Our Summer is Already Full

I don't have many exciting updates, other than the fact that we have four teaching weeks left! We're looking forward to visits with our friends and family across the States, and enjoying a much needed respite. Here is our tentative schedule:

- Bask in Turkey's beautiful sunshine during the 3rd week of June
- Arrive in Boston June 21st (I think)
- Stay with Chris' family in Worcester through July 4th
- Return to Indiana with my fam July 6th
- Head to Eastern PA in the last week of July
- Maybe take a trip to Dallas/Ft. Worth area to visit friends and fam the second week of August
- Back to MA the 3rd week of August
- Return overseas August 25th (I think)

It makes me tired to think about traveling around so much, but I know we'll love it.

Also, a loving Happy Birthday goes to my mom, who turns 39 again today. Love you! We'll share a cake with no icing when I get back.

Lebanon

Like our trip to the Jordan, I will post for a few days about the things that we experienced in Lebanon. I kind of skipped over our trip to Egypt, even though it was the longest, simply because it would take a week of blogging to go through my notebook and sort out the information. For now, you can check out our pictures from Lebanon and the rest of our journies by clicking the Through Photos link at right. Select the Lebanon album. Once there, if you double-click on the first picture, you can view the photos and captions individually.

Back from Holiday

Hi all!

We are back from our trips to the U.A.E. and Lebanon, with lots of stories to tell and pictures to share; however, our internet has been down at home. As soon as I can, I will post our memories of Chris feeding camels and my obsession with taking pictures of flowers. (There just aren't that many here!) Easter was a day full of joy, though a fairly typical day because we worked as usual. I hope everyone had a great time with family in celebration of our Savior's resurrection.

P.S. Mom, is it still possible to freeze some pascha for me?
Христосъ Воскресe! (Christos Voschris!)

8 months

We have been here for about 8 months. That's hard to believe, isn't it? Chris has gone on vacation to the U.A.E. with some of the guys this week, and we'll be leaving for Lebanon on Wednesday. Since I am here alone and there is much less traffic through our apartment, I've had extra time to think about what we've been doing during this time, and what the future may hold for us.

What have you done in the last 8 months?

I pose this as a somewhat rhetorical question; I'm not looking for answers, but invite you to think about what you have done and what events have occurred since August 2008. How have those things affected your life? Some things to think about:

- Who have I shared my faith with, if at all?
- What am I actively pursuing? (kindness, patience, etc.)
- What do I spend most of my time doing, outside of work? Is that a good thing?
- How can I love my spouse or my children better?
- In difficult circumstances, what have I believed about God?
- What cool opportunities have I had?

Part of what sparked this is that I recently found a picture taken from right before we left Indiana. Some of my girlfriends and I met to picnic and chat, leaving the men and babes to fend for themselves for an afternoon. Two of us moved within two weeks of this (I think), and another followed suit within a few months. Thanks for a great day, girls.

April 2nd

March has been a busy month for us with trying to follow March Madness and all. (Um, right.) We have had many activities at school and Quarter 3 grades are due on Easter Sunday. Today marks the beginning of Spring Break for us, so we'll have a week to relax and do some traveling. Chris and the Boys will be traveling to Dubai, U.A.E. tomorrow, and they will be staying until Tuesday. Then, Chris and I will leave for four days in Lebanon on Wednesday. I'm excited that I get to sleep a lot.

I have posted some pictures from our Charity Carnival at school. This year, the proceeds were designated for an orphanage, and our students raised over 4,500KD (the equivalent of about $15,000 USD). It's amazing what they can do when they put their minds to it; I wish I could get them to work as hard in class!

March Carnival