Favorites

Our last assignment for our South Africa study abroad program was to pick our favorite 6 pictures from the trip and explain why they are our favorites. I had a hard time choosing 6 so ended up with 8 (oops!). I thought I would share them with you :). So here they are in no particular order...

 

 

 

#1. This is a picture of me, Bryan, and Zukanye. Zukanye started out hating me (and telling me how he felt about me to my face). I knew from the first day that it was going to be my goal to build a relationship with him and to have him trust me as an adult in his life. Zukanye was known as the "trouble child". My CT was not afraid to tell me that he was a "lost cause" and that he had already been held back in grade 3. By my last week, Zukanye wrote me and Bryan each a note, gave me a hug, and I even got a smile out of him! The last thing he said to me was, "Miss Katie, you're pretty cool." I will never forget him, what he said, and his final hug! He was a challenge each and everyday but I know with time and attention he could be a wonderful student.

 

 

#2 This is one of the many pictures I took while on safari. Addo was one of my favorite parts of holiday simply because we saw some of my favorite animals in their natural setting. I was amazed by the zebras and elephants (and lions of course!). This picture reminds me of the many drives we took and all of the fun we had.

 

 

#3 The township tour- my favorite part of the trip. This was such an eye-opening experience and I was amazed to see how many of our students lived. It was life changing to see how happy the people of the township were with what little they had. I had so much fun seeing all of the kids and passing out all of our goodies.

 

 

#4 Surfing! This was one of my bucket list items that I got to check off in South Africa! It took me a lot time but I got up for my last 4 waves. It was amazing! I learned so much about how to spot the current and what parts of the ocean are safe to swim in vs. not. Our instructor even saved a child from drowning in the middle of our lesson! We had a great time.

 

 

#5 How could I not include a South African sunset? I will honestly never forgot how beautiful they were. I have countless pictures of the sunsets and I don't get sick of looking through them. What more is there to say besides, "I love the sunsets down in Africa! (sung by Jody)" :).

 

 

#6 I think this is the only entire group picture we have (including Sandy, Sean, Pierre, and Antoinette). I love this picture because 1. it's the ENTIRE group and 2. it was one of my favorite places (Cape of Good Hope). The trip would not have been the same without our group of 17 students, 2 instructors, and 2 tour guides. Each and everyone of you made a difference on this trip and had an impact on me and my life!

 

 

#7 The Taylor gang plus our parents, Helen, and the dogs :). My trip would have been totally different if I hadn't lived with these wonderful people. The Taylors were so welcoming, the dogs reminded me of home (one of their dogs usually doesn't like new people around but he warmed right up to Bry and I!), and my roommates were so fun to be around. I didn't know Beth, Jeremy, or Rob very well before the trip but I grew very close to them and loved getting to know them along the way.

 

 

#8 Lastly, my wonderful grade 3's. These little ones changed me for the better. They were so welcoming, kind, and loving. I learned so much from watching Ronel teach and seeing how they learned each day. I think I learned the most on break when I got to talk to the students and have them tell me about their families and everyday lives. They are each showing their personality in this picture. Sesethu, the girl 3 to the right of me, was one of the students I bonded with the most. I learned so much about her and she made saying goodbye so hard. She recorded a message for me, a message for my mom, AND  message for my dad on my last day of school. Her message to my dad said "Dear Miss Katie's father, I love you very much. Please let Miss Katie stay in South Africa. When I come to visit you in America I will bring presents for you." I get tears in my eyes every time I watch her messages!

 

 

There you have it. South Africa in a nutshell. <3

5.

5 things I could use more of:

Weekend getaways

 Girls nights, complete with wine and crafting 

Hours in a day

Date nights

Episodes of the Bachelorette

5 things I could do without:

2 hour drives in order to see my family and pup

Math homework

Short-tempered people

Expired groceries

Grown up decisions

brought to you by The story of a girl

What a wonderful week

I'm not a perfect blogger- I don't blog everyday, I don't blog about everything that's going on in my life, and half of the time my posts feel like they jump all over the place. I also do not keep up with photo challenges. Today I am writing my day 4 post when it's actually been 2+ weeks since I started- oh well.

Day 4- Favorite Color. RED! It has always been my favorite color. Even when I was a little girl and everyone loved pink and purple, I loved red. I love the Red Wings, red shoes, red gerber daisies, red nail polish, red cars, cherry anything, my red bedroom... really just anything red. I was looking through all of my pictures on Facebook today and realized 9 times out of 10 I'm wearing red. Holidays, birthdays, weddings, summer time, Christmas time...it's usually red. I don't have one set picture, or even one of my own that would make sense to use but here it is,

My favorite flower. My parents got me these for my last dance recital in high school, they sent me these for my 21st birthday, and Bryan gets them for me whenever he gets me flowers. When I think of my favorite color I think of my favorite flower and all the times I've gotten them- it takes me back to that moment when I was so happy and so excited for whatever was going on in my life at the time.

Which brings me to...

One of my very best friends asked me to stand up in her wedding :). She did it with a cute little poem and a gift of wine asking each of us to be 'sipping next to her' on her wedding day. Too precious. I am so honored that she chose me as one of her bridesmaids and I cannot wait to help her with all of her planning, DIY projects, get togethers, and really anything else she needs me for. And guess what? Her wedding will be black and white with red accents! How BEAUTIFUL will her wedding be?! Oh my goodness it will be magical!

It's only Tuesday, but so far this has been a great week. Bring it on!

What I Wore

Today marked the end of week one of teacher assisting- it has been quite the experience! I have so much to learn and look forward to taking over part of the morning routine starting next week.

What I wore today...

Shirt and gray pants from Express, sweater from H&M, paired with my black flats and jewelry.

Plus, I was nice and warm for the first big snowfall of the season in the awesome coat Bryan got me for Christmas- best. gift. ever.

Clouds

Whoever says that being a teacher is easy, is wrong. This whole teacher this is hard work!

Today was day two of student assisting and man, it was tiring! My day started with lots of "Good morning Ms. Hopman!'s" which instantly reminded me how excited I am about this chapter of my life. I also had two students who brought me apples! Yes! That still happens :).

Today we went on a field trip and I was in charge of 13 third graders who had just met me yesterday. We had a meltdown, missing gloves, and chatty children but in the end it was awesome. I have so much to learn about teaching and my students but I'm looking forward to this adventure.

For today's photo challenge picture I will skip to 'clouds'. I know it's supposed to be 'what I wore', but life is a little busy and there is no time for outfit pictures today! I left my apartment at 7am, was on a field trip until 2, working until 5, and then a night class until 9. So instead of skipping yet another day, I will just skip ahead to clouds and come back to 'what I wore' later. Deal?

This is one of my all time favorite memories: watching the sun rise at Haleakala in Hawaii with my parents and brother. We had to get up at 2:30am to drive to the top of this huge mountain just to watch the sun rise. My Dad braved the twisty roads in the middle of the night so we could see this gorgeous sun rise.

We were ABOVE the clouds so the sun lit up the entire sky below us before breaking through the clouds and rising into the sky. Breath. Taking.

That's all for today. Happy Tuesday!

Here goes nothing... 30 Day Photo Challenge!

OK Sami (samigaglio.blogspot.com) you got me. I am going to participate in the 30 day photo challenge! One of my new year resolutions was to blog more often in hopes that when it's time for me to leave for South Africa (yes I am going to South Africa, but that is a whole different story) I will be blogging frequently and be able to blog about my journey while traveling across the world! 

OK quick summary about my South Africa journey- I will be leaving March 17th (the day after my 22nd birthday, ah!) to travel to South Africa with 18 other Grand Valley students to teach and travel for 6 weeks. It's a program where we are able to student teach for a few weeks and travel/explore for a few weeks during the last portion of our student assisting semester.

If you would have asked me a year ago if I would be going on this trip I would have told you no way...but as the application date got closer and closer I realized that I need to do something big, something great and take a leap of a faith and enjoy the ride. I am SO excited for this journey; I cannot wait to learn about the culture, people, teaching, and even more about myself. 

Ok, so for the 30 day challenge. Today is a self portrait... 

Today is a self portrait... while looking for a picture of me all by myself (which is hard to find by the way...) I came across my senior picture...

Okay, I found a more current one too.

I BELIEVE...

I believe in happy endings.

I believe in saying hi to strangers.

I believe in early mornings if there's coffee.

I believe in making a change for the better even if it's not easy.

I believe in lazy Saturdays and productive Sundays.

I believe that the little things mean the most in life.

I believe in date nights even when you've been dating for years.

I believe there is something greater than this world.

I believe in making a difference no matter how big or small.  

I believe in girls nights full of laughter.

I believe in love, passion, and happiness.

thanks little miss momma for a good start to my Thursday!