Home for the Holidays

This holiday season, I was so lucky to get to return home for two weeks to spend time with my family and friends (another plus for working at public school in Korea)! I had just been home two months prior for my nephew's birth, but even still, I was super excited to get a 'real' Christmas this year.

Of course, I was so happy to see Landon and all of his amazingness (is that a word?)! He had grown so much in two months, and it only makes me realize when I see him in 10 months from now, he's going to be a completely different baby! I took so many pictures of me with my wonderful nephew, so here are a few:

Isn't he just adorable??! I sure do think so!!

Besides visiting with Landon, I also did my usual trip to Abilene to see my aunt and cousin there! My cousin Alichia's daughters are growing up so much too! It feels like yesterday when Abby was born, and now she's already three!! I can't believe it! I expectedly got to help Alichia paint both of the girls' rooms...it was hard work, but the end result was worth it! So because we were so busy, I didn't get to see the girls much, but I did get a minute with them! Here are the pictures I was able to snap:

Along with seeing family, I got to catch up with two of my besties! I hadn't seen Jennifer since she was pregnant with Judson, and he celebrated his first birthday a couple weeks before I saw him. He is such a sweet baby and I was so glad to finally meet him!

I also met up with Kami in Oklahoma City for some quality girl time and a basketball game. It was my first NBA game in a while, and it was Kami's first ever NBA game! The Thunder lost the game, but it was still a nice time! 

And one of the most exciting things was getting my new Mac!! I had been waiting to long to get a new computer and it was such a happy day for me to go to the Apple Store and get the MacBook Pro!!! Hopefully that'll help with updating my blogs!

That pretty much wraps up my trip at home! It was a wonderful time! I'll leave you with a few more pictures of Landon! :)

Meet My Nephew!!

I returned home in October between my contracts in order to be home for a very important event...the birth of my nephew! It was quite an exciting time, and since I'd been away for the entirety of my sister's pregnancy, I was excited to get home for the main event!!

The whole trip was kept a secret for everyone except my mom and dad...so it was super fun getting to surprise everyone! I didn't think I'd be able to pull it off with Facebook and a mother that lets things slip at times, but it all happened as planned! So because it was a surprise, I was just hoping that my nephew would decide to grace us with his presence while I was home. I knew my sister would be induced, but the date was still up in the air...leaving me feeling quite anxious...and her, too, I'm sure!

After all was said and done, Mr. Landon Pesi joined our world on Friday, October 21, 2011, around 3pm. He was welcomed through C-section (not originally planned) into the arms of my older sister, Stephanie, and her husband, Shahveer. It was quite a happy day for our family as we met the first grandchild for our parents. A glorious moment, indeed!

The first thing that was definitely noticeable was that dark head of hair...so cute! I'm pretty sure I was bald until about the age of five! Haha! While others did the 'his nose, her mouth...' stuff, I opted out since I am not good at all of that! As he grows, I'm sure I'll be able to point out some similarities!

With the birth being in my first week home, I was able to spend another week with the little man before I had to head back to Texas. It was incredible watching the teamwork between my sister and brother-in-law, along with the sleep deprivation! I'm not sure there's anything better in the world than holding an itty-bitty baby!

I can't wait to watch this little man grow up and have lots of super fun aunt-nephew moments with him!

A Year Already??!!

Can you believe it??! It's already been a year since I returned to Korea for my second stint. Today officially ended my first contract at Tongyeong Elementary School and tomorrow officially starts my second one! I really can't get a grip on the fact that it's already been a year! The year has flown by with lots of wonderful memories and amazing friends.

Last week, I met with the principal to sign my contract for October 2011-2012! Later in the week, I went to the immigration office to renew my visa. And today, I got some songpyeong (filled rice cakes) to celebrate my one year anniversary at the school with my fellow teachers. All of these things are indicating to me that it's been a year, but my mind hasn't quite wrapped itself around that idea yet!

So here I am...starting my new contract tomorrow with an end date of October 14, 2012. The process of deciding whether to stay or not was a really long and stressful one, but today, it feels like I made the right decision. I can't imagine saying goodbye today, instead of saying "Whoo-hoo, one more year!"

So here's too another year...may it be as full of blessings as the first!! ^^

Jinju Lantern Festival

This past Saturday was the first day of the Jinju Namgang Yuneung Festival...commonly refered to as the Jinju Lantern Festival. I remember this happening or having just ended when I got here last year, so I was super excited to make my way to the festival this year! Jinju has a beautiful river front that made a great backdrop for the event!

I headed up to Jinju a little earlier than most of the foreigners in Tongyeong, because I had food on my mind!! My first stop in Jinju was Starbucks!! I don't mind, and actually love the coffee shops in Tongyeong, but there's something about Starbucks that makes me happy!! After that, I walked a bit down the street to Valance Burgers...a legit burger place in Jinju! I was full and happy, and then I headed down to the festival!

Since I got there before the peak time (which is at night for this festival), I had the pleasure of walking around without hoards of people all around me! It was nice to do some shopping and picture taking before the place got packed! Here are a few pictures I took during the day:

Most people actually showed up to this festival at night...which makes sense because the lanterns are all lit and they're much prettier to see in the dark. I don't have a very good night camera, so I just took a few pictures of the displays. Here's a pretty one that I liked:

There was also a wonderful fireworks show at night, which is actually the main reason I went. I love fireworks!! They have two showing of fireworks during the festival...the night I saw and next Saturday. I might have to see about going again...but we'll see!

It was a wonderful day and I really enjoyed seeing all the sights!

Singapore - Day 4 - Chinatown & Singapore Flyer & Harbor

Our last full day in Singapore was probably my favorite! They were all good, don't get be wrong, but I really enjoyed the final full day there!!

We started the morning with a trip to Chinatown with Joyce and her friend, Christine.  We walked around a bit and saw this Hindu temple, Sri Mariamman Temple. I am still just so fascinated with the intricate details of the temple.

Then we took a walk through the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum. It's a huge temple and is said to have a tooth of Buddha inside. We didn't see that, but we did see some really interesting things. Here's the entrance of the Temple and Museum.

Huge golden Buddhas inside the temple. They were really extravagant.

I really liked the look of this wall...there were so many tiny Buddas. I'm not sure what they're all for, but it's a cool sight to see.

After that, we headed to the Tea Chapter for some traditional Chinese tea. It was such a nice experience and it was nice to have Joyce and Christine to show us around! We definitely wouldn't have done it without them, so it was really special!

The lady showed us the proper way to brew Chinese tea.

My smelling cup and drinking cup...who knew there were separate cups for this!?

Chinatown also offered lots of shopping...but I don't think I even bought anything! But if you're souvenier shopping in Singapore, I definitely recommend doing it in Chinatown...they're super cheap there!!

After Chinatown, Sandy and I headed to the Singapore Flyer....Singapore's version of the London Eye. It provides such a great view of Singapore and is so pretty!  

I was super excited about getting on the Singapore Flyer...can you tell!?!

The sky looked amazing during our time in the Flyer. Here's part of the city!

Looking into the harbor from the Singapore Flyer! So pretty!

It turned dark while we were down by the harbor, and I was able to get a few shots that I liked!! Here are three famous sights in Singapore: the Helix Bridge, the Marina Bay Sands Resort, and the Science and Arts Museum!

The next day, we spent the morning relaxing and then headed to the airport to fly to Malaysia! The time in Singapore was really nice. The city is so new and fresh and everything is so easy! It was definitely nice being in an English-speaking country, versus what I'm used to everyday! Everything was super easy to get to and  public transportation was clearly marked and user-friendly! I definitely recommend a trip to this growing city! I already know if I visit again, the skyline will be completely different! The city had so much construction going on...it's an exciting time for Singapore!