Aren't Kids Great!

In the past 2 weeks I've had the chance to spend some one on one time with some kids who are pretty special to me. The high school students took a 4 day field trip so the Lenardson's went with them. I stayed with their girls - Ezri and Shyanna. The girls were great and we had lots of fun together playing games, making up stories, and cooking in the kitchen. The days slipped by quickly and I managed to not take any pictures... but we still had a blast!

 Friday after school Lucas and Daniel got to go home with me since their parents had some meetings. We decided to have Hawaiian pizza for dinner. The boys helped me make the dough and each topped their section with what they wanted. It turned out delicious. We spent the night playing different games. I think Dutch Blitz was the favorite. As the night went on the boys picked up the game and were starting to give me a run for my money! I enjoyed having them over and spending time with them.

How could I not love mixing together two things I enjoy - kids and cooking! I'm thankful for the fun kids that I get to spend time with (and their parents too)!

Weekend Visitors!

My cousin Katrina and her husband Jorge came to visit me last weekend. Katrina and Jorge are both doing a one year program in Madrid, Spain for their masters. Since they're close we've been talking about meeting up...and this past weekend it finally happened. They arrived Friday morning and we filled the rest of the weekend with lots of fun and new things.

Friday we headed into Cascais to see if we could find bikes for rent that I've been told about. Turns out they are free for the day after you fill out the paperwork! We only had about an hour with the bikes since it was later in the day so I took Katrina and Jorge to Boca do Inferno -- the Mouth of Hell. Overall the weather was beautiful and they sky an amazing blue. We dodged a few raindrops here and there...but on our way back we saw an amazing rainbow in the sky. I tried to get a panoramic of it but was off a little as you can see. I still included it so you can see just how beautiful it was!

Saturday we decided to follow the bike path further in the same direction and enjoy the coast. The weather was great again. A little windy and cloudy but by afternoon the sun came out to stay. We rode for a while along the coast and saw a fort, lighthouses, and beautiful views. At our lunch stop we noticed a boat hanging out in the water by a buoy. There happened to be a sailing race - the Audi Cup. The buoy was one of the marks on the course. We enjoyed seeing about 15-20 different sailboats go right past us. We followed them back into Cascais on our bike ride back.

Sunday I took Jorge and Katrina to Sintra. We got a day bus pass and rode into Sintra. Our first stop was the National Palace - a beautiful building. There are two cone shaped chimneys on the outside. After touring through we realized that the kitchens have the large chimneys to send all the smoke and heat up. We continued on the bus up to the Moorish castle. It was fun to walk along the walls and see the city down below. We finished the day by riding the trian into Lisbon for a quick walk through the touristy area before heading back to Cascais.

I'm so glad that Katrina and Jorge came. It was great to catch up with them and have a mini family reunion! My parents will be the next visitors in just under a month...I can't wait! :O)

Field Trip

My class has been begging me to go on a field trip since the beginning of the year. I finally planned one to the Discovery Park - a planetarium and outdoor creation museum but when over half my class decided not to go I was left with 3 students going and we didn't have enough to make the minimum. Plan B was suggested by Pastor Carlos - we went to the Maritime Museum. Mr. Pedro was our bus driver and tour guide for the day!

The kids enjoyed seeing models and replicas of many different kinds of ships from the time of the explorers. There was even a special exhibit on the Somalian Pirates. We also saw some fishing boats and even one boat that was used to transport the Queen. It took 80 men to row it! Another highlight of the museum was seeing the airplane that made the first transatlantic flight from Portugal to Brazil.

After the museum we had lunch in a park across the street. The kids enjoyed playing for a while - and we had a photo shoot.

We enjoyed tasting some of the traditional pastries from Belem and finished off the day seeing the discovery tower.There's a map of the world on the floor. Each of my students are standing by their home country. The tower has Vasco da Gama as well as other explorers.

It was a good field trip and a great way to finish the week.

Cooking Com Karen - Chicken Pasta Salad

Early last week our temperatures were up in the 80s so I was inspired to make my first pasta salad of the spring/summer. This weekend it's turned cold again so it seems a little weird to post this but Allison's been bugging me to put up another "Cooking Com Karen"....so here it is.

Ingredients: chicken, pasta, mayo, ranch packet (or your own seasonings/salad dressing - the Portuguese don't have much ), cucumber, tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, salami...

Boil water and cook pasta till tender

Cook the chicken, onions, add mushrooms for the last few minutes

Mix together the ranch packet, mayo, oil, and other seasonings as desired

Cut up toppings - cucumber, tomato, salami, chicken

Mix together all ingredients and chill in the fridge for a few hours or till the next day

Bon appetit!

Ponderings on the Path

I've been delinquent in blogging. The past few weeks have flown by. There have been lots of things on my mind lately but I haven't made it to my blog. Many of you may already know but I have decided not to stay for another year in Portugal. I'll be headed back to Rochester at the end of June. This year has been a great learning experience in many different ways! I'm thankful for that.

I don't know what my job will be when I return home, but I am planning to take a break from teaching. I've been working on getting my resume ready and beginning the job search on line. I'm usually the type of person who likes to have all the plans made and knows exactly what I'm getting into. This year has been great in teaching me patience, faith, and trust. God has been my source of strength, provider, and sustainer in numerous ways! I like to run ahead and tend to worry when I don't have all the answers. I'm happy to say that I feel at peace knowing that God has a plan for me, including a job, when I get back home. It's ok for me to not have all the answers; I just need to have patience and keep trusting. God has brought me this far and been with me each step of the way - I know He'll continue to be with me in the weeks and months ahead.

My students finished taking SAT tests this past week and I wrapped up my last chapel of the month. I was inspired to read Crazy Love by Francis Chan after hearing about it from some friends back home and used that to share in chapel (I'd definitely recommend the book). The book has been very thought provoking and caused me to think about the direction of my life. God longs for us to want to serve Him, not to be lukewarm or conform to the world, but to have a correct perspective of eternity and be obsessed with Jesus. I can get so caught up in the here and now that I miss out on what God has for me. A final thought from the last chapter of the book is this: "How we live our days is...how we live our lives. We each need to discover for ourselves how to live this day in faithful surrender to God as we "continue to work out [our] salvation with fear and trembling." (Phil 2:12)" Am I making choices today that lead me down the right path and allow me to experience God's joy and peace?