30.august.2010//30.ağustos.2010. [242].

30.august.2010//30.ağustos.2010. [242].  

there were SO many things that were weird about the grocery store today... but i made it through without a meltdown... and, i cooked dinner and baked for the first time (by myself) since i got back.... crazy! i'm glad to have some food in my house. :)

29.august.2010//29.ağustos.2010. [241].

29.august.2010//29.ağustos.2010. [241]. 

the rain held off enough for us to have Grub on the Grass outside, as originally planned. tons of people came, the music & food were awesome, and we gave away over $1500 in gift cards/prizes... success! i'm excited about this year at the BCM!

28.august.2010//28.ağustos.2010. [240].

28.august.2010//28.ağustos.2010. [240].  

i moved into my house today and celebrated with a breakfast for lunch with brooke, adam, and jackson. i was pretty excited about this meal, even though jackson ate most of my fruit ;)

27.august.2010//27.ağustos.2010. [239].

27.august.2010//27.ağustos.2010. [239]. 

lots of little projects this week... one of them being bulletin boards... tommy and i worked on these much of the day...

26.august.2010//26.ağustos.2010. [238].

26.august.2010//26.ağustos.2010. [238].  

after a long afternoon of moving freshmen into the dorms, i had a relaxed night then met up with some old friends--darlene and jeremiah! it was SO good to see them.. after trying to find a starbucks to meet in the middle at, we got there just as they closed, but luckily they left their outdoor furniture out so we could sit and talk a while..

25.august.2010//25.ağustos.2010. [237].

25.august.2010//25.ağustos.2010. [237].  

i moved some stuff in today.. i am hoping to finish saturday :)

24.august.2010//24.ağustos.2010. [236].

24.august.2010//24.ağustos.2010. [236].  

i'm working on decorating my office. the walls are bare and it's a crazy set up, but tonight i bought some things from target to make it pretty!

23.august.2010//23.ağustos.2010. [235].

23.august.2010//23.ağustos.2010. [235].  

sometimes i have moments where it's hard to believe i'm really here.

22.august.2010//22.ağustos.2010. [234].

22.august.2010//22.ağustos.2010. [234].  

today i got to catch up with some awesome friends, check out my new place (i'll be moving in this week!), eat mexican & asian food, go to church, & all in my new car... i feel like such an adult. (:

21.august.2010//21.ağustos.2010. [233].

21.august.2010//21.ağustos.2010. [233].  

my second time to Jerry's Snocones this weekend... too much? I got to see Amber & meet Trey.. .and Jackson had his first Jerry's... Oh, and I tried "legit", a new flavor for me.

20.august.2010//20.ağustos.2010. [232].

20.august.2010//20.ağustos.2010. [232].  

i got my car today!!! it's a 2006 nissan sentra. before i went to get it, my mom picked me up (since i was without a car) & we were wearing almost the same shirt... since tommy was also wearing green, he wanted a picture. ha...

‎19.august.2010//19.ağustos.2010. [231].

‎19.august.2010//19.ağustos.2010. [231].  

penny lane was a little scared of my camera.

18.august.2010//18.ağustos.2010. [230].

18.august.2010//18.ağustos.2010. [230].  

the clouds were beautiful today... campus is so quiet since students are not here for another week or so...

17.august.2010//17.ağustos.2010. [229].

17.august.2010//17.ağustos.2010. [229].  

iced coffee--yum! confession: i forgot to put my memory card in my small camera, and i couldn't retrieve this photo, so I took a picture of the photo with my larger camera, which is why the quality is grainy....

16.august.2010//16.ağustos.2010. [228].

16.august.2010//16.ağustos.2010. [228].  

i started my new job today, which meant a day of meetings, scheduling, orientation of sorts... it was good to start my job, though!

15.august.2010//15.ağustos.2010. [227].

15.august.2010//15.ağustos.2010. [227].  

my sister and brother-in-law had a baby dedication this morning for my four-month-old nephew Wesley.. he's such a cute little boy! :)

14.august.2010//14.ağustos.2010. [226].

14.august.2010//14.ağustos.2010. [226].  

i was COMPLETELY surprised when i walked into a room of a bunch of my closest friends and family tonight.. i had 0% clue that they were throwing me a surprise party. it was a great party and so much fun to see SO many people all at once! thanks to everyone who helped plan it and who came! :) & brooke gave me this awesome collage to remind me of my best times in turkey.

13.august.2010//13.ağustos.2010. [225].

13.august.2010//13.ağustos.2010. [225].  

happy birthday to my beautiful cousin, Nikki! :) i got to see her today AND eat Mexican for the first time in a year! :)

12.august.2010//12.ağustos.2010. [224].

12.august.2010//12.ağustos.2010. [224].  

taco bell--yay! sooo many options.

11.august.2010//11.ağustos.2010. [223].

11.august.2010//11.ağustos.2010. [223].  

these days, it's all about my nephews.. & this one's my little photographer in training.. cute, huh?

10.august.2010//10.ağustos.2010. [222].

10.august.2010//10.ağustos.2010. [222].  

the first picture i've ever taken of my nephew, wesley! isn't he precious?? :)

09.august.2010//09.ağustos.2010. [221].

09.august.2010//09.ağustos.2010. [221].  

i got my license renewed in under 30 minutes today..success! and i have a cell phone now, too. i'm staying with my sister and i've stolen Jackson's room for a little while, so I am hoping to not steal it for long. next on the list: car then apt. :)

08.august.2010//08.ağustos.2010. [220].

08.august.2010//08.ağustos.2010. [220].  

i spent the day with this little man. isn't he adorable. how can you not love this laugh?

07.august.2010//07.ağustos.2010. [219].

07.august.2010//07.ağustos.2010. [219].  

i stayed up most of the night (except 1.5 hours) in anticipation of moving back to America... but i did get to see this gorgeous sunrise. goodbye, istanbul.

06.august.2010//06.ağustos.2010. [218].

06.august.2010//06.ağustos.2010. [218].  

i spent the night with some of my closest friends here at my favorite place in the city. it has an incredible view of the city and i have great memories there. i will miss istanbul and my friends here terribly, but i am glad to have left on such a good note. inşallah döneceğim...

05.august.2010//05.ağustos.2010. [217].

05.august.2010//05.ağustos.2010. [217].  

happy 25th birthday, roomie! we celebrated by going to the Maiden's Tower, dinner with friends, Çamlıca at night, and a cafe.. i'm so thankful for this friendship!

04.august.2010//04.ağustos.2010. [216].

04.august.2010//04.ağustos.2010. [216].  

i had a fun day with jules... we ended up at the train station on the asian side before going to my last English Tea Time. it's such a beautiful building inside and out.

03.august.2010//03.ağustos.2010. [215].

03.august.2010//03.ağustos.2010. [215].  

i squeezed in one last beach day trip...this time it was with april, jules, and jeremy... i'll miss the black sea/bosphorus/şile....

02.august.2010//02.ağustos.2010. [214].

02.august.2010//02.ağustos.2010. [214].  

it's days like these that i am reminded HOW many people live in this city.. (if you don't know, it's between 12-20 million people.. i say 16 million).

01.august.2010//01.ağustos.2010. [213].

01.august.2010//01.ağustos.2010. [213].  

when you spend your day around so many amazing girls, it's hard to pick just one photo... two sweet sets of sisters... (notice esin's new nose ring!!)

31.july.2010//31.temmuz.2010. [212].

31.july.2010//31.temmuz.2010. [212].  

i went to şile today with luke, robyn, stazy, and merve.. it was a beautiful day and the water was so clear... you can tell by this picture that it was also very crowded.. but such a good day at the beach!

30.july.2010//30.temmuz.2010. [211].

30.july.2010//30.temmuz.2010. [211].  

i went to kınalı adası and burgaz adası today with esin! i had not been to these two islands before, so it was fun to go somewhere new! and a beautiful overcast, windy day.

29.july.2010//29.temmuz.2010. [210].

29.july.2010//29.temmuz.2010. [210].  

i was walking across the galata bridge and saw someone jump off of the bridge. melis and merve thought i was crazy but then we saw all of these guys.... CRAZY.

28.july.2010//28.temmuz.2010. [209].

28.july.2010//28.temmuz.2010. [209]. 

i spent the day at the beach with a couple of families i know. we went a little off road and found a pretty unpopulated area, which is nice!

27.july.2010//27.temmuz.2010. [208].

27.july.2010//27.temmuz.2010. [208].  

after running around the city all day & going to the salı pazar one last time, i took these three ladies to get their noses pierced tonight! they were hilarious and i think the piercing guy thought we were all crazy. fun memory.

26.july.2010//26.temmuz.2010. [207].

26.july.2010//26.temmuz.2010. [207].  

today, i crossed a few things off of my to-do-before-i-leave list. one of them was seeing the Chora Church/Kora Kilisesi/Kariye Müzesi in Gaziosmanpaşa (in Istanbul). It's an incredible example of a Byzantine church and has beautifully preserved mosaics and frescoes.

25.july.2010//25.temmuz.2010. [206].

25.july.2010//25.temmuz.2010. [206].  

i spent most of the day at home, but enjoyed a fantastic sunset.

24.july.2010//24.temmuz.2010. [205].

24.july.2010//24.temmuz.2010. [205].  

we saw some massive fireworks in ortaköy from a rooftop tonight. it was pretty impressive... and an amazing ending to a great day.

23.july.2010//23.temmuz.2010. [204].

23.july.2010//23.temmuz.2010. [204].  

today, i had an unplanned day to the beach with some amazing friends. it was a gorgeous afternoon/evening.

22.july.2010//22.temmuz.2010. [203].

22.july.2010//22.temmuz.2010. [203].  

there's a new balloon in kadıköy... the yellow one has been gone for a few months, but i noticed the new white and red turkish one today!! :)

21.july.2010//21.temmuz.2010. [202].

21.july.2010//21.temmuz.2010. [202].  

one of april's recent finds at a pazar. a beautiful addition to our living room... i am out of inspiration tonight and the better pictures i took today are trapped on my memory card.

20.july.2010//20.temmuz.2010. [201].

20.july.2010//20.temmuz.2010. [201].  

i spent most of the day in Armutlu taking photos for the Yaz/Summer Program.. it is like a small village inside of istanbul....

19.july.2010//19.temmuz.2010. [200].

19.july.2010//19.temmuz.2010. [200].  

it's the 200th day of the year...which means time for a new 365 album tomorrow (on facebook, that is)... but not before saying how much i love these two girls.. tara leaves on wednesday & she'll be missed greatly.

18.july.2010//18.temmuz.2010. [199].

18.july.2010//18.temmuz.2010. [199].  

today i flew into istanbul from vienna (well antalya technically)... it's the last time i will fly into istanbul for a long time... and there was a beautiful sunset and as always, i loved looking at the city lights as we landed...

17.july.2010//17.temmuz.2010. [198].

17.july.2010//17.temmuz.2010. [198].  

today we spent most of our day at Schonbrunn Palace. We walked around, went through a labyrinth, rode a train, went to the Glorietta, spent a few hours at a cafe, & ended the night with a concert in the imperial palace where the orchestra performed Mozart--a palace where he actually performed himself...and ran home in the pouring rain... good day...