Buy this-- and sell it to me if you don't like it!

Have you opened your new Costco coupons? You'll see 3 bucks off of this:

and a 3 bag limit. Sad. We bought all three on Thursday, and now there's one bag left. We chopped it up and put it on blueberry salads (thanks for the inspiration, Kayla!) and ate it one little sqare at a time.

And just for reference; this retails for $20 (yeah, right!), is on Amazon for $15, in Costco for $9, and with a coupon... really cheap!

Birthweekend

I had a great birthday/weekend! It started with dinner and dancing at a local restaurant and club. It was so nice to be with friends, and look at the great cake some of them brought! Puubliiix...

I thought I'd grown out of presents from friends, but everybody brought really nice, thoughtful gifts.

Ok, don't look at me, but look at Janneke's cute face!

(Tia, Zafer, Yahya)

On to the dancing. We had to get past this Arabic-speaking, foul mouthed Cuban lady. Then we had to get past some dancing shyness, but by the end of the night everybody was out on the dance floor.

It reminded me a little of being at BYU and going out with Noah.

And look who we found! I was hoping she would be there! Rosana was on the "hot tamale train" that night! (Look at that sweaty guy's shirt!!)

I tried not to think about it too much, but I was wondering if this would be one of the last times I'd be with Janneke and Julio. sad.

(Sleepy Caleb with gorgeous Michelle at his birthday party)
On Sunday, these two surprised me with a birthday lei! It was so great because it came with a hug and a kiss from Caleb!

So this picture isn't terrible, but just know that there were about thirty before this that were all laughable. I think I missed my beauty sleep!

(Sayaka, Caroline, Evrim, Natalia, Yina, Majed, Tia's leg, Ali)

Surprise, Teacher!! What a cute class! Yes, they're naughty, but they're SO fun, too. This is what I saw when they finally let me in the room. They gave me a stuffed hippo (inside joke-- but it's based on my limited art skills), a huge box of chocolates, and a really sweet card signed by everyone.

I had gotten up early to make monkey bread and chocolate muffins, so we added cake and sodas and all rode the sugar high...

Ready for lunch? How 'bout an ice cream. (Stop looking down my shirt!) The next day I had another cone but put the magic shell inside and then the ice cream. Genius!

(Irene, Ruth, Tia, Rosana, Janneke, Stephanie)

No, it's not a modeling agency, it's a school.

(Jin Gyu and Zafer)

[People would get confused when I'd tell them I was born in Japan, and then they'd look at me and say, "Ohh, I see it in your eyes..." I would laugh, but I can see it in this picture.]

Level 4 was so nice, too! Do you recognize any of these faces? There was also a talking card, and I had made them brownies the night before. The expectant mother in the class took two-- as she should! I didn't think to get a picture until most of them had left. :(

So that was mostly it! Noah took me shopping (we didn't find anything) and to dinner (the cajeta-filled churros were the best!).

Well, you don't get into teaching for the pay, but what other job would give you three parties in one day??

Sandy 4th

The Fourth of July started with an intense cleaning of our house-- inside and out! We did yard work, scrubbed the house sparkly, and I even cleaned the car. After that we had hot dogs (the fatty, delicious kind), and I made some coconut cupcakes topped with your typical "flag cake" ingredients. We were off to Jax Beach and my mantra the whole way there was, "We're never going to find a parking space..." Noah took a nap, so missed out on most of the crazy talk.

Now, I've often heard Jax Beach described as "The White Trash Beach" of Jacksonville. But we were meeting up with some friends that know what they're doing, so I didn't question the choice. We got there and I circled a tiny parking lot for about ten minutes. I saw a lady standing outside her car smoking. The breeze stole her cigarette, and when she bent down to pick it up off the ground, she saw me laughing and shooed me away from the spot. I gave up and decided to leave *magic music*-- that's when I saw a car pulling out of the perfect spot. No one in line waiting for it. I grabbed it and we relaxed watching the drunk people on parade. They were mostly on beach cruiser bicycles. There were WAY more perfect, model-looking bikini girls than decent-looking guys. Most interesting: an informal dog parade!

We got out and found a place on the beach. Shortly after that, our friends arrived. We set up the umbrella and chairs. I was off to catch some of the gentle evening waves on my boogie board. Alone. My friends weren't wearing swimsuits, so they left to go get them. Soon enough we were all in the ocean and Noah was "watching our stuff."

Do you SEE what's on Noah's lap?? CMA Review-- he wanted to study! "Every party has a ... " anyway he was an allergic mess after all that yard work, and last year he stayed home while I celebrated with my neighbors, so I'm just glad he came.

Olga, Noah, Liza, Yahya, Zafer, me, Zizo (lots of others couldn't stop the fun for a picture). It was SO nice seeing some long, lost friends! And if I can say that, I guess I can call Jacksonville home!

He does look sick, right? Poor Sneezy.

Then it was time for the fireworks. I made everyone eat the cupcakes and Yahya passed around a huge bag of chocolate. The moon and fireworks reflected on the Atlantic and the fireworks were set off of the pier right next to us.

Noah stuck it out through the whole night! Holiday miracle!

One of my favorite parts was watching the fireworks with Noah and choosing our "favorites." Here's one of them.

And remember that clean car? It still has sand in it. I'm going to go vacuum...

Friday

I knew Friday would be a special day: a trip to the beach with school, a sewing date with friends...

Here is how it started:

A "healthy" lunch packed for Noah by himself.

(I usually try to include more than one food group when packing his lunches.)

A morning at work grading essays, a quick change for Janneke and me (and the student of the week!),

a relaxing lunch at a french bistro, a missed phone call, a fun day catching waves and enjoying good company on the white sands of Jax Beach... one of those waves stole my trusty sunglasses. A quick trip to the Town Center to get a new pair, a blarring warning to enter a store immediately because of the coming tornado,

a frantic drive through pedestrians to find a spot at the packed mall,

a desperate dash into Dick's for safety...


(Good choice because they have so many TVs-- and huge windows, but it's better than being stuck at the Gap for an hour.)

a phone call to Michelle to let her know I would be late for the sewing date, to which she asked, "Didn't you get my message? Erin (our other sewing partner) had her baby." A week and a half early. This baby is as kind and considerate as his mother!

A detour to the Gap,

for an hour,

a quick stop to get those glasses, a late drive home.

Study Hall

Do you want to know what it looks like when Noah studies?

I always hear lots of giggles coming from the office. He acts frustrated, but I know he LOVES it.

Go Team!

The House Across the Street

If you've talked to me lately, you know I love the new house that just went up across from us. We've had a portable storage shed and a dirt pile there for two years (and I honestly thought those were great neighbors!), so I was really nervous when a notoriously tacky builder started construction. There's a "Star Trek" house just one door down, ok? But this new house wasn't too offensive. Then, I came home this week and found the new stucco painted. This is what I saw:

I think it is so cute. Maybe I'll show you when it gets landscaped.

Little Project

I saw some of the burp rags I'd made after they had been washed, and it inspired me to change my approach. I wanted these to match Erin's nursery (http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2974110). Here's what I came up with:

Some bubble fabric and blue ric rac that looks like waves. And guess what?


A fish applique traced from the computer print out. He has a tiny eye. Alicia, do you like this fabric?

And most exciting of all... no fraying! This was Michelle's idea.

I took cute pictures of beautiful Erin during her shower, but considering she was talking in all of them, none of them are very flattering. I'll leave those out as I hope all of you would do the same for me!