un poco tarde

ONE MORE MONTH.

i leave mexico on july 10th. what a weird, weird feeling.

something even weirder? i have been here for 11 months.

let me try to sum up the past 3 months with a few words and pictures.

march was spring breakin' 2011 time in cancun with my sister, jayme & hannah. it wasn't MY spring break but i liked

to think it was. i flew from puebla and met them in cancun for the

BEST TRIP OF ALL TIME.

we really had a blast. and honestly it was so refreshing to be with them and spend that time together. the only downfall? cancun is basically NOTHING like mexico. nothing. the things they really wanted to know and see they didn't get a chance to see BUT we did get to relax by the pool and beach and eat a lot of delicious food for 4 days.

this was our view at 6:00am the first morning.

yes, we woke up to see the sun rise and we were on the beach by 8:00am.

excited much?

the last 2 weeks in april was mexico's SEMANA SANTA. i wasn't expecting to go home, i was planning an extravagant viaje around Mexico and then as april hit i decided i NEEDED to go home and it juuuuust so happened that my lovely tax returns came at the perfect moment. i may or may not have spent them on a flight home but it was one of the best decisions i have made in a while. it was exactly what i needed at exactly the right time.

family & friends.

i went from montgomery to the beach to south carolina to birmingham to auburn and more. it was a busy trip home but one that i was so grateful for.

while i was home my dad and kay sold our house in prattville and i decided to move in with them when i come home. in maryville, TN. anyone live close? i will be looking for something to do. and a job. a job? ugh. job hunting.

so may meant coming back to mexico refreshed and ready to finish out the year.

may was QUITE the month in la escuela. we had two ceremonies to prepare for in the midst of finishing up units and still teaching in the classroom. my class had one ceremony for our civic ceremony which every grade is responsible for completing at some point during the year. for this ceremony, my class had to prepare a presentation of some sort for Mother's Day.

maybe this link will work?

my sweet coworker nicky video'd our presentation.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150196329231837&comments&set=t.7017568&type=1

the other ceremony our class did was for Parent's Day and we had Hawaii.

here we are after the ceremony (missing a few kids)

i don't have any pictures during. BUT they were so cute. soooo cute.

and here we are. june.

so far in june, some of my boys won the soccer CHAMPIONSHIP! :) super proud moment. aaaand our goal of getting pictures with our favorite taco makers was a success.

we are planning a few more trips before our flights outta here. including veracruz, puerto vallarta and taxco. can't wait for the next month but at the same time i don't want it to end.

bittersweet.

february, what?

i can't believe it's already FEBRUARY!?!

i also can't believe the last post i made was when i was sitting in the airports on my way back from christmas vacation. i guess i have let time get by me. i can thank katey fuller for her simple email to me last week "megan, what happened to the blogger in you?" also, i can put a little blame on my camera for my lack of posts. it is currently broken. and that was my way of remembering what i should blog about. anyway, here goes an update.

getting back in january was bittersweet. i missed family and friends back home the moment i left but i also missed a lot of things about mexico and was excited to be back here after the break. flying into mexico city during the day was awesome and helped me fall back in love with this country. it was a LONG traveling day but when i got to my apartment i was relieved and felt at home.

so, my GOLDEN BIRTHDAY was january 24th. 24 on the 24th. my class and i counted down to "miss megan's birthday" from january 1-january 24th. we counted during calendar time and occasionally i threw in a "miss megan really looooooves ____" just for some gift ideas :) my kids were so sweet on my birthday though really. they made me a card before school and had everyone sign it (trying to be top secret). then some of them brought me precious gifts. and then some real crazy gifts too. i got coffee mugs, scarves, purses, cards..so sweet. my golden birthday really was a special one. kami, courtney, brittan & colleen planned a lil' surprise dinner at kami and courtney's house and kami really went ABOVE and beyond cooking. she made us some delicious food and a bunch of people sat around and ate before we went out for the night. i really have some great friends & felt super loved.

as far as teaching goes, everything is going great. my kids have good and bad days and we go with the flow most of the time. they have been really needy lately - just needing attention and needing to talk and tell stories and blahh blah. so my patience has been tested but it is a good thing :) we had 'portfolio display' day last week. every child at the school has a portfolio where one piece of work is placed from each unit. the parents were invited to come and look at their child's portfolio's last week in my class. of course ALL the parents came. talk about overwhelming! it was fun though and the parents were very encouraging. i had some tell me that they are very happy in the class and that they can tell their child is improving drastically in english :)

mission. accomplished.

so, SUPER pumped about:

*cancun with my seeeeeeester and jaybay & hannah lou in march SB2011 yawl.

*semana santa TWO WEEKS off work & traveling to somewhere super fun fun.

colleen & i officially have our tickets home at the end of the school year.

july 10 --> chicago, IL.

then from chicago we'll be heading to costa rica. ticket prices are cheaper to costa rica from chicago than from mexico. how does this make sense?

then. after costa rica, who knows.

whooo knows.

any career or life plan ideas for me?

let's see. what else.

running a 10k is on the schedule for feb. 20th.

me having strep last week did NOT fit in the training schedule..

hopefully my goal of at least FINISHING the race will be met.

even if i walk across the finish line? :)

i think that's about all i've got!

missing yawl.

COME VISSSSSIT.

-meggie

i cannot believe how quickly 2 weeks just flew by.

i'm a killen. and if you know killens, we are never late for anything. as a matter of fact - we're probably going to be early anywhere. well, ken killen is the master of being early. and i'm sitting in the montgomery airport at my terminal (which is not open yet) 2 hours before my flight. but i'm here. :) i have never seen this many people here. i'm not sure that the montgomery regional airport has ever seen this many people here. everyone is dressed from head to toe in auburn gear and they're just so happy. all going to spend a wonderful weekend with their friends and family, supporting those AU Tigers. :) while here i am - leaving my family and friends all teary-eyed and sad. saying bye always stinks - now i need to think about the next 7 months and how God is going to work in my life and continue to mold me. also i keep thinking about my kiddies and how excited they are going to be to tell me about their vacations! gotta think positive.

so, "happy cam newton day - yawl"

christmas break was so so sooo great.

i really think i have the most amazing, thoughtful, generous, dependable, loving, faithful, FUN group of friends & family that anyone could ever ask for.

my family made sure that i had everything that i needed before i left. they did stupid errands with me and sweet lil' erin put up with "hey erin, can i use your phone real quick to call ___?" or "hey erin, can i use your phone real quick to text ___?" and even "hey erin, can i take your car?" she put up with that for 2 weeks. she's a trooper. and mom made sure we had chocolate brownies when we FINALLY could eat chocolate again. we had a girl's spend the night party at mom's one night and i don't think i've ever laughed so much in my life. dad & kay took us out to dinner and cooked dinner numerous times. you won't ever go hungry on ken and kay killen's watch - that's for sure. my brother and sheena put up with bear & sophie in the car from greenville so i could see those presh lil' things at christmas. basically, my family is real great.

it's so nice to come home to friends who have been anticipating your arrival for a while. this trip consisted of so.much.laughing. and EATING. and shopping. and getting/giving advice. talking about future plans. spending quality time together. i'm pretty sure i spent every waking moment either with jayme wright or talking to her. i think we kept starbucks in business. she's probably going to need a vacation from the past 2 weeks. also sweet friends made sacrifices to see me while i was home like haden & halie. :) katey cooked us delicious macaroni and cheese lasagna and opened her home to us whenever we wanted to hang! tasharia, well she's just amazing. courtney just saved me in the montgomery airport - i just needed her hug to comfort me while i was super sad at leaving my dad & sister in the airport. last night was fun filled at buffalo wild wings as jayme, katey, josh, fuller, my lil seester, halie and jon all got together for one last hoorahhhh. i don't know what else i could say about my lovely friends.

friends & family.

i'm blessed.

just frands.

katey's birthday @ the comedy club!

Celebrating Christmas with Erin & Sheena baby :)

well that about sums it up.

i don't need to reminisce anymore or i'm going to get sad!

stay positive, meggie. stay positive.

i will update again soon when i get back to mehiiiiico.

-meggie

teacher presents

teacher gifts for holidays.

i've gotten lots of chocolate. a cool coffee mug. some trinkets. christmas decor.

but -

here's the best present anyone could ever ask for:
monogrammed bathrobe. "megan" in fancy cursive writing.

being a teacher is hilarious all the time.

reasons why i love mexico

so, counting down the days until i go home for christmas makes each day seem like it's going slower than watching paint dry.

i just finished up a shower in which the water went FREEZING just as i put conditioner all over my hair. i then come downstairs to watch a movie and watch a mouse come in the back door & walk AROUND the mouse trap with cheese that we have set up. i proceed to make a sandwich and the bread has probably been molded since last week.

here's when i decided i needed to reflect on the reasons that i LOVE mexico..

reason #1: FOOD, food, anddddd FOOD.

there is no food like food in mexico. i'm convinced of it.

cemitas, tacos, quesadillas, chilaquiles, tortas, chalupas, sopas, comida corrida, alambre..

don't forget fresh fruit. everywhere.

and the list goes on..and on..and on.

reason #2: walking to work.

i don't know that i'll ever have another time in my life when i am expected to be at work at 7:45am, i can wake up at 7:00am and leave my house at 7:35am and make it to the office to sign in and to my classroom before 7:45. walking to work is probably the best thing, ever.

reason #3: the corner man and toothless laundry woman

these 2 people make my life. the corner man is the man who owns the little corner store. he sells basic needs - fruit, bread, drinks, water..the essentials. and everytime i go, things are a different price. but regardless - they are cheap. and he's hilarious. if i get more than 2 things, he has to take out a pad of paper to add the prices. he's great. and he always asks the same questions. 'are you going to rest from work now?' (this is the question if i go after school) and then 'off to work? have a great day!' (this is the morning question)

THEN - there's the toothless laundry woman. her title pretty much explains her but she's really sweet and everytime i pass her laundromat she's sure to say hello. just a sweet little woman. bless her.

reason #4: being Brittan's roomie

i love this about mexico because had we not come here together we probably would never have been roommates. montgomery and atlanta aren't that far but both of us ignore phone calls from everyone and never seem to be able to plan time together. so gracias mexico.

muchas gracias.

reason #5: markets

cheap. CHEAP. treasures.

i love the markets.

reason #6: mountains & mexico skies

coming from alabama, mountains pretty much just amaze me.

add an active volcano right outside and i'm in constant amazement.

when we cross the yellow bridge on the way to work in the mornings, these mountains make for a really beautiful sight. some mornings it's too foggy to see but others it's picture perfect. it's also really nice when the sun is going down - mexico skies. love.

reason #7: the MOVIES

wednesday night is movie night.

if i'm remembering correctly it's 35 pesos.

and there's hotdogs, nachos, popcorn, ICEES, candy..

anything you need to make you feel like you're at the rave in montgomery, AL.

that's about all i've got right now.

i'm a little distracted because i have "Elf" playing on the TV.

soo hilarious.

2 weeks & 2 days

but who's counting?

:)

-meggie

navidad

december 22nd can't come soon enough.

besides that, the only other thing i'm thinking is that i would probably

give my pinky toe for this box of nilla wafers to never end.

.meggie.

family, funfetti, and festivities

well, here we are. it's almost december. what?

that can't be true. but it is. time is FLYING.

week to week. they go by so fast.

so, i've decided that mexico has the prettiest skies. pretty much every single day. and i don't know if i just notice the sky more here than i do at home? but i catch myself thinking 'man that sky is beautiful' almost everyday here. what's up with that?

brittan's family has been here this week. and it's been so so sooo great. they flew in on saturday and they stayed until today. they did SO MUCH for us. i can't even begin to explain it all but a few things they did is cook dinner two nights (spaghetti once and hamburgers the other) which was DELICIOUS. they finished the painting that we had not finished, they bought us lots of things of our house that we didn't even know that we needed. they loved us. brought some family time to mexico. and it was wonderful. they are amazing people. and we had lots of fun with them! we went to Teotihuacan the first Sunday they were here and saw lots of pyramids and an ex-monestary. the trip was really fun & we laughed a whole bunch. and took cool pics.

Thanksgiving was this week. It was super weird going to work on Thanksgiving Day. My kids didn't know about Thanksgiving but all month we had been talking about what we do in the United States to celebrate and what kinds of things we have to eat and traditions we have. So, on Thanksgiving, we had a small celebration in the morning with the 6th graders. It was nice. I sent paper home with my kids and they made Indian hats. We acted like the 6th graders were pilgrims and they were coming into our land (even though the 6th graders were too cool to make hats). Anyway, the kids enjoyed it and I thought it was neat teaching them a tradition we have that they did not know about.

Then, that night, our principal Miss Carol invited us over to her home for Thanksgiving dinner. HOLY MOLY. it was delicious. there was nothing that I did not like. it was all splendid. and we ate, and ate, and ate, and ate. and drank wine. and just talked. There was turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, hashbrown casserole, green bean casserole, pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie, cakes and oh so much more. (the special thing was that mexico doesn't sell pumpkin or fried onions so these things that we had were even better and made with more love) it was so nice of her to open her home up to us that were far away from home to help us feel more 'at home' on Thanksgiving. She really is wonderful.

we have a mouse in our house. we've bought two mouse traps and i'm hoping that we catch that sucker soon. i was watching tv the other night, just mindin my own business on the couch and he went scampering across the floor into the kitchen. and one day, brittan came home to find him walking across the KITCHEN COUNTERS. he needs to find somewhere else to go. i'd rather it be a roach. a mouse? yuckkk.

I'm not sure if I've written about my room yet.

but I love. love. my yellow room.

well, 24 days until I'm home for Christmas.

but, who's counting? :)

love ya'll.

-meggie