Shortly after Michael and I celebrated my birthday, Ireland was hit with the largest snowstorm of the past 40 years. Earlier in the week I had asked the head of the English Department at Trinity if there was a chance classes would be canceled, and she responded that in the time she had been at Trinity they had never called off classes due to snow. Less than 24 hours later the campus was shut down.
With classes called off for the week, Michael and I decided to get up early and take photos of Trinity's campus because it was just so beautiful with the snow everywhere.
On Sunday we took photos of the Methodist church we attend over here for the same reason. The photos I took haven't been edited in any way, the light actually looks like that early in the morning after the snow. It's beautiful.
After church on Sunday, we decided to enjoy the snow in St. Stephen's Green.
We met up with Emily Sernaker, a Rotary Scholar from California. Because California doesn't get a lot of snow, Michael and I were able to teach Emily all the best things to do in the snow, like make snow angels, have snowball fights, build snowmen, etc. I even tried to make a Rotary wheel in the snow, but it's difficult to see in the photo. The highlight of the afternoon in the park was coming across several Irish boys ages 7-12 who had a pile of snowballs and no one to assault. We picked a fight and all of us, including the kids, had a great time.
Then, a few days later on December 2, Cian Timmons, a Rotarian with Dublin Central, called to say that as buses and the luas (Dublin's above-ground train) weren't running, he and his wife were snowed in and unable to attend Handel's Messiah at the Grand Canal Theatre that evening. Since we live in City Center, he emailed the tickets and after just half an hour's walk we were able to enjoy the performance in the best seats in the house! Not only was the performance itself amazing, but the walk there and home was snowy and beautiful. We had a wonderful evening and it wouldn't have been possible without the generosity of a Rotarian from Dublin Central.
This past semester I took a course on monsters in literature and film, and for my term paper I wrote about how the duality of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde influenced comic book characters and their alter-egos. Writing 5,000 words (15 pages) on anything is enough to make you a little crazy, and in this state I decided that when I was finished with the essay Michael and I should have a celebratory party at our house and require all our friends to dress up as superheroes / evil villains. 
Michael graciously planned the majority of the event, as I was staying up almost every night to write my final papers in every class. When January 28th came and our Fall semester came to a close, we found ourselves with about half of the Trinity pop lit post graduates (12 total) in our living room, kitchen, and anywhere we could find space. Costumes included characters like Rogue, Poison Ivy, Laura Croft, Buffy, mild-mannered alternate egos, and newly invented characters (like the sinister "Dr. Black"). Austin Powers even made an appearance. Most commonly though, our friends showed up as ambiguous characters wearing tights and a cape. 
Because my parents bought Michael a TV for Christmas, we decided to watch Space Jam and The Emperor's New Groove. Our couch and 5 chairs were crammed, and every pillow and blanket in the house was brought down to substitute for a chair (our floors are hardwood - lovely but uncomfortable for watching movies). The party was wonderful, and we had a great time. It's so much fun to be a part of a masters program where almost every student celebrates turning in their papers by dressing up as a superhero and watching children's films from the 90s.
