What's Up February

It's time for this month's What's Up Wednesday post. Aren't you excited?! :)

*Linkup with Mel, Shay, Shay, and Sheaffer. 

Every month we answer the same questions based on how things are currently going in our lives. The questions are...

What am I eating this week?
I made up a couple pounds of taco meat this weekend and put it in the freezer. So I'm thinking this week's meals will include tacos, taco salad, taco soup, and the like. I did try out a new (to me) restaurant in Dakar this past weekend called Southern Fried Chicken. I had the chicken BBQ and cheese sandwich and fries. Yum!

What am I reminiscing about? 

Oh my... I sure do miss my nieces. I've been having a lot of "niece withdrawals" type moments lately, so I've been going through the pictures on my phone,

What am I loving?

I am definitely loving these cooler temps we've been having lately. In fact, there was one night earlier this week when it was 4 degrees cooler here in Dakar than it was at home in Alabama. And I'm by no means complaining. I would much rather be cold than be hot and sweating! I so love cool season in Dakar!

What have I been up to?

...getting settled here in Dakar. A really good friend blessed me with the gift of shopping for decor (and just stuff, in general) for my new apartment. So I've been slowly collecting a few odds and ends here and there and am almost finished setting up my apartment. I'll have a picture "open house" soon... Be on the look out :) But for now, here's a "sneak peek..."

What am I dreading?

Honestly... I'm dreading April 19th. It'll be the 1 year anniversary of my dad's death. Every time I look at an April calendar... Every time I think of that date... Every time I see his picture while scrolling through my phone... I get this ginormous knot in the pit of my stomach and the tears start. That's what I'm most dreading. And to be honest, I'm thinking of just taking a personal day that day...

What am I working on? 

I'm currently working on thank you cards for all the amazing churches and individuals who have partnered with me by financially supporting my ministry here in Senegal. I can't wait 'til they're finished and I can show them off. Give me just a couple more days...

What am I excited about?

...all sorts of exciting plans for my class! I love planning and dreaming and thinking up all sorts of coolness to share with my kids. I am so extremely blessed to have a class full of kids that truly do want to learn and explore. So it's super exciting planning new and more challenging things for them. I love it!

What am I watching?

I downloaded Woodlawn based off the recommendation of a friend and I think I'm going to watch it this weekend. Any one local want to join? Movie watching party!! :) And if I ever finish reading The Martian, then I'll watch that too. But I don't see me finishing the book any time soon... :)

What am I reading?

...all about a Speech program, called the LiPS Program. I'm loving it too! Learning all about how the brain and the mouth and a whole lot of other body parts all work together to help us produce speech. I love this stuff!

What am I listening to?

My current playlist is so random. ...like almost every genre of music. I laugh sometimes at how I can have the old time-y southern gospel version of Lily of the Valley be playing right before Uptown Funk and everything in between. But do you want to know what song is currently stuck in my head? It's one I played for my kids in class yesterday... It's The Plant Song, sang to the tune of the Cups song. They loved it :)

What am I wearing?

I'm wearing long sleeves, socks, scarves, and all sorts of things normally reserved for cooler temps. And I absolutely LOVE it!

What am I doing this weekend?

My school's Senior Cafe is this weekend. It's like a talent show and a lot of the students, staff, and parents compete. Even a few of my 4th graders are joining in the fun. It's always good for a night of laughter. Past that, I'm not sure... Anyone got something exciting planned I could join in on? :)

What am I looking forward to next month?

Spring Break! Let's face it. I love my kids. I do. But 2 whole weeks off from work?! Yes, please :)

What else is new?

I've lost some weight. I haven't been trying terribly hard, but that's about to change. At any rate, a few pounds lost is better than no pounds lost. Right?! :)

And then every month we have a "special" extra question to answer. This month's question is... 

What's your favorite Easter memory? 

Honestly, it'd have to be last year... A few weekends before Easter, my sister-in-law took my nieces to an Easter Egg Hunt put on by my church and had the sweetest time. I still have the pictures from that day etched into my memory. And then I got to hang out with my parents at their church on the actual day of Easter. Who would've thought that just a few short weeks after that, we would've lost my dad? It makes me so incredibly glad that I chose to spend Easter Sunday with them, especially now, knowing that was the last Easter I'd have with my dad..