Fun Day at School and Stellar Sabbath

This past week was... a busy one. We worked a 6 day week and I was pooped by Saturday night. I've been a bit negative this week with complaining about work and how I've been slackin at the gym and today I realized... AGAIN... just how blessed I've been. This week was actually a great week. My kids were so stellar. I look forward to seeing my Pooh Bears every day and I never though that would happen. This week we've swapped classes, so I teach Pooh Bears second period rather than first and it really has made me miss seeing them first thing in the morning. But I always got a big welcome for second period. I know they love me and I just can't get enough of them these days!!
So on Saturday, we had a make up day for one of the days we had off from the swine flu scare. We got to take our kids outside and have a tug-a-war and make some goodies in the classroom. We had a lot of fun and here are some pics.

Cordelia was showing me how to bow properly in battle haha

I'm smiling in this picture, but I actually was feeling really competitive, so I helped my side out a bit. I couldn't help it, I've been so deprived of competition, I have to depend on the games we play with our kids to get my competitive kick for the day :) Oh and we won by the way... not that you ever doubted :)

We were killing them at this point, so I decided to back off and just cheer them on haha :) Elliott is looking quite intense in this pic... that's what I like to see :)

We're gonna have to work on Annika's competitive look... but doesn't she look adorable... what a cute jacket.

Best of 3 tug of war... my kids were getting focused and yes we won again!! :) They make me soooo proud :)

Dale stuffing his face while DannyS decides to play with his food.

I gave them cookie cutters to cut their sandwiches into cool designs.. they loved it!! This is Ginna admiring her perfect cut.

Annika stuffing her face and still looking cute as ever.

So on Friday night, all the preschool teachers went out for dinner at a great restaurant. I can't remember what the dish is called, but you get a big kettle put on a burner in the middle of your table filled with water. You can either choose seafood or beef. I chose beef. Then you get a huge dish of different salads and a huge plate of beef and onions and mushroom and you put it in the boiling water and cook it and eat. It was delicious! After you eat that, they bring you noodles to cook in the now flavored water. After you finish the noodles, they bring rice and little veggies and you make porridge. I was way to full after the beef and veggies, so I didn't eat the noodles, but I had a little spoon of the porridge and it was delicious. I'll have to go back and not eat as much veggies, so I can save room for a little of the other two dishes. It was a lot of fun going out with the teachers. Hayli got a pic of our table, but I haven't got it yet, so I'll post that once I get it from Hayli.

Today church was sooooo stellar. It makes such a difference when I pray before church to feel the spirit. In sacrament, they talked about the atonement. It really hit my hard and I just felt sooo great. After church, the Knuden's (senior missionary couple) invited me over for dinner as they had an investigator from Canada coming with the missionaries. I was more than happy to go as the Knudsen's are amazing cooks and are great company. It was the topping to a great day. The spirit was so strong through the whole meeting and I had the opportunity to share my testimony with Alex, the investigator. He is from New Brunswick and is a bit of an odd fella, but very kind and easy to talk with. He wants to be a comedian... his dream job. He loves pink panther... the real movies, which gave us something to talk about and I also found out that he is taking judo classes here in Korea. How cool is that!?!? I would love to get back into that and see how I woudl do and if I remember anything from my past judo experiences. He is reading the book of mormon and is very smart. The only thing that is holding him back is that he doesn't know if God really exists. He prayed tonight with us and I feel like he is feeling the spirit but is not aware of it. I feel like he is expecting a bright light to fall upon him and God come and tell him it's true. We talked about this and how the spirit works in small and simple ways. I think this was a new concept for him and I hope and pray that he will receive his answer soon. The Knudsen's are such a neat couple. I love spending time with them and chatting with them. They also took a picture with all of us, so when they post it on their blog, I'll snag it and put it up.

All in all.. I've had a great week with an absolutely stellar ending. This week I'm going to be more positive and quit taking advantage of the little time I have left here. Here's my plan so far... Monday.. work then FHE, Tuesday... go Halloween shopping with Hayli, Wednesday.. tutor Ben, Thursday... go to some show with some other ysa girls, Friday.. go to a Halloween party I was invited to last Sunday, Saturday... work and sleep, Sunday... have another stellar Sunday and then we have break the fast and a stellar fireside at the Rogers home... whew.. it's gonna be a busy week, but I'm ready. I'll start each day with prayer and a good work out and hit the hay early and it'll be a stellar week!!

Awesome Daughter Award.... NOT!!!!

So... being over here in Korea has kept me busy and I am WAY out of the loop with things going on back home... BUT this is no excuse for missing my parents anniversary... can you say horrible daughter.. yes ok thanks... so I decided to do a shout out to the parentals on here.


Momma and Papa.... I love you both so much and I soooo sorry that I missed your guys' special day!! You both have been sooooo supportive and loving with me throughout my life. I love the passion we all have with and I know I would not have gotten as far as I did without both of ya'll pushing me and making it to every game you could!! I love our Sunday afternoon and evenings whether it's watching a football or basketball game, going for a walk, or munching on momma's delicious buttered popcorn while watching a show or movie.
Summer in Waterton are always a blast with my parents as we hike up Red Rock Canyon and have some good laughs while sliding down the waterslide or slipping on those slimy rocks. They are both such goofs and can always put a smile on my face!

I love this picture of my parents.... how much fun are they!!! Mom and Dad... I love you guys so much and feel so blessed to have you both as my stellar parents!! I'm so pumped for 4 1/2 months to run out so I can come home and be back with my awesome parents and family!! You both are amazing and have blessed my life in so many ways!! Love you lots!

Chuseok

So on Thursday, we had a Chuseok day at school. It was a lot of fun. Our supervisor had some moms let us borrow a hanbok, which is a traditional dress, worn by women in Korea. We played some Korean games and had a blast playing around with the kids. Here's Hayli and I in our hanboks.
We also took a picture of the whole crew... so here's all the preschool teachers with our traditional outfits!!

This past weekend was pretty chill. I went out for dinner with Hayli and TGI Fridays, which was delicious. I even treated myself to a cheesecake... heavenly. That will not be happening for while again :) We had a great time chatting and wandering around Meoung-Dong. On Saturday I had a good sleep in and went to the gym and whooped some hiney in there. It felt great to be in there having a good work out. Then I came home and did some dishes and cleaning. Went for a walk to get some groceries, showered and settled in for the night. I know.. I'm such a party animal right. I feel like I'm already in that old married couple mode and I dont' even have a boyfriend.. oh dear. I also had the opportunity to chat with Kenzie and some of my other friends from home... let's just say it was a bit overwhelming and I'm not sure if I'm going to be going to any big parties when I first get back. I'm so used to the Koreans staring at me and not talking to me that it was just... overwhelming haha.

I also realized this past weekend that I only have 4 1/2 months left in my contract... WOW!! The time is cruising over here and I have a lot of mixed feelings about it. I think about my family and friends and how excited I am to be with them. I think of the sports and food back home that I love and miss... and then I think of the friends and experiences I've had over here... I think of my kids, I think of how much more I wanted to do with my time over here and it's official.. I am torn. I've had this on my mind lately and through praying and fasting have been trying to come up with a decision as to what my plans are after my contract runs out. As of now... I have no idea.. it switches by day. All I know is that I'm going to be coming home in 4 1/2 months and going to be spending time with my family... including my bro... and my friends and it's going to be great!! I have got some bucking up to do here to try to squish everything I wanted to do in 4 1/2 months.. wish me luck!! :)

Not Quite the Holiday I Had Hoped For.... Oh Well :)

So on Monday night, I got a text from my supervisor telling me to come to school at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday. I was pumped. I still was up early, but I was able to talk to my family and call my bestest friend, Kenz, and chat for a bit. So I only taught one class on Tuesday and after school we had a meeting with the director and our supervisors. They decided to close the school down for the week because one of our preschool kids has the swine flu. We were escatic and as Hayli and I left the school, we agreed that we needed to get away to a beach.

So I, of course, called PJ first. He gave me a great idea of going to an island called Casamia. I looked it up on the internet and it looked amazing. It would have costed us 35 won per night and there was tons to do... so I called Hayli and she said "well I didn't really wanna spend that much".. uh... ok. So she had another idea of staying in huts on an island she had found online. Well that sounded kinda different and fun, so I agreed. We called some other teachers to see if they'd like to join.
We were really excited about the island at this point!!! :)
So we met up with Jill, Jackie, and Mallory at the subway for a 2 hour subway ride down south, which by the way was silly... we could've just taken the airport shuttle which would have taken 45 minutes... anyway... so we take the subway and things are fine at this point. Then we transfer to a bus, missed our stop, so we rode on the bus for an hour.

Jackie and Mallory on our two hour subway ride

We stopped at the wrong island. No huts and really no people besides the pushy Korean women that were trying to get us to come and eat in their restaurants. So after wandering around for another 45 minutes we got back on another bus and rode back to the ferry place. The bus dropped us off and we had to walk 30 minutes to the ferry. Now we're still staying positive and happy at this point, but we've also been travelling for about 6 hours to get to this place.

We were making the best of our gong show of a bus ride..... :)

So we finally get on the ferry and across to the island, which was not even a 5 minute ferry ride. Another bus takes us to the island we told him. Another 20 minute ride. By the time we got to the beach it was dark. All the restaurants were closed and there were creepy Korean men who spoke little to no English. We were the ONLY ones renting out a hut on the beach. Not quite what I had expected. When I had heard this idea, I pictured a bunch of foreigners with bonfires, footballs, beach volleyball, and a beautiful ocean.... not so much. haha

On the ferry... Mallory, Jill, mwah, Hayli and Jackie...

The island............ I could thrown a stone and hit it.. that's how close it was.

On the ferry... on my way to the island... I was still excited at this point :)

So we finally got a couple of Koreans to re-open their restaurant at 8:00 p.m. to feed us. They were actually very kind and we were blessed to have them there and be so kind because every other restaurant we started walking towards, they'd start locking their doors and wave their arms to us. When we finished eating, it was about 9:00 p.m. and all the other girls were ready for bed... except me :) So I stayed up and played solitaire while Hayli laid down for bed. The other 3 girls were in another hut. It was the most uncomfortable sleep I have ever had :) The pillows were like bricks and the floor was like jagged rocks poking into my back all night.

Hayli ready to pass out at 9:00 p.m. She doesn't know how to party like I do :) hehe

So when I woke up at 7:45, Hayli was up and said that she was really not feeling well and could barely walk in a straight line.... so Hayli and I packed up and were on our way back at 8:30 in the morning. We, or course, took the shorter route home, but I was home and no beach for me. I was quite bummed out.

The beach and huts we stayed in. Only got to enjoy it for about 5 minutes :) haha

So after lazing around for a while... I decided to take up Lynz and Dust's 'challenging' 100 piece dinosaur puzzle :) I actually had a great time jammin to my music and putting it together. It's glow in the dark too... how exciting. After I finished it, I taped it all together and it is now sitting on my kitchen cupboard ready to keep me company tonight.

I also went for a great run tonight in my new running shoes, which I LOVE!! It was a bit of a challenge getting my hiney out of the apartment, but it was a great run on a beautiful night! I always have Koreans turning their heads to watch me run by... it's like they've never seen a foreigner running on the path... or maybe just not a foreigner with such perfect form and quickness :) hehe I'm looking forward to some more good runs this fall, with the nights getting a little cooler.. it sure feels good to have that breeze with sweat dripping down my face :)

I was a little bit down about the whole situation when I got home... BUT after I had a little convo with my sista, mom and daddy-o... I agreed that things could be a lot worse :) I could have been working today or sick like Hayli and some other teachers. So I will definatley take advantage of this time off with some relaxation, hiking, puzzle making, cleaning, movies, and chillin with friends... oh and of course blogging :)

Korea Birthday

Well first off... here's a picture of PJ sleeping. He was cooking brownies and laid down on the couch with this stuffed bear and was out like 15 seconds later. I was giggling the whole time I was taking this and other photos. Lori and I had a good laugh on the way to church this morning looking at them. Might I also add that his repulsive snoring woke me up in the middle of the night, so I had to re-locate :) Lori can mostly sleep through it now, but wow!! :)

Amaya got ahold of my camera while we were having a little lunch date while Lori ran some errands. She was trying to get me to do nice poses and this is what I came up with... she was NOT impressed :)

Here's a cute one of little Amaya and I on our lunch date. She's such a cutie!!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MISS LIA ALSO... EVEN THOUGH HER BDAY WAS IN JULY!

We had Lia's official Korean birthday party last Saturday. It was quite the party!!! I spent a few hours putting together these scrap books pages for sign in pages for the party. We had a lot of fun preparing for the party. Maybe a little bit of stress too.. mostly with Lori, but it was a great success so it was all worth it.

Bob and I did the sign in tables and gifts for a while at the party.

PJ is quite the host. He did some great speeches both in Korean and English and everybody seemed to really enjoy the party.

The guy who was taking photos for PJ and Lori was quite a goof and he decided to take a picture of my cute red toe nails. I thought they looked pretty stinkin cute too :)

This is BJ... she's living with the Rogers for the year to finish off her senior year on base. She's a lot of fun and we've started bonding more these last few weeks. She's a great gal!!

Lori and the birthday girl, Lia.

Here's PJ and the birthday girl. She was content with her bun in her hand :)

So my fam did an amazing job for my birthday over here in Korea. My papa, mama, and Kait sent me a package that I opened on my bday. It was awesome!! I got some new running shoes, a thing that tracks how long you've ran for, lots of goodies, my FAVORITE cookies, nail polishes, gum, headbands, a work out shirt, my favorite mascara, good face wash, gum, and lots of other great things!! I also got some letters from the Lewis family, which I loved!! Alex wrote me a letter and I got a note from Cheryl and the rest of the fam just letting me know they love me!!! I love all my new stuff and love that my fam did such a great job!! I got phone calls and skype time with all my family members. I even got to talk to my Granny Hill and Gramps and Grandma Smith even made a phone call to Korea to sing Happy Birthday to me... couldn't miss a year :) I felt so loved and knew that people were thinking of me back home too.

Lynz, Dust and Beckam also sent me a stellar package full of randomly awesome things. I actually opened this package a lil early... oops.. i just couldn't wait though. I loved everything I got in the package and I love how both Lynz and Dust can be so creative and random. I love getting gifts that are different and random.. you know.. ones you don't expect. So in my package I got some strawberry shortcake socks, a glow in the dark puzzle, a new shirt, some goodies, lulu lemon head band... great pictures of the fam and lil Beckam, some nail polishes and other random things... It was stellar. Amaya and Jaida had a blast watching me open all the gifts, which Lori decided to wrap individually and it felt like I was back home with the fam. Here's some pics of the process of opening. Thanks again to the Tolman family fore the package and love!!

I also had one of my favorite elementary classes surprise me with a birthday cake and a few presents! So we spent 3/4 of the class snacking and playing games and crammed a page of homework into the last 10 minutes. They through they were pretty smooth distracting me with goodies, but in reality... who wants to work on their birthday!?!?! We had a great time!! I'm not sure if I'll use or wear any of the new hair accessories I was given, but just the face that they thought about me was more than enough!! They are such an awesome class... shout out to my IVY 3A class!!!

PJ and Lori took me out to an Indian restaurant for my birthday dinner on Wednesday!! It was delicious of course!! I have grown to have quite the love for Indian food that I never knew I had before :) I also got about 8 lotions and sprays from Victoria Secret from Lori. They are heavenly!! I got 2 love spell ( one body spray, one bathroom foam soap), sweet dream body spray, pear glaze lotion, cucumber melon lotion, vanilla sugar lotion, and berry kiss (new) lotion. They are so great and smell delicious!!

I seriously have the bestest fam. I felt so much love from them through their words and efforts. I loved all the presents I got and loved just being able to chat and spend time with the people that matter the most to me. I'd say my first Korea birthday was a great success!! So thank you to everyone who made it an amazing week!!

Little Taste Tester

So... I decided to give ya'll a lil taste tester of what you can expect in the next few days. Last weekend was a busy busy busy weekend. Lia (PJ and Lori's baby girl) had her 1st year birthday party on Saturday. Now in Korea, their 1st birthdays are HUGE!! So I sent out for dinner with some coworkers on Friday and then headed to the Roger's home to help get stuff ready. We were up till about 2 or so on Friday night getting a sign in book and slideshow ready. Saturday morning I went to Lori's teams volleyball games and helped take care of the kids. From there, we went straight to the party place and started set up for the huge party. It was fun to decorate and do some scrapbooking. It was a beautiful and successful party.
On Sunday, I invited one of my coworkers to come to church with me. Shelly, my elementary supervisor, came and she said she really enjoyed it, so hopefully that means that there will be some more visits in the future!! I also got to open up a package that Lynz and Dust... and lil Beckam sent me. Well I wasn't supposed to open it till my birthday, which is actually tomorrow, but as Lori said, I'm a brat and felt that I needed at least one early bday present :) It was a GREAT package.. full of fun random stellar stuff. Lori actually ended up getting some hello kitty wrapping paper and wrapping every lil thing... there were many, so it was fun to have a lil pile in front of me to open. Everyone there was jealous hehe.
Tomorrow is my birthday and I am planning on going out for dinner with PJ, Lori and the girls. I think to Indian, so i'm pumped!! Other than that, I'm sure i'll get together with my coworkers and do something fun.. but nothing too crazy. I also have a package waiting at the Rogers that I'm really not allowed to open till tomorrow.. so i'll be excited for that too!!
School is great... so busy.. but great!! We're trying to get things figured out for grad in February. I have to teach my kids two songs and dances, and make a play for them.. shoudl be interesting!! I also might be getting another student because one of my favorite girls had to drop because of money issues. We'll see how that goes... and that's it for now... I'll have some pics and good details on the rest of the week in a few days!!

Pajama Party and Weekend Fun!!

Here are Pooh Bears in the Pajamas!!! Love them!!

So this past Thursday we had pajama party day!!! I think it might have been my favorite day at SLP because I got to wear my pajamas... aka my lulu lemons and a T-shirt= loving life. My class was so adorable and we had such a fun day together. I have continued to love my children more and more every day!! They are growing up so fast. I look at the pictures I took of them when I first got there and I can't believe how much they've grown in 6 months... wowza... so here's some fun pics and explanations of our lil happenings for our pj party!!

Here's my end of the runway pose.. haha

My lil beauty, Annika, working it just like her teacher :)

We did a little modelling of our pajamas and, of course, I had to show my class just how it was to be done... and I worked it. Only a few of my kids really caught onto my modelling bug, and Annika was one of them... My DannyS got rocked right here... but no worries, he won in the end!!

Me giving up on trying to get a cute pic of them all looking :)

DannyS, Danny, and my new student Tony posing for me.

I love love love these girls... Annika, Camilla and Rachel, having some giggles.

At one point in the day, we were supposed to have a little slumber part and pillow fights... made things interesting. The pillow fights were fun, but some kids really had no idea what to do with the pillows, but they did their best. I tried for some time to get a cute pic of all my kids and I on the floor with our pillows and blankets, but gave up and decided just to get a bunch of cute pics of my kiddies. They were a blast!!

Dale and my new student, Shaina, caught cuddling.

How cute are these two, Camilla and Elliott... another lil crush for the day!!

So during our little slumber party, I noticed that a few of my students were being.... quite flirty with other students... what can I say... it was a loving day. I thought it was really cute. I'm not sure what their parents thought of it, but I'm sure I'll hear about it if they're not happy :)

Camilla, I can't get enough of this girl!! She got sick of carrying her blanket around... the next thing I know, it's stuffed under her pjs... I couldn't stop laughing!!

DannyS was telling us a 'scary' story!!

We got to go downstairs to the 4th floor to play around in the tent... this last maybe 10 minutes seeing as DannyS could only tell one story about a monster in the bathroom and they weren't too interested in my scary story :) So we ended up just letting them play in the jungle gym for a good 35 minutes.

It turned out being a really fun day.. full of goofy hats, giggles, love and fun. I would have a pajama day every day if I could. Ya'll know how much I 'LOVE' getting all dressed up for my days... but wearing my lulu lemons and a T-shirt wasn't too bad... hehe

Emily and I getting ready to go to the baptism!!! She's a real sweetie!!

Elizabeth had her best friend, Emily, come visit her for a few weeks. Liz took off this past Wednesday to go to the states for a week or so and left her dear friend, Emily, here to hang out with the Rogers until her flight on Sunday back home. Well this Saturday, we decided to get together and go to a baptism and then go out to kareoke with a bunch of ysa. We had a great time together and I wish we could have spent a lil more time together.