The Ramblings of a 20-something Girl: Adventure | A Weekend of Fun, Friendships, and Learning

This past weekend was amazing. I met so many great people, made lots of new friends, and have memories that I'll never forget. Today is the beginning of the International Leadership Conference; and after changing dorm rooms, lots of the mission trainees leaving, and a little bit of shopping (when in Rome!), it's time to start the next part of my trip here.

But first, here's a recap of what happened this weekend:

Friday I had expected a lie in, but even though my efforts were to stay in bed longer, the light coming through the window was just too strong for me to get back to sleep. I woke around 6:30 am, tried to sleep for another half hour or so, then decided I just wasn't going to be able to fall asleep again. So I watched caught up on social media (even thought at first the internet wasn't working in all but one corner- which happens at a certain time at night until the morning), watched Pretty Little Liars, and got ready fro my day.

We went on a drive around, stopping at the beach for about 10 minutes (it was breathtaking), and then going to The Old Spaghetti House for lunch (just- yum). We even passed by the convention centre, where Comic Con is on every summer (this week, actually). I can't believe that many of my favourite TV show casts are going to be in the same city as me later this week. If only it had been a week later, I could have gone!

Friday evening I got to meet my room mate, and we sat through a few presentations, as well as playing the infamous name game (it was a long game!).

Saturday was a great day. We learnt a lot of great skills and information regarding our training, as well as sitting on the grass eating delicious ice-cream, and getting assigned our missions. Just the thought of the memory of lazing about after lunch, sitting in the sun with our melting ice-creams (luckily the fact that I got ice-cream on my top doesn't ruin the memory), makes me smile.

In the evening we had a barbecue dinner, where we posed for pictures, dressed up, and had fun.

After that, we found out where we were going to go on missions. And I'm excited, because I am going to China! Having only been to two continents and only two countries outside of Europe, this is pretty exciting!

Sunday wrapped up the end of our training. It was a bit of a longer day than Saturday, and we were all a lot more tired. Nonetheless, we had both lunch and dinner on the outdoor patio, which looks over a pool and an amazing view. We also went bowling in the evening, and had a blast, despite my fail at striking (the one time I did really well, it wasn't documented on camera). We said our goodbyes, as only three of 11 of us are staying for the ISLC. So it was a little nostalgic, but we're all going to stay in touch, which is nice.

This weekend I met some of the nicest, most wonderful people, and I hope to continue friendships with them in the future. One of them is actually going to study in Dublin, which is great, and I just hope more of them decide to come to Ireland some day (one of them might be next summer, I do hope so!).

Today, I went shopping (of course) and ate lunch in Chipotle, whcih was a first for me. I had a chicken burrito, and it was really tasty! I also did an interview for a video this afternoon, so that was pretty fun to do, considering I make videos on YouTube!

So all in all, I am going to miss this past weekend. But I am ready for the excitement that is the ISLC!

It starts in about an hour, so I can't wait to see what this year brings. I'll be singing in the talent show, so that'll be lots of fun.

I better go get ready for ISLC now, but I hope to post more during the week, but it all depends on time. If not, I will post when I get home.

Sarah xxx