Fall

Whoops! I missed a whole month again! Not only have I been too tired to write updates, but also so much has happened I just cannot keep up with it.

Fall is now in full swing and it's just absolutely beautiful. I didn't realize how much I missed fall these past 2 years. It's so gorgeous; I'm just in awe of the trees. I love seeing all the fall stuff too like pumpkins, hay bales, indian corn, apples, scarecrows, etc. If only there wasn't so much Halloween stuff too.

School is going really well, just super fast and it's not slowing down as I thought it might eventually. There's always something going on besides the usual daily schedule and curriculum to implement. My 'to do' list never ends. It's been really challenging, but I love my kids and am enjoying getting to know them more and more. It's a lot of trial and error, as the first year usually goes, but I have a lot of support and am establishing good relationships with the other teachers, especially some of the younger ones. My kids are a hoot and crack me up half the time. Kraig mentioned making a reality TV show of the day in the life of a preschool teacher and I think it would be such a hilarious show--even more funny than when I'm actually in the situation and don't find things funny or don't notice as much anymore some of the weird things the kids say and do. :)

I've just recently hit 3 major teaching milestones for the first year and I'm happy to have them under my belt now. Picture Day, Field Trip, and Parent-Teacher Conferences. The field trips were the worst (see next post), followed by picture day and then today was the conferences and they really weren't too bad at all. Just getting up at 5:45 for them was annoying. :)

I spend pretty much all my time at school...8:30am-7pm. But when I am home, I really enjoy my apartment. Any free time I have is spent decorating and rearranging my space and making it home. However, I am still lacking some major furniture items: couch, dining room set, washer and dryer, end tables, dresser, and a TV. I have learned to live without them, but will be pretty happy to finally get them eventually.

I still haven't found a church yet. There are so many to try in this area and I've been out of town on so many weekends, it's taking awhile to try the ones I want to.

So, things are going well. I've settled into a routine somewhat and am setting up a nice little American life here which feels really great at times and other times feels a little weird and I feel lame for wanting to live here in comfort and familiarity. I miss my adventures overseas sometimes. I am especially missing Taiwan now that my best friend from college moved there with her husband and I hear about what they are doing there. I also miss it a lot whenever I see updates on my church and my friends there via Facebook.

So, all in all- things are going well. I'll try to keep up with this, but I know it'll be hard. All my interesting stories about school and stuff just take so much explanation and background info to make sense, but I'll try to come up with some. :)