What's Up October

Happy Wednesday, Y'all

Today, I'm joining Shay and Sheaffer for their What's Up Wednesday link-up. 

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

So let's get started...

What am I eating?

Once a week our staff has the option to order Korean food for lunch. I don't do it every week, but I do splurge every now and then. My new favorite is this kimchi fried rice dish. Y'all, it's so deliciously spicy and flavorful and good. I love it! I also love that it makes enough to give me leftovers for dinner too. Anywho - That's what I'm eating today. Although, I kind of forgot to take a picture. So just trust me when I say it looks good and it tastes good too. :)

What am I reminiscing about?

I've been in a bit of a reminiscing sort of mood lately. The other day, I was sitting in the car, waiting on my friend to grab her things so we could go somewhere, and I noticed this school sign. And I started thinking about that first phone call I had with the director at the time, making plans for me to come and teach at Dakar Academy. I had only recently even learned where Senegal was, less alone this international Christian school in its capitol city. If I'm being honest, I was 100% scared at the thought of leaving Alabama, leaving my family, my home, and all things "comfort." But I knew... I knew God had called me to this place. I knew God had this adventure that is ministry in place. I knew I would go and love it. I went that first time in 2009, thinking I'd be here for just one year. And here I am, all those years later. I've taught 150+ students in that time, in a variety of classrooms and grades and subject areas. But sometimes, I think back to that first phone call and I smile. I smile at the memories of young 23 year old me, making plans for the big change that would be happening later that year. 

 What am I loving?

I'm loving all the beautiful green/flowers on our campus. I suppose that's one of the perks of this time of year. The rain / sun helps everything grow so nicely. It's just so beautiful! I love it!

What have I been up to?

A friend and I got to head out of town during our school's Fall Break a couple weekends ago. Thanks to a great deal on a hotel, I got to spend a couple days enjoying time by the pool, sleeping in a nice hotel room, eating amazing food I didn't have to cook, and hanging out with a good friend. It was a nice little break.

What am I dreading?

Turning on my stove/oven. Y'all, Hot Season in Dakar is no joke. And living in a small apartment, if I turn on my stove/oven, it basically turns my whole apartment into a sauna. It's so so hot! Therefore, I'm a big fan of meals - no matter how simple they may be - that do not require the stove :)

What am I working on?

Helping our seniors plan and prep all the things for our upcoming Harvest Festival at school. It's a big fundraiser for their class. And there are a lot of moving parts. So there's a lot to do to get ready for it.

 What am I excited about?

Is it sad to say that I'm looking forward to Saturday? This week has been exceptionally busy because of prepping for our class fundraiser happening on Friday, having various parent meetings and conferences, having mission meetings/dinners, and all the other meetings and general busy-ness of the teaching side of my job. And while most of that is fun and enjoyable, it still makes for a lot of hours and feeling super tired. So yeah, I'm so excited to have nothing planned on Saturday. And I might just crash and sleep the day away. Because as of now, that sounds absolutely amazing :) 

What am I watching?

I've been enjoying watching the seniors do all the things. I love how excited they get about wearing their senior hoodies or planning a fun game to run at the upcoming Harvest Fest or happily hanging out with friends. I love that I've had the chance to teach a lot of these kids over the years - as their elementary teacher or teacher of various middle/high school classes. And I love that I've gotten to watch most of them learn and grow over the years into the incredible soon-to-be young adults they are. This class definitely has stolen a piece of my heart and I'm so thankful that I've had the opportunity to play just a small part of their time at our school. It's such a blessing working with them. It really is.

What am I reading?

I'm in the middle of Beowulf with one of my classes. I can't say it's my most favorite thing to read. However, I must say... The lessons and activities I've planned to go along with it are pretty fun :)

What am I listening to?

Lindsey Stirling's music ... She is such a talented musician. And I love that the majority of her YouTube videos are upbeat songs and are just instrumental. I'm able to have it playing in the background, while I'm lesson planning or working around my apartment. So I can listen and enjoy the music but not get distracted by the words, because knowing me, that would cause me to want to sing along and get zero work done as a result. Ha! :)

What am I wearing?

Our seniors ordered hoodies and my fellow co-sponsor and I ordered one as well. A couple of our kids designed the hoodies and I think they turned out nicely. It's still far too hot outside to wear them, in my opinion, but the kids all very excitedly put theirs on right when they picked them up. Here's hoping Cool Season arrives soon and I can wear mine without having a heat stroke. ha! :)

 What am I doing this weekend?

On Friday, we have this semester's big fundraiser for our seniors. So since I'm one of the senior class sponsors, I'll be busy with that, all day. It'll be a busy/full day out in the sun. But it'll also be a lot of fun. So I'm looking forward to it. Then I'm thinking, I'll crash and just sleep all day Saturday. Then, on Sunday, there is church and I'll probably do a little last minute lesson prep after that. 

What am I looking forward to next month?

October was a busier month for me. So I'm looking forward to November being less so. There will also be our school Olympics day which is always fun and a fun event for our senior class, too. Then, Thanksgiving (hello yummy food!) will be happening, along with a couple days off from school (hello no alarm clock!). I'm also planning to buy my plane tickets to fly to the US for a quick vacation during my school's Christmas Break (hello to family time). 

Favorite recent Amazon find?

As I shared last month, I ordered this devotional, on Psalm 27, for a co-worker to bring out since he was coming this way this week. A fellow AGWM missionary to West Africa wrote this devotional and I've had it on my "to buy when I can" list and I finally ordered it, when the offer to bring things was given. I've already started it and I'm loving it! I definitely recommend it!

What's new this month?

Not much to be shared here :)

And that's what I'm up to this month.

What about you?

What are YOU up to this month?

Currently

Happy Monday, Y'all

I'm joining Jennifer from Overflowing with Thankfulness, along with a few other bloggers, and sharing a look at what's currently going on in my life. 

The prompts for this month's post are:

* loving * excited about * watching * seeing * observing *

So what am I currently up to?

I'm currently loving what I'm teaching. I've always loved lesson planning. I love researching activities to meet the needs of the students I'm teaching. I love finding creative ways to instruct my students and give them the needed tools to successfully master the standards for their various grade levels. I love finding little ways to make learning more enjoyable for them. Research has always been enjoyable to me and since this is sort of a form of research, I think that's why I like it so much...

I'm currently excited about this school year with my people. I'm soaking in all the things... Lessons I'm teaching, students' sporting events, small groups, class parties, senior/graduation events, chats with students, all of it... I'm enjoying it all and I'm so grateful to be here doing what I'm doing.

I'm currently watching nothing. I really do think I could enjoy living my life without TV. Just saying.

I'm currently seeing the price of plane tickets go up and up. I'm planning to buy my Christmas Break flight tickets in November. Here's hoping that price goes down before then...

I'm currently observing how God's working in a situation that is not quite ready to be shared. I love how God perfectly opens/closes doors, making His perfect will for our lives clear. And while it's often not on our own (even preferred) timing, it's on His. And that's what is most important :)

And since it's my blog, and I can, I'm throwing in a few more Currently's...

I'm currently drinking more water. If I can have ice and a straw, it's definitely far easier for me to drink water. And thankfully, it's better this year because I actually have planning periods this year, which means I have more time to break during the day if need be due to drinking all that water. Ha! :)

Although, let's be honest... I'm also enjoying drinking pumpkin spice chai lattes from a little tea garden down the street. I won't be able to drink them all the time, but y'all... This little weekly treat I buy myself is amazing. Just saying :)

I'm currently spending time laminating each week and I love it. I love the tediousness of it. I love that it's something quiet and simple I can do at the end of my day, as a way of "unwinding," all while helping out my co-workers. I enjoy it.

I'm currently reading and studying the book of Genesis, as part of a Ladies Bible Study I'm participating in AND as part of one of the classes I teach. And once again, I'm reminded about what a gift it is to 1) teach in a Christian school and 2) to learn new things from the Word of God each time I read it even if I've read the same passage (book) many, many times throughout my lifetime. 

So what about you?

What are you currently up to? 

What's Up September

          Happy Wednesday, Y'all!

Can you believe it's already the end of September? Time just keeps on flying by this year. Does anyone else feel that way?

Anywho - On with today's post...

Today, I'm joining Shay and Sheaffer for their What's Up Wednesday link-up. 

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

So let's get started...

What am I eating?

Apparently, papayas need to be added to my fruit rotation. I tried one once a while back and didn't like it. But I tried them again last weekend and loved them! Then, I made a little papaya sorbet (well, it had more of like a granita/slushie consistency) for a special treat for one of my students' birthday earlier this week. And that was super tasty and refreshing, too, in this ridiculously hot weather we've been having here lately. 

What am I reminiscing about?

Memories made at this school over the years... It's hard to believe that this is my 13th year at my school. I came in 2009 and have been here ever since (minus the 1.5 years halfway through when I was in the US). I took this picture on my walk across campus one morning last week and it made me smile. So much has changed, but so much is still the same. And the best part is... I get to teach / work with some incredible kids. And I love that!

 What am I loving?

I've been loving watching my people play soccer each week. I made it my mission this year to watch every game I could. The last few years, I didn't feel like I had the time to do so, due to an already overflowing schedule. But thankfully, this year, my schedule is different. And I'm loving having the chance to cheer on my people at all the things.! 

What have I been up to?

Teaching - A friend and I were discussing how blessed we are to be at a Christian school. It's so nice to be able to freely speak about God, to pray with our students, to teach the Bible, and to incorporate biblical worldview into all of our lessons. You don't realize what a gift that is until you've taught in places where that's not allowed. Such a blessing, indeed!

What am I dreading?

I've been dreading the intense thunderstorms we've been having. Y'all, I don't ever remember having such bad storms here in Dakar. In fact, the other day, there was one that was so bad, a few of us said it reminded us of what it looks like back home when there's a tornado or hurricane about to hit. I can handle the rain. But I've been through too many tornadoes/hurricanes in my life to be 100% calm when a storm like that hits. So freaky!

What am I working on?

Spending more time in God's Word...

 What am I excited about?

It's a tradition at our school that seniors order hoodies each year. We ordered our seniors' hoodies last week. They're all excited and I'm excited, too, on their behalf. I can't wait 'til they get here next month :)

What am I watching?

I've been slowly working my way through The Office. 

What am I reading?

I borrowed this book from a friend and started reading it the other day. I hope to finish it by the end of the week. It's not one I wanted to speed read my way through. So I've been taking my time with it. It's a good read though.

What am I listening to?

Nothing new... Anyone have any suggestions?

What am I wearing?

This bracelet... Our senior girls bought themselves these bracelets to commemorate their senior year. And they asked my fellow co-sponsor and me if we wanted to buy one too. And of course we did :)

 What am I doing this weekend?

On Saturday, I'll be watching my school's girls soccer team play. Then I'll have church on Sunday. And in between, I'll do a little meal prep, reading and relaxing, and who knows what else I'll get into :)

What am I looking forward to next month?

We have Fall Break, which gives teachers a 4 day weekend (and students a 6 day weekend). So that'll be really nice. It's always nice to not have to deal with an alarm clock for a few days! Then, past that... There is a fun Harvest Fest event at our school and the class I'm a co-sponsor for is responsible for the games at the event. So I'm looking forward to seeing our kids' hard work paid off that night. It's always such a fun event for our school community anyway. And I know this year it'll be extra special for these kiddos :)

Favorite recent Amazon find?

I ordered these space saver bags for the guy who's bringing out our seniors' hoodies for us. Hopefully they'll help the packing of those hoodies be a bit easier.

Then, I also ordered this devotional, on Psalm 27, for him to bring out too. A fellow AGWM missionary to West Africa wrote it and I've had it on my "to buy when I can" list and I finally ordered it, when the offer to bring things was given. I'm looking forward to reading it.

What's new this month?

Nothing much :)

And that's what I'm up to this month.

What about you?

What are YOU up to this month?

What's Up August

         Happy Wednesday, Y'all!

Can you believe it's already the end of August? That means this year is half over! I feel like time is just flying by this year. Does anyone else feel that way?

Anywho - On with today's post...

Today, I'm joining Shay and Sheaffer for their What's Up Wednesday link-up. 

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

So let's get started...

What am I eating?

I ignored the leftovers in my fridge last night and in search of a comfort food type of meal, decided to, instead, make some tomato gravy to go with the last few biscuits I had from this weekend. And it definitely hit the spot. Yum!

What am I reminiscing about?

I've been doing a lot of thinking, lately, on what brought me to Senegal back in 2009. I mean, obviously, God called me here. Obviously I signed on with the Assemblies of God World Missions Department to be a Missionary Associate. Obviously, I'm doing this because I love Jesus and I want to honor Him. But what I mean... I've been doing a lot of thinking/reminiscing about the kids I've worked with over the years. The memories this work has produced are big and I'm so incredibly grateful to have been able to work with such incredible kids over the years. 

 What am I loving?

I'm loving being back at school, in my classroom, with my people. I'm loving planning lessons for the classes I'm teaching. I'm loving prepping activities and helping with homework and tutoring certain ones in all the random subjects they need help in. I'm loving chatting with them during their small bits of down time in their study halls with me, and hearing about their lives. I'm loving being back in the role of Class (co-) Sponsor, sitting in meetings and hearing them give speeches on how they'll lead their class, having seniors stop by my room to ask a question about an upcoming event, and seeing them wearing their Class of '24 t-shirt every now and then. The kids are the best part of the job, after all. And I love being able to work with them.

What have I been up to?

Well, the thing that has taken up the majority of my time the last few weeks (outside of teaching, of course), has been trips to the dentist. And after 3 visits, I finally was finished, thanks to a fabulous dentist (who spoke English! yay!) here in Senegal, doing a root canal and helping me get rid of some pretty nasty pain in my mouth. And now here's hoping I don't have to see him for quite a while :)

What am I dreading?

Y'all... The heat (and more than that, the humidity) here in Senegal during Rainy Season/Hot Season is no joke. I try really hard to wear my hair down. But thanks to the humidity, it ends up looking like a lion's mane most days. So up into a high bun it goes. 

What am I working on?

One of the classes I'm teaching this year is a section of English. One of our first projects is working on properly analyzing literature. And what better way to start by introducing literature analysis with fun children's books. 

 What am I excited about?

I must say ... My teaching schedule this year is pretty excitement-worthy. I love that I actually have a planning period for the first time since 2017. And not just one... I have 2! It's been pretty nice to leave at 4ish almost every day, and I don't have to work on lesson planning/prep every evening after school and every weekend too. I think I could get used to this, y'all!

What am I watching?

Nothing lately... I need to find a new show to watch. Anyone have a suggestion for me? I'm not a fan of cop/law shows. But past that, I'm pretty flexible in my tastes.

What am I reading?

A friend and I are both reading The Power of One and planning to get together and chat about it each week. I've only read a little of it so far, but so far so good.

What am I listening to?

I've been on a hymns kick lately. Ironically, I think it started with going to the dentist. I couldn't put my earbuds in to listen to music (and drown out the drilling noise). So I found myself singing (in my head, of course). And what was I singing? "When peace like a river attendeth my way..." I really do love hymns. And I must admit... As I get older, I find myself gravitating more and more back to them. 

 What am I doing this weekend?

On Saturday, I'll be getting with a friend to discuss the book we're reading. And then on Sunday, I'll be going to church and meal prepping for the week. But that's all I have planned. We'll see if I get into anything else or not :)

What am I looking forward to next month?

Nothing out of the norm

Favorite recent Amazon find?

I haven't bought anything on Amazon since leaving the US last month. But a missionary friend recently published a devotional, based on Psalm 27. So I have it currently sitting in my Amazon "saved" cart, waiting for payday to hit so I can buy it. I'm going to have my mom stick it in a box I fixed up to mail to myself after payday. But then 3 dentist visits happened, so I decided to wait until a second payday to send that box of stuff to myself. Anywho - I digress. The point is, I'm excited to both buy this devotional and to read it, too!

What's new this month?

The other day, I posted the picture of children's books on my social media, talking about the fun reads I have for one of my classes. Then yesterday, at lunchtime, a friend asked if I was taking classes again (as a student). I assured her I definitely wasn't. I'm not sure my brain could handle a 4th degree (especially another one online) at this point. Now, if I ever go back to the States, and can take classes in person again, I do see a doctorate as being a possibility. But anywho, I digress. Back to that conversation with my friend... Later last evening, I texted her, saying that my Instagram feed was full of ads about going back to school/getting a degree from various universities. Y'all, it is crazy how much our phones are "listening" to us. Crazy, for sure! :)

And that's what I'm up to this month.

What about you?

What are YOU up to this month?

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday, Y'all

 In an effort to be more intentionally grateful, I'm going to start rejoining Erika and Andrea for their weekly Friday Favorites linkup and sharing a few of my favorites (and maybe some of my not so favorites too) from the week.

First up, are these shirts and water bottle stickers which my fellow co-Senior Class Sponsor and I got as a back to school gift for our crew...

 

It was so fun passing these out, and making the kids pose for a commemorative first day of school photo which we sent to their parents, telling them moms and dads always appreciate pictures of their babies, no matter how old they are ;)

And of course, we wore our shirts too :)

And speaking of the first day of school, I was pleased to be back in my save, favorite classroom, ready to see all my favorite people back again for the new school year.

I added this little quote, of sorts, to my computer as a daily reminder of my reason for being here... I love my students and the fact that I get the opportunity to work with them each day. They're such an incredible blessing!

Another favorite of the week was walking home to the smell of freshly cut grass on our soccer field, which is on my walk home. I love that smell! I also love seeing grass on our field. For so many years, it was a dusty field, with no grass whatsoever. Just brown dirt/sand as far as the eye could see. So it's fun to see it so beautifully green now :)

I wish I could show you pictures of my students back at school, working on the latest literature analysis or discussing theology or me helping with various homework assignments or upcoming projects. But since I can't, I'll say that while my job might be tiring at times, I do love what I do. I love working with these incredible individuals that God has called me to work with. That's a definite favorite of mine - this week and every week.

And since it's my blog, and I can, I'll share one last item. Only this one is not a favorite and is, instead, a not so favorite item...

I posted the picture above on Facebook earlier in the week, saying, Chubby chipmunk cheeks are cute 'til they're on you. On Sunday morning, I woke up to intense pain most of the day on the right side of my mouth. I knew what it was. I had a tooth that had broken this summer and a filling came out. By that evening, my cheek started swelling a bit. I barely slept that night. The Aleve I took barely touched the pain. Then, Monday morning, I woke up and my entire right side of my face was swollen - even my upper lip was swelling. So thankfully, my principal is great and told me I could skip the morning meeting. I ran to the pharmacy to pick up antibiotics. And then a friend went with me to the dentist to have it checked out. He confirmed what I was expecting... I needed to have a root canal. So I'll be going this Saturday (tomorrow) to have that done. The thought of having that done and the thought of going by myself is definitely not so favorite one too. But I'm going to be a grown up about it and go, get it done, and then afterwards, go by ice cream to treat myself to later that evening when I'm up to eating again ;)

And that's about it for me this week.

What about you?

What's been your favorite part of your week?