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!