Adventure Awaits: 2 weeks down, 36 to go?

I've set a new record....longest amount of time without posting a new blog! There really isn't a whole lot to catch up on either. Sad huh? Living on this beautiful island and thing to say about it. We've done a pretty awful job this summer as far as exploring goes. I guess we crammed a bunch of stuff in our first year, are taking a year off, and then will cram everything else in our last year here!

We partially discovered a new place with bagels! It was delicious! If it were closer to us, I'm sure Dan would want to go every day. He loved it! And now on to more exciting news, my sister had her first baby! Kyla Rose. Isn't she the cutest? I have to post those pictures below because I sent her that outfit and it's adorable!! It was really depressing not being able to be there though. All I have to say is she better not have another one while we're still over here! :)

We also found a giant Minion in American Village! That was a pretty exciting stop before we enjoyed some giant naan and Indian food.

Also, we got our cat a new toy to keep them out of trouble. Yes, it goes all the way to the ceiling! They absolutely love it. Best thing we've bought them so far!

Oh yeah! We also celebrated our 2nd year anniversary! It was so thrilling, that I don't even have a picture of us........haha! I can't believe how much I've been slacking in the photo department. We were going to stay at a nice hotel up north with a beautiful pool overlooking the ocean, but there was a storm heading our way so we decided to cancel. Instead, we ate at Chili's Too! Alright, we're sounding pretty dull so I better switch topics.

Gifts from Dan's Mom for our anniversary and for my new job!

For Labor Day, we decided to visit Round 1, which we've heard great things about. It's this giant sports complex type place with indoor sports and games. On the top level, they had a little mini-golf course, archery, soccer, volleyball, basketball, baseball, frisbee, and golf. Then, there is a middle floor with a massage chair room with crazy Japanese remotes, ping pong, shooting, an automatic soccer thing, and so much more. It was a great day!

Then, for a late anniversary celebration, we had a very nice and relaxing day before Dan left. Dan took me to Pizzakaya which serves wonderful pizza! They ended up giving these garlic balls to us for free because they gave our order to the wrong people and we got this little appetizer after we finished our meal. Score! Free food! Then, we got pedicures. :) Definitely a first for Dan! While my toes were being beautified, he got double the foot massage-lucky! But I feel very blessed to have a husband willing to do that with me.

Alright, on to more current news. We've both been pretty busy. Dan's been taking grad school classes online, so he has homework to do pretty much every night and a lot on the weekends. We are hoping these classes boost his GPA before November, when he submits his application for the Air Force Physical Therapy Program at Baylor in Texas. We should find out around January if he gets in...which would mean getting one out of the two spots. It may be a long shot, but here's hoping!! He's also been working later nights as he inherited a whole new set of responsibilities recently. Actually, right now he's in Texas learning about this new job! It's just a three week course though, so only 2 weeks left.

Dropping my husband off at the airport- never a fun time!

I've been pretty consumed with teaching! I just finished my second week, and I absolutely LOVE it! I don't think I could have asked for a better first two weeks of my teaching career. The kids have been wonderful, and I can only imagine it getting better from here! (Fingers crossed) I've been working with a substitute paraprofessional but they finally hired a permanent one for me, so I met her yesterday. I think we'll have a great working relationship! Nothing better than two professionals working as a team to accomplish the most for the kids, right? Although it is a ton more work than last year and a lot more tiring, I couldn't be happier!

The whole first week, we did home visits in Kindergarten, so I was able to visit with each of my 19 kids and their families in their homes. They all live on base, so they were all pretty close together. Then the next week, we did all the famous beginning of the year books and activities like Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom, Chrysanthemum, The Kissing Hand, and a few others. Bringing a coconut to school was such a fun activity!! The kids loved getting to feel the coconut, pour the milk out, taste the milk and the meat, and use our five senses to observe. Oh yeah, tying in standards in a fun, memorable way! Hopefully we can do the same thing with pumpkins next month.

I guess I never gave an updated tour of my classroom, so here it is! First, a few "before" shots.