2012

I grew a lot during 2012. Things were fun, hard, boring, exciting. My 2nd year in Korea was a lot different than my first. I'm glad I stayed. It was great to be able to do the same job twice - I learned a lot and it was so fun to continue getting to know and teach (most) of the kiddos. But I feel very ready to move on in a few months. I made and lost a lot of friends. It's hard to have a rotating door of people in your life, but there are also friends who will always be there no matter how far away they are, and those are the ones to hold on to. This is my year in review:

January

I went to Thailand with Katie, Garrett, and Kyla. We saw lots of beautiful gold, ate pad thai from the street, and spent a day playing with tigers.

February

 My best friends all went back to America. I did not like it.

March

 New school year with all new co-teachers. It took a lot of adjusting. I went to a basketball game with some friends - Korean basketball is very different than American basketball.

April

 Cherry blossom season in Korea. Alexis and I went to the park near our apartment to enjoy the beauty.

May

 Bethany and I found New Philadelphia Church in Busan, and that shaped the rest of my year. She and I went together every Sunday until she left Korea, and I still go every weekend. It's my weekend home and they are my family.

June

 Trip to Seoul! Full of shopping and eating.

July

 My old co-teacher Yuri got married and I was invited to her wedding. It was so beautiful, and such an experience. Now she's pregnant with a baby boy.

 August

I met my family + my college roommate Ashley for a vacation in Hawaii. We laid on the beach, went hiking, snorkeling, saw a luau, ate a lot of pineapple

 September

 I got to talk to all these girls. We grew up together and have scattered, but are still very good friends. It's hard to coordinate all our schedules in all our time zones, so it's pretty special when we're all free.

October

The leaves don't change colors, but they do get big. 

November

 Ugly sweater Thanksgiving party! We had turkey, ham, stuffing, potatoes...all the good good food. And we looked awesome.

December

 These girls made my first Christmas in Korea a lot of fun. 

Happy new year!

This is my favorite picture from the night. One person was trying to organize us by shirt color, and another person was trying to organize us by skin color.

Last new years eve was my last night home in America. I rung in the new year with my friends, then got on a plane a few hours later. And let me tell you, that was a long sad flight. This time I spent the first day of the new year with lots of new fun friends. 2013 is going to be exciting!