You know when it has been so long since you have talked to a friend on the phone that you feel sort of weird calling them up to chat? Well, that's how I have been feeling about my blog lately. My mom recently told me that she checks this thing every day, so I decided to make her day by writing! (you're welcome)
Whew - it has been a whirlwind few weeks since Christmas. Spending time with Aaron's family in California was a fun experience - we ate tamales, lamb, lengua, and drank sparkling apple cider. I played lots of games of Crazy 8's, Go Fish, Loteria, and Candyland with his three nephews. Also, as a complete surprise, Aaron gave me the book Searching for God Knows What and The Office season 5....which is ironic, because I also got HIM that book! What's that saying, 'Great minds think alike'? :)
Christmas in Michigan was f a b u l o u s!! H&N were gracious hosts, their girls were entertaining as usual, and my parents, Aaron, and I played a rousing game of "Loaded Questions" together. Aside from sleeping 12 hours a night (in separate rooms...just to clarify if you were wondering), Aaron and I did manage to spend some time in the snow and wintery wonderland of Michigan. We went on a few walks, in which Aaron put his bare hand in the snow more than once...and he even tried to eat it. :) A huge highlight from our time was getting to attend the finalization for Alexis' adoption. It was interesting to see the process first-hand, and just made me love and support adoption that much more. Oh, and one of the funniest times was at the dinner table when Aaron nonchalantly asked Nate, "So does that video camera in Alexis' room work?" Aaron was sleeping in her room for a few nights, and just wanted to know if he was being watched with a close eye...ha! H&N use the video camera to check on Alexis sometimes...but at the time it wasn't working...but that could have been awkward....
For New Years, we packed up and headed to Holland, where J, L, Z, M, and C were going to meet us. And no trip to Michigan would be complete without a visit from the Miyamotos! (we got to hang with the Cole family a bit too...wanted to make sure they were also mentioned!) The house we rented was HUGE and overlooked Lake Macatowa - which was pretty much frozen over...another sight Aaron had never seen before. The coolest feature of the house aside from the amazing view and fireplaces in every room was the hot tub right smack in the middle. It was super fun to see how Sasha, Alexis, and Charlie are all growing and showing more personality. I have the cutest nieces and nephew in. the. world. :)
Returning to California brought on lots of busy weeks (hence the no blog writing). I decided my students needed to do a little speaking before their final exams, and what better way than to write a speech and create a poster about themselves!! Bonus: 2 work days and 3 presentation days = no teaching for Miss K. :) I was impressed by the kids' Spanish skills, and it was fun to learn more about them. I will definitely keep this project in mind for next year.
Last weekend (Jan 15-17) my good friend Nicole came down for a visit. We grew up in the same church back in MN, and she now teaches high school Spanish in Bakersfield, Cali. She is super fun, and since we both had that Monday off for MLK day, we jumped at the chance to hang for the weekend. As you all know, I become addicted to television shows all too easily and the weekend Nicole came brought on a new show in which to indulge. Yep, you guessed it: Glee. How, you may be asking, have I not gotten into this show yet? I am asking myself the same thing...but let me tell you - I am hooked! My favorite character is the school counselor...I think she is so great. Her voice is kind of annoying, but I find it endearing at the same time. And you can't go wrong with a male Spanish teacher who can belt it out! Nicole and I also went to Disneyland, and we decided to invite Aaron too. :) It was not very busy, so we got to ride all the cool rides (Matterhorn, Pirates, Space Mountain) more than once. Yay.
One of the biggest blessings in my life right now is LOFT - the club that I lead every Thurs morning. It is incredible the way that God is working in and through the lives of the girls that attend. I play guitar, we sing, we eat and sip coffee, and then we tell each other what God is doing in our lives. The conversation just flows, and it is amazing to see how open and honest kids can be when you give them the space to be real. Since it was the final week of the semester last week, I hosted a lunch party in my room for LOFT club, which brought even more Spirit-filled conversation. Quote (actually, not totally accurate, but pretty close): "I wish it was cool to love Jesus out there...like, if the popular kids started to really live out their faith, it could turn this school around," and then from another girl: "It's cool to love Jesus in here!" Other girls talked about how they want to be more accountable to each other, others mentioned passages of scripture that has been teaching them lately. And the list could go on. It is truly amazing how faithful God is when we are willing (and even when we're not really that willing, but we show up anyway...)
Finally....it is finals week. Yay. Our school year started late this year, so it seems like most schools have been done with their semester for a long time now...but I kind of like that after Christmas we only have a few weeks of actual teaching, er, supervising speech-writing and poster-making, and then a week of testing bliss. I never had finals in high school, which I think is kind of weird now that I am a teacher, but I sure love giving them! Sheer joy - that is what finals week brings. Exams start at 8:30 - a half hour later than a normal school day - and end at 11:30am. ROCK. ON. Then we have the rest of the day to grade and such. It is pure bliss.
A few concluding thoughts...today my niece Sasha turned 3, I had 3 drinks from Starbucks, I got my nails (fingers and toes!) done (how southern Cali is THAT?)
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