I Did It!

I have finally graduated! I now have my Bachelor's of Science degree in Middle Level Education with concentrations in Math and Language Arts.

I couldn't have done it without them:
And of course, not without him:
And more thanks to everyone who has supported me or influenced my success in college. I love you all!

I Made It!

I've made it safely home and everything is slowly going back to normal. It is nice to be home and with Kevin, family, and friends again, but I will certainly miss the sunshine and high temperatures! As I am unwinding, I will try to update my blog more often. Hopefully, I am going to be making a few little treasures for the holidays and I will try to blog about them.

Thank you to everyone who kept me in their thoughts and prayers during my trip!

Happy [Belated] Thanksgiving!

Yesterday, we went to ESJ Towers and celebrated our own Thanksgiving. It was nice; all of us together!

Here are some pictures from the day:

Getting the brownies out of the oven:
Our homemade dinner:Mmm, dessert! It's not pumpkin pie... but I'd been wanting brownies (and ice cream! Yum!)!

I hope wherever you celebrated and whoever you celebrated with, your Thanksgiving was full of thanks and good food!

Finally...

As I was looking back through previous posts, I realized that I never posted to show the completed work of my store window-front paintings (post titled Sneak Peak).

A little bit about the job:

I work at an educational supplements store, Creative Curriculum. We had just moved to a new location and my boss asked if I would be interested in painting our name on the window. I did, of course! I painted some kids (similar to a product we carry, Stick Kids by Creative Teaching Press), our company name, and our hours of operation. Here are some final pictures... only a few months late! :)

Left of the doors:
Close-up of lettering:
Right of the doors (the kids):
Here's the other job --

I was asked to paint a window front for a karate/church/massage clinic with quite a few words. The work was very extensive and tedious as lettering is more difficult than pictures. There were five windows all together: two doors, and three large windows. But as always, I was up for the challenge.

The doors:
Window 1:
Window 2:
Window 3:
The whole window front:

I had a lot of fun working on these pieces! I hope this post is an inspiration for something great!

Old San Juan

We just got back from Old San Juan. We've rented a car for the weekend so we can travel around the island. Today- Old San Juan, tomorrow- Ponce, and Sunday- El Yunque (the Rainforest).

Old San Juan is BEAUTIFUL! Some of the pictures I took look more like postcards! I am astonished at the beauty of nature here! It is definitely peaceful (aside from the sirens, loud speakers, cars, and buses, of course!). Enjoy these photos:

Fort San Cristobal in Old San Juan:Mmm, also there is a Food Festival in OSJ this weekend; all the local restaurants were offering samples and discounts. We stopped by the Starbucks hut and got a Fall Apple Bar (very yummy!) and a tall Iced Passionfruit Lemonade (very yummy also!) for only $1 a piece. Mmm...

I'll take more pictures tomorrow and try to upload when we get back :)

Beautiful Bliss!

Well, we've made it through our first full week here in Puerto Rico! Here are some pictures so far!

This is Escambron Beach. It is beautiful and only 20 minutes from the dorm.

This is the school where I am teaching:
The five of us at El Ocho Blanco (a restaurant by the dorm):

Adios!

Well, in 24 hours I will be in Puerto Rico! I leave at 7:00am and get to San Juan at 8:22pm. [What a long day!] I am excited to create and experience such an exciting opportunity! I am going to miss my family and friends very very much. I will be posting pictures and such from the trip (or trying to, at least). If not, I get back December 9th and will catch you up then :)

Adios! Hasta Luego!!