Heading Back Soon

I have been trying to spend as much time with my family as I can, since I am headed back to Russia soon.

My nephew, Benaiah

Two of my brothers were here for a visit, Jason and Jonathan, as well as Jonathan's family.  We all had so much fun together.  

My family decided to throw a surprise Birthday party for  me.    As you can see on my brother's face, he was quite proud of himself for keep it a surprise.

Everyone had so much fun.  I enjoyed watching the kids get into it.  

I had to include this picture.  It was almost pitch dark out and yet my camera it look like it was dusk.  It was such a nice night to go for a walk with Mom in Florida.  This picture was taken in July.

I successfully made it to the top of the tallest lighthouse in Florida!  I think it was 206 steps and I am scared of heights!  I was glued to the wall in the photo and every limb was shaking as someone took the picture.  And of course it was very windy.  :)  

Ponce Inlet lighthouse.  Mom and I made the trip before I left her to head back to North Carolina.  It was such a beautiful clear day!

So Many Experiences

I went to see my grandparents in New Hampshire, after having not seen them in 4 years.  It was a wonderful time. 

Hanging out with friends in New Hampshire

I took my grandparents to Olive Garden.  They had never been there, ever.  It was so much fun,and they loved it! 

I had the opportunity to visit some friends' parents in PA.  It was so enjoyable being on a farm for a few days.  I love farms.

I went to Germany for a conference.  While there we had an outing to an outdoor museum.  There was a horse, but the girls I was there with would not get any closer to the horse.  Poor horse.

 CAMP

A friend of mine found out that a camp in the area needed a Camp M to come speak with a bunch of girls.  I was excited to visit and help out.  I managed to direct some of the girls to draw their transportation during a camp scavenger hunt.  Can you guess what they drew?

Since being Stateside...

Some friends of mine, a family of five, has been living at our home with me for the last month. It "snowed" a few days after they moved in, and we had great fun scraping snow off the ground to make snowballs. We were determined. (I am in grey in the back.) Suzy, the mother, is taking the picture.
This family's home is being repaired after the floor in a good portion of the house was found rotting. I helped clean and move furniture one day.


I got to be in Missouri for my neice, Shaddai's, birthday. On her second birthday was the first day that I ever met her in person. Such a special day!
I stayed with Mom in Florida from when I came back, through the Christmas holidays. My little brother came for Christmas as well. It was just a nice time with family.

So Many Events...

...I don't know where to start.

So I decided to start with my friend's wedding. She was beautiful and as far as I know, it all went off without any problems.

Then a week later a birthday party that I didn't want to go to, but still went to in spite of the desire to relax at home. It was a ton of fun. The minute I stepped in the door, the birthday girl asked if I would be willing to french braid her hair. We enjoyed playing UNO and chatting till late.

I was invited to a Latin-Gala concert. It was so beautiful. We got the front row because our seats were occupied on the second row. :) Not a bad spot. We got to see All the expressions of the musicians.
I took my friend to get her hair cut. She needed a translator and also loved the girl that I usually have do my hair. I was doing really well with the whole translating thing until she wanted a manicure. I don't have that vocabulary. I can talk about a car and getting your hair done in Russian, but you try to get me to explain what I need in a manicure, I am at a complete loss. :) Needless to say, the lady who was doing my friend's manicure, understood the word "buff". :) We all had a good laugh, when we found out that was the one English word she knew. I was saved!After Sunday fellowship, a bunch of us meet at a food court. This was the crowd that gathered this time. Huge! Sometimes it is only one to two tables. This time it was a ton of people. It is always fun getting so many people together.


Until next time.

Moving Around

I got to go to a summer home with one of my friends. We got to see and eat a bunch of home grown veggies.

A couple of months ago I wanted to and was encouraged to find a home with locals. It took some time, but the right one finally came along.

My new place: I am living in an 3 room apartment with 4 other girls. It reminds me of a dorm situation, except we all have our own things like toilet paper...

I share a room with one girl. It has been amazing just how things have worked out and how I found the place.

Snapshots

A friend of mine was determined to make me pose. Yes, it was torturous, but with a smile! :) I just don't pose in pictures, but if you have happened to see any pictures of the local people you will notice that they pose for pictures all the time. Sooo...
These trees of padlocks... When people get married, as part of their wedding day they hang a lock, usually with their names written on it, on one of these iron trees and throw the key in the river. These are some of my friends that were with me on a walk by the river one day.
Of course, the parks are beautiful. :) We went out, sat on the grass, and played UNO to our hearts content. It was just a relaxing day. The park was crowed, but you would never know it from this picture.
A friend of mine wanted to go for a boat ride up the Moscow River. It was another beautiful day.
Some more sites to see with friends that find it amazing that I haven't seen them yet...

While at a friend's the other day, we were getting ready to eat some cake that she had made, when we noticed their dog was also getting ready to eat it...

3 Feet from the Stage

The other day I went to a play "Dead Souls." It is a classic, here. I got to sit on the second row back! The stage was 3 feet in front of me! Crazy! But a good place to be to hear what was being said and see what was going on. And of course, since the play was in the local language it was helpful to be able to hear.

This was the view behind me. Amazing!

I also had the opportunity to go to a conference a couple of weeks back. It was a refreshing but very busy time. These are some of my friends that I was there with.

And of course, the living accommodations were a bit tight. 6 ladies in this tiny room. It was fun, though.

And meals were interesting. Exact amount of food for 8 adults at each table. Bread at every meal. Local food each time. Not bad.

21st century hanging out with friends:
We would chat occasionally, but a lot of time was spent on ipods, ipads, or phones seeing as this cafe had wireless internet.