the first

we woke up this morning to this beautiful sight!

our first snow in korea!

thanksgiving

we celebrated thanksgiving this past sunday.   we slept in, began to make dinner, watched modern family, friends and the office, ate our glorious meal, and i cut ryan's hair.  our main goal for this thanksgiving was to try to create a mexican feast with the resources we have here in korea.  thanks to our families for sending tortillas, seasoning mix, ranch mix and some needed cheesecake ingredients, it was a delicious success!

i made a little paper flower arrangement to accompany our table.

top left to right: lightly seasoned brown rice,  tortilla chips,  seasoned chicken, homemade ranch dressing,  ranched potatoes, black beans soaked in hot sauce, salsa, cheese, tortillas.  

burritos.

left: homemade peanut butter chocolate chip cheesecake with oreo crust.
right: homemade plain cheesecake with oreo crust.

date night

dwarf

this past week we had to put to sleep two of our plants; the twins: island john and steve.  they couldn't bare the harsh winter here.  it was tough on both of us, seeing them struggle and having to place them in plastic bags and lay them to rest.

in more recent news we have been blessed with more "children".  by no means are these replacements "children", but they are a little more fun to be around; dwarf hampsters.

the white one is the one ryan picked out.  ryan named him ritalin.  he has so much energy and endurance.  the yellow/orange one is the one i picked out.  i named him power ranger.  he is the complete opposite of ritalin.  he loves to sleep, and can fall asleep anywhere.  he also stores food in his mouth and when we let him out to run around, 10 minutes later we usually find him eating one of his pieces of food that he carried with him from the cage.

we got these little plastic toys for them to run around in.  it's nice to place them in their toys while we make dinner, do laundry and clean, because we don't have to worry about them.

here is power ranger, just completely exhausted from running round in the little fort we made them.  he passed out in the darkest and most compact corner he could find.

meanwhile ritilin has the most energy ever...

holy wardrobe

when i arrived in south korea, i started unpacking my suitcase and hanging up clothes.  in this process i discovered that 25% of my clothes had holes in them.  granted, most of these holes were found in cheap thin shirts that i had bought because they were the most comfortable, but regardless, it was a little ridiculous.  so instead of tossing these shirts, i decided i would indulge in a few craft projects.  my first mission was to make a hair accessory.

burrrrr

the coldness that bites us on our walk to school is starting to become a little unbearable.  so we have decided to take on a few winter crafts with these new purchases.

no-bake cookies!

thanks to our family sending us goods, i was able to make some no-bake cookies.  they were ugly, but they were delicious!

christmas in november

my mom sent us a HUGE box of love this last week.  these are the goods inside, plus some christmas presents, and 2 homemade paper stockings for us.  it is so hard not to open these gifts already, so i stuffed them under the bed to suppress the urge.

halloween=success!

we had an amazing time hosting halloween week at school.  here are a few photos of how it went.

some of my students practicing dressing up and saying "trick-or-treat".

i decorated my classroom like a good elementary teacher.

these are a few of our favorite things

ryan's list:
skittles

california burritos

phil’s bbq

driving a stick shift

sunrises/sunsets

messy hair

camping in mexico

sitting on a porch during a thunderstorm

eating dinner outside

music

playing games

sitting in a hot tub during rain or snow

playing guitar

the smell of the mountains and the ocean

seeing a kid enjoy learning

completing any kind of puzzle

katie nielsen

traveling to somewhere new

breakfast

road trips

cruises

katie's list:

my husband

bunny noses

filtered water

bending my body for health benefits

dogs sneezing for attention
road trips

dancing

new shoes
mexican food
traveling to new places

traveling to old places

mermaids

themed parties

one-uping each other until someone crosses the line

big hips

messy hair
whistling

hiking

snow shoeing

amusement parks

handmade things

hand-making things

essential oils

natural medicine

the human body

puns

classic literature
autobiographies

being under water

being the little spoon

currently

currently reading:

ryan's book

katie's book

currently watching:

we watch re-runs online

currently drinking:

currently craving:

currently loving:
that our students at school are starting to read!