All good things...

Wow another month has flown by since my last post!! Life has been really good lately, I've temporarily stopped stressing out about my job and enjoying all the fabulousness that London has to offer! A few weekends ago I took a trip down to Brighton beach for a bit of fun in the sun! A perfect day for it, super sunny and hot. I really love Brighton, the beach itself may not be amazing, but the boardwalk, shops and overall atmosphere really make it a fabulous beach location!! I went down with my favorite Aussie couple, Naomi and Andrew. We had a really good day!

Other than that I've been having a lot of fun hanging out and getting to know my roomies better! If I haven't said it before, I am SO happy that I moved. I love living in Chiswick and I've made 3 new friends in this house! We often hang out in the evenings or on the weekends. Here I'm posting some "modeling pics" from out garden from the other weekend.

Last week was a bit unfortunate, I believe that I may have contracted a bit of what they like to call "swine flu", Yep I was in my bed for a whole week. Tried to go to work on Wednesday but was completely exhausted just getting to work that I had to go back into bed!! Luckily I was all better for Friday which...is when my family came into town!!

That has been a lot of fun!! Good to show them around where I live these days! Bringing them around has actually reminded me how much I love London (I do forget sometimes...) Weather aside, London is a really fantastic, amazing and beautiful city. I am really happy to live here, and it's been fun showing them around to all the sites and attractions. Last night we went out to dinner and they all met Nick which was really good! I can't believe it's just about a year now that we've been together, so I'm glad that he was able to meet my family.

It's a busy time for me! I have the family in the country and it's also my last week of work!!!! It's a bittersweet time, it's been a pretty hard and stressful year, but also extremely wonderful and so much fun! I LOVE my students and will be so sad on Tuesday to see 2 of them leave and go onto secondary school! I think I'll be crying my little teacher eyes out! I'm so proud of them, and the improvement and success that they've found this year. I know that despite everything I have really taught and helped these children, and at the end of the day that's what it's all about!!

Life is a bit of a whirlwind now. The Lasko's have blown into town, school is ending, and in a week I'll be boarding a plane to Scottsdale for the whole month of August!!!! So much good stuff going on!

A year in review

This week has been a week of many celebrations as on Wednesday I turned 24!! I had such a good birthday! I've really reflected on this last crazy year I've had here in London, and I can't believe how much has happened in this past year!

Last year for my 23rd, I just went out with Jim and Nadia because they were really my only friends here. That birthday was fun because it was seen as "my one off birthday in London!" Little did I know what was in store for me in the future! A month after my birthday last year, I had my crazy yacht adventure spending a month sailing along the south of France. That's where I met Nick and everything changed!! I didn't go home in September, and instead I started my job here at the special needs school. It's been a whirlwind year work-wise as I'm learning so much about how to best teach my students, learning more about autism, and on top of everything it's been my 1st year of teaching!! So overwhelming!! I got "deported" back to the States and spent a month between New York and Arizona in December. Came back to London for New Years, almost died in the winter because it's so dark and so cold!! Managed to make it out alive. Went to Venice for Carnivale in February and met up with the one and only, Elyse Ault!! In May, we rode camels next to the pyramids in Cairo, and swam with the fishes in Sharm El Sheikh. I also secured my job permanently here so I'm in for another year of adventure!!

It's been a great year, really challenging and hard at times, but I've learned so much, I've grown so much. I'm in a better place then where I was last year, I have more friends, a great boyfriend and a good job. I'm looking forward to what will be thrown at me this year. I know if it's anything like last year, I have a wild ride ahead!!!

Here's a smilebox of the celebrations that went on this past week. Last Saturday Nick and I threw a Birthday BBQ on the river in Richmond (his bday is June 14th!!) and then had an after party at our friend Iovanna's. On Wednesday went out to dinner with Nick and watched movies at home. On Friday some of my friends at work threw me a little party during lunch. This past Saturday I went out with my girls to Notting Hill Arts Club. Almost every day has been a party!! I'm so grateful for all my friends and wonderful people I have in my life this year!! :)

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Walk like an Egyptian

I just got back from Egypt late Sunday night. It was a really great holiday! We spent 4 days in Cairo and 4 days in Sharm El Sheikh. It was all really interesting and worth seeing. Our first stop was the pyramids which were absolutely amazing and completely worth the trip alone! We stayed in a hotel near all the embassies. The area is known as the rich part of Cairo, which really surprised me because it was really dirty and run down! I was really surprised at how "developing" of a country Egypt really is. The city is extremely polluted, very dirty and very poor. It was shocking being in the taxis and seeing how crazy they drive around (and don't crash!) Cairo wasn't my favorite place to be, but part of the point of traveling to see completely new places than what you're used to. The people were absolutely lovely and I learned a lot. The food was great, but I got a bit of a stomach bug that lasted basically the whole time. I just think that our stomachs aren't ready for all the changes in diet! We stayed 4 days, but I would really reccommend only going for 2. You can see everything that you need to see in 2 days and it's better for your health to get out of there asap! :)

On Wednesday we took a 1 hour plane ride to Sharm El Shiekh. It was SO nice to breathe fresh air when exiting the airport! There we stayed in Naama Bay. This area is 100% for tourism, it a relatively new area with loads of nice hotels and restuarants all set on the Red Sea. It was really nice and relaxing! There's not much to do there other than the beach, but the water is absolutely gorgeous!! There's isn't much of a tide and beautiful fish swim right up to the shore! The water is crystal clear and the perfect temperature! We had a great time snorkeling around and spending time on the beach. We took a boat out for a day to snorkel around Turin island which is quite close to Saudi Arabia. It was a lot of fun. Nick climbed Mt. Sinai in the night, he took a 3 hour bus to the mountain and from 2am-5am he hiked up, stayed there till sunrise and walked back down!! Sounds like an experience, but not one that I fancied having!! I was in bed watching Mona Lisa's smile while he did that. It would have been cool however to be on the same mountain that Moses received the 10 commandments! There also at St. Catherine's Monastary is the burning bush! Egypt has it all!

We had a great holiday, it felt super long, but I'm glad to be back! Work has been great and I'm glad to be home here in my Chiswick flat! Below is a slideshow of my trip, I plan on posting pics here via smilebox as I think it's a much better experience!! :)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

It's all good!

I'm very happy to report that in the end....I did get the job!! Woo hoo! The interview went brilliantly! I felt so comfortable and confident, I answered everything beautifully and they absolutely loved it!! So they offered me the position and I accepted! Which means now that I won't need to be interviewed again, as I am a permanent member of staff. So I feel a lot more relaxed about my life in the future. I am happy to be in London for another year (despite the weather) I have a lot of great opportunities here, good job, good friends, and a great boyfriend. So everything is all good!

Work has been going well, 2 of my particularly difficult students have been wonderful. A lot of people in school notice a major change in a lot of the students in my class this year. I think it's due to how positive I am with them. I notice that they are much happier, calmer and better behaved. It feels really good to see this sort of progress in these children!

Now I'm ready for a vacation!!!! Nick and I are going to Egypt in a few days and it's going to be so nice! We've been busy getting everything together and ready to go!

I've also booked my plane ticket home for summer break. We only get 6 weeks of summer break here, because we get loads more breaks in the year. So I'll be home the whole month of August! I'm SO looking forward to it!!!!!!

That's it from here, I'll post again (with photos) after Egypt!!

It's always something..

So I have found that since I moved to London I always have something that I'm very concerned about, and hoping that it works out. It usually is to do with my immigration status....but there's always a hurdle I'm looking to jump over. Last month I was stressing over finding a place to live/finding someone to take my room. It was looking really bad for a bit!! No one was replying to our ads about filling my room, and I was worried that I would be paying double rent for a month, but then all at once, everything fell into place. Then I thought to myself (as I always do) "Why was I even worried? It all worked out, and in that past it always has..so why do I stress?" I never was a person to stress over things. I generally floated through life without a care. It's only been since I moved to London. Or maybe it's not that, it could be that now I'm in the "real world" now. I'm no longer "just a student", I'm in my career, so things seems to be more serious.

I say this because, as usual.. I'm stressing. I have an interview on Monday. I know it doesn't make sense..but I currently have a 1 year contract at my school. The position that I have applied for is a permanent position at my school. I know that it doesn't make any sense to have an interview, but those are the rules. I really hate interviews, mostly because I get really nervous about the thought of it, so much so I want to pass out. Then once I get in there, and start talking I'm completely fine. I just psyche myself out too much. I'm worried that I may not get the job. I don't have a lot of experience and being my first year of teaching, I don't always do things perfectly. But I'm learning and I'm trying my best. I know I've done a good job this year. The children are happier, better behaved, and have made improvements in their learning. I know that the head teachers have seen that. It'll be good to have the interview over with, so I can know what my life will hold come September. Obviously it'll be easiest if I keep my job, as I won't need to reapply for a visa. But I know that if I don't get it, I have other options. So, we'll see how it goes. Please pray for me that I'll do well in the interview, and keep my job!

Otherwise, things have been great. Nick and I have booked a trip to Egypt for May 22-31. It was little expensive, but it'll be a great trip! Egypt is the kind of place I would really only travel to because I'm in London. I don't think I would take a long haul flight from AZ to visit it, but from London it's only 5 hours. We'll be there for 10 days in total. Fly into Cairo from Friday-Wednesday. We'll see all the sights; the Great Pyramids, the Nile, the museums and mosques... and bit of camel riding!! It'll be really great to see a place that is so completely different! Then from Wednesday-Sunday we'll be in Sharm El Sheikh, which is a beach town right on the Red Sea. We'll go up to Mt. Sinai, where moses got the 10 commandments, do a bit of snorkeling/diving and best of all...lay out on the beach!! I'm so excited! Will be so good to get some proper sun and have a vacation!!

I apologize for the lack of photos in this post...haven't taken any lately!

Spring has SPRUNG!

I know some of you may think that you're viewing the wrong page, because this one is now UPDATED!! haha, ok so it's been awhile. I went to Venice ages ago... So here's an update on what I've been doing since..

It's finally Spring and I couldn't be happier. Winter was a little rough for me. I had a really fun time with it at first. I was excited about wearing cute hats, and coats and scarves, drinking mulled wine, and the occasional snowfall (ok it happened once) But then after a while it really got to me!!! It was dark, it was cold, I was inside..it was bad. It was my first winter, and I didn't know what was going on. The days lasted about 3 hours, and it was grey. Ugh!! At one point I had completely made up my mind of going home after the school year finished. But then I was reminded by my family that "It's only winter! It ok, this is what the rest of the world goes through!" Luckily about 2 weeks after that realization, it was Spring!!! Oh man, couldn't have been happier to see the season change!

Now it's lovely!!!!!! The sun is out, the birds are chirping, the flowers are in bloom and London has never looked more gorgeous. :)

Another change I felt that was necessary to make, is I've moved flats! Quite a big decision, but in the end it was really good!! I love the girls I was living with, they've become my best friends out here, but I was really hating the area I was in! The high road was dirty and skanky, and it was really getting to me! Time to move!! Now I'm in lovely Chiswick, which is in West London. It is so adorable!!! I absolutely love it here, I have a much better high road, with lots of shops and restaurants. I live in a really big house with 8 other girls. Ok now before you fall off your chair, it's nothing like it sounds. All the girls are really nice, all young professionals and the house it really big! It's 3 storeys and has lots of bathrooms, 2 kitchens, dining room, conservatory, and garden! Everyone keeps it clean and they're really nice to come home to and chat with around dinner time.

Another thing I really wanted was the broaden my network in London, and make more friends, and that's really easy to do in this house! So I'm extremely happy now!

Here are some photos of my street. Other than that, work has been great! We've all be enjoying the sunshine and have been outdoors a lot, the kids have been really lovely and it's all good! :)

Venice baby Yeah!

Ok I know, it's been almost a month since I went to Venice! BUT it was absolutely fabulous! I took a ton of pictures, so it's hard to post them all on here. I'll try to choose the ones that really capture Venice...but that is very hard. Venice is an absolutely amazing city! One of the best cities in Europe! It's an amazing maze of fabulously old buildings. The streets are So narrow and you can spend the whole day walking around aimless going turn after turn. It's perfectly kept, and you really feel like you're in a whole different time and place! What helped too, is since it was carnivale, there were so many people dressed up in period costumes! These people really go all out! Many of them matching with their partners! It was amazing. The food was fantastic, the sights were amazing and we had a really great time!!

We met up with Elyse for one day and had a great time! It was wonderful for Elyse to meet Nick and the 3 of us had an amazing day! I've always loved Italy and this is my first trip. I really loved it, and cannot wait until my next trip there. Hmmm possibly could be for Easter break..I'm thinking Rome and Florence! We'll see..

Otherwise things have been good here in old Blighty! My students have been wonderful, we've been very busy. They're so wonderful to come to work to everyday and I enjoy them very much. I'm learning so much in this job and I really appreciate it.

However in the meantime I've been wondering how much longer I wish to stay in London. London is completely different from Scottsdale in every way! I really love home and all the people in it. I wonder sometimes how much longer I could really see myself being here. I don't know exactly what I'll do...

Anyway, it's t-minus 3 and a 1/2 weeks till Easter break, where I will have a fabulous 2 weeks off work. I'll either stay here and try to work, or go sightseeing in Europe :)