MERRY CHRISTMAS! What a blessing it is to be home with friends and family - my heart overflows!

Back in the STATES!!!

Sorry for the long delay between entries - life got a little crazy for a bit, which included a cancellation of one of the legs on our flight home and an immediate change of plan that caused us to leave Sofia a day earlier than planned. I am happy to say, however, that we are HOME!!!! I love that word - HOME!!! It's the most beautiful word in the English language. Speaking of English - everyone speaks it here - feels pretty good to say something to someone - anyone - and have them understand and respond appropriately. It's my favorite thing of the day.
Due to jet lag we woke up around 4am this morning and have been powering through the day. We even went downtown and bought Christmas presents for each other - pretty trippy to be in a downtown U.S. city after 16 months overseas. I love it though.
Anyway - more later when I've adjusted to the time and my brain is running at full speed! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

So busy, so tired.

722 applications were delivered to me on Tuesday. I now have to stuff an envelope for each one of them that includes a transcript, letter of recommendation, and a bunch of other stuff. I'm exhausted. And, I have to say, I'm not a huge fan of kids right now. I realize that 17 year olds are irresponsible by nature, but I'm not in the mood for it right now. :) It'll pass.
I hope everyone is well - 9 more get ups!!!! Yeah!

One of my students wrote about this painting in her personal statement required for her college application. When reminded of this painting, I couldn't help but think of how wonderfully it fits my current state of mind. Actually, I kind of enjoy being busy right now, however. First of all, it helps to keep my mind off the fact that we are so close to going home. If left to my own devices, I would sit around and countdown the seconds until take off. Secondly, there is a piece of me (a somewhat small piece) that likes being busy around Christmas because it makes the stress-relief of break feel so much better. We'll see how I feel about that last comment when anxious students deliver 722 college applications to me on Tuesday. :)

On another note, this is also the time for students who applied Early Decision to hear their fate. This is so bittersweet for me. When you work so closely and intensely with these students, you begin to think of them as if they were your own kids. So right now, I have 36 children waiting to hear whether or not they were accepted to the university of their dreams. One second I have a student running in crying "happy tears", as Lorissa would say; the next there is another student whose tears aren't so happy. It's a roller coaster, I tell ya! Today I heard from three students: One acceptance to Vassar, two were deferred to regular decision at Amherst and Dartmouth. No denials yet, so that's something to be thankful for. Speaking of Vassar, I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I love this school. Our unborn children are going there whether they like it or not. The admissions officer there is absolutely my favorite to work with - he just seems to care so much about the kids.

Anyway, after spending my Saturday at school, I am now home sitting in front of the fire with Christmas lights aglow around me. It's a warm fuzzy feeling that makes me forget about all the stress - I love it. Pete is doing some schoolwork right now, but when he's finished maybe he'll come and cuddle on the couch with me and my warm fuzzy feeling will be complete.

13 more get ups!

15 more get ups

15 MORE GET UPS UNTIL WE GET ON THAT PLANE!!!!!!!!!!
(I have 8 letters to write between now and then, and some other stuff to do, actually lots of other stuff to do ... I've written over 100 letters in the past two months ... I'm starting to go a little crazy. I may greet all of you by saying something like "It is a joy, delight, and privilege to see you; I am undoubtedly excited and I plan to thrive in this environment over the next two weeks.")
Whop whop whopeee!)

ACS Thanksgiving

Last night was another fun Thanksgiving celebration with the staff. We spent the morning preparing food - it turned out to be better than last year. It tasted just like home cooking (either that or I'm getting used to it here) :) Pete and I were in charge of the mashed potatoes again this year. It's so fun because we get to use the industrial machines (see the pictures). They do all the peeling and mashing for us, so it was pretty much a cinch.
After dinner we got out the karoke machine - I'll let the pictures speak from themselves.
The college application season is getting down to the wire - my goal is to be finished with my letters by Wednesday. I'll let you know how it goes.
What do you all think of the blog's new Christmas look? Shan - I stole the idea (and some of the HTML code) from some of your friends' blogs ... hope that's o.k. The new picture is from last year's Christmas performance when Pete and I did Balkan dancing. I need to jazz it up a little more ... I'm working on that.
Have a great week! Wish me luck on my letters.

Grey's Anatomy, Tikvinik, and Thanksgiving

Wow! I'm exhausted. This has been quite a week full of letter writing, a million college application questions, and just the general pre-Christmas rush. I have managed to squeeze a little fun in here and there, however.
First of all, Pete and I are currently addicted to Grey's Anatomy. No, we don't get it on BG TV; instead, we have students download episodes off the Internet for us. Of course, I would never ask my students at home to do this for me, but here it feels pretty natural. As there is nothing on TV, all of us crave television from home. Grey's Anatomy is particularly heartwarming because it takes place in Seattle and there are always lots of city shots that make Pete and I go, "Ohhhh!!!! I miss Seattle!" or "I know where that is!" or "Look at the Space Needle!" Anyway, the show is good and the peek at home is great! We're only on season two right now, so don't give anything away!
Secondly, on Wednesday I learned how to make Tikvinik. Lyuba, my friend and counseling office assistant, came over to show me how to make this scrumptious Bulgarian treat. It kind of tastes like pumpkin pie, but you wrap it in philo dough. Hopefully I'll get a chance to make it for you all when we're home.
Third, this weekend is the annual staff Thanksgiving. If you remember from last year, every year around Thanksgiving the international staff makes a big Thanksgiving dinner for the BG staff. Then in May, the BG staff makes a big dinner for us to celebrate St. George's Day. Pete and I are in charge of mashed potatoes - fun! It's pretty cool. Most of all I'm excited for a Turkey Day, even if it is a week late. :)
I guess that's the update for now. Back to letter writing - I wrote 11 yesterday. Will I beat my record today? Only time will tell! Stay tuned!

Thanksgiving in Romania

We're back from Turkey Day in Romania. I have to admit - Romania wasn't quite as cool as Budapest was last year, but at least it wasn't Bulgaria. I think we all agreed that as for as the "Are You Ready for the EU Race" is concerned, Romania is ahead (not really that much ahead, but ahead nonetheless). One thing is for sure - Romania has MUCH better food. It beats Bulgaria on that aspect any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
Let me start from the beginning. We left on Wednesday night and took the overnight train to Bucharest. The train was actually much better than I anticipated. We splurged for first class, so it was just Pete and I in the compartment. Jenn and Derek had their own room next door. Although the ride was 12 hours, it really didn't seem that long because we were able to sleep most of the time. I even had a chance to read a book - I'm into the classics right now. I am reading "A Tale of Two Cities," and I'm actually really enjoying it. Anyway, once we got to Bucharest, we got right on another three-hour train to Brasov, which is in the heart of Transylvania. When we arrived in Brasov, we found our hotel, which was very nice and clean, which is always a pleasant surprise. Then we headed out to explore the town.
The next day we woke up and took the bus to the Bran Castle - famous for being the Dracula castle. I guess in reality, Dracula never really lived there. Just a little background info - Dracula is a myth that stems from a Romanian ruler named Vlad the Impaler. He never really sucked anyone's blood, but he did like to stick stakes through his enemies and leave them to die. Sounds like someone you'd like to invite over for Thanksgiving, right? Anyway, I totally want to live in the Dracula castle - it was really nice! Aside from the stair well (in one of the pictures) everything else was bright and cheery. Lots of hardwood floors and cool nooks and crannies. I liked it. Once we got back from the Bran Castle, we went out to dinner at a really nice restaurant. That's when we all decided that Romania beats Bulgaria on food by far.
The next morning we got up and took the train back to Bucharest. We didn't have much time to explore the city, but we did visit the place that the crazy Romanian dictator built in 1980, which almost bankrupted the country. He had the audacity to call it the People's Palace, but he wasn't really a man of the people; he was actually are really bad dude. He also built a road leading up to the palace that he hoped would be like the Champs Elise in Paris - only one meter bigger or something like that. In the end, he and his wife were killed by a firing squad on Christmas Day 1989. Isn't Romania a happy place? Just kidding - it really was pretty nice overall.
Today we are back to the grind. I came home to write letters and I finished five I think. I have this really fantastic plan that I wrote down, and if I follow it I will be done by Wednesday next week. We'll see. I really want to get done with all my work so I can concentrate on getting in the Christmas spirit - only 25 more days until we come home! Whoo Hoo!!

One month from tomorrow we'll be home!

On Sunday I decided that the Christmas countdown needed to begin ... NOW! So, I pulled out our minimal Christmas decorations and went to town. I love it! We're going to Romania for Thanksgiving, and I wanted the place to be all done up when we got back, so the Christmas season can begin. This year I have the Christmas spirit like a seven year old - I completely can't wait for the next month to pass. Going home for Christmas is going to be the best present ever.

On another note ... I owe my husband a massage. He didn't gloat over the Huskies at all. If the shoe was on the other foot I can't guarantee I would have done the same. I suppose I should probably work on that - there will be a lot of Apple Cups throughout our marriage and the Cougs are bound to win some of them (I hope).

Let's see, what else is new? The only thing that comes to mind is letters. I have like 58 left to go between now and December 12th. Oojiss. I don't want to bore you with more letter talk, so I'll leave it at that. As I mentioned earlier, tomorrow we are headed out to Romania for Thanksgiving. We're taking an overnight train to Transylvania, where we will spend our days searching for Dracula! More of a Halloween thing, than a Thanksgiving thing, but fun anyway. My Mom and Dad are having my mom's side of the family over, as well as Pete's parents. I think this is the fourth year in a row they have done this, and Pete and I have missed the last two. I wish we could be there to celebrate - you will be in our thoughts every minute.

Well ... I guess I should go do some work. Gross. I missing you guys so much, but there is comfort knowing that in one month I'll get to put my arms around all of you! I my sending of lots of Thanksgiving love your way! Happy Thanksgiving!

Apple Cup

I love my husband. Without a doubt, he is the best thing that has happened to me in my life, ever. We get along so well, and we almost always agree on major topics of discussion. There is, however, one day a year when we become bitter rivals. That day is tomorrow: Apple Cup. I think all of you know that Pete went to UW and I went to WSU. On a daily basis this does not affect our life (if this were the case with Shannon and Mike, I think it would be a daily topic of discussion) :) And, I have to say, that Pete has been much more accepting of WSU than I have ever been of UW. Pete has gone to WSU games and he even roots for the Cougs when they are playing anyone but the Huskies. I, on the other hand, am not that good of sport. I am a Coug, it's not in my blood. :) So, tomorrow, I will be thinking of you - all my wonderful friends who I would not know if it wasn't for WSU. I will be with you in spirit as you cheer on the Cougs. I hope with all my heart that we are victorious, and I wish so much that I could be there with you.

On this note, I have to tell you a short story. Soon there will be a picture to go along with the story, but I don't have it today. The other night went went out to a pub to celebrate the birthday of one of the teachers we work with. We walked into the pub and Pete immediately said, "Jinxy! Look over there!" And lo and behold, there was a BULGARIAN wearing a COUG hat! I immediately ran over to him and started rambling about how he was wearing the hat of the school I went to, excitedly gesturing, and practically hugging the guy. He looked at me like I was crazy (he probably had no idea what I was talking about). He did however get excited when I started taking pictures of him, and I think he finally figured out my excitement. I think I understood correctly that his cousin goes to WSU and gave him the hat. Unfortunately, the pictures are on Derek's camera and he hasn't given them to me yet. I promise you, though, the picture will be worth the wait.

Well, there are my Coug rantings for now. I guess there is nothing left to say except: GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO COUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!! And may the phrase, "That's another... Cougar ... First ... Down" be uttered many times tomorrow. Go Cougs!

My crazy month begins

Today was the day for students to turn in their choices for Regular Decision, thus beginning my month or so of long hours, letters, emails, and answering a million questions a day. The good news is, the finale of all this will be getting on a plane to fly back to the States - a place we haven't been for 16 months. Wow! So, this is my warning email that my blog entries may be few and far between for a while (not that I've been blogging everyday lately by any means).
Wish me luck, my friends! It's going to be a long 40 days. :)

Happy Halloween!

Rome

We are back from Rome and had a wonderful time. Of course the highlight was seeing Marge and Norm. It was SOOOO good to give them a great big hug and just be with them for the weekend. It is hard to believe that it had been 14 months since we said goodbye to them at the airport. This time when we said goodbye, we knew it will only be two months before we see them again.
We got to Rome on Friday night and met up with M & N at the hotel. We went out for a nice dinner at a nearby restaurant, talked, and caught up on life. On Saturday we explored the city. We saw the Pantheon and took a bus tour around Rome, then had a nice dinner and went back to the hotel exhausted. Sunday we woke up, had breakfast, talked for a bit, and then left for the airport. It was a pretty quick weekend, but we enjoyed every minute of it.
Now that we are back, our mission is to complete everything we need to in the next 54 days until we leave for Christmas break. I cannot procrastinate any longer - I must work on letters of recommendation for regular decision and get organized for the 1000 applications that are coming my way on December 12th. Awe ... Christmas ... that is the peaceful thought in my brain amidst all the chaos that is my life right now.

In less than 24 hours ...

24 hours from right now we will be in Rome with Pete's parents after not having seen them for 14 months. I can't wait! We leave here around noon tomorrow and will arrive at the hotel sometime around 4:30. Yeah! Now the only people we have left to see from our immediate family are Andy and Ali! Christmas can't come soon enough! Ali we can't wait to see your round belly! I can't believe that in three months we will be an aunt and uncle for the first time! Holy cow! (Apparently I really like exclamation marks in this post!)
Picture of Rome coming up on Monday!

Nothing much new but feeling the need to blog ...

The problem with being in your second year teaching overseas is that life just seems normal now. I wake up early, get ready, go to work, come home, eat dinner, watch TV (actually, I don't really understand much on TV, but sometimes I just like the noise), and then I go to bed. Same as home, only I can't stop off for a glass of wine after work with friends or go to Blockbuster to rent a movie. Work is the same - stressful! I am done with the Early Decision applications and letters of recommendation, but I can FEEL the looming onset of Regular Decision. In just a few weeks time I will be inundated with over 1000 applications that represent the hopes and dreams of a bunch of Bulgarian students who have worked for the past five years for this moment - their chance to leave the confines of Bulgaria and enter the world "out there." In the past, this opportunity represented a chance for them to get out of poverty, gain a good education, get a good job, and help their family out. This sentiment is still there - I mean, Bulgaria is still pretty economically unstable compared to the rest of Europe, but there definitely has been improvement, even in the short time since we have been here. At any rate, I feel a great sense of responsibility, and this year as the only counselor the pressure is weighing on me even more. But, until the kids tell me where they are applying and I know who needs letters, there isn't much I can do except sit around and stress out. I'm pretty much stressed about nothing - for some reason I can't stop being stressed. This has led me to go full force regarding our plans for next year. Pete and I have decided to apply two places: Portland and CIS (Council of International Schools). Although the hiring process is months off, I have decided we urgently need to get everything done, which means I have spent the last few days updating our resumes, writing application essays, and filling out the blanks. Actually, thinking about it now, that's probably why I am stressed ... we have no idea where we will be or what we will be doing come June 2007. A huge part of me (of us, I think) wants to go home, but there is another more practical side that knows if we went to another school abroad we could make enough money to come home and buy a house. This debate has been going on in my mind since last year, and there is never an answer (and won't be until February at the earliest). The one consolation is that if we did go somewhere else we would be home every six months (Christmas and summer) - that's been established. Oojiss (as the Bulgarians say when they are exasperated). Anyway, now I'm just rambling. Maybe ramblings are thoughts that shouldn't go on a blog, but it does feel good to just sit down and write without thinking about where you are going. I guess, when it comes down to it and to get back to where I started, this is truly what's going on in my day during my second year teaching abroad. There are no new adventures to talk about or travels to speak of; just day-to-day life and life decisions weighing on my mind. Sometimes that's as new of an adventure as it gets.
I hope everyone is well. I love and miss all of you so much!

Birthday pics

O.K. These pictures aren't the best, but they are all I have from my b-day. The first one is of Pete and Tricia, a new member of campus life. The second is of the whole gang who came out to celebrate. And the third is of my (looking very tired) at dinner.

Toady was a great day - I checked so much off my To Do list - don't you live days like that! Yesterday was NOT one of those days, but I made up for lost time today. Pete and I are making plans to go to Moscow for Thanksgiving. Hopefully it will all work out.

A great birthday!

I am officially 31 now! Holy cow! It was a great birthday all together and it started out by me finishing my letters of recommendation. That might have been the best birthday present of all :) My birthday started on Thursday night when Pete brought me a big bouquet of Gerberra daisies to kick off my birthday weekend. Then on Friday, I went and got a manicure, pedicure, and facial, which was fantastic. Then Saturday I went into school, did some work, and then we all (Jenn, Derek, Pete, and I) all went out to a movie and dinner. Then on Sunday, I woke up, went to breakfast book club, came home and took a bath with the new bath stuff Pete gave me, read for a while, then we went out for a really nice dinner. It was a perfectly relaxing weekend and just what I wanted. My birthday marks the official year mark of not seeing my sisters - I can't believe I've gone 12 months without seeing their cute faces. I miss them so much.
I have pictures, but for some reason they aren't loading up right now, so I'll put them on later.
I hope everyone is well. Shanny, I hope you had a great Hawaiian birthday - I was thinking of you!

This comic kind of explains my mentality right now :) There was actually a better one about coffee drinking, but I can't find it anymore. When will my letters of recommendation be written? I have a whole weekend of torture left. My goal is to be done by Sunday evening, though, so I can stop spending my day like a zombie with thoughts like "Janey is a wonderful student. She is kind, considerate, and always uses a Kleenex when picking her nose" running through my head. The worst part is that I am finished with all of the kids who are easy to write about, now I am left with the rest who have a mid-range GPA and their main extracurricular activity is counting the number of red cars that drive down their street weekly. Grrr. (I'm sure I'll be happier next time I write) :)

Lots of pictures to make up for my tardiness :)

So, I've been pretty bad lately about blogging - sorry. These last two weeks have been crazy and I still have about two more weeks until the craziness calms down for a while. Early Decision applications are due by October 13th and I have 37 letters of recommendation to write between now and then. There have been several 12 hour days around these parts :) The good news is that today is Sunday, and I slept in until 11:00 and am now feeling bright, shiny, relaxed and ready to blog. Yeah!
These pictures are from last weekend. A bunch of us (Derek, Jenn, Pete, and I, as well as some new people: Ani, Scott, and their baby, Christopher - AKA "Smurfy", Chad, Kelly, and their baby, Conner, and Aaron) all went to Bansko for the weekend. We had a great time just relaxing, walking around town, and shopping.
Now on to the pictures: The first picture is of Pete in a beautiful, traditional Bulgarian hat ... don't you all want me to bring you one home? Just kidding ... Although, we did pick up a few gifts at the outdoor market.
The next picture is of Pete and Aaron. Aaron is the new dorm coordinator at ACS. He is from Washington state (he went to Western) and has been a fire jumper for the last few years. He's here this year to work with kids and see if he wants to get his teaching credential. Cool guy. He comes over to our house to hang out a lot.
The next picture is of Pete and Smurfy (Christopher). He got the name Smurfy because they brought him home from the hospital in a blue outfit with a white hat, so he looked like a Smurf. Pete is in love with Smurfy. This is a big step for Pete who, until Smurfy came along, was scared to hold a little one. Thanks to Smurfy, Pete is now ready to be an uncle in January! (Not to mention I think Pete looks pretty cute holding a little shmoo!) :)
The next picture is of Kelly and Conner. Conner is the other baby around town. He is a cute, little, 1 and 1/2 year old. He is such a sweetheart. Totally into exploring and his mom and dad give him the freedom to do so. It's great!
The next pictures are of our walk back to the hotel when we first ran into a group of goats and then into a few cows walking down the street. Is it weird that that kind of stuff doesn't even phase me anymore? Ahhh ... Bulgaria. They are totally ready for the EU (said with a slight smirk).
When you are not passing cows and goats in Bulgaria, there is a good chance you will come across a wedding I like this better than the cows. It's fun because the bride, groom, and wedding party dance down the street to music. The band follows them wherever they go and people join in the celebration. It's great.
The second to last picture is of Scott, Ani, and Smurfy. Ani is actually Bulgarian, but you would never be able to tell because she speaks English perfectly and without an accent. She went to high school in the U.S. She and Scott met through the Fulbright program. He came here to Bulgaria, and she went back to the U.S. to get her Masters degree. They are great and we have a lot of fun with them.
The final picture is of me dancing like a geek at one of the restaurants we went to. Our waitress took my hand and pulled me up to the floor to dance ... then she left me ... so I pretty much was by myself dancing in the middle of the restaurant. Seriously ... And, no one would join me. They just sat in their chairs and took pictures. Some friends :)
Well, that's about all for now. I'm sure I will stop in between letters and blog a time or two this week.
Oh ... CONGRATULATIONS to Sean and Belma on their new baby girl, Ayda! Welcome to the world little one! May you have nothing but blessings in this life!