Pizza Hut!

The day AFTER my birthday, we had let friends and co-workers know that we would be at a particular Pizza Hut for lunch October 5. We knew around 22 people were going to be there, but we had 30 people! It was such a fun time and this Pizza Hut is really cool. There are three large round booths that can fit between 10 and 15 people! This is one reason we go there with a group...the other reason is because pizza is my all-time favorite food!

I think our Pizza Hut lunch will be a tradition on my birthday and that makes me REALLY happy. (Sorry, I forgot our camera, although, someone else took pics, so I'll post them later.)

My birthday

Saturday, October 4, was my birthday. (Justin was at our school's High School Retreat and had been since Thursday morning. He was getting back around 4 pm on my bday.) So, Friday night I went over to my friend Julie's flat to make grilled pizza and watch a "girly, sappy movie". It was a lot of fun and she has two beautiful and fun little boys. We watched Nicholas Nickelby and I really liked it.
On Saturday, my friend Hannah and I went back over to Julie's and we took a tram to the Budapest Christian Library. Julie takes Eli there on Saturdays. I found a book that I needed for the DVD graduate course I am taking. :)
Eli was jumping in puddles on the way to the library. :)
Then Hannah and I went to what it called the "covered market" to do some shopping. I didn't have anything in mind to buy, I just really like going there to see what they have. If you ever come to Budapest, this is the place you'll find cheaper souvenirs like chess sets, glassware, tablecloths, T-shirts, etc. Surprisingly, I found a really cool linen to place on the table for Fall. I rarely buy things for myself, but it WAS my bday. :) And Hannah found some things too. We also went to a little Asian market downstairs for some hard-to-find-cheaper groceries. I bought tortillas and some spices that I didn't have.

Then we headed to The Coffeeshop Company for lunch! They have bagels there, which you won't find anywhere in Budapest that I know about. I had a smoked salmon bagel sandwich and Hannah had a Mediterranean sandwich. We both had really good hot chocolate with sweet whipped cream! It was perfect for the rainy, cold day it was. We had a really good chat over lunch.

Hannah and I about to enjoy our hot chocolate!

Then we had to head back to school. I had to drop off Hannah at her apartment and then pick up Justin. The high schoolers were back and he was waiting for me. :)

When we got home I opened his gift: a cool "Chocolat" mug and chocolate bar. I also opened my parents' package that I received earlier in the week. They sent me some magazines to read, taco seasoning, ranch dressing packets, milano cookies, my mom's homemade washcloths, and was paper. :) (Wax paper is another item that you can't buy here.) Oh, and a cool, fun scarf!

Here I am with my parents' bday package. They sent the Sunday comics!

Then we had dinner and watched a movie I borrowed from Julie: In America. If you like drama, reality movies, then you'd probably like this movie. I loved it.

That was my day...ON my birthday....so much fun!

Champagne, Staff Retreat, and Our Street

On September 6th, we walked down the hill to a wine festival. It was a lot of fun. Torley produces champagne and I have to say it's pretty good. :)

September 12-14, the staff at our school went to Vajta, Hungary, on a staff retreat and to work on our ACSI re-accreditation. I thought I would take a picture of what we had for breakfast: sliced meat and cheese. There was also bread, OJ, cornflakes, and unfortunately, instant coffee. Overall, the weekend was very productive and we drank a lot of coffee from the cafe above the cafeteria.

A car we don't normally see on our street.
Ariel loves attention!
We drove home last Friday and passed up a pretty neat car on our street. So, I took a pic of it, and then as I was walking home, I took a picture of Ariel, a very gregariuos dog a couple of houses down from us. She's really cute and we used to call her Blondie, but then found out her name from the daughter of the family living there.

Love the Weekend!

Saturday was so great! We had no obligations during the day and slept in. I made oatmeal with apples and a bit of sugar and it was so yummy. It was a beautiful Fall day yesterday and we had some co-worker/friends over for dinner, so we just had a lazy day. (Justin would say otherwise since we had to clean before they came over, but it really wasn't a big deal.)

For dinner we planned raclette. We got the grill from our friends, the Whites, who moved back to the States over the summer. It was really a nice time with Lisa and Paula, as we grilled several types of marinated turkey and melted four types of cheeses. We also had wine, bread, potatoes, and broccoli, so it was a pretty filling meal!

You might have figured out that I like to cook. :)

Looking for Suggestions

Many people would not even think about becoming a teacher, especially a middle school teacher. But being a teacher has its benefits...all the time off to enjoy holidays. :) Being a teacher overseas has even more benefits with all the options of travelling. :) :)

Justin and I would like to visit Krakow/Cracow, Poland, either for the Hungarian holiday at the end of October or during the American Thanksgiving holiday at the end of November.

I am looking for suggestions:
From Budapest, which is the best way to travel to Cracow?
Which hostel or hotel would you recommend?
Know of any good and cheap places to eat?
What recommendations do you have as far as sight-seeing?

(Keep in mind that we will be travelling during colder weather, so outside activities might not be available.)

Thanks for any help you give!!!

First Bible Study of the Year

Another teacher and I started a Bible study with the 6th grade girls from our school. Today was the first one! Our study was on Matthew 5:21-24, about reconciliation. After reading that passage, we realized how serious God is about restoring relationships! But how do you do that?! It is quite risky to say to someone you've hurt that you're sorry. But we all agreed it is something necessary even if it may hurt to say you're sorry. There was a great discussion and the girls had great thoughts on this topic. I am looking forward to getting to know these girls better. Here is a pic of a "kickoff" we had a couple of weeks ago. (On that day we had them over for breakfast and games to get to know each other and gave details about when we'd meet for Bible study.)

Such fun girls!

Update on my parents' home in TX

Please continue to lift up the Texas Gulf Coast. Hurricane Ike left a lot of damage and people without homes and electricity.

Thankfully, Dad said there wasn't any damage to the house...no flooding...no broken windows. However, one of their trees is laying on the roof of their house! Here's some pics.

front of their house

back of their house

the uprooted tree

Ike

Please pray for the Texas and Louisiana coast as they are about to be hit by Hurricane Ike. I believe the rain and wind will start Friday evening and the bulk of the rain will be on Saturday. This storm is wider than Hurricane Katrina, so will affect a larger area. Here is the projected path as of Sept. 10, 2008.

School Pics

School is going well and got off to a great start, I think. We are going on our third week. Here are some pics of things that are going on in the middle school.

Here I am with my attempted 80's style ensemble for the "Dress As Your Favorite Decade" themed day of the middle school party. There wasn't any way to get my hair to be high.

One of my 8th graders finding out which diaper absorbs the most water.

Two of my students who won the Decade competition. They each got a root beer, which you can't find in Hungary, except by very few people.

Video from Switzerland

Update: This video for some reason will not work. I apologize for any disappointment.

I am so thankful to our tech guy at school, Alex! The morning I left Kandern, Germany, my computer would not turn on correctly. A blue screen kept popping up and it just wasn't working the way it normally did. Naturally, I was nervous about it because my school work and ALL my pictures were on this computer!

But Alex was able to retrieve all my data from that laptop! :) So I am happy to present to you a short video of when I went hiking in Switzerland. The cows are wearing the bells that you hear. It was unbelievable!

Happy to Be Back!

Sorry, I haven't blogged in a while! I started blogging in June when I had LOTS of free time, and now that school has started, I have to really fit in a time for me to blog.

After landing in BP on August 11th, I REALLY struggled with jet lag. I think I stayed up till 3 or 4 am each day of that week! I just couldn't sleep! It was not enjoyable. And on top of that, my muscles ached. I must have caught something before we left Dallas, because on the plane I had a headache during the whole flight and my body felt achy as if I was coming down with a cold. I woke up Tuesday morning with a fever, took some Aleve (thanks to Justin's parents for taking us to Sam's for things like that) and that helped. However, the muscle ache continued througout the week. I think Friday (Aug. 15)was the first day I felt better.

Of course, the ICSB teachers and staff went back to school on August 13 and had teacher meetings until this past Monday. Tuesday was pretty much working in our classrooms getting ready for Thursday, the first day of school!

I feel unbelievably blessed to be a part of this staff! Six years ago I had no idea what exactly God had in store for us when He brought us here. Reflecting back, everyone we've worked with has been fun, encouraging, and challenging. We've all raised financial support to be here and have one goal: to reach our students for Christ while providing them with a fantastic education. It is such a unique place to be and I ask that you praise God for what He is doing through the school.

And don't get me wrong, it's still hard to live here. All of us are struggling with the language and culture. There are definitely bad days, but there's always someone to talk to about it who can help or sympathize. Expats around the world know what I am talking about.

So, Thursday we started school and it went smoothly. Crazy as it sounds, Justin taught every class period (there are 8) with only lunch as his break. Usually, a teacher has at least one planning period, but this year his schedule doesn't allow it on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Tuesday and Friday, thankfully, he has more free periods to plan. I teach the first two periods and the last two periods each day. In the middle of the day I have a study hall.

I will also be sponsoring the middle school student council this year. We'll have elections this next week. Our first item on our agenda is the Middle School "Welcome Back" party.

I forgot my camera for the first day of school, but remembered it for the second. Here are some pictures.


Before students...
With Students! :)
This is my 8th grade class. I teach them two different classes: Health on Mondays and Thursdays, then Life Science on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Movies With Zara

Movies With Zara

This is a link to my Picassa Photo Album. There are several movies with Zara and my family. Enjoy!

The Last Few Days In Plano, Texas

We are back home in Budapest now. Our flights Sunday night through Monday went smoothly and safely. Here are some pics from our last few days in Plano, including the wedding of a good friend we attended. Justin was his best man. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of Justin's brother, Patrick, and his girlfriedn Ermista! I can't believe I didn't take any! Patrick, I hope no hard feelings. This just means we'll be taking way more than you care for next summer! :)

Justin's father and stepmom and little sister (Pat, Tracy, and Cameron)


Zara grabbing my camera

Zara showing Dad that she can dress herself. It was unsuccessful. :(

Breakfast before Justin's mom and dad went back to Houston.

Doesn't Justin look good in a tux?

The cute couple: Jeff and Helen Huynh!

The wedding was an Aggie reunion of sorts...there were 10 of us!

Zara's Dance

Here is Zara's dance before she goes to brush her teeth. My brother just made up the song and it's so cute! She gets so excited about brushing her teeth! (And at the end of this film, she has to turn off the light switch.)

Zara Loves Thrills

Zara loves...

...for me to hold her while I spin around. And I mean LOVES it! She'll actually let go of my shirt and fall back as I'm spinning. It's funny to watch her eyes when I stop.

....to be hung upside down by her legs. Spin around with her like that and it's an extra thrill. She laughs so hard!

...to be thrown onto the couch or bed.

Justin is about to thow her on the bed. Look at that smile!

Zara is laughing so hard.

I have been meaning to get a video of Zara dancing to my brother's "Brush Your Teeth" song. Stay tuned...

Cute Shoes and BBQ

Yesterday we spent most of the day with Justin's parents, Nancy and Luis Guzman. They are absolutely wonderful people and have such a joy for life! They always seem to smile and laugh at things. Luis is notorious (yes, notorious) for bad jokes (no offense, Dad). And they both are notorious for telling you the same story from Justin's childhood for the 57th time. And they have three horses and two huskies, so they always pop up in conversation too. :) True Texans.

We first went to lunch at Sweet Tomatoes, which is a soup-n-salad place and had really good food! Then we went shopping at Kohls, which was so much fun for me, but for some reason, Justin wasn't too thrilled at how long we (meaning I) spent there. But I got some really cute shoes and few new clothes. Here are the "very comfortable and perfect for teaching all day in" cute brown shoes.

Then we headed over to Sam's for some bulk American grocery supplies to take back with us to BP. We got chocolate chips, Rotel tomatoes, Pace salsa, and Oreoes, among other things. While there we had a freshly made (and very salty) pretzel! It was SO good.

Then we travelled about half an hour to the town of Howe, Texas, to see Justin's cousin's house. It was REALLY nice. It was like a cabin and very spacious. It was built in the early 1900s. They've done a lot of work on the house, including uncovering original wooden floors that the previous owner had glued carpet to! I had my camera, but forgot to take a picture. :( It was so great to spend some time with Lindsay (Justin's cousin) and her boyfriend, Jeff. Living so far away and only coming to Texas occasionally, we do not get to see them often.

Then we all headed to Texas Roadhouse, which is a BBQ place. I had 1/3 rack of ribs, sweet potatoe and salad. It was delicious!

Jeff and Lindsay
Justin and his Dad

Odds and Ends

So, yesterday we spent about an hour at the DMV here in Plano. I realized upon landing at DFW that I should check the expiration of my TXDL. Sure enough, it's this October. I am glad I thought of that because I was not able to renew it online. The reason is because I had previously renewed online and this time I had to renew in person. It wasn't that bad, but when they took my picture, I had to take off my glasses! No one really sees me without my glasses, so that bugged me. (I do have contacts, but rarely use them due to laziness.)

And I got my haircut. The lady was really nice and made sure that I knew what she was doing. My idea was to have an angled cut. I really don't know what you call it. A lot of people have it, but they have straight hair. It's when the front is longer than the back. Anyway, I wasn't really sure what it would look like with my wavy, sometimes curly hair. But she cut it that way anyway. It doesn't really look like it's angled, it looks more like a bob, but I think it's because of the waviness of my hair. I'm not sure I like it, but maybe I just have to get used to it.

Feel free to tell me what you think.

The Moment You've Been Waiting For!

Pictures of my niece! Sorry, it's taken so long... and she is MUCH better with a beardless Justin. She actually let him hold her this morning on the deck! It was so cute. She still gives him the look when she first sees him in the morning though. We call it that "he's still here?" look.

As you can see, she's adorable! :)

She's a bit distracted by our camera cord.

She loves her "bouncing zebra," especially when she has an audience!

She usually rides her rocking bear next.

She isn't too happy here b/c she really wanted to go outside, but had to wait for Aunt Michelle to take a pic.

She was very clingy to Daddy (my brother, Matthew) today. So cute!

We're in Dallas!

We made it to Dallas safely and smoothly. No problems at all.

Cool stuff for those that travel through Heathrow:
The store where you can buy bottles of overpriced alcohol gives out samples! We tried gin with cucumber, something like a mohito, and Prim's lemonade. I was hoping they'd offer Bailey's, but no go this time.

Then I had a dark mocha light frappucino at the Starbuck's kiosk. We had a two hour layover.

We flew American Airlines from Heathrow to Dallas. It seems everytime we travel now, the time to go by faster. I'm sure it has something to do with all the movies and tv shows they now have available. I watched two movies, an episode of The Office, an episode of Monk, and I played Tetris. I also read the magazines they have available, one of which has Rain Wilson (Dwight Schrute) on the cover, so naturally we had to read that article.

The flight wasn't full and I had an open seat to my left. But the plane was just freezing. I am so glad I thought to take a sweater. (I had planned on just wearing shorts and a tank as Dallas temperatures are around 100 degrees F. )

We flew out of Budapest at 8:30 am (1:30 am CST) and arrived at my brother and sister-in-laws around 7:15 pm CST. Zara, my niece, is so much fun. She cried upon immediately seeing Justin because of his facial hair. But she laughed with me! :) (We knew she didn't like facial hair, but Justin ran out of razors Sunday and decided to wait until we got here to go buy more. I'll keep you posted as to how Zara reacts when his face is clean shaven.)

And oddly, I didn't sleep well at all last night. Usually I can sleep fine the first two nights, so we'll see how easily I fall asleep tonight. Justin slept fine.

I'm Home!

I arrived safely to Budapest yesterday (Saturday). It is so great to be back with Justin! And he greeted me in the airport with a bouquet of roses and a gift! Thank you to everyone who prayed for us while we were apart!

Adelboden, Switzerland

This past weekend we visited Adelboden, Switzerland. It was absolutely beautiful and those words do not do it justice. The Lord has renewed in me an awe for His creation.

Eis Cafe...the Second Coming

Don't get mad at me, it's not blasphemous.


Mr. Allen, Jacob, and Bethany (the director of the program) are headed to Riquewihr, France, right now. They will be back around 9 pm and we arranged to meet at the Eis Cafe at 9:30 pm for one last time. Unfortunately, Florentina and Patrick will not come. Patrick can't come because he's got a family and he commutes from France, so he leaves right after class.

Florentina can't come because she is leaving at 6 pm by train to go to Frankfurt to see soon-to-be-husband. I will not be seeing Florentina next summer because Justin and I will be in Texas. So, I asked if she would like to go with me right after class to the Eis Cafe. She said yes and we had a nice time talking about her "almost actual husband" among other things. (It's an inside joke...kind of. )
This is Florentina.
So, tonight when I go at 9:30, I'll tell my Theology prof it's my 2nd coming to the Eis Cafe. :) I know he'll probably laugh.

Almost Done!

Today is my last day of class for this summer!!!! I am really excited and have loved being here, but I GET TO GO HOME AND SEE JUSTIN TOMORROW! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!

This last class is Overview of Christian Theology and there are four students. Jacob is from Cameroon (and has been here 5 weeks!), Florentina is from Romania, Patrick is from France, and then there's me. It's been a really fascinating class as we look at Christian doctrine. I know...how could doctrine be fascinating? It's all about the prof. He is truly excited about it and gets us excited about it and encourages us to talk. He encourages us to know why we believe what we believe and where in Scripture we can find it. I've learned a lot about what the Bible says about man, God being three persons, salvation, how the New Testament was decided, spiritual gifts, etc. Granted this class was an overview, but there was a lot I have been challenged to think about in this short week.

Anyway, we have just two and a half more hours of class to finish up. We had a take home exam, which was nice. We are all pretty tired. I don't know about post-course work yet, but I still have those assignments from two of my other classes.

Tonight, I will be eating any food I have left over and cleaning the place where I'm staying. I'll probably go to the Eis Cafe one last time, but I'm not sure. Then, I'll try to find a movie on-line and sleep restfully. :)

JUSTIN, I'LL BE HOME SOON! I LOVE YOU!

Sunday in Riquewihr, France

My roommate and I were invited to go to Riquewihr, France, with a group from our class. We went on Sunday. I went to this little village last summer and quickly said YES to the invite! It is a really cute place and I'd love for Justin and me to go one of these summers.

This medieval city is surrounded by a wall and the city itself is very quaint. Inside the walls you find German-influenced architecture, colorful flowers in the windowboxes, and cobblestone streets. I couldn't believe I was there!

Here are some of my pics.

eating lunch

Abby's tarte flambee

the Dolder Tower has the date 1291 on it!

one of the streets

this is a portion of the wall from the outside

One week down...three to go

Friday was the last day of Curriculum Theory, Design, and Assessment. It was a good class and I really appreciate the knowledge and experience of my professor, Dr. Sheryl Vasso. She is a great teacher and has a great sense of humor! We did not have a written test, but we have a project that will be due no later than July 31.

Several of us went out that night to have dinner. Here is the group. To the right of me is Dr. Martha MacCullough, who will be teaching me Philosophy of Education this week. Dr. Sheryl Vasso is in the yellow cardigan.

Then more classmates met us at the Eis Cafe for ice cream. Here is my chocolate mint sundae!