H54F! {edition 1}

It figures that the first Friday I want to link up with Lauren for High Five for Friday, I find out she’s passing the torch! Well, I’m still excited to do it, and can’t wait to see who the next host will be!

Anyway, without further adieu, here are 5 things that rocked my week.

1. My new visa got approved and is on its way to me!

The past year I was living and schooling in Northern Ireland on a UK Student (Tier 4) Visa, which expires at the end of the month. When we were trying to figure out the plans for next year (I’m not quite ready to head back to the USofA) I felt like I exhausted all my options, until I stumbled across the Working Holiday visa for the Republic of Ireland. Since my boyfriend has already been working there for a couple years now (and was very sweetly commuting 1.5hrs each way for the last year so I could be close to school and had to officially live in the UK for my visa) it seemed like the perfect choice. Since my circumstances are a bit different than most people applying for this visa, programs such as BUNAC and USIT weren’t really beneficial to me so I decided to do the application on my own. Well, yesterday I finally got confirmation that not only was my visa approved, but its now confirmed and sent to me! Which means basically that I can officially live and work in the Republic of Ireland for the next year! Woo!

(all those links above are just for more information about the visas and programs for people interested!)

2. Home for Thanksgiving

homage to thanksgivings past, when the quality of my simple iPhone 1 camera wasn't fabulous.

One of the requirements of the visa was that I show them proof that I’m going home at some point. Since airlines don’t allow bookings a year in advance, they only require proof of a visit home as late as possible (to make sure I’ve got something to go home to) so it only made sense to book a ticket home for Thanksgiving! I’ve missed out on Thanksgiving the past two years, so its extra special this time. In 2013, we had a group presentation in class on the holiday and 2014 we were in the middle of a move and without a working oven, so both years I settled on a turkey and stuffing baguette at the Belfast Christmas Market and called it a day.

3. Netflix

image source: imdb

I’ve seen all the magical lists of the fantastic things Netflix has added, but the one I find most appealing is the fact that they added Fantasia. I definitely have a renewed appreciation for it as an adult. Currently it's only available on the US Netflix, but I'm hoping it will come to the other versions soon!

4. More time with the Man

the view of the moon on our walk home from town on Saturday

The move down south has really changed things for the better, mainly by getting back those extra 3 hours a day. In the past year, by the time R was home it was time for a late dinner and then maybe an episode of whatever show we were watching before it was basically time for bed on the days when he didn’t have training. When he did, it was usually some combination of toast with things on it for him (Heinz beans or jam usually) before and after, and then straight to bed. The first couple days were pretty rough with an extra 3 hours but no technology (even our phones didn’t work down here), but we’ve developed a pretty good pattern since. Before, even weekends were rushed trying to fit in all the fun things and time together and we weren’t really able to enjoy it. But now we’ve got our catch-up lazy days out of the way, and we’ve been going for drives and exploring the area without any specific plans in mind and just enjoying time together. No, this isn’t specifically for this week, but as R’s work schedule has been crazy during this week it’s made me appreciate it more.

5. Blogilates

Today is day 5 of the Blogilates beginner calendar for me, and while that doesn’t seem like much to most of the world, it’s the only time I’ve ever made it this far into a consistent workout program, much less 5 days in a row. I am personally very proud of myself, especially as my sore muscles have begged me to just skip a day, no one will know, but I will know. This may be on my top 5 list each week for the next month, only because it will consistently be my greatest fitness achievement to date and if it’s missing well, my abs gave in.

So those are my five highlights of the week. What are yours?