30 Before 30, v.27.5

1. Finish my Master's degree. My biggest accomplishment of the last six months!
2. Knock out Baby Steps 2 & 3. This is my main focus, now that grad school is done!
3. Complete the C25K program. Perhaps for The Color Run Bangkok?
4. Build my blog to 100 followers.
5. Take an international vacation... alone.
6. Coach in a state basketball tournament.
7. Buy a nice camera to document life's adventures. 
8. Read and notate through the Bible five different times, in four translations (NIV, NKJV, ESV, NASB).
9. Run a marathon.
10. Hit my goal weight (160 pounds... Dream weight is 145 pounds).
11. Do something really nice for somebody... something I never thought I'd be able to do... somewhere, at sometime.
12. Send out snail mail Christmas cards one year.
13. Read 100 new (never before read) books. (56/100)
14. Try at least 30 new recipes. 1Knoephla Soup. 2Parkerhouse Rolls. 3Broccoli Salad. 4Caramel Rolls. 5Jello Salad. 6Garlic and Parmesan Brussels Sprouts. 7Soda Bread 8Cabbage Casserole 9Roasted Vegetables 10Fake Chippers 11Chicken Parmesan 12Roasted Marinara Sauce 13Green Bean Bundles  (13/30)
15. Write 500 notes of encouragement to those around me. (5/500)
16. Go skydiving.
17. Crochet a baby afghan.
18. Have a photo shoot done of myself... Insecurities set aside.
19. Go on another missions trip.
20. Complete a semester of calculus.
21. Earn my permit to carry a concealed weapon.
22. Sleep a night under the stars.
23. Get three stamps in my passport. (2/3)
24. Make a kite and fly it.
25. Achieve complete financial independence.
26. Take a dance class.
27. Tear a phone book in half.
28. Solve a Rubik's cube.
29. Learn to swim.
30. Visit New York City.

Planning, Rain, Unpacking, Grey's, and August

In an effort to begin blogging more regularly, I am joining in on some Friday fun. Join in if you wish!

One. Where. Did. This. Week. Go? I had inservice meetings all week and very little time in my classroom. The time in my classroom was spent finishing up projects from the spring semester and trying to make sense of things for this upcoming semester. Plus, I have a student with an extended absence and limited internet before the first day of school, so I'm essentially planning for the first two weeks of school before the first day even begins. It will all be good, but it all seems like so much right now.

Two. Rainy season has finally come to BKK. Both northern and southern Thailand have been having the typical daily rains of rainy season, but it's really only been in the last three days that rain has finally come to the city. I love listening to the rain at night and walking out to cooler temps in the morning.

Three. I still need to finish unpacking from my return to BKK. And finish folding laundry from a week and a half ago. I don't do well with hanging around my apartment too much, but sometimes it's just a must. The projects I have left aren't all that time consuming, I just need to get them done. So between lesson planning and house cleaning, but weekend should be plenty full and productive.

Four. I have two more episodes left of Grey's Anatomy before I'm all caught up again. I refuse to admit to the number of episodes Amy and I have been watching each day to get caught up, but it's been enough. I think we've sat down to watch only six or seven times? #Guiltybutnotashamed

Five. I can't believe August is here already. I felt like July was creeping along for the longest time and now it's all gone. Real life starts on Tuesday. Bring it on?

A. Liz Adventures/Carolina Charm

Hello! Happiness/The Good Life Blog

The Farmer's Wife/September Farm

A Little Bit of Everything
Grace and Love/Momfessionals

I Won't Be Whipping My Hair for Awhile

Like I mentioned on Friday, I tend to chop my hair every two years. This year I came up about six weeks short of the two year mark, but such is life. Unlike Willow Smith, I will now be giving my hair away for somebody else to whip as they please.

As I planned my weekend Friday evening, my intentions were to spend Saturday buying a clothes iron and a flat iron. As I lay in bed later that evening, I decided that I must chop my hair on Saturday. So I sat up on the couch (I was sleeping on the couch because I was falling asleep watching TV on my computer... don't be a hater, mom) and immediately googled "good place for American women's haircut Bangkok" and sifted through the results. I found a shop about 30 minutes from where I live, called when the opened the next morning, and had an appointment for three and a half hours later.

This was my original inspiration picture:

(via)

and as you can see, we didn't quite get there at all, but it'll grow and then I'll just get it cut again. Hair is both tricky and lovely like that.

I will be donating my two ponytails when I go back to America in December. I had a friend cut them off before I left because I had no idea if I'd be able to communicate my desire to donate once I got to the salon. But, once I got there and told them I had cut off my hair right before I came, her first question was whether or not I was going to "give it away." Each ponytail is about 11 inches long and I cut off about 13 inches total when all was said and done.

Chopping my hair off is about as wild as it gets for this Midwest girl and I'm appreciating it even more in this Bangkok heat and humidity. #Rainyseasonishorrid And I did end up getting both irons on Saturday along with three books at the used book store, so I consider Saturday to be a very productive day!

Freedom, Returns, Repairs, Television, and Hair

In an effort to begin blogging more regularly, I am joining in on some Friday fun. Join in if you wish!

One. This is my last free weekend before inservice on Monday. Students will come a week from Tuesday. So far, I am not a fan of the year round schooling schedule. I did not go in to teaching for the paycheck, but I would be lying if I did not admit the twelve weeks of summer vacation were a huge perk. Can somebody please just pay me to be a housewife, husband optional? Thankyouverymuch. I am sure I will feel more ready when the students all come back but, until then, I'll just be over here mourning the loss of summer freedom.

Two. Coming back to Bangkok after five weeks in the States and one week at the beach as left me working like mad the last couple of days to restock my apartment, finish unpacking, and deep clean everything. I'd like to say it's just five weeks away that I'm recovering from but, again, let's be honest... I'm recovering from a lot more than just that.

Three. I came back to my apartment pretty much all fixed into tip-top shape, minus the shower drain which has been extra high maintenance. Except for my nonfunctioning internet which was really a genuine inconvenience virtually all year, I just had a bunch of little things that didn't work properly. But, my internet has been restored, my wall is fixed, and my stove fan works. #Firstworldproblems #Iknow

Four. Amy and I have spent the last two days binge watching Grey's. We have to get ready for this upcoming season, of course. Grey's Anatomy in a nasty habit, I know, but it's an 11 year investment. I can't back out now. 

Five. I am itching to chop my hair again. It'll be two years in September since I did it last, so it's about that time. I chop my hair every two years and I move every three. I'm consistent like that. I have too much hair for Thailand. I think the back of my neck will thank me.

A. Liz Adventures/Carolina Charm

Hello! Happiness/The Good Life Blog

The Farmer's Wife/September Farm

A Little Bit of Everything
Grace and Love/Momfessionals