catch up

So first off, here are some pictures from when we went swimming.... oh how I love my Pooh Bears :)

Rachel, Liz, Dale, Annika, Ginna, and DannyS ready for swimming. All the kids have to wear a swimcap in the pools... so they looked pretty goofy, but adorable!!

Danny S, Diane, Danny, Ginna, and Camilla getting impatient with Kristen teacher for wanting to get pictures before they ran into the pool :)

And this... tis nothing, just Camilla's scandalous 5 year old swimsuit :)

The past two weeks have been non-stop busy. It has been a little overwhelming at times, but great at the same time. I know I've said this many times before, but it just amazes me how fast time is flying here. I can't believe it's almost September. I officially hit my 6th month mark on September 5th.... maybe I'll go out for a special dinner to celebrate :) The reason these last few weeks have been so busy is because I have been teaching a summer intensive program on top of my own classes. It has been a lot of fun, but has definately worn me out :) We also had a situation with Hayli. Her grandmother got sick very quickly and Hayli ended up flying home right after work last Friday, so this week a few of us teachers have had to pick up her classes too. We also have had 2 new teachers come in this week, and I am the only foreign teacher around that is staying... so I'm also had to help them get situated and comfortable with everything... so fun!! I'm kinda a big deal :) jk

My birthday girls... Ginna, Annika and Rachel

This past week I also got to have a birthday party with my class. We had 3 birthdays in August.. Annika, Ginna, and Rachel. Annicka, of course, came all dressed out in her cute lil outfit and all hte girls were so excited and cute on their special day!! We had fun giving them presents and playing games for our class.

Last weekend, I stayed and PJ and Lori's. Lori and the girls got home earlier last week and it's been so great having them back! The girls have grown up so much over the summer and are still just as cute and ever. Little Lia is just about walking now... growing up so fast. Last Saturday, PJ and I went to the gym and we did a boxing workout. Going into the workout, I thought.. I'm a natural fighter, so this will come pretty naturally to me... boy was I wrong!! haha The workout kicked my hiney and I started to get sore 30 minutes after the workout. Just my upper body, but man... I'm sure I have never had such an intense workout!! I'm hoping I can work out some time each week or maybe every two weeks to hit the gym to do a boxing work out with PJ because I really enjoyed it and it felt great!!

I love my family!! They definately were feeling and hearing about my busy busy weeks I had been having and my awesome family decided to send me a little care package full of goodies and fun things AND great notes!! Dad... I am truly grateful for the effort and sacrifices you make to drive across the border to send me my packages!! You're amazing!! :) So here's the sad part... you see my dad sent teh package about 2 1/2 weeks ago. Usually it only takes a week to get here... so I kept bugging PJ and Lori to check their mail and they kept saying "nope, not here yet" I had almost lost hope when I got a call on Wednesday that it was here. I left right after work to go pick it up. Turns out hte mail man had put it in Lori's school rather than leaving it in their mailbox, so it had been sitting in the school for an extra week and a half.... my yummy cookies and squares were no longer and fresh and delicious and they woulda been. What a bummer, BUT let's look at this with a positive perspective.... I will not have to worry about those extra calories when I go to the gym!! :) Nope, still not feeling okay about the whole situation :) haha :) Anyway.. I just wanna give a quick shout out to my amazing family!! They are always thinking of me and are so supportive and loving even from across the world and it feels so good to still feel that consistent love every day!! Thank you all!!

Ok back to me... :)... So I decided to be a hermit for today because I don't remember hte last Saturday that I just relaxed. I tried to sleep in with no alarm, but I still woke up at 8:45 a.m. which I was okay with because I still felt well rested. I had some breakfast and started cleaning my apartment. It feels so good to have my apartment clean. I love being in my apartment after I've cleaned!! It looks and smells so good! Then I've just been relaxing. I wrote in my journal, read a book, watched a movie, did two loads of laudry including my bed sheets and relaxed. I love the weekends! Speaking of this weekends... my friends Jared Leavitt got married last weekend, Jarah Wagner and Brad Weston are getting married today, and Josh Watson gets married I think in the next week or two... wow... life is going to be a little different when I go home. No worries though, I still have my Kenz!! Well I better... six more months for her to NOT find a husband hehe :) I'm really happy for all my friends that are or have gotten hitched and wish I could have been there to support them! Well that's it for now... signing off for now!