Tree Houses

The week after school started we had another break - I know rough life! Honestly I would rather get into a good routine with the kids, but I won't complain about a break from school. We had a half day on Wednesday, and no school Thursday or Friday.

Before I moved here, I read different books about Turkey, and I would always see pictures like this of a beautiful place called Antalya...Antalya is located in southern Turkey on the Mediterranean Sea. Ever since moving here, I have wanted to visit Antalya, but both my summers have been filled with language or weddings, so I haven't been able to take a trip down there. A few teachers from school I decided to take advantage of the long weekend and make a trip down south. We flew out Wednesday night and spent 3 glorious nights in a tree house. Yes, a tree house. Imagine something your dad would build for you to play in - made of wood with a ladder and everything. It was rustic, but clean and very cheap - they fed us a delicious breakfast and dinner each day. All 4 of us got to stay in one room and as you can see it was a little crowded!
It was a great trip, but after 3 days of being away from the comforts of my fan, bed, and bathroom, I was ready to get back home. Highs and lows from the trip: LOW - slicing my big toe on a rock the first day (10 seconds after getting in the water). I had to go to the Emergency Room - which was a tiny white trailer!
HIGH - spending all day on a boat in the Mediterranean Sea with friends: swimming, laying out, reading, snorkling, climbing rocks, and cliff jumping!

Pictures from School

As promised, here are some pictures of my classroom! I have 15 students from America, South Korea, Turkey, and England. Only 3 native English speakers!!
Working hard...

These boys are best buds - I had to seperate them though because they don't understand what "independent work" is.

Back to School

Well, the first few weeks of school have gone very well. We have had two short weeks. The first week was short because we started on a Wednesday. And the second week was short because we were out Thursday and Friday due to the religious holiday here. It has been nice to kinda ease back into everything, but I will be ready to finally have a full week and be able to get into a routine with my kids.

I have a great group this year and feel very blessed. I have 15 sweet kids, but after Christmas I will have 16. They are really a good group and I am enjoying them. They are much calmer than my group last year, and don't test my patience quite as much. They also listen well, which is really nice. Like I said I feel very blessed! Of course there is still the normal challenges and stresses of teaching, but my year got off to a MUCH better start than last year. Not sure if you remember, but last year was a struggle for many reasons. I definitely feel more prepared and experienced this year. I really miss my kids from last year - as challenging as they were - but they are in great hands with their new teacher.

I have several ESL students this year, and only 3 native English speakers. Much different group than my previous 2 years. But I am looking forward to working with them, they are a bright bunch. I'll try to take some pictures this week of my classroom and kids.

Summer Break is over.

And you know what? I am actually not that sad. It has been a wonderful summer - both in America and Turkey. I have been able to travel, do a lot of fun things with fun people, and rest. I am ready to start back school and see my kids. Teacher work days start tomorrow, and then the kids come back on Sept 1st. I am looking forward to several things about this school year - one being that I have done this before. So I am hoping it will be a little bit easier this time around.

A few weekends ago - right after getting back from America - I went to visit some friends from NC that live down south. It was really great to see where they live and get to spend time with them. They were such kind and gracious hosts - with some really sweet kids! Pamukkale is a beautiful place that I would definitely recommend visiting if you ever come to Turkey!Yesterday a few teachers from school went to Aqua Marine - a water park on the European Side. We had such a great time and it was a fun thing to do right before school starts back. It was an adventure finding it in this HUGE city, but we enjoyed ourselves. And since there is a month long holiday going on - entrance price was half off! It was a very fun and cheap day.

Since being back...

My first week back in Istanbul was busy seeing friends and hanging out. One of my really good friends here moved back to America 5 days after I landed, so I tried to spend as much time with her as possible before she left. The day after I arrived we went to the beach and then on Wednesday we went to the kuafor to get her hair straightened. I decided to take a risk and get my hair cut and styled here! I figured worse case senario - I get a bad haircut in Turkey. I let him cut about 8 inches off and give me a little bob. I really like it and it is much cooler with this hot weather. Oh and the guy cutting my hair was wearing a shirt that had some English writing on it. Once he realized I was an English teacher he wanted me to read his shirt. It said: "Together for the Gospel" HAHA WHAT! I started dying laughing and asking him where in the world he got it. His sister bought it at one of the local markets. Based on my reaction he was worried it said something bad, but I assured him it was a great message.BEFOREAFTER
A few friends also went out the Maiden's Tower to celebrate a friend's birthday. I had never been there before and was glad to visit, especially after watching the Bachelorette while I was in the states. On their trip to Istanbul, Ally and Craig had a date at the Maiden's Tower. My roommate and I sat in the same table and took a picture.

Number 6 and 7

I now own 7 bridesmaids dresses. While I was home I had the opportunity to be in weddings #6 and #7. People often ask if I am tired of being in weddings. I don’t hesitate when I tell them, “No way!” I seriously love every minute of the wedding weekend – from the bachelorette party to the wedding day. And even though I have missed many showers and parties while living overseas, I am beyond thankful that I have been able to go home for the actual wedding day. There is nothing quite like watching a dear friend fall in love with a godly man. And so it brings me great joy and honor to stand with her as she gets married. It is honestly such a privilege to me. I have loved every wedding I have been in and look forward to being in 2 more next year – my brother, Daniel and my cousin, Lainey are both getting married. Obviously not to each other!
Kelly and I grew up together and have known each other our entire lives – we are like sisters. I was thrilled when she met and started dating Jeremy. He is perfect for her in so many ways and I am excited to see what the future holds for them in the Air Force. It was very surreal standing beside my life long friend in our home church as she and Jeremy said, “I do”
Lauren and I went to China together one summer and have been good friends since then. She is the most genuinely kind person I have ever met - I don’t know that I have ever heard her say something mean about someone. Although we were at different colleges we stayed in touch and I would go down to Topsail Beach with her family. I did not met her husband until the weekend of the wedding, but I instantly loved him and am delighted for them!

I AM BACK!

I know it has been quite a while since I posted on here. For those of you that don't know I was in America for 5 weeks. It was wonderful and I had such a great time with family and friends.

The month flew by and even though I wish it could have been a little longer, I was ready to come back. As you can imagine the month wasn't very relaxing - every few days I was repacking my suitcase to go somewhere else. It was the way it had to be if I was going to fit in everything I wanted to in 1 month. It was crazy busy, but so fun - there are pictures on facebook if you are interested. I was able to connect with so many different people, take a few trips, and be a bridesmaid in 2 weddings. Besides the wedding weekends - the 2 highlights from my time at home would have be to my trip to Washington DC and the Washburn Beach Week. The trip to DC was a birthday present from my really good friend, Katherine. Seven girls from college went up to go to the Lady Antebellum and Tim McGraw concert and a Nationals Baseball game. It was a great get-a-way and just a fun time with college friends - we had a blast together with many laughs.

Washburn Beach Week is something my grandparents graciously do for our family every year. My entire family (26 including soon to be spouses) go down to Topsail Beach for a week. It is always a lot of fun and I was really sad last year to miss it. It was definitely the most relaxing week of my entire time in the states - my agenda each day was to be with family and lay out on the beach.