What's Up Wednesday, October

It's the last Wednesday of the month, so here is a What's Up Wednesday blog post.

What we're eating this week:

This week we are eating shrimp, baked BBQ chicken, grilled cheese sandwiches, and I plan on chili and cornbread to end the month!

What I'm reminiscing about:

Those 4 days in New York City

What I'm loving:

Having a weekly schedule

What we've been up to:

Homework :(

What I'm dreading:

???

What I'm working on:

English tutoring and addressing Christmas cards

What I'm excited about:

Spending my birthday on vacation next month!!

What I'm watching/reading:

Same as last month....Jimmy Fallon, and also Modern Family are the shows I'm watching.

I finished reading "Unbroken", which was so good and I am reading my "Southern as a Second Language" book again.

What I'm listening to:

the sounds of Bogota.....dogs barking and car horns honking

What I'm wearing:

My attire most days....a sweater (or long sleeve shirt with a scarf) and jeans.  Usually, I wear boots, but I was wearing flats this day.

What I'm doing this weekend:

Friday night I am preparing dinner for the youth group.  The rest of the weekend will be low key with homework and hanging out at home with the girls.

What I'm looking forward to next month:

Family Vacation!  I love, love going to Memphis and Charlotte to see family and friends.  I also love time away with just the 4 of us, and we are having our first family vacation in over 2 years. We will be meeting some friends for a few days, but the rest of the time it will be just us...and homework.

What else is new:

My mom is healing from surgery this week and I wish I could be there to help her and my Dad, but she is doing well and we will be with them at Christmas!  Keep praying for them during this time.

As always, thanks for reading along into a small glimpse of day-to-day life in Bogota!

Happy Fall Y'all!

Thanks for praying for my mom.  She is doing well and going home from the hospital today!

We always have the fall weather here, but it is a little more fun when the rest of the world is experiencing fall too!  Although, we have to import our pumpkins and candy corn, as those aren't found here.  Well, actually, you see small pumpkins from time to time, but there are no pumpkin patches, pumpkin spices, cans of pumpkin for baking, pumpkin scented candles, or fall colored leaves. Thankfully, I was able to bring a few those items back here to help this place not only feel like fall, but look like fall!  Today, I will share my fall decorations here in our apartment.

Our front door

A decoration I purchased in the states last fall

These are the wooden pumpkins Avery made me a few weeks ago.

I bought this last week while in NYC.  And the leaves around it, well, those came from Central Park in NYC!  The small red one actually came from Rockefeller Center.  I was that lady picking up leaves in NYC :).

My mom made the pumpkin and gave me the pumpkin candle holder.  I purchased this fall print taken at NYC Central Park on the streets of New York last week for $2.

Salt & pepper shakers

My sister brought me these fall magazines last week.  I love having holiday themed magazines out for display!

This is a towel in our guest bath.  I also have a few harvest towels in the kitchen.

It's no secret, I'm a fan of Bath and Body Works.  I purchased these pumpkin scented hand soaps this summer while in the USA when they were on clearance for .75!!  I have a bottle of this by each of our 4 sinks.

This is our dining room table.  Here, I just added the table runner which has fall colors and fruit on it.  

That is a peek into our fall home.  Pretty soon, you will all have winter weather and we will continue with our fall, but change out decorations!  Happy Fall Y'all!

Weekend Wrap Up, Brook's Birthday Party

Good Monday morning!  First, I ask you to pray for my mom who is having hip replacement surgery today.  Love you and praying for you, Mom!

This weekend we celebrated Brook's birthday with friends here for a small party on Saturday.  She invited 4 girls over Saturday afternoon to celebrate with her.  Last year, she had one friend, so she has more than doubled her friend count!!  She had fun and here are pictures to share.

Welcome to Brook's Birthday Party sign!

Thanks to the import store here, we found individually wrapped candy to put in a thank you/goody bag.

There wasn't really a "theme", but all of our graphics were based on Instagram since Brook wanted a photo booth.

I ordered these balloons from Amazon and had them brought to me here in one of my suitcase deliveries.

Ready for the photo booth

We had glasses, ties, hats, mustaches, and lips.

Brook with her friends

They played Twister.

We had pizza (not pictured), red velvet cupcakes, chips and fruit.

All of these girls are in Brook's class at school. 

We had this candle that was suppose to open up and sing happy birthday, but it didn't work so well.  

The girls hanging out on the balcony.

They went to the park to play a game Brook really wanted to do.  I stayed back to take a photo and a breather, but I think they all had fun.

Brook got some gift cards and this nail polish box from Clara (our Spanish teacher).

We had this banner hanging up, but it only photographs well at night because of the lighting.

New York City, part 3, days 5 and 6

Instead of a Friday Favorites, this post wraps up the NYC series.....

I loved our last day in the city.  On each visit to NYC, I try to do at least one thing I have never done before.  This trip, I crossed "walking the Brooklyn Bridge" off my bucket list.  It was so great.

It was just too much to look to the right and see the Empire State Building...

and look to my left to see the Statue of Liberty.

We had a great view of the Freedom Tower too.

Me, Jacquie and Lynn

Cool view

We enjoyed some NY pizza for lunch.

We went to see "American in Paris" at another beautiful theater.

Last night on Times Square

Leaving NY with a great view of Central Park

I enjoyed seeing houses and yards while flying into Atlanta.  That is something we don't see here.

It was so fun to see my brother, who was also flying through Atlanta at the same time we were!

It was a great family reunion, but we missed Dad being there.  Thanks Dad for everything!  It was a great trip and can't wait until the next time!

Happy weekend to all!

New York City, part 2, days 3 and 4

Continuing with my NYC series today.......

Chick-Fil-A opened in NYC just a week before we were there.  

Of course I had to go in, but just got some sweet tea and fruit.  Didn't want to make the girls too jealous ;).

Here is the famous Macy's department store at Herald Square in NYC.  Hard to believe this will be the site of the Thanksgiving Parade next month!

I love the wooden escalators in this store!

I was just a few weeks away from seeing Santa!  In the mid-90's, I did visit Santa here who is seen on the 8th floor.  Yes, the 8th floor!!

I went to a SNL exhibition where they tell the story of how this show comes to live television each week and props of the "good 'ol days".

Jeopardy skits were always hilarious.

And we loved watching the Spartan cheerleaders when they were on in the 90's.

This is an actual Emmy Award announcement for the show.

I met mom that afternoon for a yogurt date.

I also visited the Hershey store.

I also visited the M&M store.  I never buy anything at these stores, but they are fun to go inside!

A view of the Empire State Building

A view of the Chrysler building

USA flags :)

Monday night, we met our 2nd cousin, who lives in NYC, for dinner.

Day 4 started with me taking a walk towards Central Park.

First, I went by Columbus Circle.

Then I spent just a few minutes in the park.

I loved seeing some of the fall colors and leaves on the ground.

I sat here and picked up a few :).

I always enjoy seeing the carriages go by in the park.

They are lined up on Central Park for hire!

This is Tiffanys on 5th Avenue.

I walked down to Rockefeller Center, where the ice rink had just opened a few days prior.

Their fall colors were beautiful and all the plants were beautifully arranged.

As a fan of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, I took a picture of his thank you notes sold in the NBC gift store.  I didn't buy any because they cost $40!! 

A huge thrill of my trip was having lunch with my 6th grade school teacher!  She actually taught me 5th grade too.  I loved Mrs. Garner and she is still just as sweet.  

Mom was able to join us for lunch too.  I brought Mrs. Garner a bracelet from Colombia and she had presents from Bloomingdales for Mom & I.

That night, we went to see the play Aladdin, which was so great.

The theater was beautiful inside!

Afterwards, we stood outside by the stage door and met "Aladdin". The doors you see across the street are actually the front doors of our hotel.

We also met "Jasmine".  Both were so nice and friendly to all the waiting fans.  

I will wrap up tomorrow with my final NYC post.