Windstorm 2006

So I live next to the ocean, which can have a crazy effect on the weather sometimes! We all know that the more coastal you are, the more you are in for wind and rain...but nobody mentioned anything about hurricane force winds, and sideways rain that leaks into your apartment through the tiny cracks in the window casing! :) It's been rainy here all week and we just dealt with it because...well...it's the rainy season, and that's what it does! Last night however the wind started to blow and then it just got stronger, and stronger and eventually things were getting launched against our windows. So that was a little scary, which made us think..."hmmm, let's tell ghost stories." So there we were right in the middle of one when the power goes out sending us all into the middle of the room in a screaming frenzy! Eventually the power came back on, but then went back out again like 4 times. Finally we just decided that we should go to bed! :)
It was blowing and rainy all night and all day today so I'm sure the farmers are happy...but us teachers are not! What are we going to do with our kids if this doesn't clear up? :)

Life can't be all bad when you have this kind of view!

That's what I have to keep reminding myself.
Well, we've had a week to settle in and in that time I have discovered a lot about life out here in the country! First and foremost, that roosters really do crow when the sun rises and just about every other time of the day and night as well! :) Second, that living so close to school is really great for someone who tends to be a procrastinator like me! If I need something that I forgotten I can just run home and get it! Or if I just need chocolate, which is what happened to me today, again...home is just a 2 minute walk away. There are many pro's to living here, and there are a few cons as well, but it is starting to slowly come together. As in any move there is always a little transitions pains, but I certainly love my new apartment! I put an album on my picture page with more pictures of the apartment, so make sure you check it out!

Belated Moving Day Pics

This is the front door of my first place in Morocco! The following pictures are the ones I should have taken ages ago when I first moved in...but when I was leaving I realized it might be my only chance so I hope you enjoy!
This is the view from the front of our apartment...yes I should have taken this picture before, but I didn't want to look wierd in my new neighborhood...now that I'm leaving however, I'll be the biggest photo taking tourist! :)

Here's the outside of our favorite haniut. It was right on the corner and so convienant.

Here's Heather and I with our favorite Haniut guy. We already greatly miss our haniut. They really had everything that we needed except for produce and meat. It's wonderful when you can walk into a store and the people behind the counter just know what you are going to get and have it ready for you! If only Fred Meyer could be the same way! :)
Here's Heather taking a picture of the sheep market in our old neighborhood.

Moving day!

Well, the big day has come! We are finally moving onto campus housing. As you might remember, we were originally going to move in about 2-3 weeks after we got here...5 months later that's actually happening! :)
It's a little bittersweet to be leaving the neighborhood that we are finally getting used to and to all the shopkeepers that we've finally gotten to understand us. I guess the adventure will just continue with a new haniut guy! ;)
There are a lot of good things about our future abode, first and foremost, we'll have dryers so all of our clothes will finally go back to their normal size! We'll also have an ocean view, dishwasher, all new appliances, and we will be about 5 minutes from school so we can sleep in!
I'll post pictures as soon as I have some and I'm back online-that's a slight drawback we aren't sure about super reliable internet at the new sight but it seems to work okay, we've just been spouled with ADSL here at the apartment. Keep us in your thoughts as we are making this new transition!

Surprised

That was definitely the theme of this holiday season! :)
Paul bought me a ticket home for Christmas a few months ago and I was able to keep it a surprise from mostly everyone! So it was fun to be able to surprise people who totally didn't expect to see me. I loved everyone's double take! The best was Stephanie's, but since I've told the story a million times because I'm so proud of my accomplishment in surprising her (and because it's not nearly as good written down) I'll leave it at that. (Aren't you so proud of me honey?)




The second surprise is that I'M ENGAGED! Yes, that's right! I am engaged. Despite the fact that everyone told me Paul was going to propose over Christmas, I had kind of talked myself out of the idea. Then Thursday the 22nd he asked me, I of course said yes, and now we are engaged! My ring is a beautiful round diamond solitaire that Paul's dad made (well the band anyway). Most importantly, it's super shiny and sparkle-y which were some of my only qualifications! :)
It made coming back to Morocco ALOT harder, but fortunatley we are planning a trip together in April so it's only 3 months, not 6 months like last time. Paul has been so supportive through this whole time and I feel so amazingly blessed that I get to be his wife soon! P.S. don't ask us when the date is, we are just concentrating on getting through the next few months until I'm home! :)
Anway, enough mushy girly stuff! :) Fortunatley for me my sister and her friend Hadley got here the same day as I did and we have been having a great time together! We celebrated New Year's in Marrackesh and just got back from that crazy trip. Check out my picture page for a couple new albums!
I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday! If I didn't get to see you in Alaska, know that I was thinking about you! I wish that there was 48 hours in everyday so that I could have made time last longer. I'll be home in June though and we'll go for coffee or something! :)