Pics from our snow day!

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland

Last night it began snowing around 6:30. When we woke up this morning it continued to snow and looked like a winter wonderland outside! It took a while to get dressed and thank goodness Anne is from up north b/c I would've been completely UNPREPARED going outside. After bundling up in everything warm that I owned we finally made it outside and met Catharine on the way to school. The three of us looked like snow bunnies heading into school! The kids are completely stoked and all they want to do is play outside (yes, southerners, we have to go to school in this weather!). I let my 2nd/3rd graders have extra time this morning after Language Arts and we are going out again during recess. It's absolutely gorgeous outside and the snow continues to fall. I'll be posting pictures later tonight of our fun day!

Yep, it's gonna be cold

Here's our forecast for Weil am Rhein all week copied & pasted from yahooweather.com:

Today: Occasional rain with some snow mixing in by afternoon. Temps nearly steady in the mid to upper 30s. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of precip 80%.
Tonight: Rain and snow this evening, becoming all snow overnight. Low 23F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Snow accumulating 1 to 3 inches.
Tomorrow: Snow during the morning, with continued snow showers during the afternoon. Cold. High 28F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. 1 to 2 inches of snow expected.
Tomorrow night: Cloudy during the evening. A few snow showers developing late. Cold. Low 14F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 30%.
Thursday: Snow showers early. Highs in the mid 30s and lows in the low teens.
Friday: A few clouds. Highs in the mid 20s and lows in the low teens.
Saturday: Snow showers. Highs in the mid 30s and lows in the low teens.

Fun on Saturday Night

One of the many things I love about what I do is getting to live so close to my friends at work. Anne and I live about 5 blocks from Erika & Catharine's place and we certainly take advantage of it! On Saturday night, we all took our friend Cherie out for her b/day and a girls night out to eat Indian food. YUM!! Afterwards it was rather later than we thoguht it would be and so Cherie had to get back home to her kids and couldn't join us for cookies & chocolate back at the girls' place. Anne and I went and had a blast! We ended up dancing and just being silly and eating way too much chocolate! Anyways, enjoy the mini-slideshow of our fun night. Oh yeah, it's supposed to snow all this week starting tomorrow....I'm looking out my classroom window right now and dreading having to go outside b/c I know it will be FRIGID!!!!

Dancin' Queens

Dancin' Queens

One of the fun things a/b what I do is living down the street from coworkers. It's a blessing really to be so close to our friends. On Saturday night we had a girls night out and took our business manager, Cherie, out for Indian food (her husband, Dale, is in India right now taking a computer course which is why we did Indian). Afterwards it was rather late and Cherie had to get back to her kids so she couldn't join us for cookies & chocolate back at Erika & Catharine's place. However, Anne and I went and we had a blast! We ended up turning on some music and having a freestyle dancing night!! It was altogether hilarious and so much fun!!! Here are some fun pics of our fun night. Enjoy!

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Hurricane Europe

Ok not literally a "hurricane" but there is a terrible windstorm going on all over this part of Europe. 7 people were killed in England and 9 in northern Germany. Last night I went to go catch my usual train after my small group only to find that the trains had been cancelled. (No worries, I got a ride w/one of the people in my small group!). Going to sleep last night all I could hear was the wind blowing trees against my shutters. This morning on the way to school I was almost knocked down b/c the wind was so strong! Anyways, it should prove to be an interesting day at school today trying to calm the kids' nerves and all. I doubt we'll be going outside for recess. Oh well...nothing like a good ol' movie day!

Chicken Noodle Soup Weather

Today was the first day I wore my longjohns! It hit thirty below zero last night and was a mere 32 degrees this morning (that's about 1 degrees celsius!!). It's extremely DRY weather and I wouldn't be surprised if it snowed at anytime this week. It's definitely chicken noodle soup weather!

Langenbruck Pics

AWESOME Saturday

I was privileged to spend Saturday with my pastor Geoff and his wife Marie-Louise and their girls. Saturday morning we drove to Langenbruck, Switzerland to check out a retreat center for our upcoming church retreat in June. The retreat is owned by a missions organization and is very old. One of the buildings we toured was built in 1571! We had a great time there touring the grounds and met the manager of the retreat center named Gerhardt. For lunch we had Shepherd's Pie, which I'd never had and it was DELISH!! I have pictures of it but of course I've forgotten my memory stick at home and will have to upload them tomorrow!

When we got back to the house we had tea and cookies...very British and right up my alley!! We then went into Lorrach for some shoe shopping and came back to have some great Swiss fondue! YUM. Afterwards we watched "Bend It Like Beckham" which is hilarious if you haven't seen it!

I completely am in love with this country and its surroundings. I am still amazed at how God placed me here in the middle of such an awesome place.

I've been back over a week and so far have not experienced any homesickness....Maybe because this is home now.

LUGGAGE IS HERE!!

I received my luggage last night at 7pm. Even though my suitcase was ripped and is ruined, I really don't care b/c I have all of my clothes now, including the beautiful quilt Paulette DuBose made me for Christmas. I also somehow obtained a pair of men's running shoes though the luggage mishap!! Too funny! Anyways, everyone at school knew this morning that I had gotten my luggage b/c I wasn't wearing jeans haha. Ironically, it was JEANS DAY today....

Really odd weather

It is January in Central Europe and I am dressed like it is January in Florida. Right now it is 46 degrees, which I'm sure sounds cold to some of you but compared to the usual winter weather at this time of year over here it is fairly "warm." This suits me just fine having grown up in the South. As a Southerner I believe it should warm up right after Christmas!

Days w/o Luggage Countdown: 5 days and counting......ugh

First Day Back

Today went pretty smoothly considering it was the kids (and teachers!) first day back in school in almost a month. My classroom got brand new desks which was a true blessing since the students have been sharing a table. The kids were overwhelmed and couldn't get over how "cool" it was to have their very own desk...man, what we take for granted in the States! The only down side of the day was that the minute we went to go to recess it began to downpour. From the looks of it right now I'll be walking home in the rain as well. Gotta love that we're on the same latitude line as Seattle!!!

Still no word on my luggage and after Day 3 it's been a bit irritating! Hopefully it will arrive tomorrow........

Lost Luggage and other stuff

Still no luggage and Delta has no idea what has happened to it. I'm a bit perplexed and anxious b/c literally EVERYTHING I have to wear is in my suitcase. Not that I'm complaining that I get to wear jeans to school everyday til I get my stuff, but still....it would be nice to have other items to wear!!! Please pray it gets here soon. I guess it is a blessing that I didn't end up packing my stepuncle's yummy salad dressing after all. Imagine the stench that would've caused! YUCK!

In other news....

I haven't slept well at all in the last 2 nights. I've tried to stay up as late as possible, but I end up waking up an hour and a half later. I fell asleep at 4am this morning and was awakened by the alarm at 7:45. Went to church and got to do a dramatic reading and that was fun. Then I went to Starbucks w/Joanne and Vanessa and had a Venti Cappucino to stay awake and work at school.

Jet lag bites.

Safe, Sound, & Sleeeepy

I flew into Frankfurt yesterday at 10:30am German time only to find that my luggage had not made the trip w/me and will arrive sometime this evening. I got home and went to the grocery store since there was NO food in the apartment and since today is Ephiphany everything is closed and I wouldn't have made it til Monday. Weather conditions are warm (at least for this region!) and the only snow is on top of the hills overlooking Basel and Weil. I'm in a longsleeved tee and still a bit toasty!!

It's great to be back, even though I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas break. It was great seeing those of you who I got to see, even if it was short lived. I hope to be back this summer if not for the entire time, at least for 2 weeks!

Off to do some lesson planning since school starts Monday!!

So Long, Farewell

Today was my last day in Jax until (hopefully) June. I will fly out tomorrow from Orlando at 5pm onto JFK and leave from JFK at 9ish heading to Frankfurt. I'll land at 10:50 am (german time) on Friday. I'm actually excited a/b going back. Yes, I'll miss my parents and my friends and I'm sure in a few weeks I'll be somewhat homesick, but it will be nice to get back to Weil and start teaching again. I really do consider it "home" now :) I'm sorry to those of you who I didn't get to spend much time with but hopefully if God wills I'll be able to come home for a few weeks this summer. We'll see. Anyways, I'm off to pack now. As we say in Germany "Tschuss und bis Juni!" (translated means: Bye and see you in June!)

Pictures from the last 2 weeks