Its about time...

Wow. So as most of you know, I am not good at keeping up with things. Looking back and seeing that I have only written once since in my permanent site, and it hasn't been since January! So to all of you who like to follow whats been going on I am sorry for that! Instead of writing n extravagant amount of information I will recap with 5 updates.

#1: I am now an aunt! Most of you already know this though. When I found out I was doing dishes at Marks and started crying. It wasnt the response Rebecca was looking for, and it confused Mark on if he should be happy for me, or if he should respond some other way! It was a hard time for me because as being my only sister and her first baby I was supposed to be there. I had told her before I left that she had to wait til I came back, but obviously they couldnt!

Madison Noel McGee was born July 30th. Wow, that was a hard day. I woke up for work and saw my mom was still on skype, she tells me Rebeccas water broke and tey were going to Boise! I tried to go to work, walking through town crying, which I am sure everyone was looking at the crazy American thinking what in the...?!? 2 minutes later, I couldnt make it to work, so I turned around and went back home, got comfortable and cried all day! I am so happy to be an aunt, but it is very bittersweet as I see her change only through pictures and skype.

#2: Went to Istanbul twice. Mark and I went for our first trip in March. We spent 4 days there and it was amazing. It is about 15 million people and the biggest place Ive ever traveled. We took a night bus, and arrived early on a thursday morning, so tired that Mark fell asleep drinking a coffee at Starbucks! I cant describe what a trip like that was like. You know you are in another country. Hearing the call to prayer throughout the day, eating incredible food, and seeing things that I had only dreamt of, it was incredible! The downside...I had started breaking out in hives and rashes that continued getting worse as the trip went on! It was a mess, and very miserable, but despite that I fell in love and took my parents back this summer.

The trip with my parents was much different though. Little did we know that it was Rhamadan and half the tourist sites were closed, the rest were incredibly busy and packed. It was a different trip but we had a good time, despite me almost getting us lost. As much as I enjoy Istanbul and want to go back, I wat to see the rest of the world too. Istanbul will alway be that first great pleace to me though, and the first place I had Starbucks in almost a year!

#3: Meeting Marks parents. This summer was a great time. The weather was great, a lot more free time and I was a lot busier and less lonely. First Mark's best friend and his wife from the states came to visit! It was a great break from bulgarian life and also a big sep in Mark and my relationship, to meet such important people to him. After that was Marks birthday and a Metallica concert! It was a little weird being someplace where the people knew the words better then you, but had no idea what they were saying! It was a lot of fun though!

In August Marks parents came to Bulgaria for a week. They rented a van and a coworker from Marks work drove us around. Little did we know how much stress that would end up being. We traveled o Marks host family, and to most of the bigger cities, it was a great way meeting his parents. The driver ended up not being like what we thought he woudl be. There were days he wouldnt talk to us, if he didnt get his way and times when he would just ignore Mark and I on where we were going. It was very stressful with him. To top it off, Mark got food poisoning half way through the week! It was overall a great trip meeting his family and seeing more of Bulgaria. I think we can all agree though that we are excitd to travel to places in the future where Mark and I dont translate and we can all relax!

#4: About a month after Marks parents came, my parents came to visit. I had planned quite a bit in advance for where we were staying and when we would travel, as we were traveling with public transportation. We traveled around Bulgaria in bus, train, and cars, it was an adventure! They were here for about 18 days and Mark was able to spend about half that with us off and on. We went to my host families and stayed, which I think was one of the highlights of my parents trip. We went to a few smaller towns that I had never been to before, and some I had just been to with Marks parents. It was a great trip filled with goodies (my mom brought me a suitcase full of stuff!) and just relaxing, being able to show my parents what my life has been for the past year.

I think for us when we go back to the states, its going to help in adjusting that our parents at least saw a little glimpse of what our life was here. It was great seeing our parents, but it was almost harder saying goodbye this time ause we were the ones staying behind and we still had a year left ahead of us! We have decided to come home for 2 weeks in April though, so that will help this last year go by even faster.

#5: I'm engaged! As you all, or most of you know, Mark and I met in Philly for the start of Peace Corps. We sat next to each other on the plane ride over,and we were in the same training site for the first 3 months. This past year has not been easy in having a relationship as we live about 7 hours apart and can see each other only every couple of weeks. This summer with us meeting each others parents, I knew he would ask my parents for their permission, but I had no idea he would ask me to marry him while we were still in Peace Corps. While on the trip with my parents, in a town on the Black sea called Sozopol, he asked me. I had no idea except that he was acting really weird! It had ben raining, which he was stressing about. As a guy from Seattle I thought that was kinda odd. He bought the ring in the Cezch Republic. It was to big so I sent it home for right now to be safe. We are now planning the wedding for February 6th 2010!

So, my life has changed quite a bit since Ive last written. As Thanksgiving and the holidays approach, Im glad that these will be my last holidays here. Work continues to be mostly like last yer, a ot of English and just spending time with the kids. I now work at the kindergarten twice a week teaching English, and Im hoping in January that we will start a program on aggression. Aside from that I'm still just trying to adjust and live here. There have been no otehr problems with my apartment, like last year, aside from having my refridgerator taken at the beginning of the summer for 2 months. Other then that, I am looking forward to getting home, meeting my niece, getting married and starting a new phase of my life!

Again, I am sorry for no writting in so long, and that it was a little bit longer then I intended, even with just 5 updates! I promise to try to write more often in the future! Again though, thank you everyone for the support this last year! If it wasnt for you I wouldnt have been able to get through it all! As of now there are about 10 months left to go! Hope to talk to you all soon!