A post

My posts on this blog are few and far between, which means I only blog when I have something extremely blog worthy... so having said that everybody better listen up!!

I am busy in life right now. I have been tunneling underground many a late night, checking lasers, learning about hydraulic/electric motors, blasting rocks apart and operating larger tunnel boring machines. I am busy at work and then just as busy at home trying to P90X this body of mine, raise a newborn puppy (we got a new puppy named Millie "bourgeois" Kassouf... the middle name is French... dont ask questions), and spending quality time with my better half.

The point of this post so far is that I am busy... or at least I thought I was busy, that is until my wife decided that she wanted to earn a second AND third degree in life and... oh yea... do them both at the same time. Sarah has now thrust her life into two very different worlds, on the one hand you have the absolutely insanely crazy and frightening world of inner city middle school teaching as well as the highly intellectual and fast moving world of Accelerated Nursing/Masters program.

For the next month of our lives Sarah is redefining "busy." I really don know how else to put it, here is a glimpse into an average day for her...

5.40AM my alarm goes off (the one thing I have over her is that I still wake up earlier) I am out the door on the way to work around 6.00AM which is about the time when Sarah wakes up, she takes Millie outside to go the bathroom and then rushes to get to Orchard Middle School on time where she teaches 6th and 7th science classes. Now let me make the record clear... Sarah loves teaching at Orchard and she absolutely loves the kids... having said that there are a few sets backs to inner city Cleveland teaching. One set back would be the metal detector she must walk through every morning to enter the building, a second set back would be the day when a student named George screamed at her and called her a B* in front of the whole class, she has to deal with trying to pronounce names like "Agropiecia, and Matrix-O. She spends several hours a day in this Lord of the Flies atmosphere before scrambling home for 10 minutes just to let Millie out and eat a quick lunch. From here she high-tails it across town where she spends 3 hours learning about Anatomy and Physiology and Patho something or another. Some guy sat next to her on the first day and is now her lab partner, I am pretty sure he has a thing for her and if he writes on her wall one more time I am going to rip off his arm and beat him with it, that would be a good anatomy lesson for him... dont you think?

When Class is over around 5.00PM she rushes home to again let Millie out and then cook a quick dinner* (* = I have started trying to cook more often, however, that usually ends in something that tastes like wood, or me mixing tuna and Cinnamon and thinking it was a good idea... dont judge). After dinner Sarah spends anywhere from 3 to 4 hours studying for the test that is somehow always just 1 or 2 days away and covers more of the human body then most people ever knew existed. When her brain is fried and she cant focus anymore she takes a break and writes her lesson plan/grades papers for tomorrows battle with the middle school students. As if all that isnt enough she then has to get online and do her Ethics class homework (Stupid pre-requisite for nursing school). Brutus and Maximus get fed, she brushes her teeth, puts on pajama pants that are too short for her and falls dead asleep around midnight.

Repeat the above list for 2 months...
I dont really know how she is keeping it all together, but so far she has managed to get all A's on her teaching reviews and all A's on her anatomy tests.
I am proud of her... proud enough to blog a really long blog about it.
So until next time thanks for reading another Kassoufsgreatesthits!

Matt

ps- we're going to vegas in a few weeks with 25 friends... oh yes!

So...

I admit! I'm the worst blogger ever. Like, in the world. I haven't blogged in 5 months and I am blaming this on the hubby who "really wants to write the blog next time." Well, apparently that "next time" has turned into 5 months and I'm taking over the posting again. Therefore, I shall post this week. I bet you that the (3-4) people who read this are devastatingly excited!
I shall leave you with this...
Also, I have no idea why the above text is underlined and cannot get it off!! Don't judge.

A month of wonderful!!

Sorry to all of my loyal fans (all 3 of you).. .I've been totally MIA-this past month has been sooo busy/wonderful! I went back to Raleigh a few weekends ago to do a bridal portrait session, throw a shower for Megs, and go out for Jessica's birthday... it was a fabulous weekend and I miss it already... but when Matt picked me up from the airport it just so happened to be our 7 month anniversary of marriage and he took me to dinner to Cleveland's most amazing restaurant, it's called Pier W... it is located hanging off a cliff on Lake Erie and has a crazy view of the city!!! Picture below...



TONS has also happend since I've been back... the next week my sister came to visit! Our very first visitor! We did all sorts of amazing stuff that only Clevanders or people that visit clevelanders know about (hint hint.) It was Matthews birthday (I got him P90X, so you might not be able to recognize him in a few months...) and we got ANOTHER HUGE SUPRISE.. after my sister left, I was again in Cleveland all by my lonesome hoping and praying for one of these jobs I've been interviewing for... and kinda feeling down in the dumps. Lo' and behold... on the Thursday after Jen left... a knock on the door. I even told Matt that I didn't want to get up to get it (sometimes I get a little lazy.) I got up, opened the door and saw before my eyes EMILY ANNE UTZ! And Kyle Smith (Matt's best friend). ARE YOU SERIOUS? Well, you can imagine how I dramatically reacted. I cried and screamed on repeat for about 30 minutes. We had the best 4 days ever!! We painted the town red... twice. Also, Matt and I decided to drive home last minute last weekend to see my brother graduate from college and so I could do my sisters hair and makeup for Senior Prom (it was basically a death threat.) Check out photos below...

(Above, view of Cleveland from our rooftop! And Below, Jennifer and I visiting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame... it's seriously amazing!)






Above... Jen and I in my backyard (Lake Erie!)

Above... Em and I expoloring the city!!
Below... The whole Smith fam, The Kassoufs, me and em-- out to celebrate matthews birth! (:

home sweet home

Well, the longest I have EVER been away from home was when I studied abroad with Jen in Italy (viva Italia!!)... which was a little over a month... and it's been nearly 2 months since I've seen my family/friends... so I was practically crying when the plane landed in Raleigh for Easter break. City living is fun.. but i miss my HOME!! There really isn't anywhere like it. I took pictures with my phone (excuse the clarity) of everything... b/c i miss everything!


Oh just driving through the garden of eden... I mean, my neighborhood!


Right when I got home, I layed in the sun, on the deck, with my dogs. And Lucy missed me SO much that she literally sat on me. I tried to take a picture. She really likes to give hugs. Proof below.


Almost the whole fam....




A typical Eshraghi night-in... including my Dad.

The Cavs, the Rainforest, the life!

At the Cleveland Cavs game... 6 rows from Lebron James!!!



Matt and Brad showing thier support, and Matt showing his nostrils.




Cleveland is famous for their indoor rainforest, it's really amazing... look at the new friend I made below.. a 24 year old male dominant ape... we had a thing.





This picture is dedicated to Jen.









This picture has no meaning, except for that it's dedicated to Emily.

4 week update...

I shall update you in photos.... this first photo below is the view from our apartment window... hello, lake erie!

This is, by far, my favorite spot in cleveland. It is amazingly cultural and has so many cute restaraunts and outside pubs... it's got lights strung all over the street and little cute hubbies sitting all over the place.

Above, is the most delicious, most wonderful, most deluctable dessert in the world.. my favorite, cherry chocolate cake! Thank you to MAMA K for making me a good luck cake before my interview... it was perfect!

This picture is proof that I have not straightend my hair in over 2 weeks. I think I need to get it together, folks. If you're wondering that isn't yarn hanging in my face. It's real, live, non-straight hair.

We visited my cousin Rachel and her cute little family. Her twins (Morgan and Maria) apparently love matt... hahah... that's just cute.

Just a picture

Just a little picture, not much to update you with... the sky is BLUE today!! And I'm going to lay on the roof and I dont care if it's 34 degrees! Its sunny!

2 week update..

I've been here so long that I'm.... I'm... I'm.... becoming domestic!! This is just not okay. Although, my teapot is adorable. (Thanks Megs!)

My wonderful "window to home" from my friends... thanks lovebugs! I look in it all the time. One time, I think I even tried to step through it.

Matt and I in our new home... first date in cleveland

Look closely... see all of those little white specs? Nope, you don't have double vision.. its BIRDS! Right outside our window, there are thousands of birds all the time sitting on the frozen river/lake erie. And sometimes, when they get scared, they fly the coop. And this is what it happens to look like... it's actually really pretty. I have to admit.

Guess what???

It's still snowing... a few little photos from right outside our window...!!

Mrs. Kassouf(s)

Both of the Mrs. Kassoufs had a shopping day all day in cleveland yesterday! Mama K showed me around the best shopping areas in cleveland. We ate lunch, got chai tea lattes (sorry Jen)... and guess what? She got me a welcome to cleveland/valentines day/best daughter-in-law ever gift of some new snow boots! What a sweetie pie! And if that wasn't enough we ended the night with dinner at the Kassouf residence... I'm a lucky daughter in law!

First week...

Well, it's official... we've been here for one week. We did it! We made it through the first week.. The weirdest thing about it is that I keep thinking that I'm about to go home from this little escapade since that's what we usually do after we visit Matt's family... but no more! This is our home away from home for now. Above is a photo taken from our lofts rooftop.. pretty cool skyline actually. I really miss home and can't wait to come back... but we're embracing Cleveland at the same time! Matt has been working on putting up track lights in our kitchen, and don't you worry... I'll put up some pictures soon. Our condo is really different- it was originally a warehouse, so the rooms and ceilings are so much bigger than we are used to. Also, I think I made a friend today. She works in the coffee shop below us and I told her I liked her dread locks. She then told me she liked my orange coat. That makes us friends... right?!

Okay, that's all for now... we miss everyone lots!

SNOW

It hasn't stopped snowing here since we got here. This is the kind of stuff we run into on a regular basis... totally normal. A few minutes before I saw this, a few people were jogging past me as if it was 75 and sunny. Who are these people?!

The Big Move...

Well, we did it. It's our first day in Cleveland! We drove 8 1/2 hours in the car yesterday and after a lot of sun ships, cherry pepsi's, and tears (ok ok, mostly from me)... we made it. We even got Big Macs, and didn't even care! So far, it has been pretty bittersweet. I already miss NC- I'm just a homegirl at heart! But, our condo is AMAZING and the area we live is really "big city" and has a lot of fun places... it's pretty hip! So, that makes things better... we live on one of the Great Lakes... Lake Erie... its literally our backyard. and right now, its frozen. Yes, it's that cold. (See picture). I realize I look like an eskimo in the picture, get used to it. Other details... We live on top of a fresh food market, a coffee shop and a few trendy restaurants... which is pretty awesome. oh and before i forget- you can stop holding your breath now... Brutus and Maximus (our frogs) survived the big move! I'm not sure I could have handled a death in the family, thank goodness they made it.
We miss everyone already and will be back home soon! I personally would NOT make it through without my dear friends and fams letters, calls, gifts... even a phone call from a certain someone's honeymoon! !! I'm a lucky, lucky girl. Love you all so much! xoxxoo

More Honeymoon...

I wanted to post these because A.) They are awesome and B.) They are proof of how we really fell into the "honeymooners" trap... we took different pictures with different creatures every day! I think we even went looking for the paparazzi one day...