Updates.

So family, greetings. It's been a while.

Six weeks of travel provided a singularly acceptable excuse to my otherwise fairly reasonable soul to check out of the blogging world for almost four months. "Being a lazy bum" didn't seem as kind.

Anywho, travel! After six months of working with these fine people...

...I decided to take a trip. Read more here and here. But in short, I got to see Hannie and the Aya Sofya and try my hand at bantering in Turkish (I was decent, teşekkürler).

(More pictures here)

 I held several tiny sea turtles, got the aforementioned rock solid sunburn (bikini bows still clearly visible), gorged on all things good and edible, and watched hours of Downton Abbey with my parents.

(Even more pictures here)

With my lovely Tasha as tour guide, I nodded respectfully to Lady Liberty, ate buttered preztles, walked the hi-line, walked a dog (who only speaks Italian), walked the subway, and sipped tea in a beautiful Brooklyn apartement with a veiw. 

(Even more pictures here)

And it was good. 

Now I'm back and just started a new job last week! I'm back at the ol' library - just can't seem to stay away - except this time I have my own desk and a phone line (e.i. I feel like a grown up). It is a summer position, but it couldn't have come at a better time and I am so excited to here. I am still teaching pre-school and toddler development classes in the mornings a few days a week and those mornings never fail to be a rousing hoo-ha of a time - "I just got my haircut teacher Steph - at Gene Juarez by a lady named Violet. Do you like it?" "See look! I painted all my skin red!" "Well Unicorns live on the planet Crypton...rainbow fish...they eat rainbow fish all day long"...some don't talk and just test out how far they can throw macaroni accross any given room.  

With Kristian getting married in July (who's excited about getting a sister-in-law? THIS GIRL) and Nicky starting college at Wheaton the whole Rubesh clan will be moving back to the states for six months starting in June. A big part of spending time in Sri Lanka was feeling like I was coming home - and relishing the certain amount of letting go and being free and being fully known that comes with that. With my family moving here for a bit, I anticipate some of that being transfered States-side. I'm alternating between bracing myself and being excited for what God is going to do with this next phase of new jobs and settling - somehow I get a vague feeling that learning to "be" - at least for a little while - is going to be a continueing theme.

And it will be good.