Now or never

If I don't write this post at 10 o'clock tonight, I probably never will.  My number of blog posts dropped after I got engaged and then started teaching full-time, so here's hoping I can raise that number now that I'm married and only subbing.  We shall see...

Sunday
Manned the donut table at church
Went to a Team India meeting
Took a really long nap
Hung out with Amos

Monday
Waited for Amos to wake up after he worked overnight
Went to the mall
Went to the Christian bookstore and got my last name embossed on my Bible

Tuesday
Hung out with Amos
I can't remember what else
One of these days we watched old Disney cartoons on YouTube

Wednesday
Hung out with Amos
We might have run errands, but I can't remember

Thursday
Hung out with Amos
Cleaned the house
Made little coasters using a fabric place mat, a rubber place mat, and embroidery floss
Went to bed late and only got a few hours of sleep

Friday
Got up at 6:00 to pick up a truck down in Sun Valley
Made poppyseed muffins
Made a fourth coaster
Went with Amos to set up a porta potty unit down in West Hills
Took a nap
Picked up bulletins
Went to three different grocery stores
Washed the dishes
Drove with Danielle to the grocery store*
Had Danielle, Jamie, and Sarah over for dinner and games
Helped Amos jumpstart Danielle's car

Saturday
Made breakfast
Moped around waiting for Amos to come back from helping friends move a piano
Went on a walking adventure
Read a book
Made dinner
Stuffed bulletins
Watched part of a movie
Went to bed too late

Sunday
Went to church
Waited in vain to meet another guy who wants to go to India with us
Went to the library
Went to Target and Sprouts
Took a nap
Went back to West Hills to get the porta potty and take care of it
Went to In N Out for dinner
Went to Fusion

*Danielle's car died at work, so our mutual friend Albert helped her jumpstart the car.  She didn't want to turn off the car, so I ran out and went to the grocery store with her, hoping Sarah, a new friend from church, wouldn't show up while we were gone.  She did.  Oh well!  We all had a good time anyway. :)

Green and Blue

Amos favorite color is darkish-bright blue, and my favorite colors are cobalt blue and olive-ish green.  Hence our wedding colors, which I think looked very nice together. :)

Happy Wedding Day! July 9, 2011

Anyway, a few weeks ago Amos and I went to Goodwill.  Amos wanted to see if they had a bulletin board.  I wanted one for a project, but he hadn't been able to find one at the Goodwill across town.  We didn't find a bulletin board this time either, but I did get four books. :)

I finished The Good Daughter by Jasmin Darznik, one of the books I bought at a Borders going-out-of-business sale (I saved $60.00 in books, only spending $18.00).  It was an interesting memoir about life in Iran.  Interesting, but I did not like Darznik's writing style.  Anyway.

I finished The Good Daughter and picked up Down the Nile: alone in a fisherman's skiff by Rosemary Mahoney, purchased for $1.99.  As the title says, she wanted to row down the Nile in Egypt in a skiff.  Last night I was reading  her descriptions of Elephantine Island and Kitchener Island in Upper Egypt, near the city of Aswan, all of which I've explored.  One of the reasons why I love books about the Middle East is because oftentimes I can say, "I've been there!  I've seen that!  I had that same observation about the culture!" and sometimes more arrogantly, "that's not what it's like there" or "what were they thinking?"  Oh dear.  In any case, I love reading about the Middle East, and this book is awesome so far.

Mahoney describes Kitchener Island as an island stuffed with exotic plants and trees.  I visited this island with a few friends in 2006 while I was on spring break from IBEX.  I tried to write down everything about my semester in Israel and my spring break trip, but there was too much to do; I didn't want to spend my time writing when I could spend time doing. My very brief notes on Kitchener and Elephantine Islands read:

Botanical Gardens on [Kitchener] island
  very pretty
  guy with gun 

Elephantine Island
  Nilometer
  creepy guy

Haha!

Anway, back to Down the Nile.  I was reading along, identifying with all of Mahoney's descriptions, when a few sentences just about leapt off the page:

...[Mahoney] moved on past Kitchener Island, a small island wholly taken up with the most exotic botanical garden I had ever seen.  It was filled with tropical trees and flowers, everything marked in Latin and Arabic.  On another trip I had seen a horseradish tree there, a cape honeysuckle, a mountain ebony, baobab, an ironwood, a rubber vine, a spotted gum, a sliver trumpet tree, and an enormous mahogany.  I had seen a Strychnos nux-vomica, a strychnine tree, and had put one of its spherical seedpods in my pocket, then later threw it away for fear it would poison me.  Kitchener was cool and quiet and shady, and it was home to a curious cat that had one green eye and one blue.

Wait, what?!?!

...it was home to a curious cat that had one green eye and one blue.

Whoa.

Whoa.

I had a picture of the same exact cat.  I was so thrilled and excited that I read the last sentence to Amos before interrupting his time on the computer to find the picture I had taken five and half years earlier.

The famous kitty

Even this morning I was so excited that I had found that sentence and that I had actually seen, with my own eyes, the same green-and-blue eyed cat that this author had seen, on a very small island in a foreign country on the other side of the world.

Have I mentioned I love books?

*sigh*

Rowdy

I had several things to do today:
1. Go to school and teach rowdy seniors and distracted juniors: check
2. Get frustrated with kids who won't just behave: check
3. See several old students from student teaching days: check!

4. Come home and have lunch with Amos: check! :D

5. Finish with the last period of rowdy seniors: check

6. Cancel my bank account: check
7. Meet a teller who knows several of my friends and goes to a local church: check

Next up:
8. Go to Lens Crafters to get some contacts that I can actually SEE out of

9. Go to the grocery store for something (hopefully I'll remember it before I get there...)

10. Call in to Ross or Audra to listen when they find out what they will be having next February (I'm guessing a boy)

11. Wait for Amos to come home from work

Stream of consciousness

[Disclaimer: I've never studied the art of writing in the stream of consciousness style, so you can just think of this as rambling if you know what stream of consciousness is really supposed to be like. ;) ]


I have four more days of CELDT testing...so glad!  I talked to one of the other testers today at lunch, and it turns out he's been a lot of the same places I've been.  He started out in Malawi, traveled up through Africa into Egypt, Jordan, and Israel before hitting up Italy and Germany.  Crazy.  $10,000.00, eleven months, and some teaching in order to get a ticket back home.  hmmmmm...How can Amos and I get $25,000.00, just to be safe?  Haha, that's more money than I've EVER made in a year.  Below the poverty line?  Yes.  Do I need to be above the poverty line?  It would be nice, especially for paying off our loans, but no, it's not absolutely necessary.
I told the tester, Sergio, that I wanted to live overseas.  He asked if my husband did, too.  I said yes, I wouldn't have married him otherwise.  You should have the same goals if you are going to get married, at least that's what I think.  He had no comment.  Weird.  Makes sense to me.  You need more than just "chemistry."
I have some ideas for teaching, but I have no students. :P  I think I might start asking kids when I sub what they like in a substitute.  I'm not talking about watching movies in class or letting kids do whatever they want.  I know that I don't have classroom management down.  Maybe the kids themselves can give me some pointers. ;)
Katie, Amos' sister and my sister-in-law, had a baby!  His name is Oliver Ryder and he is so cute.  I'm glad he finally arrived. :)  I don't know when we'll be able to visit, but maybe Katie and Seth will put up more pictures. ;)
I guess that's all for now.  I might take out my new contacts and read a book.  Amos will be home in an hour! :D

Brunch

Amos and I went to brunch on Tuesday because Amos said we'd been married two months already and he is really happy. :D  Awwwwww!!!

We went to Egg Plantation, a place just around the corner.  The menu lists at least 100 different kinds of omelets in addition to other breakfast and lunch choices (though I think I've always picked an omelet).  Amos agreed to sit outside  where we watched a server nearly fall off the steps into a potted palm tree (it was a small tree but a big pot!).  I later tripped on the same pot, but that is beside the point. ;)  Amos had orange juice and I had a mocha, which was awesome.  I don't think I'll get one at Starbucks again after that one.  Amos and I both ordered hash browns and a biscuit as sides for our omelets, without talking to each other. ;)

I just love Amos.  He listens to me when I'm tired, is calm when I get upset, laughs at the silly things I do on purpose and on accident, and gives me lots of hugs.  I like talking to him.  We talk about silly things and serious things, like church, financial decisions, dreams, plans, decisions, opinions, how to impact others, etc.

In other news, Amos and I started dating three years ago yesterday.

Lacking in the photo department...

Heather mentioned that she wanted to see our house...well, this is our house before we got it all put together.  I'm hoping to take new pictures of the little place when our prints show up and we can put them on the wall.

This is what we saw when we came back from our wedding reception and then our honeymoon.

Presents everywhere!  From the doorway, looking straight ahead...

More presents!  Taken from the doorway, looking to the right...

From the hallway, looking at the front door...

Having salad, tri-tip, and cheese bread on our first night at home!

Being silly while opening presents...

Aaaaaaaaaahhh!  Don't look! ;)  :)

Intentions

So, I really thought I would have more posts in August...and now August is gone...oooops...
Ummmm, what have I been up to...

1. I worked five days last week. :)  I'm a CELDT proctor again.  This means I administer tests to junior high and high school kids in the local district.  It's not very exciting even at first, and after a week or two it's downright boring.  HOWEVER, I am getting paid and I am very thankful for that. :)
Last week I was at one of my favorite schools.  I had to test nine kids over the course of two days.  I basically read for three hours each day, tested kids for the other three hours, and got paid for all of it.  Not too bad. :)

2. I finally finished The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday by Neil MacFarquhar.  The narrative picked up after I went back to it, so it didn't take too long to read.  Now I'm reading Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome.  It is supposed to be really funny...we shall see.

3. Amos and I have friends in China, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Jordan, and New Zealand, and soon to be Turkey, Czech Republic, and England.  This is getting crazy.  I want to go.

4. We finally got around to picking out wedding pictures to put on our walls.  I will take pictures of our little house one of these days and will put them up on-line.  I think it looks very nice. :)

5. Yesterday I made Korean barbecue.  It was really good. :)  I also made little personal pizzas using some very flat and dry pita bread ($0.65 for six pieces!) from a local grocery store.  They came out very well and don't take too long to make.  Another creation was a white cake with coconut frosting.  A few weeks ago I made coconut rice, butter chicken, and saag aloo (potatoes in a spinach sauce).  It's been fun. :)

Sometime I will have to write about the spiders and the tiny red ants...but not today!  Happy Labor Day! :)

BLA

I think Amos and I need to join a BLA, or Book Lovers Anonymous because...
we love books.
Oh dear.
I decided we should write down all the books we have, just so that we know and so we can avoid buying duplicates.  So far I have about 180 books on the list, and I've only listed the books on six shelves and the coffee table, plus a few more I have in my parents' storage unit.  That means I still need to record the books on . . . twelve more shelves.
Oh dear.

I've read a few books recently.  The first was The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.  I'm not sure if it benefited me in any way, but it was definitely interesting.  It is set in the future in a super-controlled country, and, as you can imagine, crazy things are the norm.  I'm not sure I would recommend it to anyone, but it was very intriguing.

I'm still reading The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday by Neil MacFarquhar.  It is interesting, but I get a little lost on who is who in the story and/or Middle East, and since I've taken so long to read it (it's stretched over at least five months), I'm a little confused when he references people he mentioned earlier in the book.  I will plow through it, though.  It is interesting to read because, 1) it's about the Middle East, 2) it's his personal experiences + research, and 3) he went to many different countries that are currently in upheaval.  I actually took this book on our honeymoon because I knew Amos sleeps a lot more than I do, and I didn't want to be bored in case he took a really long nap.  One day I read it for a little bit then fell asleep myself.  I awoke a while later from a crazy dream involving terrorists and a plane exploding right above the San Diego airport, which we passed just about every day we were down there.  Wow.  That was a bit scary.  I'll bet MacFarquhar never anticipated his book giving people nightmares!

Now I'm reading Walking the Bible by Bruce Feiler.  It sounds good, but it is more interesting than inspiring. The author took time to travel all around the Middle East, following the narrative of the Bible from Genesis to Deuteronomy.  Along the way he meets all sorts of interesting people and tells fascinating and sometimes funny stories (like the story about the grand opening of the Suez Canal; something about a ship getting stuck right before the ceremony and the procession of boats couldn't continue until the lodged ship was blown up!). Another favorite section of this book describes Feiler's walk from the Haas Promenade down into the Hinnom and Kidron Valleys and then up into Jerusalem.  I can still picture the whole area so clearly.  Also, Feiler meets the Israeli archaeologist Gabi Barkay, the same famous archaeologist who gave a lecture in my Jerusalem Archaeology class. :D  However, as far as the content goes, the author is exploring his Jewish faith for the first time and therefore his observations and conclusions are not always rarely accurate.  It definitely makes you think about what you, as a Christian, know to be true and why you know it is true.

*I noticed I use the word "interesting" quite a bit.  I shall have to remedy this . . . in future posts. ;)

Apparently...

is a word I use quite often.
people still look at my blog (at least that's what I've heard).
there is a job opening in my local school district, and yes, I applied today. :)
school starts tomorrow.  Poor lil high schoolers and junior highers.
I was bitten by two bugs.  Not a fan.
the termites like to hang out in the kitchen.  I suppose it could be worse; they could like food instead of wood.
Amos is the best dude around. :D
people had a good time picking out towels for us.  I think we got towels in four or five different presents.
I need to go to bed.

Since...

being married...

1. Started and finished Gentleman's Agreement by Laura Z. Hobson
2. Gone without hot water for a few days while the water heater pilot light was fixed
3. Wandered down to the library to "look at the books" when our toilet had problems
4. Went to the store with Amos to get a plunger to fix above-mentioned toilet, only to find him wielding the item like a sword in Target (oh dear. ;) )
5. Unpacked presents and possessions
6. Gone to Goodwill at least four times to drop stuff off and/or find stuff
7. Made really bad peanut chicken
8. Cleaned up the backyard
9. Set up the hammock
10. Gone to the laundromat twice
11. Listened to lots of Amos stories :)
12. Told lots of stories
13. Sent out résumés
14. Made good stuff, like sloppy Joes, strawberry sauce, tri-tip burritos, strawberry milkshakes, pita chips, etc.
15. Slept in almost every day
16. Talked to friends in Korea and India
17. Heard about friends going all over the world
18. Kissed Amos many, many times :D

Browsing

Two painted green kitchen chairs - $12.99 each
One short white bookshelf - $7.50
Five "Calvin and Hobbes" comic books - $3.99 each
$1.50-5.99 each
Foxe's Book of Martyrs
Gentleman's Agreement
Knowing God
Cheaper by the Dozen (first printing)
Humility
Guns, Germs, and Steel
American Girl set: Felicity (still shrink-wrapped)

Hooray for Goodwill!  Like we really need more stuff for our already-packed out little house, but who can pass up such good and useful deals!

I sound like an advertisement.

Happy Saturday! :)

Arrivals

Tuesday: Mom and Lester
Wednesday: Grace and Herschel (after 64ish hours on a train)
Thursday: Seth and Katie; Dad, Brenda, Luke, Alexis, Gio; Lester, Barb, Julia, Sara, Theodore, Nathaniel, Reuben, Alisha, Ellie, Chloe; Aunt Brenda and Grandmother; Irene
Friday: Ross and Audra; Scott and Ashley
Saturday: Garret and Kaydee

It's coming together, and AMOS AND I ARE GETTING MARRIED!!! :D

TWO DAYS! :D