine not seeing it again.

Jeff and I, at the River Shannon

2016 was the year of a LOT of travel.  (2017 is the year of save some fucking money)

In July 2016 we went to Kaua'i Hawaii.  GORGEOUS.  However, Kaua'i is very rural, very quiet. 

Sunset on Poipu Beach, Kaua'i

We stayed at the Sheraton Kaua'i on Poipu Beach, and it was SO CLOSE to the ocean.  If you go I recommend you just go ahead and spring for the deluxe ocean front room because the sunset up there?  Was taken from our balcony. 

we did this tubing adventure but this is not my picture!

We floated down an abandoned sugar plantation's irrigation ditch, which was absolutely beautiful.  4 enthusiastic thumbs up for that.  We hung out in the hotel pool, rented a cabana for a day, took drives to see the scenery

View from Kaua'i lighthouse monument

It was very fun.  But next time, if there is a next time for Hawaii, we will go to Maui. You can't go wrong with any of the Islands is what I'm betting.

In early November Jeff had a business trip to Budapest, so I tagged along.  Brrrrr.  But beautiful.

Then for Thanksgiving in 2016 I went to go visit Mike and Samantha.  They cooked a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat, we played games and Mike took me to a couple hiking spots where I did zero hiking (because mud) but we saw this waterfall

And we went on a nature hike and his roommate took this adorable picture of us

And that ends 2016.  I feel like I went all over the world lately.  2017 started out with a bang (literally, Mike got hit by a car and I just got back from 2 weeks more in Oregon helping to take care of him after surgery) and this year will culminate in a trip to Scotland (eeeeep!) - Jeff has another business trip so I will tag along and we will stretch it out for another week of sightseeing.

So now we're all caught up on ME, what have the rest of you been up to?  Any new news, any big happenings?  Any new run-ins with the narcs we all know and lurve?