best of 09 : the end

hope everyone had a very merry christmas :) i am enjoying my nice long break! and excited that i have a week off still! yay! another reason why i love teaching.

christmas was the usual family affairs, quite crazy and wacky. but it is family so what else is expected. i knew all of my christmas presents except one - but i had a great time shopping with my mom to get them all so that was fun. the one thing i really wanted was a new strand of pearls which i helped pick out. and i also got a few seasons of friends on dvd (so now i own all 10 seasons), clothes, and my surprise was the national parks book based on the ken burns series that aired a few month ago on pbs. so that was exciting! and my bro and sister got me a new ZTA sweatshirt, which i'm excited about because i wear sweatshirts all the time around the house and my older one is from my sophomore year of college.

so i've realized i've kinda neglected the best of 09 challenge. so here is the second half of the challenge. oops! i also still need to write my 2009 in review, which is always one of my favorite posts of the year!

December 16 Tea of the year. I can taste my favorite tea right now. What's yours?

this is a silly questions. barry's gold blend irish tea. i received a big package of my favorite tea and tea biscuits yesterday from one of my irish friends :)

December 17 Word or phrase. A word that encapsulates your year. "2009 was _____."

a year in transition. from leaving ireland in march and getting a real job in september, it has been one AMAZING year with adventure and fun from ireland (and all over europe) to connecticut, washington dc and new jersey.

December 18 Shop. Online or offline, where did you spend most of your money?

ummm.. does the gas station count? haha. i guess that is what i get for driving up and down the east coast all the time.

December 19 Car ride. What did you see? How did it smell? Did you eat anything as you drove there? Who were you with?

ummm, so many to choose from. i loved the one with amy and jeanne for the crew reunion. or my solo one down to chestertown. or the many drives down to dc this summer. but i loved the one in march up to connecticut for the first time in my car and knowing i was moving in with amy.

December 20 New person.She came into your life and turned it upside down. He went out of his way to provide incredible customer service. Who is your unsung hero of 2009?

how do i choose? i met so many people this year. from everyone in washington dc including my crazy co-workers to my current and amazing co-social studies teachers who have been amazing and soooo helpful! or the hundreds of students who i sang tswift and miley too all summer while teaching them about the government, or my amazing students right now in my class who are helping me become an inspiring teacher?

December 21 Project. What did you start this year that you're proud of?

hmm. i bought stuff and printed out pictures for my washington college scrapbook. too bad i've only done about 3 pages. maybe next year on that one.

December 23 Web tool. It came into your work flow this year and now you couldn't live without it. It has simplified or improved your online experience.

i hate to say it but twitter. if i'm not following you leave your name in a comment! i'm erinkoko.

December 24 Learning experience. What was a lesson you learned this year that changed you?

this whole year was a lesson that things do work out. i started out last january knowing i had 3 months left in ireland... and the rest was unknown. and the last 9 months since i stepped back onto US soil have been incredible and everything has worked out. even when it was mid-july and i didn't have a teaching job yet.

December 25 Gift. What's a gift you gave yourself this year that has kept on giving?

a plane ticket back to the US. or my new mac. which i <3!

December 26 Insight or aha! moment. What was your epiphany of the year?

isn't this similar to lesson? i guess don't ever give up on yourself and that everything is an experience and to make the best of it.

December 27 Social web moment. Did you meet someone you used to only know from her blog? Did you discover Twitter?

there are so many bloggers i'd LOVE to meet, but i haven't had that opportunity yet. but i do love twitter, though i jumped on the bandwagon late.

December 28 Stationery. When you touch the paper, your heart melts. The ink flows from the pen. What was your stationery find of the year?

i love stationary from target. especially since i love to write real letters, i love cute and reasonably prices stationary!

December 29 Laugh. What was your biggest belly laugh of the year?

ummm, probably all the danish ghost fun in mystic. or the entire summer in dc. i seriously laughed for 7 weeks straight.

December 31 Resolution you wish you'd stuck with. (You know, there's always next year...) to turn my thesis into an article and get it published. pretty much everything else on my 2009 goal list was achieved.

so there is the 2009 blog challenge :) it was a fun way to look back and think about what i've done in 2009..

and i forgot about this. before christmas my dad came home from work and was like make him christmasy. so i created a cloak and hat for the crow.

ahhhhh!

umm, so last week quickly went out of control. like from 15-60 in about 12 hours. i just had SO MUCH stuff to do! and like no time.

wednesday was a snow day. we got like 4 inches of super wet heavy snow, and up by school they got about 7 inches. and then it rained and made life gross. it was nice, though i hate using a snow day up in december. i slept, which was glorious. and then graded 40 world war II propaganda projects which took forever! and then thursday was test day, so i now had 100 tests to grade on world war II and antebellum america. and thursday i also ran practice, and i made my skiers do our crazy ab workout from college, haha! and then i went to the christmas concert at school. and i also had to make sure i had sub plans in order. i swear that is just as much work! because on friday i was going on the model congress field trip. so i was just like sjfsgkkdgkdkfdkfd.... and then i went to connecticut for the weekend to see the fabulous roomie and other mystic friends.

and i just finished grading the last few tests because progress reports are due tuesday morning at 9am. so tomorrow i need to go in slightly early and enter the grades, i just finished grading. and when my one class was like are we getting tests back and i said, no i didn't get to finish yours - i responded with sorry i had a life this weekend. i don't sit around all weekend grading tests, i like the weekends just as much as you guys do. they laughed. and i am so glad this is the last full week before christmas. i am soooo looking forward to 10 days off. and maybe i'll get some stuff ready in advance, so the next chapters will be easier? and with midterms and everything. ahhhh, so much going on. but i love it.

so i've been neglecting the best of 09. so here is the last week! how did that happen? eeek!

December 8 Moment of peace. An hour or a day or a week of solitude. What was the quality of your breath? The state of your mind? How did you get there?

moment of peace? all the long car drives i've made this year. i do a lot of thinking in the car alone, while rocking out to my favorite music and just wondering. or popping into my favorite coffee shop in cork - tribes on rainy sundays with a great book to just sit and relax for a few hours.

December 9 Challenge. Something that really made you grow this year. That made you go to your edge and then some. What made it the best challenge of the year for you?

best challenge is a tie between moving back to the states and my first few months teaching. both have been extremely rewarding and oh so challenging. but i love it. i'm so happy i'm back in the classroom and that moving back to the us has been as amazing as it has. honestly 2009 has just been incredible.

December 10 Album of the year. What's rocking your world?

ummmm, i think you know this. but taylor's fearless. i know it came out in november 2008, but it has honestly been my soundtrack this year.

thought for one in 2009 i'm quite fond of the glee soundtrack (yes, i went there)

December 11 The best place. A coffee shop? A pub? A retreat center? A cubicle? A nook?

ummm, best place... i can't choose. there are too many places i've loved. from ireland to my travels around europe to connecticut, dc, philly, maryland, new jersey....

December 12 New food. You're now in love with Lebanese food and you didn't even know what it was in January of this year.

red wine. wasn't a big red wine fan until the roomie and i went to spain in january. now it is almost all i drink! especially spanish red wine. now i want a glass.

December 13 What's the best change you made to the place you live?

ummmm, i lived in 4 different places this year.

cork, ireland - mystic, ct - westpark hotel - new jersey

December 14 Rush. When did you get your best rush of the year?

best rush. getting the phone call 4 hours after my interview offering me the teaching job. i was completely shocked and couldn't believe that i was going to be teaching this fall! it was so surreal!

how is everyone's week? i can't believe christmas is so close! my students remind me everyday! and i'm excited for this weekend and seeing my love in philly! yay :)

night :)

best of 09: blog

best of 09 blog challenge

december 7: blog find of the year... the gem of a blog you didn't know about until this year...

i read a lot of great blogs... and most of them i started reading in 2009, i joined 20sb at the end of 2008 and have loved it. so a few of my favs.

jess at classy in philadelphia

rachel at confessions of a jersey girl

amy at the manhattan transfer

lucy the valiant

jlc at french kiss

sharon at sharon's space

jess at everyday adventures

so if you aren't reading these lovely ladies you should be :)

so loooots going on, but i'm tired. saw the blindside tonight and loved it. anyone else see it?

best of 09: conference

continuing on with the best of 09 challenge

December 6 - Workshop or Conference. Was there a conference or workshop you attended that was especially beneficial? Where was it? What did you learn?

ummmm, even though i was working at this conference and not a participant i'd have to go with what i did in dc this summer. working with over 300 amazing high school students from around the US and then around the world was an AMAZING experience. i learned so much from them, but it gave me the experience to teach high schoolers in a fun way and to let my slightly crazy self come out and be completely passionate about history and the government. i gained a lot from this experience when i did the program in high school and even more as a facilitator getting to provide this experience for high schoolers.also my co-workers were pretty awesome.

my global kids in the united nations debating world peace

national kids at my favorite tj in dc

annnnnnnnd i just bought tickets to see riverdance in nyc in march! a little happy st. patrick's day and a celebration of irish love, plus march is when i moved back to the states, so just something to remind me of my favorite place. also it is the farewell tour, they've been around since 1995, and it will be cool to see them in radio city for the last time, since it was their first show in the US. so yay for that :) and though michael flatley won't be performing it makes me laugh because i met him in 2005 in cork, and then last year we were on the same flight once from cork to london.

how was everyone's weekend? any good plans this week?

best of 09: night out

December 5. Night out. Did you have a night out with friends or a loved one that rocked your world. Who was there? What was the highlight of the night?

I had a bunch of great nights in 2009. But my favorite would probably be clubs and socs 2009. it was pretty much my unofficial going away party in ireland. it was my last week in ireland and all of my coworkers and mountaineering friends were going, along with brenda and other people i knew so it was a great night of dressing up, lots of free alcohol, a great theme, dancing and laughing. it was my unofficial going away party because all my coworkers were there and i kinda planned when i was going home by this night, because they are always sooo much fun! i was also called up and thanked for my work the last 2 years by the societies which was a huge surprise and was given the most gorgeous bouquet of flowers!

with brenda, one of my good friends

little bit of fun with the coworkers

runners up:

last night with my dc coworkers

amy's birthday

uuuuuughhhhhh. it is snowing, like we have about 2 inches right now. grrrrrr. i've had enough of winter. it can go away now. went christmas shopping with my mom, and pretty much picked out most of my presents. haha. i picked out a new strand of pearls and then gap was having MAJOR sales. all tops and sweaters were buy one get one free.... which is dangerous. so i ended up with 3 sweaters, 2 tops and 3 skirts. so that was fun :) i wanted to show pictures, but gap.com doesn't have a lot of the items, weird.

watching the florida-alabama game and grading. i wanted to get started on christmas cards, but didn't get to target. if you want a christmas card send me an email with your address :)

best of 09: song...

December 3 Song. What's song that that blew you away? That you shared with all your friends. That reminds you of the year 2009?

umm ok, so i changed the prompt... it was article of the year, but i can't think of an article i read off the top of my head, i don't have anything in particular bookmarked, so i'm doing song.

And I'm narrowing it down to two songs. both i feel i'e been listening to most of the year and both i can think of a handful of memories that make me laugh.

just dance - lady gaga

from first hearing it on the radio at work in ireland last january and then it was the unofficial theme song for amy's trip to ireland when i was car dancing, windows rolled down every time it came on when i'm driving for the first time on the other side of the road, to it being my 5 minute warning this summer at the conferences and a big pump up song on the way to work in the morning. plus... just dance, good idea :)

love story - taylor swift

ok while i may have first heard this song when her cd came out in november 2008 buuuut it reminds me of 2009 more. from playing it on repeat all the time in ireland and getting my co-workers and irish friends to like her. the week before i left ireland hearing it on irish radio! and then it was the theme song i feel to my spring in connecticut. i can't tell you how many times we sung it at the top of our lungs while drinking margaritas... or just drinking in general. also it was one of my songs i was always dancing and singing to this summer at the conferences.. and i wrote a blog post about it last january and i've also created a t.swift blog label...

so i feel like while there have been a lot of great songs this year those two just stick out in my mind as songs that remind me of this year :)

what would your "song" of 2009 be?

best of 09: restaurant

December 2 - restaurant Share the best restaurant experience you had this year. Who was there? What made it amazing? What taste stands out in your mind?

hmmmm.... i can't think of anything that immediately pops into my mind. but i did looove all of the amazing italian food in italy :) so that is going to be my favorite restaurant experience.... italy. though i was alone, so maybe one of my last nights in cork with brenda when we went out to an amazing restaurant in cork and spent over 4 hours talking. oops!

absolutely amazing dinner in the plazzo vecchio overlooking the uffizi in florence

a great cannoli and wine... where i was asked out by my waiter

gelato in venice

the most amazing pizza ever in venice

blog challenge: best of 2009

so something on the 20sb blog caught my eye and we're going to see if i can do this.

it is the best of 2009 blog challenge. 31 days, 31 posts to look back on 2009 and reflect.

and as you might have guessed, 2009 was pretty awesome. like i still keep expecting to wake up and the last year has been an extremely long dream.

so december 1st is about a trip. your favorite trip in 2009.

favorite trip... where do i begin? i had some pretty awesome travels in 2009, but hands down my favorite was my college roomie coming to visit me in ireland and our trip to spain in january.

it was an amazing 10 days. showing my best friend the country i fell in love with and all over my home in cork. driving in ireland in peat the best rental car ever! and after a few hilarious adventures in eire we took a holiday in spain. i loved spain. from my interesting attempts to speak spanish, where i seemed to speak lolcat spanish, getting to see picasso's guernica, hilarious nights drinking red wine and tapas, playing in the mediterranean sea and drinking sherry... it was a trip i'll never forget and something that roomie and i'll be able to look back on and laugh :)

and for a bit of the amazing photography :)

amy and i at blarney castle

petting the fishies at the alhambra

gorgeous scenery in galway.... where i coined the term scenerygasim

amy and i at the med sea... loooved malaga

at the alhambra

runners up: italy in february or chestertown in november

venice in february

the colosseum!!

chestertown in november