Christmas 2012

2012 Christmas gifts As always I am spoiled. Here is what my class got me this year: It is like the 12 days of Christmas :)Sing if you wish. 31 Monogrammed Bag orange boutique bracelet 3 Use anywhere Gift Cards (Visa, AmEx, Wells Fargo) Panera Gift Card Barnes and Noble Gift Card Starbucks Gift Card 6 Target Gift Cards 5 Sweet Treats! Garden Lotion Kit 3 candles 2 ornaments Tea Set and Buffet From Friends: Teacher Calendar-white elephant Scarf and gloves-Xander and Family Light up Snowflake necklace-Yvonne Homemade Snack Bags-Bennetts Cupcakes-Karissa From Family: $Money-G&G Cavallaros Ballet Flats running skirt 2 shirts dress calendar Mom & Dad necklace and earrings socks footies stud earrings 4 shirts Stocking Meal planner list Hand mixer Santa Vacuum iPad keyboard

Summer 2012

Why didn't I blog this summer? Well its mainly because I did not get to use my passport so I was not feeling it. So here is a short recap of my summer which was wonderful. I spent it I did, however, have a wonderful summer. I went lots of places all in the USA. I spent a lot of time in: Atlanta for Julie's birthday and then in July for my half birthday. We swam a lot, visited the zoo, shopped at IKEA, made lemonade, and played and played!

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Seattle, Washington and the Northern Oregon Coast with the Bennetts. I got to meet beautiful Brit who rolled over just for me as well as visiting a lot of potties while helping Tali master potty training :)and read lots of books with Risa. (See Toni's blog for the entire trip with great detail.) Here is a short slideshow of the few pictures I took:

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Steamboat Springs, Colorado with a day trip on the way out in Denver with the Porter crew.

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The summer ended with a road trip to Michigan and back to Atlanta. In Harrison Township, Michigan I got to see and stay in the Tuladziecki's new house. We also spent a lot of time fun filled time floating on Lake St. Clair while drinking and eating stromboli. I went to Rochester Hills, Michigan to catch up with old friends and meet Lillian. We had lunch with the other Najera's in Pontiac too. I went back to Atlanta for a reading conference. I enjoyed one last time being submerged in the neighborhood pool. I enjoyed lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. Then it was back to work and a visit to my former student teacher's new classroom.

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Summer in Durham, NC starting with a fender bender between my friend and neighbor and ended with mesoaking up the rays in my neighborhood pool and not thinking a thing about the new curriculum I was going to have to teach.

Carolina Beach 2012

Summer began with crummy weather so I started my to do list. My wonderful dad and mom did some house upgrades while I agreed to do interviews for the new teacher librarian. The garage is now a gorgeous gray with an expoxy floor with colored flecks. They finished up while I went to the beach. Thanks mom and dad! My first vacation this summer was with Hao and family. They rented a glowing green little beach shack a block from the beach. I arrived late Wedensday evening. On Thursday I got up and went for a run. It was not too hot and not too breezy. Here are a few pictures from my run. We went to the beach but had to move locations because Baloo (Luuly and Brad's new puppy) was only allowed in one part of the beach. We had great fun in the morning. That afternoon a cool breeze blew in and it was a bit chilly to sit on the beach. That night I went with Hao, John, HaLien, and Hoang Linh to the little carnival. The kids had fun riding a few rides. We also enjoyed Britt's donuts. After the carnival fun we joined Brad and Luuly back at the house for a crab boil. First we had to find a pot big enough. We had to ask the beach neighbors for a big pot which turned out to be the same size as the pot we started with :) When it was finished it was delicious.

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The next day we had more chilly beach time but it was still fun. That afternoon we enjoyed a swim at Brad and Luuly's hotel in Wilmington. It was a quick trip but a perfect start to summer!

What I got for Christmas 2011

Yes, I am still super spoiled! Here are all the wonderful gifts I received:

Christmas 2011

From Mom and Dad
Black diamond earrings from Aruba
Insulated lunch bag
Collapsible measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Wine stoppers
PJ pants
Purple shirt
Black shirt

From Cavallaro Family
Kindle
Calendar
Navy sweater with cami
Purple sweater with cami
Plum colored Fiesta ware


From Me
Brown boots

From Bennett Family
Amazon gift card
Rum balls
Bottle cap ornament

From Xander’s Family
Red rose sweater
Red bracelet
Starbucks gift card

From School Co-Workers & Former Students
Lindsey-2 sets of holiday earrings and a wine stopper that pours
White Elephant-1/4 bottle of rum
Mrs. Williams-Jar with hard candies
Rashkis-Target gift card
Kit-ornament
Tracey-Kohl’s gift card
Aadit-chocolates
Raksha-chocolates
Susan-holiday tissues

From Polaskis
Target gift card

From Grammy & Grampy
Money

From my Class
Gas gift card
Body spray
Colorful candles and holder
Aqua colored necklace and bracelet
Turquoise earrings
Chocolates
Snowflake mug
Mug with candies
Wooden wind chimes
Detroit Lions scarf
Target gift card
Cookies
Chocolate
Restaurant gift card
Snow globe ornament
Scented candle
Target gift card
Pencil Teacher hanging
Trinket box from Uzbekistan
Target gift card
Harris Teeter gift card

Karissa
Smore cupcakes

Kalie
Catchphrase

Santa
Grayish brown shirt
Blush colored shirt

Auntie Santa
Hat
Gloves
Lotion
Fall soy candles

Bell Ringers
Orange candle
Ball lip balm
Hand lotion

Uncle Duane
Knife set

Aunt Darlene & Uncle Dave
Swivel sweeper
Covered square Pyrex dish

Seoul, South Korea was a wonderful place to visit. My last morning did not go as planned but it all worked out. I planned to get up at 4:30 in the morning to finish my blog and then I knew that would make me tired for the plane ride. However, I didn't turn the alarm on after I set it. Luckily I woke up at 5:30 naturally. I did have the 6:00 a.m. back up alarm but that would have only given me a half hour. Anyways I packed up and was sad to leave Somerset. Here is the inside of the hotel/apartment room in case you were wondering. Here is the a hallway, second bedroom, second bath
, living room, dining room , kitchen
,
master bedroom , master closets, master bathroom. It was a great place! I walked to the bus stop just before the downpour. Here is a last few of the street leading to the hotel. At the bus stop there was a French woman waiting for the bus as well. She was heading back to Laos and her fight was a half hour before mine. We waited and waited. The bus was running late probably due to the rainy weather. After waiting ten minutes past the time the bus was to arrive we decided to take a taxi. The taxi driver spoke no English but understood Incheon International Airport. I enjoyed the company of the French lady who was definitely not an American fan. She thinks are whole country doesn't understand consequences. I politely listened since everyone is entitle to their opinion. The taxi cost $40 which when split was $10 more than the bus but I was on time and not wet. We did see the bus so we probably got in the taxi just as the bus was approaching the bus stop. Oh well! In the airport I had lots of time to kill. I was excited to shop and spend the last of my won. I was thoroughly disappointed that that airport has mostly designer things. I did find the Korean cultural experience where I was able to purchase two chopstick/spoon holders. The best part was I able to do a craft. I painted a fan.
Unfortunately I left it in the airport when I attempted to buy Korean wine. I was not allowed to take that much liquid back even though it was purchased in the airport. Darn American law! I cashed my remaining won in and got a smoothie before boarding the plane. On the plane I sat next to two American kids who lived on base in Seoul. They were a family of 10! I was interested to hear their story on our long ride home. I was able to sleep some and finish a book on my borrowed Kindle. (Thanks Toni!) Once in Atlanta it took over an hour to meet Julie and Leah at baggage. Customs was so slow! Now I am happily spending a week with the Cavallaros in Atlanta . Atlanta now seems like a tiny city compared to Seoul. I love summer!

The Woo Family Visit

My last event in Seoul was hanging out with the Woo family. Jae-Hyun was in my class three years ago. If she were still in the USA she'd be going to middle school this year. They picked me up at the hotel and then we drove to their house which is right outside of Seoul which took about an hour. On the way we chatted and I got to see one last view of the gigantic city of Seoul. While in the USA the Woo's had a baby, Zack Hee-Jae. He is two years old and super stubborn like his big sister Jae-Hyun. I found it neat that his birthday was May 2nd in the USA but that was really May 1st in Korea. The time change is really big here! When we got their apartment I was given a tour. It was similar to Rory's house. Jae-Hyun let me take a picture of her bedroom. Here is the living room. After my tour we walked to a local park. Zack didn't want to stay in the stroller so Jae-Hyun and I walked ahead and she told me all about herself. She is in English Academy with another former student, Yeji, that I didn't get to see. I told her to tell her hello for me. While we were walking in the park Mrs. Woo was cooking dinner. She made an incredible feast of many traditional Korean foods. Zack's favorite was the tofu in the soup. Jae-Hyun's favorite was the smoked salmon. I liked it all. While we were eating the neighbor rang the doorbell. She dropped off corn on the cob which Zack also loved. The Woo's told me it was common to share food with your neighbors and that they did this in Chapel Hill too. After dinner Jae-Hyun and I played games and swapped gifts. We played two Korean games, Jacks and this stick game. I was terrible at jacks. I liked the stick game and some day would like to get a set. We also played Life and Uno Spin. It was great fun! For dessert we had delicious tea and fruit. I loved the golden kiwi! Since it was my last night I had to get back to the hotel to pack up. The Woo's all drove me home. (Not the best photo.I need the Woo's to email me theirs.) It was a wonderful visit and an exceptionally nice way to end my trip to Seoul, South Korea!