home sweet home

Well, it's officially been just over a week since we got home from the land down under. 

We are jet-lag free (finally), temperature acclimated, and thankful.

Thankful because we love our life in Texas, but a little sad because we loved our "life" in Australia. After we talked about it, we realized that we miss it so much because it was somewhere we could see ourselves. We made a life, a routine there. We knew the local shops, the baristas, and the things tourists don't have time to find out. Colin will be going back and forth over this next year, and I'm thankful that I got the chance to see where he will be doing life for a few months. 

Our flight home was, well, l-o-n-g. Coming home always takes "longer" doesn't it?! 26 hours of flying brought on some serious cankles. Like to the point that the shoes I wore ON the airplane wouldn't fit when we got OFF the airplane. The shoes were tennis shoes people; those are like to go-to shoes for swollen feet. Convinced pregnancy will not be a pretty thing. Maxi dresses and barefoot? We will have to time this correctly.

I'm also kind of disappointed my large consumption of sweet potatoes, butternut squash, pumpkin, and other orange winter veggies didn't produce a tan orange glow like I had when I was a baby. That's right, I had jaundice. So did Col. Future Baby Dismuke, get excited. You'll look great in orange. 

Oh my gosh, I am so thankful for ice water! It's like the restaurants in Australia have some vendetta against ice. Really, guys, it's pretty fantastic. It gets people to drink more water. Straws aren't a bad idea either. Lukewarm tap water was always available, but no ice. Or straws. Especially crushed ice! Is it odd I'm crunching on some now? Mmmmmmm

After a week home, a few exercise, ice cream, and coffee dates later, I decided that I should buck up and clean the house. But I don't wantttt toooooooo! I mean it's not like we were here dirtying it up. False. You know who was? Spiders. 17 cobwebs I vacuumed up. ONE-SEVEN. I mean how long have we been gone? Cobwebs happen in haunted houses with dead bodies under the floorboards. Couple that with dog hair summer shedding. You get the picture. Picking out the hair from the vacuum bristles almost sent me to the place of no return. 

I won't blame you if you just gagged. In fact, I probably gagged enough for every single person who will read this. Translation: this should never happen when you're vacuuming your own house. Be more diligent about cleaning the floors. Point taken. Exterminator called.

And then One's all like "let me bark and try to eat the vacuum while your trying to clean up my hair." Perfect. Thanks pup. 

The Dismukes are happy to be HOME! 

reflections

Tonight we are leaving on a jet plane bound for the humidity and summer of Texas. 

And our family, puppy, friends, and littles.

We are excited to get home, but I also quietly cried when I first woke up this morning, because this place, this journey, will always hold such a special place in our hearts.

Words just cannot express how grateful we are that this opportunity was ours. Further proof of Colin's dedicated work ethic, his intentional nature, his loyalty to his company, and his trustworthiness to be their "hands and feet" in a country they are trying to expand into. And further confirmation that being his wife is the greatest privilege in this world. 

..favorites..

place

his: margaret river

hers: primary classrooms

food

his: boranup forest cafe scones with jam and cream

hers: greenhouse's chickpea, okra, and sweet potato tagine (or just anything at greenhouse)

coffee

his: espresso at elixir coffee specialists

hers: soy cappuccino at chalky's

simple

his: being with you weather

hers: being with you laid back-ness 

restaurant

his: van's sidewalk cafe in cottesloe 

hers: greenhouse in perth 

reading

his: these days by jack cheng

hers: graduate school textbooks the shame of the nation:the restoration of apartheid schooling in america by jonathan kozol (riveting, I know...)

more please:

his: bike rides

hers: running and reading with aussie littles

..reflections..

rhubarb is one of my new favorite things. compote will be made frequently in our house now to top our muesli. 

still water is NOT the same as tap water. yes, you'll have to pay for it and feel like you need to drink the whole bottle so that $6 will be worth it.

wine headaches are the worst.

count the moments, not the places.

colin smiles and laughs when he listens to podcasts when he runs. 

kangaroos are the most intriguing, odd animal i've ever meet. t-rex rabbit deer at it's finest.

you should definitely marry your best friend. one month of almost zero separation makes sure that you stay friends and not just married. 

you become extremely resourceful when you are not working in your own kitchen and really only have fine china, a few knives, no bowls, and an oven in degrees celsius. 

there's something magical about running alongside a beach in the crisp, salty air that makes you never want to stop. 

we cannot wait to come back. leaving part of our heart in this special, wonderful, magical place.

primary school chronicles

It has come to my attention that stellar primary schools here are quite the norm. 

I'm very much a "show me" person, so the opportunities that I have had here to sit in, participate, and just breathe the same air in these schools have sparked ideas that I cannot wait to bring back to my own littles.

For one of my graduate school classes, I was asked to write my personal philosophy of education. "Easy," I thought, "I did that as part of my entrance requirements. I dug it out of Dropbox, read through it, and realized how much it had changed. Part of the beauty of teaching is that you are constantly being refined through reflections and meaningful interactions with others and experiences. 

And each time I visit a school here, I feel like I need to add a little bit more to my philosophy.

I would be nowhere if it weren't for the outpouring of things shared from other teachers, so I hope that my blogs during my time here about a few exceptional schools can be shared to encourage you.

Here are a few little peeks from my time at Lance Holt Primary School serving 120 littles pre-primer to year seven.

Our morning started early with a kindy through year two morning meeting. A kid led the meeting first opening it by "declaring this meeting in session", asking about any "business" anyone might have to share, and "declaring this meeting adjourned." All with a lisp. Precious. How neat that multiple grade levels (or just a whole grade level) meet together a few times a week? What a sense of family that promotes, not only in the classroom, but throughout the school.

I floated through some kindy-year two classrooms for the day, just soaking up how the teachers interacted with their littles. Voices were calm and learning was stimulated. 

The kindy kids had an hour of "free play" that they could choose centers, travel inside and outside freely, and meet with the teacher. Children had dinosaur tails strapped to their bodies, a sweet boy put on a pink princess dress and began reading, Alessandra grabbed a book and began making words on the light box, and the teacher sat criss-cross meeting students where they were at. 

Then I ventured into the year one and two combined class, which was one basically one large area with two teachers and an aid. 

Did I mention that in their studies of sizes they are building a life-size giraffe our of newspaper and PVC? Yeah, that was happening too. 

Love their math work. Love that classroom library.

(What is 1,000? bulletin board)

(Easy access to manipulatives)

Such a wonderful day in a wonderful school.