The completion of "the big N"

Very exited to have finally finished this on 1/29. All in all I probably had 10 hours end, but most of that was done in 30 min chunks since a hot glue gun and an infant don't mix well. The only cost I had in it, besides time, was the spray paint. (And honestly, I loved that part! I have been spray painting all kinds of things!) I am quite pleased with the finished product. 

The Big N

It now hangs above our new buffet table with another of my recent projects, The shelf above the buffet was salvaged out of a dumpster - well, more accurately the wood was. I sanded it, rubbed it with stain to match the buffet top and used shelving brackets from Ikea ($4 ea.) to create the first of our reclaimed shelves. All in I think there is perhaps $10 (brackets, stain and sandpaper) and about an hour of labor. You will be seeing more of these around our house.

Of note as well is the blue seated chair which we picked up for $5 at a thrift store. I haven't yet decided whether I want to repaint the seat base. Thoughts?

Below are two other little projects. Diffusers are expensive to buy in the stores, and since I just recently purchased my first round of essential oils, I thought I would make my own. These bottles were $2 a piece from Walmart. I am brain scrounging items around my house I might use for more, but I loved these two little bottles. Bamboo skewers are the reeds. I used baby oil (which I found a site online that said I could) for a base, but am not pleased with it, so there will be modifications made when I can figure out what I prefer. 

House improvements

Two weeks ago my mother came over and helped me finish pulling up the carpet in the main portion of the house. Here are pictures of the floor:

I still need to repaint the baseboards and put in quarter-round but progress is being made!

If you can make it there, you'll make it anywhere!

Ah, NYC, an enigma. A hodgepodge of cultural, linguistic and ethnic backgrounds. A city full of gargantuan sky scrapers and homey little brownstones. Marble terraces and warm, worn hardwoods. Street graffiti and some of the best known pieces of artwork in the world. I feel like my thoughts trill at the stretching point here - my soul sending off an electric hum, vibrating from the waves of emotional energy generated by so many busy, intelligent, artistic, fashionable people.

My flight from Charlotte was delayed because of wind and when we we descending to LGA I wondered whether, for the first time in all the flying I have done in the past decade, I was going to lose my lunch. After about 20 minutes tossing back and forth the plane landed. Thankfully, the terminal dumped me about 200 steps from the bus stop. I took the Q33 to the E which I took to Court Square where I caught the G and exited at Greenpoint. This is successfully navigated with my bookbag and bright blue carry-on (with wheels! PTL.) I arrived at Natalie's safely and quickly settled in. I hadn't seen her in about 6 years (since we had both moved from Columbia, SC.) I had a very comfortable and enjoyable Thursday evening just chatting with her. (We stayed up til 3 talking about life, and God and NYC. It was the perfect NY welcome.)
Friday I, errrr, slept kinda late. Then I went into Manhattan to meet Natalie for lunch. With my sister navigating NYC via the internet and a cell phone, she directed me around the city a bit and finally I ended up at MoMA for a few hours during Target's Free Friday nights. AMAZING.

I met my friend, Elizabeth, for dinner at a cuban restaurant off Time Square. Certainly there are many really expensive things here, but there are alot of really reasonable things too, you just have to look and be creative. I had a very very enjoyable time chatting with her about NYC life, and her job and where God has us and how wonderful it is to just accept where God puts you and to look for every opportunity to grab life and squeeze every drop from it. Drink it to the dreggs!

After dinner we walked into Time Square and went to the M&M store to see what color we were! (There is a little scanner gizmo on the 2nd floor that tells you your personality color!) We laughed at all of the M&M's (offered at 11.99/lb and up!) Ok, seriously, I think you can go to Eckerd and buy a 1 lb. bag for 2.99 -- I am pretty sure after christmas 07 I got bags for .64 each! And so, we laughed at how people will by the same old thing that they already know and like, but pay a ridiculous amount more just for the packaging. Pretty much like so many relationships. People already have a pretty good thing, or the opportunity at a pretty good thing, but they will toss it away just for a package upgrade. Now, I agree that the aesthetics of certain colors of M&M's are appealing, but seriously, are you buying them to look at them or to eat them? And if the latter, then do you want to pay $8 more just so that you can look at them for the 3 seconds it takes to get them from your hand to your mouth? Really? I often speculate that people are NOT the smartest creatures God created -- maybe the most intelligent but definitely not the smartest!

Some pics of M&M World, NYC:








Though I mocked it, it is fun to walk through the store (and free!) and you can take pictures of all the different colors which will last more than 3 seconds and can be viewed while munching on your 99cent bag from the 7-11. The best of all worlds.

The website for M&M World is Here.

I was trying to upload a video, but I am wiped after this morning/day so I need to go rest for a little while before dinner.

Sunday Part Two

This is Michelle and Emily standing in the upstairs foyer of Samil Church.

After church, the bookstore and passing the American Embassy we walked toward the Cheongwadae but kind of veered right in front of that strange building. We walked toward the Gyeongbok Palace which houses the Korean Folk Museum.

On the way in we passed some food stands. This one was selling chesnuts (roasted on a small propane burner) and the bugs (which I have now learned to smell from a block away. Not sure I am happy about that.) and something that looks like frenchfries but I think might be fish or something different (honestly, I didn't have time to stop and look.)

We tried some chesnuts. They were pretty good. Softer than I had thought. I don't know that I have had fresh roasted chesnuts before. Maybe, a long time ago...?

The details on the buildings are incredible. It is one thing I have noted and loved about the many different asian cultures that I feel shames much western culture and that is the intricacies of the details. Yes, in Europe and older buildings there are the carved beams and more ornate ornamentation, but traditional asian architecture (in my opinion) is far more striking.




We see these birds commonly. They are quite large, like an American crow, but so pretty. I don't remember seeing something exactly like this in the states. I asked Emily and she said it was a Magpie. I looked it up and here is a page with many different myths, legends and stories about the Korean Magpie.
The ones we see look like this one:
Apparently Magpies are common all over the world, but I do not remember seeing them on the east coast. *shrug* Maybe I don't know what I am looking for.

Here is a picture of Michelle and me standing outside of the Korean Folk Museum (it is located under this amazing structure.)




I liked this picture even though the banner is backward so the Korean is backwards. It was outside a representation of a traditional Korean pharmacy where herbs were hung to dry, etc.

The outside of the building, looking up from the left side outside the entrance to the Folk Museum.

More Details:

Inside the museum was an example of the paintings that were used on the interior roofs of many traditional structures. If I ever own a house again, maybe I should try this in some room.

I thought this was interesting:


I have not researched this but I remember catching the blurb on a tabloid as I was leaving the states about how Matthew McConaughey saved his son's placenta to replant it. I will have to research this more.

This is how the Koreans used to iron their clothes/cloth:
I thought it was interesting. They heated the iron, the placed the fabric on it and rolled it out with the wooden rods. Makes sense.

Michelle and I standing in front of a lighted display inside the museum.


After the museum Emily took us to a famous area in Seoul called Samcheong-dong which is littered with cafes, bistros and boutiques. It is very architecturally diverse and intersting. Things are trendy and eclectic and slightly eccentric. I would love to spend more time puttering around, but it was cold and we were needing to head home.


Lastly a few pictures of Seoul near Seoul Station. Blurry because I was walking and it was dusk.


Alright. I gotta get dressed for class, clean up the room a little and get outa here! Sleep well America. See you in the morning!

Dec 26th, Day 3 - My first day of class

I have put together a small slide show for my first day of class. I have a homeroom (which I also teach 4th period) and 3 other classes. The fifth period I rotate and make paper airplanes and do a paper airplane contest with whichever class I am in. The 5th Period is for my homeroom class to work on the 5 minute presentation that we will do for the closing ceremony. Most of my students are 10 or 11.
I teach one group of classes M, W, F (so that is today's classes) and a different group Tues, Thurs, Sat. (which you will see pictures of tomorrow.)

Their English is incredible! I really enjoy my classes. I like our text books. The kids are smart and fairly well behaved. It is so different teaching here than in the DR. In the Dominican teachers are often treated like expensive child servants and excelling at education is often not very important. Here the students are motivated, educated, respectful. They are still kids so they still do things they shouldn't but they respond quickly and they are expected to learn and make an effort.

So far, I am very satisfied with everything here. Yes, there are still moments of chaos, but it is not unmanageable. Everyone is very nice, the living accomodations are comfortable and I really enjoy teaching.