First week of school

My first week is over and it was not bad at all. This summer was way more intense, I am happy to report, only because it is over. I feel great about it and I am planning on enjoying it. I only have one more semester after this one!
-Misty

First day of school

I am so glad it is the first day back for the kids. They are happy too! Adam on the other hand is Mayhem, just waiting to happen.






-Misty

Stone Mountain

Hiked Stone Mountain today. It was beautiful. A great way to end the summer. Adam said some funny things, like when we were half way up the mountain he said, "this is exactly where we started!" I wondered how often we are halfway up our mountains and think we are exactly where we started. Sometimes we dont realize what we have accomplished, or what The Lord has helped us with.


-Misty

Sunday

When I was little, my mom would help us write in our journals on Sundays. She would write what we told her and then we would draw a picture. I remember telling her to write that my baby brother liked throwing his dirty diapers at us. That same baby brother took that same journal and ripped it to pieces. I remember being devastated at losing my stories.
I tried to do this a little with our kids but I have never been very good at it. Skylers journal is much fuller than anyone elses.
Although I have not been the best at journaling for my kids, I know it is important to keep a record of our lives. I have some journals of my mothers from when I was little and it gave me a glimpse of who she was and what she hoped for. It is a priceless gift to hear her voice even after she is gone.
We never know when we will be called to our heavenly home, but it would be nice to leave a record for those you leave behind to know who you are and what you stand for.
-Misty

Momma

It would be weird to see one of the ladies that dressed my momma to be buried but two was really weird. And in the same day, super crazy weird. These are ladies that I haven't seen in years. Another strange thing, they both talked to me about it without being promoted by me. They said it was such an amazing experience. That they felt her there and they couldn't help but laugh a little because they knew she would want that. I know she would have wanted that. It has been 12.5 years since she passed away from breast cancer, but it still made me a little sad. I was supposed to dress her, she had asked me to. These ladies did not know that. We had been visiting my dad in South Georgia when we got the call. My dad and Shay did not want to wake me, she had passed just after midnight. If they had I would have made the 5 hour drive in time to dress her. I remember crying on the way back to her house, not because she was gone, but because I had not fulfilled her last wish.
My mom was amazingly strong. I fear ever being in a similar position because I know I will never be as strong as she was.
It was neat to hear the stories from these ladies and to think of the woman my momma was, I will try a little harder to make it back to her.


-Misty

The fair

Just brings back sooo many memories!








-Misty

Summer fun

I have been so busy with school that I have not done mich with the kids this summer, but I am making it up to them, hopefully.


-Misty

Jane has a talk today and she was practicing on the way to church this morning. Skyler and Adam stayed with Auntie last night so it is just the girls.


-Misty

I won

My 20 page paper won first place, I am so excited. I worked really hard on it, and I am really happy about this recognition.




-Misty

Finally

I turned in the final draft of my 20 page research paper today. It was on imprisonment for debt in 1830. I have been so busy this summer, I am excited for a break. Only 8 classes left to graduate. That makes me happy.

-Misty

Relief

I had signed up to take 3 classes this summer so that I could take 4 in the Fall and Spring and graduate in May. It was brutal and I was scared I would flunk something for sure, with the kids home all summer. Late Sunday night I decided to check my classes for some reason and realized one of the classes I signed up for I did not need and it was the last hour I could drop and get my money back. I am so relieved but that means I will have to take 5 classes this fall.

-Misty

Ataturk

The founding father of modern day Turkey is Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. At the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1922 he became president of the Turkey.
I know it is crazy that the Ottoman Empire existed in the 20th century.
He began to modernize Turkey. He did away with mandatory Islamic schooling, outlawed the wearing of headscarves, changed


their religious day from Friday to Sunday. Began emacipation for woman. He was given the name Ataturk which means 'Father of Turkey' in 1935 for all he did for the Turkish people.
He is idolized in Turkey, everywhere you go, you will see pictures of this man who changed the outcomes for woman in a Muslim country.

The brand is you

We had the chance to meet with Turgay from Saffron Consulting about creating a brand. It was probably the best visit we had because it was so interactive and no one fell asleep. Just before we arrived, we were informed that we would do an exercise that would give one of us the chance to have a page in their new book Turkey as a global brand. The winner would also be given an internship in London. They gave us 15 mins to find a picture in a magazine and write in under 60 words a brand for Turkey. It was tough.


We then had to present them to the class.
A Professor from Marmara University told me later that mine was the best! That made me happy.
I would love to win.
We then had the chance to go to the #1 late night talk show in Turkey, Disco Krali.


On the way they told us we might get to be on the show to present our pieces.
And we were.



-Misty

Biscuits

We visit anywhere from 2-5 locations a day and every one offers us baked goods that are exactly the same. Even our hotel offers them. I call them biscuits. They look big but they are actually about the size of a quarter. I am biscuited out. They are killing me. I am sure that when I am home I will want biscuits again.



-Misty

My favorite view from my room.


-Misty

Tv8

Today we went to TV8. It was great, I got to meet a Turkish talk show host who gave me her cook book, even though it is in Turkish. She said I was amazing because I have 5 kids and that I should cook them Turkish food. I also got my news anchor picture taken. It was a lot of fun.
I have tried to work on my assignments but the internet is so slow that I cant get anything done.





-Misty

 This picture made me think of Adam, because he asked me if I had a boat when we talked on the phone for the first time while I was here

 This picture made me think of Kaely because she loves the ceramic dolls and is always telling me how pretty they are.

 This picture made me think of Elly because her Belle eyes sparkle like these lights.

This picture made me think of Janers because she loves beautiful things and she is beautiful.

This picture made me think of Skyler because he asked for some crazy chips like Duck and Hoisen. I got you some by the way!!

 This picture made me think of Shay because I am no good without him.


I miss you guys like crazy and can't wait to get home to you.

Breakdown

I had a bit of a break down today.  I have never been away from my husband and kids this long.  It is difficult.  My roommate does not like me because she says I talk to her like she is a child, so she is very disrespectful and rude to me.  It is surprisingly hard to have someone treat me like that.  Especially when my roommate back home is ALWAYS telling me how wonderful I am and how appreciative he is.  I guess I have been clueless to how lucky and blessed I am.  It sure brings it to the forefront.

I miss my babies so bad, when I called them I could barely talk from crying.

I have had a very emotional day.  

Istanbul Day 2

It rained today.  My pants were disgusting on the hem from walking all over the city while it rained.  The umbrella Shay convinced me I needed and bought for me came in handy.  I was very grateful.  We have a great group of people and I have come to love everyone.  Our Turkish guides are very nervous that we will get lost or stolen and they keep a very close eye on us.

 The Evil Eye as seen on the bottom of this jewelry is thought to keep bad spirits away.  I think this is where the stink eye originated.

 The Grand Bazarre

Doner Kebap Shop

 Pigeons on a Mosque

The street we are staying on.

I have thought about all of those who donated for me to go on this trip and I am grateful. 

Coca~Cola Reception

Tonight we had a reception hosted by Coke Eurasia. It was at a beautiful location on the Bosphorus Sea. It was at a museum that held a Rembrandt-Vermeer exhibit. It was beautiful and I scored a big win by being the first to get an interview with a top executive of Coke. I miss my family but Istanbul is beautiful.






-Misty

Istanbul

We arrived in Istanbul around 2 am and I finally made it to bed when call to prayer began at 5am.  We had to be up at 8:30 am and I promised myself I wouldn't take a nap today. We started the day with 3 speakers who talked to us about the state of freedom of speech in Turkey.  They are a pretty modern society by the Middle East standards, but they have the most Journalists in prison of any country, right around 95.  They talked about the importance of freedom of speech to keep the government honest and much more transparent.  She said the fear that Journalist have felt has caused them to be self restricting and that is bad.
When a girl asked what the US was doing or could do to help, the speaker stated that we needed to help ourselves first. I loved it.  It was a fresh perspective.  It definitely made me think twice.  Do we really have freedom of speech? Or are we self restricting? What do you think?

The city is amazing and I love seeing all the Turkish flags hung from every building.  It was Youth Day today, so the city was decorated in flags.  We went to the Spice Market and Grand Bizarre, but the guides were so nervous to lose us that we didn't really get to enjoy it. I got some amazing pictures and had a wonderful day in the end.

Amsterdam

We had a 7 hour layover in Amsterdam.  Our Professor told us if we missed the flight then we should buy a ticket home, because we would not be welcome on the trip anymore.  Luckily everyone made it back, but just barely for about 7 people.  Super crazy.  Three of us who chose not to take part in the mj brownie and Red Light District, had a wonderful time taking great pictures, eating great food and enjoying the beautiful weather in Amsterdam.

Leaving

If you think it is hard to take a good family picture try leaving them for 12 days, now that is hard.