monday and tuesday!

I think I have a case of the Mondays today.....I woke up really late and barely made it to school by 830. (I woke up at 8 am and it takes about 15 minutes to walk to school) I had a nice but exhausting weekend! Friday night started by going to boxing and then to dinner with the girls in Masan. When I say girls I mean my 2 close friends Rebecca (Bex) and Kelly. They are both from England and I have gotten very close with them. We are like a family and we meet every Tuesday night for drinks and dinner just to make sure we socialize during the week and can see each other! :-) I find that it has really been something I look forward to and enjoy having the quality time with some really great girls! Anyway, we went out for a nice meal on Friday night and then we ended up staying up really late just laughing and talking...but Kelly and I had to get up really early on Saturday because she had an eye appointment (she had Lasik about 3 weeks ago so she had to have a check up) and I wanted to go to H&M because they now have one in Busan!! EXCITING!!! So we got up a 8 am (we went to sleep at 4 am) and got our selves on a bus to Busan. The bus took FOREVER because the traffic was really terrible! I also had to be back in Changwon at 1 pm for my dance practice (yes I had dance practice on Saturday). So Kelly went to her eye appointment while I went to starbucks to buy us some fuel for the day and then we went to the big department store and to H&M. I have to say I am so excited they are there! I can actually buy clothes and SHOES there! This is very exciting to me! I had adopted an orphan to buy Christmas presents for and so I went to H&M because they have a lot of low priced and nice looking scarf and glove sets. I bought her a hot pink scarf and some matching gloves. I think she will really like it! I also bought her a few little cosmetic things that all the little girls like over here so she can feel pretty and special! :-) After running around in Busan, Kelly and I took the bus back and made it to my dance practice only 40 minutes late! I practiced for about 4 hours and then Kelly and I went to have something to eat since we hadn’t eaten anything really that day! So we ate some hot stone bibimbap and then went to my house to get some shoe because we had to hurry to her house to get ready for our night out. Bex was in a Choir performance with some other artist hat she works within the Art district. So Kelly and I went to watch the performance and then take her to dinner to celebrate! We went to Mexico (the Mexican restaurant in Masan) and had Sangria and chips. I had  a Mexican Salad that was really nice! It was a great evening We then went to my friends Café and had some drinks before heading to a foreign bar near Bex’s house to meet a few people and play some pool. After that we were all really tired so we decided to call it a night! I was so exhausted because I hadn’t slept much the night before and I ended up sleeping till 11:45 on Sunday! Haha! I never do that!! I was so happy but it took me awhile to wake up and actually get out of bed! But after getting out of bed I cleaned up my apartment and got stuff ready because Joanna and Lecia were going to come over to bake and eat dinner! We had decided to make those Vegan adventure cookies but ended up making, vegan adventure cookies, vegan oatmeal bars, vegan zucchini muffins, vegan mac &cheese and I made chicken breast with veggies and white wine in the crock pot. I had invited Bex and Kelly to eat with us and so I wanted to cook some meat for them and Lecia! It was so fun! We had everything cooking at the same time and we were sipping white and Lecia made some mulled wine! It was fabulous! It felt like Christmas time! I am so excited for next weekend too because I will be prepping for Christmas dinner! 

 

This week is going to be pretty great...I have a day off on Wednesday and Thursday is the school festival.  I will teach only 8 classes this week! That is EXCITING! I have dance practice on my day off which makes me unhappy but at least I don’t have to go to school! Today I am teaching 3 classes and we are watching The Grinch still so it should be good!

 

 

Since I haven’t posted this yet I will continue on and tell you about my Tuesday as well! Since we have off school tomorrow I probably won’t be updating my blog! So last night I didn’t make it to boxing because I had planned to meet Gerrard at 7:30 and our dance practice ended at 7:30 I had no time in between! Our dance practice went amazing! I remember all of the dance and actually the costumes are inappropriate but not as bad as I thought! Also, I actually felt like I had a workout because we did the dance full out like 7 times and I did it in high heels (man that was hard!). So I am kind of looking forward to the dance practice tonight and to get even better at the dance! After dance, I went to meet Gerrard and we talked for awhile and I had forgotten my Korean book so we couldn’t study! I learned a lot about him though! He was a Prison guard as his military service! I think that is so cool! What a way better job than a lot I hear about for these guys! He was picked to do that and he worked there. I also heard him play guitar and he is really good! It was nice to get to know him better and he is a very nice guy! I am glad to have a new friend! After I left him my friend Jessi (Korean name jongbae) and I asked if he wanted to come to my house for dinner. I was going to be making quinoa and kale salad with persimmon and a citrus dressing and stir fried veggies. I also heated up some chicken I had made for the girls on Sunday. He came over and we chatted for a long time! I even tried to make pudding with chia seeds and soy milk but it never set…I need to find a better recipe I think! After he left I was so tired so I went up to bed after washing my face (it took a lot of effort for me to do that and brush my teeth). I set my alarm but I could tell I would sleep really well. Which was the problem today! I over slept my alarm. I woke up at 8:40 and I am supposed to be at school at 8:30. I freaked out and I couldn’t figure if I should take a shower or not, but finally decided in my half sleepy mind that taking a shower would be worth the extra 5 minutes I would be late because I would be clean for today! It was a good thing I did because I finally got to school at 9 am…which I have to say waking up at 8:40, taking a shower and having to walk about ½ mile to school is pretty good! Today I didn’t really walk….it was more like running! I get to school and my co teacher was very sweet to me and was like “Jessi, please stop worrying its ok, take your time, calm down you are not in trouble!” on the phone because I was in tears bc I felt irresponsible! Anyway, I get to school and I take a moment to collect myself. My co-teacher put her hand on my shoulder and gave me a little pat and said “today is your lucky day. We are doing Friday’s schedule and since you don’t come to this school on Fridays you don’t have any classes today!!” I was so happy I almost cried again! J So here I sit at my desk and I can gain my composure and get ready for a night out with Kelly tonight! We are going to eat mussels at this fantastic place in Masan and have a little red wine because we don’t have to be at school tomorrow!! J Anyway, I am going to practice my dance now so that I can be even more ready for Thursday!

 

XOXOX

TGIF

Happy Friday! Wow I can't believe another week is over! The weeks and days are flying by! Before I know it will be second semester and I will have completed my second full year in Korea! I think it is going by so fast because I have found myself playing games, blogging, and looking up recipes for Christmas dinner on the internet instead of just looking through facebook and being a creeper! Ha~

So I have been at my other school since I come here on Thursdays and Fridays. We are not allowed to watch movies so instead we made the same things I made with the church classes except they had to write in English inside the card. I will post pictures of my students very unique and cute Santas after I write because my phone is currently charging on the other side of the room.

So let's see what has happened since my last post! Ah yes, so I am performing in a dance at the school festival next Thursday at my MTW school. I have tried many attempts not to perform (told them I couldnt miss the festival at my other school, said the uniform wouldn't fit, tried skipping out on practices, etc.) but it seems that they are really wanting me to do it because they have called and confirmed with my other school so I could attend, changed the uniform so that I could fit into it, and told me it didnt matter if I couldn't make all the practices because they understood I was very busy! So long story short, I am performing a kpop dance in hot pants for my students on next Thursday! Here is my problem with it....In Korean culture it is ok for women to wear booty shorts as long as they A: wear some kind of panty hose or stocking under them and B: if they are not exposing their shoulders or arms or chest.....or anything below the neck.....So what we are wearing is sparkly booty shorts with shear panty hose, a white long sleeve t-shirt and a tie......ok so that isnt even the main problem. The main problem is that we have to do some moves where when the Korean teachers do it because thye are so thin and have no hips, butt or curves they look cute like little girls doing a dance. When I get up there I look like I'm trying to do some nasty trashy dance. To be honest with you like dancing with my friends and stuff, but I don't ever want to do something like that in front of my students. I tried to do it with less effort so that my booty shaking was at a minimum but I got in trouble by the teacher and she was like No YOU MUST USE MORE HIPS....... :-( So Here you go Korea the junk in the trunk will be shaking.....

Ok enough of that venting.....

So I also got eye lash extensions done last weekend by my friend!! I am telling you right now I am not sure I ever want to go back to wearing mascara! These things are amazing! I wake up in the morning and I look ready to go! It is fabulous! Also, when I am working out and all kinds of sweaty I don't look as bad as I did before! I have been told that I now look like a Russian doll, which may not be a good thing, but I think looking like a doll is a compliment! :-) so I would suggest if you thought about doing it, go for it!! :-)

Anyway, there is not much more to tell about this week....Boxing is going well and I went 5 times this week! I am feeling really good! Today is my weigh in for the week so we will see if the dieting has paid off!! :-)

Here are all the creations from my students! What beautiful art work they made!!! :-) 

Case of the Mondays!

Haha! I am just kidding about having a case of the Mondays...I am actually really happy today! I had a really nice weekend and my students are watching "The Grinch" in my class today so it is a very very easy day!

This weekend I started it off with hanging with Kelly, Minsu and my K friend Jessi. We went to eat dinner and then we went to the movies! It was great! We went to sleep at like 3 am so we decided to sleep in saturday morning! We woke up at like 11 and decided to get dressed and go downtown. We went downtown to get some stuff because I had to teach at church! So we walked around and froze because it was -6 degrees! We went into a store that is similar to the dollar store to get a few things we needed for our projects and then decided to pop into the Hello Kitty Cafe for a warm drink before we continued our shopping!

The cute drinks at Hello Kitty

 

 

I love posing with the strawberry pillow!

 After a near meltdown in Alpha (A stationary store with aisles that are so small that two people cant walk down them at the same time) we went to the very busy department store becasue I needed to buy some make up! The make up I usually wear is about 30,000 won (26.00) but when we got there they were having a sale! I got my make up for 21,000 (17.00)! It made the whole trip to the very busy department store worth it! We then ventured to Lotte Mart to get some yeast because I needed to tryout my recipe for pizza. So we went there and it was of course extremely crowded! I couldn't wait to get home to my quiet and warm apartment! We had bought a bottle of wine and were going to settle in to prepare the activity for the kids, sip some wine and then make some home made pizza! We also wanted to make mulled wine, but to buy brandy at lotte mart it cost about 45.00 so we decided against it!

We made the cut outs for the kids and sipped some wine....it took us what felt like an eternity to cut all the little pieces needed for this project but it was really worth it!! Here is what we made with the Children's church

 

After we finished cutting out the papers we needed to get a few more things to make pizza so we went down the street to the shop. While we were in there we decided we needed to buy one more bottle of wine and went to the VERY VERY small alcohol section (we are talking two very tiny shelves to choose from) and guess what we found for 4,500 won (3.00)....YUP Brandy! So we decided with our pizza we would sip on some mulled wine! :-) We were very excited! So we had made the pizza dough a head of time and it was rising while we were at the store. When we returned it was perfect time to start to make our pizza.  Here are the pics from that night!  

 

After making the pizza we ate it and decided it was time to go to bed! We had to get up early for church the next morning. Sunday I woke up and went for a very frosty run! It was so so cold my joints hurt! I think I will be running in the boxing gym only until february! hahaha! After that we went to church and the kids LOVED the projects we did! We came home after church and made potato and leek soup and ate some left over pizza! We also made some Vegan Adventure cookies (the picture below)!! :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

These cookies were so great! I am giong to make them again wednesday with Joanna! They are not only delicious but they have ZERO butter, eggs, processed sugar....only 100% maple syrup and 100%honey and oat flour (made from blending oats!) Also, I ordered vegan chocolate chips on iherb so even the chocolate chips were vegan! :-) I was very proud of myself! THey were a big hit at the ice rink when we went skating! They were all gone by the time we left! I made a few new friends because of my cookies! Kelly invited her friend Gerrard (heechil) to skate with us too! He's adorable! We all went to eat really warm soup and to drink a little soju after our skating! It was nice to eat something warm and delicious after being freezing on the ice! After we finished eating we went to a coffee shop to have keep the warm thing going! I really enjoyed talking to Gerrard and he agreed to help me with my Korean. So we are going tonight to have dinner adn practice our speaking! I am excited! He was so nice because where we were eating was one building over from where he lived, but he walked me about half a mile in the freezing weather to see me into a taxi. I really appreciate that about Korean men, they still have gentleman like qualities about them! I am really happy to make a new friend and to get to practice my Korean! :-)

 

I am so happy that my teaching is basically finished until after the winter vacation! I have my camp stuff prepared and the students will be doing a project for a lot of it! :-) I also only have to teach one week of camp instead of two! Here is a pic of my boy students watching The Grinch today! I get to leave at to stop by the post office on my way home, then I am off to boxing and then going to meet Gerrard. I hope I can make it through my workout tonight....I have been pretty tired lately!! :-) Here is to another great week! 3 weeks until winter vacation!! :-) 





First snow of the year and it's FRIDAY!

On the ice skating rink at the Sports Center! :-) 

Instead of teaching....we skated! ;-) 

So it's one of the last Fridays of the school year and also happens to be club activity day because exams finished yesterday! Lucky for me I got to go ice skating with Summer and Ari's class for the club activity! While we were at the skating rink they made an announcement that it was snowing outside. Much like Texas, Changwon doesn't see snow very often so even the little bit that was falling was kind of a big deal. It wasn't until we went to leave the building to go back to the middle school that it really started to fall!!! It was fantastic! It was such a pretty site. I left something at my house so I took a taxi instead of riding the bus with the students and when I got home this is what it looked like!

When I went back to school the whole school and streets were covered in it! (I live 5 minutes by taxi to my school!) It was amazing! When I got back to school my students were waiting and ready to play! They were so so so cute! Some of them have only seen snow one or two times before (like my Texas students) so their eyes were all lit up and they were so sweet!! The following are pictures of my 3rd grade students (9th grade) and these girls are secretly my favorite students and I am so sad they will be going to high school....Marilyn if you are reading this it was like our 8th grade group our first year! 

My lovely 3rd grade girls! I will really miss them! :-(

This girl threw the first snowball! :-) 

"Look Teacher! SNOW!!! :-)"

The boys still playing soccer despite the freezing temperature and snow! 

With my 3rd graders...the one next to me in the back is the snow ball fight starter! 

Showing me their snowman! ;-) They even put it in the freezer for tomorrow~ 

Summer, Ari and I with the girls after the fight! :-)

The one in the picture by herself threw the first snowball at me! It started an all out war....even with the boys!  It ended with me and Ari teaming up to shove snow in her face....after she had put some down our backs!! :-) It was really fun and it was fun to be able to do that with our students!! :-) 

I have really gotten close with my students at Bonggok middle school and I am so happy that I stayed another year here. The atmosphere at this school is really great and it makes me really look forward to my Thursday and Fridays! 

This weekend should be fun! I am excited to relax and so some baking and cooking. I am teaching how to make pizza as my club activity for my adult winter program so I thought I would try it out this weekend to see how it works! :-) 

It is also my week at church to teach sunday school. I am so excited because Kelly is going to teach with me and her and I are making christmas cards to let the kids decorate for their parents! I think they will really love it! 

Also, I had my weigh in today and I have lost 1kg in two weeks! That means I have lost about 2.2 lbs! This is a start! I also now have a bet going with a friend to lose 15lbs by feb 22nd. If I lose I owe 50,000 won so I have to keep pushing towards the goal! ;-) I hope everyone at home has a nice warm weekend! (jealous of that weather right now)

XOXOX

This week has gone by very fast! I can't believe it is already Thursday! I realized today that I have 3 weeks left of school until winter vacation! I have a very fun winter vacation planned! I am teaching at the winter training program for teachers and I am going to get to to go Thailand for 6 days! WARM WEATHER HERE I COME!!!

I had a great day yesterday! I went to boxing after school and then met up with Minsu FINALLY after we hadn't seen each other for like 2 months! My boxing is getting better and I am really feeling like I am getting into good shape because of it! I feel stronger and healthier! I am also eating better! I have started using the Calorie Counter app on my phone. Recording all of my calories consumed and burned. If I stick with this plan for 3 more months by the time mom and dad come I should be 15 pounds lighter. I have been at it for 2 weeks now and have my first weigh in Friday! I am trying to lose weight the healthy way so I can keep it off and keep my energy! :-) I have been doing well eating cleaner....although Minsu and I went to Kraze Burger last night for dinner, but I had half of a chicken sandwich and some salad and felt satisfied! :-) After that we went to Masan to Mario's cafe! I love that place! It is so warm and inviting! He has a Christmas tree and was playing a Christmas movie and music! It made me so happy to be in there!

Here is a picture of my chicken sandwich I ate half of and gave half to Minsu!

When we were in Masan sitting in the Christmas atmosphere it started to snow!!! And you know me (Texas girl) I love to see the snow fall! :-) In Seoul there is so much snow, but where I live we get very little and it rarely sticks! Which means it is warmer than it could be! Which I am happy about because I dont do well with cold weather! hahaha! 

Here is a pic of the snow falling...it is a little blurry but you can get the idea!! :-) 

Also, while we were enjoying our Cafe Lattes, Minsu folded a frog out of a business card...well he said it was a "disabled frog" because he didn't fold the back legs right. So we decided to hide the frog on the spoke of the wheel of the bike that is hanging on the wall! It was really cute! :-) hahaha! I hope it is still there when I go back! 

The only problem is that when I got home I felt really sleepy but couldn't relax because I had drank too much caffeine before bed time! Next time I will have to order herbal tea! hahaha! 

Today is testing day and I have a lot of free time. I finished my club activity for my winter course and I have also written all of my test questions. I am about to plan for my Sunday morning class! I think we will make Christmas Stockings....and have them draw pictures of what they want for Christmas! :-) Sounds like fun for kindergartners. I will be back on blogging hopefully tomorrow because we are taking the kids ice skating so I will try to take pics and write about our time! :-)

Have a wonderful Thursday! 

Happy Tuesday!

Well it's another Tuesday during exam week here in Korea. I have 3 classes and I get to play review games! These used to be my favorite days in America! I loved playing jeopardy with my students and seeing that they had actually learned something! :-) My first grade students yesterday did really well with the game and I was surprised how much they had actually learned from me! :-) So today I have dance practice and boxing. I so stupidly agreed to do a dance with some teachers for the school festival. First problem, I have never done a dance, a group dance, except for the pep rally and that was more of a joke than an actual dance! Second, I am the tallest, biggest, and only foreign teacher doing it...so guess who is going to stand out....THIS GIRL! :-) Third problem is the costume! They are wanting to get sparkling shorts....now they might look good on chopstick legs....but not on my thunder thighs! hahaha! But I have a feeling my students are really going to love it so it's worth it to make them happy! On another note I have been sticking to my diet plan....except on sunday (which was kimchi day and I will talk more about that later).  I ordered some melon so instead of one melon for 10,000 won I got 4.  Which in Korea produce has become very very expensive so I will take a good deal where ever I can! :-) I just received my order from iherb.com and got my tahini....so you know what that means....its HUMMUS time! this makes me very excited! Hopefully it turns out ok~~

On Sunday I made kimchi at my friend 남가연 (Nam GaYeon) house with her family! I joke that they are my adoptive family in Korea! Her mother is so lovely and her father is a real family man! Reminds me of someone else I know (mom and dad!) :-) so I will post the pictures of the order in which things happen on kimchi day....because there is a process! :-)


Step 1: First we made the kimchi sauce....well its more like a rub....hahaha

What you see here is adding the sliced carrots and radish to the special red paste that GaYeon's mom makes. This is what makes every person's kimchi different the secret red paste. I know also they put some squid in theirs because I saw it when I was helping mix this paste! :-)

Step 2: Cover (rub) the already fermenting cabbage with the red paste you saw above. There had to have been over 60 halves of cabbage we had to cover with the paste. After you have given the cabbage a thorough rub down you fold it nicely and place it in the kimchi keepers. (Special Tupperware made for Kimchi)   

Step 3: The finished kimchi. After you have covered it all and placed it in the Tupperware you put the lid on it and place it in the special kimchi refrigerator. This is just half of the kimchi we made....it all wouldn't fit in a nice picture. 

Step 4: The meal. On kimchi making day it is usual to have a meal of boiled pork, rice, soup and kimchi. You save one cabbage of the kimch you just made and you eat it with the meal. Fresh kimchi has a much different taste than fermented kimchi. Gayeon's mother's kimchi is so delicious and very spicy! :-) 

Step 5: After all of that hard work and delicious food...it is time for the family to go to relax at a 찜질방. (jjimjilbang) This is like the sauna type rooms where you sit in and sweat out all your toxins....or sodium from the kimchi we just ate. I had been to many 찜질방 before but not one like this. When we got out of the car you could smell the fresh smell of a fire. It smelled like someone was having a BBQ. GaYeon told me that this is more like a traditional 찜질방 and the heat is actual from a fire and not from an electric heater. The smell was fantastic and to me it smelled like Christmas time! :-) 

This is my adopted family wearing out towels on our heads like you should in a 찜질방!

It was a fantastic day and I am happy that I could share it with my friend! :-) 

Now I actually have to get to my teaching for today! Happy Tuesday everyone! :-) 

There is one more picture I wanted to post:

This was me one year ago on the same floor making the same kimchi! I am much happier and healthier now! :-) 

Wow the year flew by!

Ok so I haven't written in my blog in a LOOOONG time! I have since started another year here in Korea. I am very happy that I decided to stay another year and I am enjoying myself much much more these days! I have been home twice since last January, once was for my brothers wedding and once was the show my Korean friends Texas and California. I have also decided that I am going to gradually start to become a Vegan. I have been inspired to change my lifesyles and become a more healthy individual. I have bought an oven...I real improvement in my life in Korea. I now can have my friends over to bake cookies and I have even made roasted pumpkin and apples when I am feeling like I need something sweet. I have met a new friend Joanna and she has opened my eyes to the world of delicious and flavorful Vegan cuisine and I am hoping I can keep learning from her! Last night I went to her place for dinner and she cooked lental stew with yellow and red peppers. We also ate a Persimmon salad with delicious citrus dressing! I have been reading blogs on vegan cooking and I am going to start trying out different recipes and get my body feeling good and healthy! :-) I have realized a lot of things over the past few months and I feel like I am finally happy and content with what I am doing in my life. I am trying to experience as much as I can and learning everyday! I have stopped trying to compare myself to other people and just be happy and content with Jessi. Now that everyone knows my new outlook on life I would like to say I am really going to try to blog more and hope that I can be held accountable. The cold weather is coming and I know with that came a very cold and dark time for me last year. I want to make sure that I keep myself warm and happy in these next VERY VERY cold months! I will be busy teaching, learning new things in the kitchen and preparing for my parents to visit me! :-) I am also going to break up the cold weather with a warm trip to Thailand! :-) excited to get on the beach and be in a warm climate for a a week! :-) I also was introduced to a wonderful site: iherb.com! I will be placing my first order this week and I am super excited about it! Here is to a whole new world that I am about to explore! :-) I will keep you updated on the progress of the cooking! :-)

Another week!!

Wow, what a BUSY weekend I had!! Let's start with Friday....My friend came over and I cooked spaghetti and we worked on the puzzle! It was really fun! I went to bed early because saturday morning I had to run 10 miles! It was a rough run...but I made it! After that I cleaned my apartment and did some laundry. I had to teach a class at church from 7:30-9:30 and I was so exhausted!! So after that class I went home and went straight to bed!! Yesterday I went to church and then went to the grocery store for the week! I was really missing some Tex-mex this weekend so I made some homemade salsa....well its more like pico but its really delicious!! I was very proud of myself.....As I am writing this blog I keep smelling something very strange...it smells like dog poo....I think I might vomit! SICK! I am finished teaching for the day and I am just sitting at my computer.  I really want to find the source of this smell bc I don't want to be here all day smelling it! I am very excited because the weather is getting warmer and I have to run 40 minutes after school! It's going to be awesome!! I've been enjoying the weather when I am running lately! Alright I have to get back to doing nothing at my desk...hahaha Just kidding!! :-)

Mac and Cheese!

Hello! It's been a long time since I have written on this blog! Let me fill you in on what has been going on in my life in Korea. During my 6 week winter vacation I taught Korean English teachers at the Teachers training center near my house. It was a great 4 weeks and I met some really awesome and interesting people! I made some new friends and got to hang out with my bike friends a lot too! After that class I went to Texas for 10 days! It was nice to be at home and I really needed to see my family and friends! During my first 5 months in Korea I gained about 10 lbs (5kg).....It was not a pretty sight! hahaha! Luckily since my return to Korea I have been training for a half marathon and lost 4 of those 5 kgs! I will be running in a half-marathon in Incheon on April 1st. I am very excited to have the opportunity to run a race in another country! Plus I get a really cool wind breaker out of the deal!! After winter vacation I had to "teach" for 1 week and then had another vacation for 2 weeks.  I put teach in quotes because it was the last week of the year and so I basically kept the kids from killing each other and brought some candy. Then my students graduated, which meant it was time for Spring vacation. During that time I took a trip to Seoul for 4 days and 3 nights. It was really great! I got to take a tour of the DMZ and see North Korea. It was a nice break. Now I have been back at school for over a week. I have new students in 1st grade and two new co teachers. I am so glad that my crazy co teacher is no longer going to be in my life! Her replacement is an angel! Her classes are 100% different from my previous experience! Over all I have really enjoyed teaching the last week! I have also started teaching Kindergarten Sunday school at the church I have been attending. ****I just have to make a side note here and say that my other new co teacher now sits next to me and she is now sighing so much and clicking her pen that I am having trouble concentrating on what I am writing!**** I love teaching the kindergarten kids and it really makes me happy to see them on Sunday mornings! I am also teaching some teachers at a local high school on Tuesday nights to make some extra money! The kindergarten I do as volunteer work but the teachers I am getting paid an extra hundred dollars a week! Sweet!! I bet you are wondering why the title of this blog is mac and cheese....let me explain that....so since I have returned to school I have been drinking Green Vibrance (if you don't know what it is I suggest you look it up and try it because it is amazing!) instead of eating in the cafeteria. This has been one of the main reason I have been able to lose weight! Since I haven't been eating in the cafeteria it has now become a thing because I told everyone I was on a diet so they didn't think it was because I didn't like the food.  Well since everyone now thinks I am on a diet they are watching my every move. I bring a nutri grain bar for breakfast every morning and usually one person a day asks me if that's on my diet! But this week I have been very hungry because I am in the longest distances of my training! So today I was looking at recipes to cook in a slow cooker and I came across one for Mac and Cheese....For those of you who know me well you know I LOVE Mac and cheese!! So now I have this craving for some really delicious mac and cheese. I don't think it will be possible for me to buy all ingredients for it but I am going to try this weekend. So after my 10 mile run I will be making some mac and cheese to enjoy!! I can't wait!! I have one more class today and then I am off to teach some teachers!! I will try to be better about writing on here!!