Ms. Terry's Blog

First, I want to make one thing clear: my Christmas shopping was done by Halloween. My Christmas cards were ready to mail by Thanksgiving. And my apartment was decorated in a classy manner (if a little sparse) by December 1st. I understood the Christmas assignment and I was on top of things. However, it has still been an incredibly busy past 30 days for several reasons. 1. We had family in town for Thanksgiving, and Thanksgiving was also my birthday. That takes prep and time. 2. My family and I are leaving for Egypt tomorrow (fingers crossed that everything goes well and we can actually get on the plane). Traveling takes preparation, and that preparation doubles when you factor in traveling during the time of COVID. We thankfully all tested negative, but there's also health surveys and waivers. Plus the usual cleaning, packing, and finding a temporary home for the Coco kitty. I really just want to see the mummies. 3. I'm switching schools, and school districts, in January. I wi...

 For the two people who read my blog, we have reached the end of another 30-day challenge. Actually, we reached it a few days ago, but I've been busy. And it has been a really busy 30 days. I still read my two books and did my two activities, but my physical activity and eating right goals were a little short. Two be fair, I spent several days this past month with the usual, awful weather changing cold. Anyway, I did read The Splendid and the Vile: A Tale of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz. I also read a self-help book my mom got me a few years ago called You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life. And these two books taught me a lot. I obviously learned a lot about Churchill and the first year of the London Blitz during WWII. I also learned that my grandmother, who claims to love history, only really cares about American history. She kept asking what part I was at, and was disappointed when I said it didn't cov...

Here are the 30 countries I made it to before I turned 30! 1. The USA (duh, I will do my road trip one day) 2. Austria 3. Belgium 4. Czech Republic 5. England 6. France 7. Germany 8. Greece 9. Ireland 10. Italy 11. Scotland 12. Spain 13. The Netherlands 14. Vatican City 15. China 16. Japan 17. Belize 18. Costa Rica 19. Mexico 20. Argentina 21. Brazil 22. Peru 23. Ecuador 24. Australia  25. New Zealand 26. Rwanda 27. South Africa 28. Zimbabwe 29. Tanzania 30. The Bahamas 31. Egypt 32. Jordan

I have officially made it to my 30th country! Yay! And I still have more than a month before I turn 30! Over Fall Break, I went on a Carnival Cruise to the Bahamas with my grandmother, and we just had a wonderful time. I have been on one cruise before, but it was all the way the back in 2015. Both have been  Carnival Cruises, and I only have the nicest things to say about the staff of both cruises. Even with the pandemic, every person working on the ship was awesome. In particular, there are couple things I really like about cruises, if you're curious. 1. Cruises can be a good mixture of adventure and relaxation. On the cruise to the Bahamas, my cruise was a lot of relaxation since I was traveling with my grandmother.  We went to the spa, we took naps, and we had calm, guided tours of Freeport and Nassau. But I also got my dose of adventure snorkeling in Bimini at the Sapona Shipwreck. It was super cool, and I made friends with a turtle. Other people we spoke to did jeep tours...

It is the end of another one of my challenges. Except this time, instead of 30 days, I only did 15 days. Fall Break is next week and I don't want to eat healthy on Fall Break. I'm going on a cruise; it's just not done. But during my 15-day challenge I still read a book and played Memphis tourist again. This time I read Sarah Dessen's The Rest of the Story  and visited the Dixon Gallery and Gardens. Sarah Dessen is one of my favorite writers, and I love every single one of her books, even if I already know the ending. Also, I think I liked the Dixon better than the Brooks Museum. There was less art, but it was more focused. For example, most of the gallery space was taken up by a temporary exhibition showing the works of Wayne Thiebaud. He did a lot of pictures of food, and had quite literal names for his pieces so I thoroughly enjoyed his work. The gardens were also very nice. The garden part of the Dixon. "Jolly Cones" by Wayne Thiebaud As always, the nationa...

I just completed another one of my 30-day challenges! Yay! Now, my next challenge will not be 30-days, because Fall Break is rapidly approaching, and I am not going to be healthy on Fall Break. I am going on a cruise to the Bahamas with my grandmother, and cruises are not the place to eat healthily OR workout. Besides, right now, I'm just hoping that we still get to go and that I can cross off country #30! For my books this past month, I read The Joy Luck Club  by Amy Tan and The Necklace  by Claire McMillan. I finally read The Joy Luck Club  because one of the chapters was featured in our English curriculum for 7th grade. And the book as a whole really enforces the theme that you can't make someone be something they're not. Although the mothers tried, their daughters often went their own way. My students REALLY related to this theme. The Necklace was good, too. It's this sort of romance, mystery book that goes back and forth between the 1920s and present day. The neckl...

The week before in-service for school (so the last week of July) I decided to set myself a series of 30 day challenges. I'm working on that whole 30 countries before 30 thing, so I figured I'd stick with the trend. Two of the challenges related to health: 25/30 days of eating well and 25/30 days of doing some kind of physical activity. I hit 23 days for both, which is really good for me! And this is taking into account that those 30 days included in-service and the first week of school, which are always chaotic and throw my schedule and eating routines off. Most of the physical activity came in the form of walks. Walks around my parents' neighborhood, walks around the school, and walks around Shelby Farms. I have never been an athletic person, but I found walks to be just my speed. Plus, I have discovered podcasts! And I listen to them on my walks! History! Scandal! Drama! I binged one called "Not Past That" and I am currently binging "Dark History." I h...

 Here are the 29 countries I have been to so far: 1. The USA (duh, I will do my road trip one day) 2. Austria 3. Belgium 4. Czech Republic 5. England 6. France 7. Germany 8. Greece 9. Ireland 10. Italy 11. Scotland 12. Spain 13. The Netherlands 14. Vatican City 15. China 16. Japan 17. Belize 18. Costa Rica 19. Mexico 20. Argentina 21. Brazil 22. Peru 23. Ecuador 24. Australia  25. New Zealand 26. Rwanda 27. South Africa 28. Zimbabwe 29. Tanzania

I have returned from country #29! It was really fun, and my mom ended up traveling with me, so I had a buddy! We went ziplining, we went snorkeling, and we saw lots of wildlife. Lots and lots of wildlife. Monkeys, sloths, birds, and even a snake (my least favorite)! And in terms of Belize vs. Costa Rica, I do think I liked Belize better just because I got to spend more time there. School is starting soon, so I didn't have as many days in Costa Rica as I did in Belize. Plus, the immigration process coming into Costa Rica took three hours. I know that's probably abnormal, but it's the longest I've ever had to wait in an immigration line and first impressions matter. In addition, I finally got around to reading the book that's been sitting on my nightstand for months. It's called Night Boat to Tangier  by Kevin Barry. It was a book recommended by a virtual book club I was think of joining (before life got in the way), and honestly, I expected better. It's about...

Well, it has certainly been a long time since I was able to post anything about my international adventures! COVID-19 has changed how we live and how we travel, and derailed several trips I had planned for 2020. But fortunately, with the availability of vaccines, we are starting to get back to normal. So before I share any of my thoughts about Belize, I just to encourage everyone to get their COVID vaccine if they have not done so already! So first and foremost, this was my first international trip since I went to South America in late 2019. Furthermore, it was my first ever trip in which I was truly a "solo traveller." Previously, I've always been with family, friends, or a tour group. But I enjoyed traveling solo. I could really focus on the activities I was doing and what I was learning, which is always a plus for me. And I could set my own schedule. If I wanted to get a massage, I could get a massage. If I wanted to go to the pool, I could go to the pool. I just had t...