An Incredible Birthday Shabbat!!

I'm going to be quite honest: I don't have so much time to Blog right now, because tomorrow I have a mid-term for Magen David Adom (E.M.T. training) and if I don't pass the test I fail the course.  But, I wanted to get a little something out there just as a quick recap of my amazing Shabbat.

Firstly, on Thursday night there was an NYHS alumni dinner in Yerushaliam which was SO nice.  So many people from my class, and a few grades above, were there, and it was so great to be with everyone for dinner.  The reason we had it is because Rabbi Fox is in town, visiting post HS programs, and it was great to see him too.  Ilana Greenberg and Sarah Varon came back from Yerushaliam with Nick and I, and it was fun to be with them as the clock struck 18th birthday.  I spent all of Friday shopping then cooking for our Shabbat meals, and Sarah Varon helped me big time.  Ilana Greenberg, Adina Polack, Emma O'quin, Benja Menashe, Josh Gladstein, Devon Nikfard, Solly Behar, and Nick Alkan joined me for Shabbat for a Seattle reunion/birthday celebration.

For Friday night dinner we had salad, chicken soup (which made the room smell like my house on Friday nights), schnitzel, veggies, potatoes, pasta, and some fruit and such for dessert.  After which, we went to an Oneg at my Av and Eim Bayit's house which was really fun.  For lunch today we had salad, chulent (made with my new crockpot!!!!), veggies, green beans, and potatoes.  We spent a lot of time last night and today just hanging out and chatting, and it was great to get a whole lot of Seattle back together in the same room.  Last night I really enjoyed when Solly made kiddush, because it was the first Seattle-style Sephardic kiddush I have heard in many months.

On another note, it's totally crazy that it's December already.  It's unreal that I've been here for almost three months, and it's even crazier that I only have about six and a half to go.  I'm excited to continue my journey in Israel, and make the most out of the time to come.

Thank you to all of you who have been a part of my life at any point over the past eighteen years!  Big shout out to my parents, who just yesterday celebrated their eighteenth year of parenthood- thanks for everything! And the same to my aunts, uncles, and grandparents... What an amazing eighteen years it has been.

Shavua Tov to all!  I will hopefully have some time to sit down for a little bit longer after I get done with this big test tomorrow.  This week I have a whole bunch of mid-terms due, too, so we'll see how all of that goes.

Shalom from Israel!