A Quick Review of 2013

January

Sam turned 11!! And I spent way too much time on the internet.

February

 February was dull, and I honestly don't remember much of it. Oh and I guess I did a photo a day thing.

 

March

Did anything happen in March? I can't remember...

 

April

I started to find turtles around the village.

May

 We went to Cappadocia, and the horse I was riding almost fell off a cliff. (So now I enjoy telling that story. Can you tell?)

June

We went home! And there was a graduation and we went to Stumpy!! ----> Awesome

 

July

Drama camp and parties and visiting people! Was overtired, like all the time.

August

Spent a week in Edmonton, and had sleep overs. Was a little less over tired

 September

Came back to Turkey, started school. Got a rabbit, but it was killed three days after I got it by a cat. :(

 

October

I turned fifteen! And we went to Ephesus!! Also the computer crashed or something and Mom and I lost all our Ephesus pictures.

 

 November

Went to see Thor the Dark World (the first movie we went to see as a family since Pooh's Heffalump Movie back in 2005)

December

I discovered One Republic, we spent a weekend in Bursa. We also went to see the Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug (!!!), and Dad didn't have to work on Christmas (YES), and I got sick (but I'm getting better!).


All in all it was a very interesting year, I can't wait to see that 2014 holds!

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to pop in to say Merry Christmas to ya'll. I hope that you have a great day with friends/family and that you eat as much turkey/dessert as you possibly can. (Do people eat turkey at Christmas? I can't remember...)
And remember:

Love,
Nicole

Man at Arms

Finally YouTube suggested a cool channel! It suggested this guy, Man At Arms AKA Tony Swatton; he's a blacksmith who makes fantasy weapons for movies and in his spare time makes YouTube videos. I could go on explaining why he's totally awesome, or I could just let you watch one of his videos:

Just somethin' real quick

 I love Gelibolu, why?
Because there is an Elvan bakery here:

I wonder if Elrond works there in his spare time....

Also, I think we should bring some of this home for Stumpy. I can see it now:
"Hey, pass the Krep Yap, I want to have Krep Yap on my crepes."

With a name like Krep Yap, it's destined to be a hit. (Mom thinks it's powdered sugar)

I'm writing about Shakespeare for English

I was given a list of main events from Shakespeare's life, when he was born, who he married, when he died etc. I was surprised to find that he married a woman named Anne Hathaway. I shrugged it off and started to write the chronological narrative:

"William Shakespeare was born in England in 1564. His education consisted of six years at the Free School in Stratford. When he was eighteen he married Anne Hathaway, an American actress from the twenty-first century. Because of the time difference they often had to call upon the Doctor to bring them together."

Snowing!

IT'S SNOWING RIGHT NOW!!

Saw it! 9/12/13

Weekend in Bursa

We went to Bursa (by way of Biga. OH YEAH) for the weekend, Johanna wanted to celebrate her eighteenth birthday someplace different. And that's that we did. :)

We stayed at the Kirci hotel, in a 'non-smoking room.' Look what I found in a drawer:

Well that was poorly thought out...

Saturday was miserable, cold and wet. We spent the day at the covered market. By four in the afternoon it was almost snowing (almost!).

Sunday was clear, but chilly.

 Dad and Johanna decided to check out a machine trade show, while Mom, Sam, and I went to the mall. Once Dad and Johanna were done at the trade show they came to the mall. Johanna picked out a cake, which we dropped in our room before going out for supper.

The place we went for supper was recommended by one of the desk clerks at the hotel. It was a very unique little dining experience...

For starters they had BBQs in the middle of each table. The deal is you order some meat and veggies, and then you grill it at your table. 

Crummy iPod pictures:

 Dad, Johanna and Mom

Sam & I

 Cooking supper

Oh! And live music!!

The band consisted of a tambourine, a darbuka, a wind instrument, and a violin.

For dessert, we each got a plate of assorted fruits, and then 2 puddings. I can never remember the name of the pudding, but I really should because it's my FAVOURITE!

Then Johanna and I had Turkish coffee:

We paid, and then scooted off to the hotel for Johanna's birthday party. We ate the cake she picked out, but I honestly don't know how.....

While we were at the mall Mom and I picked out some things for the party:

It was a fun weekend, but I don't like how the house smells after we've been away.

I Don't Want Anything for Christmas.

A Short Story About Art

Last spring Johanna taught me how to make a home made book. It was fun, I didn't have a use for the book I made so it just floated around my room.

I was bopping around on You Tube one evening and ran across some mixed media tutorials. The lady doing the tutorial was using a printed book as her art journal. I loved what she did and I began wishing I had an art journal too. But then I remembered the paper and cardboard book Johanna helped me make. I found it and got straight to work. It's working perfectly! I've made several pages so far, these are my favourites:

Ask Me

...If I like posting GIFs and I'll say:




Now ask me if I'm actually going to start writing posts instead of just re-post GIFs I find random places:

Thor: The Dark World

We went to Ankara last week, we had to do some paperwork. Anyways we went home via Istanbul, which was fun.

While we were in Ankara we went shopping and.....................

Went to see Thor: The Dark World.


In ENGLISH! (With Turkish subtitles.)

We were like:




It was a good movie, darker than the first one (take a hint from the title), but it more than made up for it with the jokes. I enjoyed it immensely. :D

Doctor Who 50th

We watched the 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who, lets just say it was awesome.










It's a machine that goes ding, duh!





Look at you, I mean me.



Fezzes are cool.

I Love You

We've been buying cheese from the same guys for two years. "Guys" consists of Baba, Thunder (the only one who will use his English), and two other brothers. Buying cheese has never been boring, but now it's getting down right silly.

Thunder always greets us with a huge smile, and an enthusiastic "Hello!" And then promptly cuts us all cheese samples. If Dad isn't with us, Thunder asks about him while he gets our cheese order ready.
What's really amusing is that Dad is Baba's special friend.  Baba always makes it a point to rush over and shake Dad's hand, and pinch Sam's cheek.
I think Thunder recently learned the English phrase "I love you" and has been using it with great enjoyment. (For the past three weeks he waves goodbye and says "I love you!")

Last week, Thunder gave us some bread and butter (the butter was REALLY good). So this week we decided to get some more. Mom wanted me to take a picture of the wooden container that the butter was in. It looked to be wooden and we thought it was kinda cool. Thunder and company caught me taking pictures and eagerly rose to the occasion.

 Getting us butter

 From left: Thunder, Johanna, Sam, and Baba

 Baba

Dad, Sam and Baba

Wow, That Was Funny

I found these on some "Clean Funny Pics" Facebook page. I can't remember which one, sorry.

A Wrinkle In Time

"Have you ever tried to get to your feet with a sprained dignity?"

-Mrs. Whatsit

What Mom Doesn't Know

This happened at dinner. Well, sort of.

Gouache on printer paper.

Currently 7/11/13

I am currently:

Thinking:
Thinking about the unchangeble fact that when the computer crashed a few weeks ago I lost all of my pictures from Ephesus.

Happy about:
That English is fun today

Looking forward to:
 Taking more pictures of my feet.

What are you thinking about, happy about, and looking forward to?

Maroon 5- Payphone (Violin Cover)

   Stumbled across this cover on YouTube today.

#35 Favourite Songs

One of my friends made a list like this on her blog, and I like lists so I thought I'd make my own. Quinne's list was about 50 songs, but I only came up with 35 :P
Enjoy!

1.       Peppermint Winter  - Owl City http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orDENUwk344

2.       Smile – Uncle Kracker  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffej15-Dgl0

3.       The Trouble with Girls – Scotty McCreety  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND-SB3OxP38

4.       Dragon Dance – Chetro http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvfkyURi89A

5.       Bad day - Daniel Powter http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH476CxJxfg

6.       Wake me up- Avicii http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y_KJAg8bHI

7.       All About Us – He Is We http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeWkJKtrckI

8.       Angels- Owl City http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d4Kj2u4VN8

9.       How I became the Sea – Owl City http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5A5xW66LnA

10.   Brave- Sarah Bareilles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUQsqBqxoR4

11.   This is Home – Switchfoot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cKNleDdUFY

12.   When We’re Together – Mark Harris http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwcySBv4QxU

13.   Something Holy -Stellar Kart http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLOVgl3hWq0

14.   Gone Country – Alan Jackson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSlD5zSq1Xg

15.   Love’s Got a Hold on You - Alan Jackson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFLqFjaArdo

16.   Hollywood – Michal Buble http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBrlYtV60GA

17.   Back Then – Julian Smith http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN0qZCro2SQ

18.   Risk – Paul Brandt http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCfUYaOw4m0

19.   Superman – Taylor Swift http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM5thzMaEl8

20.   Something That I want – Grace potter (Tangled sound Track) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4CBk0IJhiQ

21.   The World – Brad Paisley http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrm0HMneM_A

22.   Highway Don’t Care - Tim McGraw  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmMS4ZTQ70A

23.   Who I am – Jessica Andrews http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StEWOiybGwg

24.   Every Time I Breath – Big Daddy Weave http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyeFgUl-H1k

25.    The Weekend Whip – The Fold http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvu5ET3MRt8

26.   Alberta Bound – Paul Brandt http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAL-4ozqzc8

27.   Strangers Like Me – Phil Collins http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl2vFYpadLk

28.   Welcome – Phil Collins http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf7kymTAjqc

29.   Strong Enough – Matt West http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knuHDPbE5es

30.   Chances – Five For Fighting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAvFFAhNcVo

31.   Fix You – Cold Play http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY9b6jgbNyc

32.   Dementia – Owl City http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_GXj8Jg4k0

33.    Stars – Grace Potter and the Nocturnals http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml7TmC__eDc

34.   Everybody’s Got Somebody But Me – Hunter Hayes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVdnvQsKyUs

35.   Deer in the Headlights – Owl City http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtsX8H7xSek