Monday, October 28, 2013

Mostly Monsterly


This is is first of two (maybe three?) fun Halloween blog posts. 
It's just one of the first holidays this whole year that I've had the opportunity to celebrate with my students, so I may or may not have decided to take advantage of the theme...
Here are some of the fun things that we did last week!

The first project all started with this adorable little book about a little monster girl who doesn't fit in because she's just a little too nice. 





My kids LOVED this book. Especially because my version has the words in Spanish, too. 

So, I got a little creative and drew my own monster. Then, they had to draw a replica of my monster.

 The catch was this: to practice their listening to English skills, I described this monster down to the last detail, including how many teeth he had and what color his belly button was BUT I didn't show it to them. We had a blast!


The winners of the competition:





Not too bad, huh? 


Now I have some adorable little monsters decorating our classroom! 
Next up: some Corny Spelling Practice. 




I mixed up all of our spelling words for the week into different sections of the candy corn. The kids had to cut apart each candy corn and put it back together with the right letters to form words! 
Lets be real, I was almost as excited about this as the kids were. 




Last but not least, this epic spelling crossword. Be forewarned, it was harder than it first looked. 


This was a last minute time filler so I didn't have a chance to do it ahead of time. So, I struggled right along with the chicos to figure this out, but we had fun! 



Come back for more Halloween fun later this week!








Friday, October 18, 2013

Spontaneous "I Wish It Was Fall" Photo-shoot

A few weeks ago, Ashley and I were walking to our favorite little cafe and my photographing eye  spotted this: 


Absolutely the perfect backdrop, am I right? 
We dropped everything and had a spontaneous photo-shoot right then and there.

Ashley's shot!
So, better late than never, I am linking up with my friend, Katie at Hope Engaged


So, it's not actually fall here in Costa Rica... there's really just two seasons: "rainy" and "dry". 
But as the foliage changes between our seasons this sort of looks fall-ish, right? 

Maybe if I do enough Halloween crafts with my kiddos, follow college football season, and see if the local Starbucks has Pumpkin Spice Lattes I can convince myself!


Happy rainy season, y'all! 





Thursday, October 17, 2013

100

Today is Day 100 before Day 1 of the rest of our lives.






Your children will commit themselves to you, O Jerusalem,
    just as a young man commits himself to his bride.
Then God will rejoice over you
    as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride.
Isaiah 62:5



Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Long-Distance Anything


Flying over Jamaica!



Oh hey, it's been a while! A few weeks ago, I took a trip back to the States for my fall break. It was a beautiful whirlwind sandwiched by some heartache. Since getting back to Costa Rica, to say that our internet has been sketchy would be an understatement.

To catch you up-- While home, I addressed a few wedding invites (ok a lot more than a few), ordered a cake, played a few board games, met with our wedding planner, ate some Chick-fil-a, watched the UGA game, ran a garage sale, tried on my wedding dress, went to a seamstress, loved on my family, hugged a few friends, & lastly, held my favorite boy.  

Landing in Costa Rica
Up until now, I feel like I have been a pretty positive blogger. I'm never one to harp on the negative for too long. But honestly, I just want to share heart for a sec. Travel is exciting. Living abroad is adventurous. I'm always seeing & learning new things. But long-distance friendships, wedding planning, relationships, or long-distance anything just isn't that fun. Here's a glimpse into my journal & my heart for the past two weeks. 

Oct 8:

This just doesn't get any easier. Last week, i spent my fall break back in the states and enjoyed sometime with my family & future beloved. As time rolls on and it gets closer and closer to my wedding day, I can't help but feel like being in a different country from the one I love is only getting more challenging. 

In this season, I have grown immensely as a teacher and as an individual. I have been able to draw nearer and nearer to The Lord and pursue him more fully. I have been preparing my heart while still enjoying this adventure. My heart is in two places at once! 


Oct 11:

Sitting in my room, no power, no lights, 11 candles lit, listening to Grace Midtown's message called "Receiving the Spirit". I am hungry for more, Lord! God, I don't want to miss out on what you have for me in this season. I want to experience you, Holy Spirit, and move in power for you. I want the pursuit of your love!

Make-shift candle holders for the power outage...

Oct 14:
On my way to Irazu! We have the day off so I needed an adventure. This was the best option! Ashley couldn't come because she just got back from the beach late last night, so I'm flying solo this time. 

Lord, you have grown my independence and courage so much this year! I am also ready to have my partner by my side. My buddy, my best friend. I am my favorite version of myself when I am with McCray!

Is my heart ready? Can you ever be completely ready for a new unknown adventure? You can have the best packing list, the newest maps, the most informative travel books- but you never know exactly what you're getting into until you're there, figuring it out along the way! 

I can't wait for marriage to be our beautiful adventure!

Volcan de Irazu!



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