P.S.

Andy and I have our new website up and running, so if you want to know what's going on in our lives and check out our crazy puppy come visit at:

www.thelansfords.com

The End

Andrew and I arrived back in Samoa after a brief extension to the initial length of our California visit due to some fun oral surgery on my agenda and jumped right into finishing up our grades for the term at NUS. We have also decided, as a result of a great deal of thought and weight on our various options and their positives and negatives, that we will not stay in Samoa for the coming year. Rather than teaching at NUS for the 2007 school year as originally planned, we are wrapping up our responsibilities from this year and then will be heading back to California where we are planning on settling, near our families, and beginning our new life together. There are many reasons that have contributed to this decision. Most importantly, we feel that getting married means making a choice to create a new life with your partner, and the more we thought about remaining in Samoa for another year the more it felt as though that would be putting our ability to build and change our relationship in its new form on hold. The last thing that we wanted was to live here in Samoa for a year resenting the feeling that perhaps it might be holding us back in terms of our growth as a couple and as a family. And while no, I am NOT pregnant at the moment, we also felt the need to consider the fact that being a Peace Corps volunteer means that this would not be an option for us, and the truth is that it isn’t something we want to be an impossibility for the next 13 months. We also realize that one doesn’t want to just up and start having children with no job and nowhere to live, which would push the possibility of having children back far beyond our official end of service no matter when that was. Our choice gives us more time to prepare and become comfortable with a stable situation back home so that we can head down that path when we decide we are ready. There are other reasons, as well, but the main point that it comes down to is that it feels like the right thing to do, for us as a couple, at this point in life. I personally joined the Peace Corps hoping that I would come out the other end with a direction, an idea of what I wanted from my life, and finding Andrew and creating a life together was more than I ever could have imagined in that respect, and I am so grateful for this. It is always saddening in life when one is confronted with a decision that necessitates giving up certain things that are important on behalf of others. We have both valued our time and experiences in Samoa more than words could express, and it has been a huge part of our lives, as it always will be. Making the decision to leave, however, enables us to begin an entirely new and very exciting chapter in our lives both as individuals and as the family that we have become. We are thrilled with all of the possibilities now open to us and cannot wait to explore and fall into many new adventures together as we take this next large step (steps, more accurately).

This site, which is now coming to an end, has been such a great outlet for me to share all of my experiences and help to bring to life for people back home what I have been going through. It has also been a wonderful therapeutic tool for me and I hope a useful resource for others in all different walks of life, from family to strangers, who came upon it for a myriad of reasons. So thanks, blogger, I owe ya one. Although now that I’ve married a computer geek who can create a site for me I have to say your utility wanes… :) Once Andrew and I move home we will create a new website, together, through which you can continue to be a part of the journey of our life. So, for now… Tofa Soifua!

Montage

We just found out that the photographer created a great photo montage (video clip) of some of the photos from the wedding for everyone to check out. If you're interested go to: www.jimkennedyphotography.com/movielansford
Any photos that are taken are orderable by anyone through the photographer's sites. I think the photos will stay up for about six months.

Official Wedding Photos

Everyone has been sending us all kinds of great pictures that they took at the wedding and it's been wonderful getting so many different perspectives on the day. The "official" photographer has uploaded hers to her website so I wanted to post those links here. There are two sets- the photos that were taken on the day of the wedding and an engagement photo shoot the week before (more casual and, um, wet).

To see our wedding day photos go to www.stephaniebrockman.com enter the site, click on "view proofs" and select "Bennett & Lansford Wedding". The username is "brockman" and the password is "mari" (all lower case)

To see our engagement photos go to www.jimkennedyphotography.com enter the site, click on "view proofs" and select "Bennett & Lansford Engagement" (scroll down about a page to find it). The username is "kennedy" and the password is "mari" (again, lower case)

A highly recommended activity for a day when one is trying to kill time or has little else to do as there are TONS of photos on the sites.

Wedding Pictures

So, needless to say, I've been a bit busy what with the whole getting married thing. but despite my current lack of presence here I thought I would try to post some of the pictures that people have taken and sent us to alleviate some of the suspense as to what the whole affair looked like. I promise I will add something more verbally profound about the whole experience at a later date. And for those still in doubt/question, yes my mother-in-law DID make my dress :)











My sister posted a whole bunch more wedding pictures on their website if you want to check those out as well: www.jakegodwin.blogspot.com

Course Evaluations

So I am officially finished with teaching for the semester. Yesterday was our last day of class before my students go out for four weeks of teaching practice in local schools, which I will not be able to oversee since I’ll be back home for that whole wedding thing. This term was really difficult and TONS of work but it was really great and so rewarding and fulfilling. I asked for some feedback from my students so that I could try to improve my methods for next year and got some fun responses. My favorite suggestion was regarding the fact that I had the same students for 4 hours straight once a week and it drove us all nuts:

"I hope that the time of this course will change because after this double followed by the other double hour, man I'm tired of sitting on the same chair!"

Overall they were really positive and seemed to really like me, even if I do talk too fast and use overly complicated language. I learned a lot and hopefully they learned at least a bit as well and it feels really great to have a sense of completion about it all, especially since we're going home in just over a week and there's a ton of packing and shopping and general craziness to take care of first, so it's nice to be able to start focusing fully on that since it is only 3 WEEKS until the wedding. Wow.

Point of View

Robin, who works in the same department as my parents, sent me the following:

"About you teaching college... Maybe you remember this, but years back we were at an Eco Evo department retreat in the mountains. Mountain X. I skipped out of the endless boring talks to play basketball with Drew. He was pretty little, not sick yet. He asked me if I did the same kind of work as his mom and dad. I said yes. He said GOD! YUK! How can you STAND IT!!!! So I asked him what he wanted to do when he grew up. He said he wanted to do something fun, like work at Del Taco."

Everyone has their own perspective. I can only imagine how disappointed he'd be at what a "boring" adult I've become :D Although I bet he'd think selling funnel cakes was pretty cool, especially for such a steep profit!