One of those week...

Life is always busy, but last week was just one of those weeks that was TOO hectic. For one thing, we had an accreditation team at our school visiting. For 3 years now, my school has been in the process of becoming accredited. The final process was having a team come to observe our school and confirm that we are indeed a reliable school worthy of being accredited. All the long hours and hard work paid off when we were told they were recommending us for FULL ACCREDITATION for 7 years! PTL. A really good friend was also in town for the week, and so I spent most afternoons with her. Leaving straight from school and getting home late at night. It was totally worth it, but by the end of the week I was drained. It all came to a point Friday morning when I woke up with a fever and was forced to stay home. I tried to reason that I could still go to school, but finally accepted that I needed to stay home and rest. I quickly wrote sub plans, gave them to my roommate, and went back to sleep. I am definitely a “go, go, go” type girl and therefore have to be forced to slow down. How kind of the Father :)

Cotillion Pays Off

About a month ago, my assistant principal came into my classroom on a Thursday afternoon, asking for a favor. For weeks they had been looking for someone to teach this Life Skills class on Table Manners to the 8th grade class. Someone told him I went to Cotillion back in the day. I reluctantly agreed, but then realized I would have my kids during the class period. My assistant principal (who has only taught high school), thought for a minute and then said, "Oh I can sub." Hahah I thought if he is available, why doesn't he just teach the Table Manners class! It cracked me up that he would RATHER sub in a 3rd grade classroom, than teach the 8th graders about table manners. Anyways, I ended up doing it and it was kinda fun. Took me back to when I was in 6th grade and mom sent me to "Pretty Me" class, and then again in 8th grade to Cotillion with my best friend, Natalie! For some reason my sibilings never had to do Cotillion, not sure what that says about me?? Can you label any of the parts in the picture below??

Funny Video about Bad Table Manners: http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unXKYK0uRJ8

THAILAND!

Sitting in my cold apartment, it is hard to believe that just a few weeks ago I was laying out in a bathing suit on the beaches of Thailand. Oh well. Here are a few pictures from my fantasy trip. It was awesome and I am so glad I went. It was worth every penny. It was great to be with Haley and meet some of her new friends. We spent a lot of time laying out, drinking fruit shakes, reading on the beach, eating awesome Thai food, and just hanging out. It was truly a vacation - no agendas, no alarm clocks, and as much as I love it NO SIGHTSEEING!!
One of the most fun things I did in Thailand was learn how to play "flamingo football" Essentially it is a game of girls vs. boys in tackle football. But the catch is that the boys' legs are wrapped together in towels and then duck taped. So they have to hop around the whole game. It definitely levels the playing field, but doesn't make it as easy as you may think. They are still hard to push over, and can somehow get around pretty quick. Every time they would throw it off (obviously they can't kick-off) I would just start laughing. It was like something out of a movie, watching all the boys start madly hoping towards us!

Checklist

I love lists.

I have lists all over the place. Shopping lists, checklists, packing list, expense list, student list, etc. I live off of lists and sometimes wonder if I would know what needs to be done, if it were not for my lists. My favorite kind of list is a checklist! Every weekend, I make a list of things that need to be done at home - laundry, grocery store, cleaning; changing sheets, school work, BS, MR, ER (don't you love all the acronyms!) And often times I will add something to the list, after I have completed it, just to check it off! I love the feeling of completing a list, and tonight I checked off something that has been on my list for over a month now. MY UPDATED RESUME! It has been lingering over me for far too long and it feels wonderful to finally have it complete and ready to send to people. Whew...it feels like a great accomplishment. And accomplishment my friends is a nice feeling!

What about you? No matter how big or small, what have you accomplished this week?


And just because a blog isn't much fun without pictures, here is one from a few weeks ago. Some girlfriends and I went out dancing and to sing karaoke! YAHOO!

December Update

I completely neglected this blog in December...whoops! I was too busy enjoying life to stop and blog about it :) Anyways here area a few highlights from the month of December...

Stayed with the Wards

One of the families I am close to here asked my roommate and I to keep their 2 boys (age 7 and 10) while they were out of town. It was fun (and exhausting) to play mom for a week, especially after spending all day at school with kids. Definitely gave me a new respect for mothers that work outside of the home. We had a good time with the boys and actually had it pretty easy. The mom had cooked all the meals before hand and put them in the freezer!

Visit from Friends

Some friends of mine from Raleigh that live in Turkey now came up to Istanbul to visit one weekend. The Saturday they were here was the coldest and wettest day ever! Seriously, it was so miserable. It was fun to see them and have them stay with me for a night.

Natalie's Birthday Party

A dear friend from school had a birthday in December. To celebrate, she cooked dinner for us and then we went to see The Tourist. I am thankful for my group of friends here.

School Christmas Party

We had our class Christmas party that last day of school before break. We dressed up, watched a movie, played games, decorated ornaments, ate yummy food, and exchanged gifts. It was a very fun day.

LB, Elizabeth, Shelly, and Katherine visit

The day after the Christmas party LB, Elizabeth, and Shelly arrived....5 days later Katherine arrived! These 2 weeks with the girls was out of control. I so loved having them here with me, at times it was more than I could handle. I was just so excited for my 2 worlds (Raleigh and Istanbul) to meet. It was awesome to spend Christmas Day together. (Check out facebook for more pictures...we took at least 1000 pictures!)

Trip to Madrid

After LB headed back to the states, the rest of us headed to Madrid for New Years. We had a great time there, although the trip started off a little rough - our bags were lost for 2 days, I got a stomach virus, Katherine was also not feeling well, and Elizabeth hurt her foot. But we still managed to have a good time, honestly all I cared about was being with these girls! New Year's Eve we celebrated in true Spainish style heading down to the center of town, eating 12 grapes at midnight, and going out dancing afterwards.

Spontaneity

I just did the most spontaneous thing I have done in a LONG time.

I bought a plane ticket to go to Thailand.

I found out yesterday that my really good friend Haley is going to be vacationing there. Haley and I met the summer of 2005 while we were both living in Santa Cruz, CA. I was a sophomore at NCSU and she was a junior at UK. As a result, we learned to be really good long-distance friends - talking on the phone and seeing each other every 5 or 6 months. I've been to Kentucky and Tennessee several times to see her, and she has come to the good ole state of North Carolina. Due to both living overseas now, we haven't seen each other in over 2 years. So when the opportunity came up for me to get to see her...and go to Thailand. I thought "Why not?" I am out of school that week. I am single and since I live in Turkey, I am already halfway there! So I did it. I leave in less than 3 weeks and am so very excited. Excited to see Hayes, excited to go to Thailand, excited to travel, excited to sit on a beach for a week...

Picture 1: Haley and I the summer we met!

Pictures 2: Last picture I have with Haley a week before moving here.

January 8th, 2009

I know I have done an awful job updating this blog recently. I plan to fix that problem soon, and do a bunch of updates. But for now here are some pictures from a couple years ago. On January 8th, 2009 my parents and I got in the surburban and drove to RDU airport. I checked my 3 bags all the way to Istanbul, Turkiye and enjoyed Chick-fila for the last time in a while. I then started the process of saying good bye to my dear family and close friends. I'll never forget that day in the airport and the overwhelming peace I experienced as I stepped onto the plane. I wonder about who I was back then and the ways I have changed (for the better) since being here. It is home to me now, and the thought of only have 6 more months here is sad. I know I will miss it very much. I cannot believe it has already been 2 years!!