I said I was going to talk about things I like in Ireland, so here we go.

Seeing cows and sheep everywhere-This honestly has never gotten old for my wife and I. A herd of dairy cows live behind us, and we love seeing them hanging out in the field all day. We've given them all old lady names like Matilda and Prudence and we love to sit and watch them if any drama occurs within the herd. It's more entertaining than anything on TV. We're also a sucker for the sheep and lambs we see everywhere when we drive around or take walks. We think they're all so gosh darn cute!

The snack food-Ireland has some good junk food that you can't find back home. The selection of crisps (Potato chips) alone is worth talking about in its own journal. When Christmas and Easter came along, the selection of Cadbury products was outstanding! I've also taken a liking to chips (French fries) in curry sauce. It's an unlikely combo, but by gar, it works!

Cheaper food prices-Folks here complain about the cost of food over here, but my wife and I find it very reasonable, especially after living in Alaska for nine years.

More polite drivers and pedestrians- You still have your jerks on the road, but you come across them less over here. Pedestrians as a whole also are more cautious and don't just jump right in front of you all the time. It does happen, but not as often as I've seen in other places I've lived.

No loud music in pubs-I can go into a pub and there's no music playing at full blast on a PA system. I don't have to yell when I'm talking to my wife or trying to order a drink at the bar.

Proper sized beer cans and bottles at the stores-Beer comes in pints instead of those dinky little 12 oz bottles or cans.

Cheaper non-alcoholic beers- NA beer is cheaper than regular beer. (As it should be)

Decent weather year round-People here complain about the weather all the time. I bet if they lived in Alaska for a year and came back, they'd be telling me differently. Yes, it rains a lot and sometimes it floods. You can also get some seriously strong winds. But overall the weather isn't that bad. It's never too cold and it's never too hot. My wife and I did miss the snow this winter, though.

No mosquitoes- Makes us and our horse VERY happy.

I'll be writing more in the next entry.