My Second Families

I love to babysit and there is no denying it!  I spend my Thursdays and Saturdays babysitting for two very special families that I love oh so very much!  These two families mean the world to me and they are my second families!  I have very close relationships with not only the kids but their parents (and grandparents, neighbors, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc). I love that I can be real with them and have amazing adventures with them as well!  Aside from my dad, mom, and brother, these two families are going to be the next hardest to leave when I move to Tunisia!  I have watched these kids grow from infants into teenagers and have created such tight bonds with them!  I love them so much and am grateful for all the time we have spent together!

 

The Smith Family (M, A, C)

I have been with them for over 10 years! I started with them when A was 6 weeks old and now she is 11 years old.  I have loved dress up parties, cooking, crafting, going to the $2 movies, many sleepovers, "Say yes to the Dress", walks at Meredith, playing basketball, taco nights at my parents house, helping me with my classroom things, lots of tight hugs at bedtime, chats when they should be in bed, them calling me "Elisety", and lots of singing.

The Mauzy Family (J and G)

It will be 10 years in September that we have been together.  I started with them when G was 1 year old and now he is 11 years old.  I have loved watching their soccer games, watching them play basketball and lacroose, making yarn balls and stuffed animals, homemade ice cream on the porch, watching all sorts of fun shows (Deal or No Deal, Full House, How it's Made, Cash Cab, Supermarket Dash, Duck Dynasty, and Wipeout), and bedtime scares (thanks, J). 

Craigslisting Kind of Day...

This post will probably be quite boring to most but I don't want to forget what happened in my world-wind of a day!

Last night, I decided to Craigslist all of the things I was not going to bring to Tunisia. So right before going to bed, I posted all of the items I wanted I was going to sell. I didn't think much more about it and was ready to head to bed when I checked my email one last time and emails from potential buyers were coming in more by the minute!  It was insane to see 2-4 pop up every minute or so.  I responded to some and then crashed.  I woke up the next morning to 38 new emails... most of them from Craigslist!!  At this point I headed downstairs, and started responding to some at a time.  Once I responded to some, I got another response and more and more emails came it!  After 2 hours of pure Craigslist emails, I decided to walk Zoe and feed both of us breakfast!  All of the people I had been emailing were wanting to come by today which worked out great because I did not have anything planned and would be able to live without the things I was selling.  First lady came and bought my deacon's bench.  Sweet!  That seemed simple enough.  The next buyers were a mother/daughter duo looking to buy my desk.  The liked it so I unloaded all of my junk and I helped the teenager carried it down the stairs.  As I was carrying the desk down the stairs, the door bell rang and I told the mom to let them it because it was probably the next people who were looking at my daybed.  All of a sudden, I heard a man's voice (all of my buyers were women) and were taken back!  Then I heard him say... "I am the inspector!" All I could think was... Huh?? I just emailed my realtor earlier this am and asked her when the inspection of my house was going to happen and she said she wasn't sure.  And now there is an inspector here??  He said I could stay as people continue to come and look at things so I did and he started his inspection (without the buyers or their realtor).  The next couple came, paid for the daybed, and was coming to pick it up in the am. 

This was my first slow moment of the day.  So I answered even more emails and set up more appointments. I also did another load of laudry because my washer and dryer would be picked up this evening.  The inspector finished up and headed out.  I ran to the grocery store to pick up items for tonight's dinner at Kelsey before my 2:30 showed up to get my coffee table and TV stand.  As I was checking out at Wal-Mart panic set in when I could not find my wallet!  Lloyd kept my groceries and I ran home in a panic... no wallet there!  I grabbed my Craigslist cash and headed back.  I started to retrace my steps from yesterday and realized I put it in my glove-compartment box when I went walking (4 miles!) with Natalie!  Score!  So ran to Wal-Mart, paid for my groceries, and headed home to clean out TV stand for next buyers.  As I was doing that, I got a knock at the door.  It was a woman and a little boy.  After talking for a minute, I realized it was not my next buyer like I expected but it was the woman who is buying my house!!! Eek!!!  She was there to hear about the inspection but the inspector left over an hour ago!  Talk about a lot of miscommunication!  So she left and my next buyers showed up!  They left with a bunch of my stuff and I even found out the daughter use to go to Meredith!  What fun!  But now she is a state girl...

Ahhhh!!! Finally a break!!!  I prepared dinner for tonight with Kelsey (sour grapes... so fun!) and finished laundry.  Dad showed up to help with the moving of the washer and dryer and to be my protector... just in case.  The washer/dryer guy showed up and moved both units downstairs and into his car by himeself!!! We think he has done this a time or two before!  Dad helped me finish up my tomato and mozzarella for dinner and he headed back home.  Then before I knew it, the people came back early to pick up the daybed.  We took it apart and put it in their U-Haul and they were on their way! 

The lady who was going to buy my couch changed her mind.  So during this chaos, I emailed someone else who is interested and he is going to pick it up tomorrow.  Then I packed up my food and headed to Kelsey's!  We had a great time eating a yummy dinner (made by her fabulous husband) and playing "Apples to Apples"! 

While I was BEAT the end of the day, it really was a great first experience with Craigslist! Everyone was genuinely interested in my move to Tunisia and very kind.  This will just be another chapter in my book of moving to Tunisia.

Adventures in Tunis!

I often get questions about where I am moving and what life will be like there.  While I still know very little (because I haven't been there yet), I thought I would let you know what I do know.

Tunisia is a very Northern country in Africa.  It is very close to Europe (only a 45 minute plane ride to Italy).

I will be living in Tunis which is at the very top of Tunisia.  It is on the Mediterranean Sea. 

I will be working at American Cooperative School of Tunis (ACST).  Here is the front entrance to the school.  Click here to see more pictures of the school.  If you want to learn more about the school, click here to visit their website. 

If you want to learn more what my life will be like in Tunis, you can click here to go to this detailed website made by teachers from the school.  It is a great overview of what I can expect/ prepare for. 

I fly out of RDU on August 7 and arrive in Tunis on August 8.  It is a 2 year contract.  I will be home each summer for two months (ACST is a traditional school) and plan on coming home for Christmas this year.

If there are any questions I did not answer, please feel free to leave a comment and I will try to answer it.

Thank you for your continued support!

Sunday Night Dinner

Ever since I was in college, I would come home every Sunday for church and stay the entire day.  I would go home sometime after dinner.  Because this was the only night I was home each week, we would make dinners special.  Dad cooks dinner each Sunday night and I put in my two cents.  Throughout the years, we have had different dinner guests.  It started when Kris (my cousin) lived with us before he got married.  Then once he got married, Chrissy and Kris would come over for dinner once a month or so.  My other cousins would join us from time to time as well.  When our friends, John and Sara, moved to NC, they started coming each week.  Then Paul's friends moved to Raleigh and they came from time to time.  Now that Paul has moved back home, he comes too.  This past Sunday, Dad made a Tunisian-inspired meal. He even used my tangine (a clay pot used to cook an entire meal in used in Tunisia) for the first time.  He made Moroccan Chicken and Grilled Egglant!  It was sooo yummy!

Dad cooking on the tangine

The tangine closed up ready to eat

Tada!  Moroccan Chicken!

Grilled Egglant

 

The Sunday night regulars! (mom, dad, John, Sara, Derrick)

See you Later, Alligator!

West Lake Elementary will always be very near and dear to my heart!  I student taught there and taught first grade there for seven years!  I met many people and worked with many people on a variety of things.  I made memories that will last a lifetime.  I made many friendships that will last even after I have left WLE.  WLE was my home away from home (and M-F, I spent more time there then I did at home).  In a school, you become a family and are there for each other no matter what. This is what WLE is for me and leaving was very hard for me to do!  Because I have devoted so much time and heart to WLE, it was hard for to let go of control (shocker, right?).  I continued to make decisions for next school year and take care of things to prepare my grade level for the next school year.  Luckily, administrators still kept me in the loop and let me make decisions.  Believe it or not, this meant the world to me.  I never felt like I didn't matter because come June I would be gone.  Many people said...we will see you in 2 years! I felt encouraged that even though I wouldn't be there, I still mattered.  Now that I am typing all of this out, it sounds very selfish but I just wanted to put out there what is on my heart.  Thank you WLE for loving me and helping me grow into the teacher I have become! 

Before I left, my dear friend, Melissa threw me a going away party.  This was so special to me because not only were my colleagues there but the past parents and students were there too.  It was great to get to say my goodbyes to everyone and see all of those whom I have loved dearly!

Melissa (teaches K but will be teaching 1st next year)

                                                                  Mandi (receptionist)

Laurie (teaches K)

Brooke (teaches 2nd)

Cathy (art teacher) and Michele (first grade)

Jeanette (K teacher)

Natalie (IRT)

**I would love to post pictures of all the students and parents who were there but you will not find pictures of any of my students on this blog (but I can brag about them all day long ;)!