playing catch up

Thanks, grandma, for reminding me it's been since November since I've posted. Shame on me!

I promise we've been busy - Tyler got home from a month long trip to Singapore and our December flew by. Before we knew it, we were celebrating our first Christmas away from family and ringing in our 6th new year together, and our 5th wedding anniversary. I've had time off from school in January and February, so Tyler was also able to take the same days off so we could travel. January took us to the temples of Cambodia and the islands of the Philippines. Last week we skied the most powder we've ever seen, it only took a trip to Hokkaido, Japan for that to happen! I've also been told that's all Tyler wants for his birthday, so it sounds like I'm off the hook for March! ;)

I've also finished a school year with the Korean high school and will be starting their next on March 2nd. It was entertaining attending their graduation ceremony, of course I didn't understand any of it, but it was a neat experience. This drum performance was done by a few of the special education students.

It's hard to believe that I have 3 short months left teaching and then we'll be off to Minnesota for Little Brother's wedding! I will also be able to stay for Maria's on June 20th - it was so thoughtful of them to plan their weddings around me ;)

Here are some favorite pictures of our last couple months: (and thanks to my awesome uploading skills, they are in no particular order)

We saw a crocodile farm in Cambodia. The babies are the ones that get sold - these mamas and papas are just there for breeding until they get too old (what happens then, I don't know)

My little brother got engaged to his sweet girlfriend, Taylor. We can't wait for her to be a part of the family and I am so excited for their wedding this June!

This was outside a market on our bike tour in Cambodia. A herd of water buffalo had just passed through which explains the...brown stuff...

This was probably the most amazing sunset I have ever seen. We were on a remote island in the Philippines on our sailing trip and were absolutely amazed.

this was our home for 5 days. We sailed around the islands, camped out and didn't see any other tourists the entire time. We met amazing people and I still can't believe how lucky we were to go on this trip.

Tao Expeditions has a farm where they get all the produce for the boats - we stayed at the farm one night and were able to meet the founders and see what amazing work they've been doing for the local villages.

Tyler couldn't get over their cooking method - an old barrel fueled by bamboo.

This is a pretty good depiction of what the days looked like on the boat. There was a lot of reading and chatting.

Emerick, a crew member from the islands.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia at sunset

It took me until the last day to figure out what an awesome nap spot this was at the front of the boat.

We saw over 10 temples in two days in Siem Reap. And were always back in time for an afternoon of relaxing by the pool.

I couldn't get over this lady and her daughter, traipsing across the temple lawns with their rolly suitcases and taking pictures with her ipad.

Many, many tourists. Apparently January is (not) a good time to visit.

Tyler climbed the ladder to bring you this selfie of him and the sailboat.

On January 28, my sister gave me a nephew. He is Luke William and perfect in every way (says the person who doesn't have to get up in the middle of the night with him). It kills me I won't get to hold him until the end of May, but hopefully by then he will appreciate all the toys I'll bring him and I'll win favorite Auntie.

Ikea Seoul opened in December so I ventured there one day with a couple friends and baby Jack. After driving in the wrong direction for twice as long as it takes to get there, we were finally enjoying the Scandinavian furniture and Swedish meatballs.

This boy at one of the temples was too cute to not take a picture of.

We walked through the local market on our bike tour outside of Siem Reap and saw a lady in the beginning stages of making coconut milk.

We also watched this lady eat her corn on the cob with the same dirty hands with which she was handling all that raw meat.

This lady was grinding up all the parts of fish people don't usually buy and sells it like ground beef. I think we have something similar in the form of hot dogs, right? :)

This was the little town of Coron, where we left on our sailing trip.

This was our little hut on our last night, tucked up in the trees. The mosquito net was a lifesaver and those mattresses were way more comfortable than they look.

My students made Valentines and these were my favorites, especially "I wish you healthy body"

We crossed "skiing in Japan" off the bucket list. The first two days there was so much snow and wind that most of the lifts were shut down. We still enjoyed the fresh powder, though!

This is not a great picture of it but this was literally the most snow I have ever seen in my life.

There is a cozy bar behind this refrigerator door. We both had to hunch way over to get through.

Taking a little longer lunch break than Tyler...

Our dinner view was half street and half snow :)

On the 3rd day, the snow stopped, the sky cleared and we were finally able to see the beautiful volcano that was in front of us the whole time.

I think that about sums it up! Our winter here in Korea has been cold - it's been several years since we've experienced a real winter and it has definitely taken getting used to. We reached our 1 year mark of living here on February 10 and while I feel like we've missed a lifetime of occasions back home (including my sweet grandpa's 90th birthday in December), the last year has gone by so fast. We will be finding out our next assignment soon and before we know it, summer will be here. I am so thankful to be surrounded by friends who make Korea feel a lot more like home. Of course, this would be a millions times harder without skype and facetime. 

Thanks for reading!