Yeah for FRIENDS!!!!

I'm just looking through pics that I have taken and decided to put some up for all to see....I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!

Countdown begins!!!!!

Well....there is sooo much to do!!!! It seems that every single time I turn around there is one more thing added to my list of things to do......I have started saying good bye to friends and family that I won't see again before I leave, and it's starting to get harder as the days go on. I have started sorting things this weekend, and am a little overwhelmed by the fact that I have soooo much crap in my life, I feel like just dumping everything out and never bothering to look at it again. Until I find my favorite Beach Boys cassette tape from 6th grade, or my letters from my girls in college....some things are just meant to be saved and treasured....

This week I went to Portland to visit Meika and we had a great time out on the town. It was great fun to see all of my friends and her family. And then Erika came out from Montana so we had a wonderful time of shopping....I know that linen capris will be my friend in Thailand!

Well...I officially have 37 days until I leave. That is not a long time. I am filled with excitement and joy at this new journey as well as some uncertainity of what this new journey entails. or maybe that uncertainty stems from applying for my visa this week....hoping that it will come in time.....

Until next blog....sawatdeeka!

4 months and counting....

So I can't believe how time flies when you are having fun...or just plain incredibly busy! I even took Friday off to get things done but didn't even get started on half of my assignments. YIKES! But some good news....I got an email from my new principal, Jeannie, and she sent it to all of the new elementary school employees. It looks as though there are about 8 new teachers at the elementary level. That's really going to be fun. I haven't emailed them yet, but I will.

Also, I think I might have my first visitor in August! Yippeee!!!! I saw Karen at church today and she said she might stop out that way after a mission trip to Indonesia this summer. I told her to come on by! Wouldn't that be fun!?!

My mom wants me to put my stuff in storage. It's a great concept, but I feel as though stuff is just that: stuff. Do I really want to be burdened with things when I get home? Sure it would be nice to keep, but what if I end up doing this for a while? I just don't know....

Cowgirls, Inc

I love Cowgirls, Inc. Sure the ladies dancing on the bar are a little cliche' but good times roll with hot music and fun dance steps. When I finally got the Tush Push down, there really isn't a better feeling! Did you know that there are saddles at the bar you can practice riding? Well, we definitely practiced! YeeHAWWW!!!! Let the good times roll!

Mid-Winter Break

Ah, the joys of teaching! I am so happy that I have this "mid-winter break". So called in the education world, no one else has ever really heard of this phenomenon. I have just gotten back from Boston then turned right around and headed to Deer Park to see my favorite person in all of the world, my little Wyatt Thomas, who is only 3 months old but is brilliant enough to send his favorite Aunt Katie a valentine. I am finally home and in the middle of laundry, dishes and general housekeeping. I am entertaining a friend in about an hour and a half and my place looks like hurricane Katrina hit it about 5 times. So what do I do? I start another blog. I have a dozen lists made, what to bring to Thailand, what to sell, timelines for things, etc. But I suppose it will all work out. It always does.

Boston, Boston, Boston!

Welcome to my Blog page. It will be updated at least weekly, hopefully daily, to document my traveling and experiences. Enjoy!

I am trying to recover from my trip to Boston. It started out pretty rocky, a cancelled flight and 12 hours of constant travel and waiting, waiting, waiting to finally reach my Boston, MA destination.

The conference was better than one could imagine. I found all of the staff of ISS very helpful and the recruiters were so friendly and wonderful. To cut down on costs, I had two roommates, Marina and Terra, and they were GREAT! We all had a blast! We were on the 15th floor, and we had a great view of Boston, and parts of the Boston Harbor. We went out at night, and on Valetine's Day we went out to the orignial Cheers Bar, Wednesday we went to Cambridge and Harvard Yard, and Thursday I took a tour with Michelle all around Boston on a Trolley to see the sights. Boston is a great city, and I highly recommend going. It was pretty pricey, though, so bring more money than you think you'll ever need, because you'll need it!

During the day we were so busy that we didn't even have time to go out of the hotel at all. I barely ate, or slept for that matter! There were notes to retrieve in mailboxes, notes to write and re-write to put in recruiters' boxes, copies of resumes to be made, people to talk to that had been to that country, and research to be done on new schools that interested me. I couldn't believe how much time I needed! I interviewed with 10 different principals, these are the schools that I absolutely loved: Frankfurt, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Japan, Thailand, China, Lebenon, Nigeria, Columbia, India, and Guinea. I met the principal from the JFK Schule, because I really wanted to teach there, but they had hired another very strong candidate, they said. bummer for me, lucky for her. I ran into the issue of teaching partners taking all of the elementary positions, because there has to be something for the math or science teacher's wife to do....so why not hire her to teach elementary? It was such a bummer for me, because that happened quite often to me. I thought about wearing a sign that said "Math Teacher? Science Teacher? wanna be a couple%2