Mid-life update.

I kind of went on a blog hiatus for a month and a half.  Whoops.  I love the writing that comes with blogging, which is probably why my blog has lots of wordy posts.  And since I'm kind of playing catch-up right now, I think today's post needs to have bullets...too much going on in my head right now to write about each thing, so we'll go for an overview!

• At the end of August, my brother flew to Oklahoma.  He still had a lot of his childhood things at my parent's casa and since he has his own house in New Hampshire, it was time that his immense video game collection and Star Wars items find their way to that house :)  So, he and I rented a minivan {packed to the brim} and made the 1800 mile trek to New Hampshire.  

• While in New Hampshire, I got to see Jill before she moved from Boston to Austin.  We spent a day on the lake kayaking using my bro and SIL's kayaks!  Thanks J & T :)

• Also in New Hampshire, Tina and I got to play with decorating their house :)  I think of it as playing...Tina probably thinks of it as work.  The pic on the left {below} is the winter-y look. The pic on the right {below} is for spring!  Much more light and airy.  

• The new house is coming along...slowly but surely!  When I got back from New Hampshire, I found a GIANT surprise: Mom removed all of the popcorn ceilings throughout the entire house. I was completely and utterly shocked/ecstatic.  What this has ended up meaning is, other projects got added to the to-do list because of the popcorn being gone.  In layman's terms, we're pretty much gutting the whole house.  One of the bigger projects includes raising the floor in the sunken living room {which was one of the things dating the house the most}.  

before

during {bye bye columns}

after!

• Don't worry, there's still more work to show you, but that's just to give a few teaser pics of the house :)  more Doma Diaries posts to come in the near future!  
• My old iphone 3gs was on it's last leg a few weeks ago.  It served me well for 3+ years, but when the new iphone came out, I preordered mine immediately.  I never thought that I'd be able to keep an iphone working, but they make them pretty dang tough--I dropped mine in the OCEAN and it barely blinked an eye.  

one last picture from my old iphone :)

• After I got home from New Hampshire, my brother asked me if I wanted to start an app called Couch to 5k.  I had been meaning to start working out again, but never found the motivation. So, 6 weeks ago, we started the program together.  And today, I ran for 20 minutes {although the last 5 minutes of the run was barely a jog} for the first time since January and before getting sick in Ukraine. It wasn't pretty, but I did it!  A few weekends ago, it got realllllly chilly in Norman {in the 40's} but I still had to do my run.  So, I broke out the only leggings I had around. 

• This past weekend was one of the best weekends of the year: OU/Saxet.  Pretty sure that it was my favorite OU/Texas game to date.  Words can't explain how excited the crowd was after every touchdown we scored on them.  

Pops, Mom, and Lydia at the game. 

• I recently chopped off my bangs.  Again.  It usually happens at a very random time {this time it was 11:30 pm last Wednesday night}--like this time, when I had been painting all day.  

That's all for now.  I'll leave you with two different Oklahoma sunsets that made my heart happy.  

Boomer. Sooner.

the doma diaries: pops's study!

Happy Friday!!  A week from today, I will be in Chicago with the high school kiddos on our way to Toronto for the summer mission trip.  In preparation for the trip, I needed to get certified to drive one of the church mini-buses.  I've waited 10 years to be able to drive one of those babies (you have to be 25 years old) and the day finally came!  Scott took me out for a test drive...and it honestly wasn't that bad! 

stolen instagram photo

Let's get down to business though.  Next stop on the tour of the new house is my dad's study.  My dad has dreamed of having built-in bookshelves in his study for a long, long time.  That day is finally coming {soon} and we're all quite excited to see how they'll turn out.  

one of the front bedrooms--soon to be a Boomer Sooner Study!

other direction

the closet {which will also get special built-ins! more about that later...}

first order of business: take out the old carpet {the built-ins will be built directly on the floor and new carpet will go in around the built-ins}

sayonara! 

bez carpet {a little Russian for you today. I think you can figure out what it means...}

without carpet!

all sorts of secret messages were left for us...more about that later too :)

no more hanging rods!

That's all the sneak peak you're going to get today.  I also need to say hi to all of my friends at Camp HEAL {an HIV/AIDS educational youth summer camp in Ukraine}.  Hope y'all are soaking up the rays on the beach and teaching the kids lots of stuff.  Wish I were there with y'all :)

I need your help!!!

Dearest Blog Readers,

Peace Corps Volunteers in Ukraine are madly gearing up for all of our summer camp activities.  I'm super excited to be a part of a few different ones.  For one of the camps, I will be spending the 4th of July with a group of Ukrainian youth at a small beachside village in southern Ukraine.

Camp H.E.A.L. {Human Trafficking, Education, AIDS/HIV, Leadership} is a Peace Corps run summer camp.

Background info on the camp: here
A link to see all the counselors: here

Because this camp is Peace Corps run/organized, we raise a lot of the money to make it affordable for students.  For a 9 day camp, youth only have to pay around $40 USD.

That's about one tank of gas in the United States right now...maybe less. 

ANY type of donation is greatly appreciated.  Every dollar counts and goes directly to funding the camp...AND is tax deductible. We are looking to finish fundraising by the beginning of May.  Please please please consider giving.  Here are a few ideas on things you could do:

Skip your Starbucks for the day.

Instead of stopping to get a Chick-Fil-A in the drive-thru, make a sandwich at home.

Skip the queso at On The Border.  And maybe the dessert too...

Skip the impulse buying in the Target check-out.  You don't really need those pretzel M&Ms.

Forge past your 4th meal cravings of Taco Bell.  Your love handles will thank you later.

{can you tell some of the foods/places I love and miss right now?}

With those few extra bucks, donate the loose change to this cause.  I promise, you'll be able to see the rewards in my pictures from camp :)

I know some people don't do electronic payments...but there are other options!   However, if you would like to donate online, you can simply click >>>> here.  It's super easy and fast.  If online stuff isn't your cup o' tea, there are two other options:

1) Send a check to the following address:


Peace Corps Headquarters
Office of Private Sector Initiatives
1111 20th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20526


Checks are payable to Peace Corps Partnership Program.  Please note in the memo line: Project 343-310.  Also, print off the following sheet of paper, fill it in, and send it in {paper here}.

2)  Call the following phone number.  Credit card information will be taken over the phone.  Phone number: 1-800-424-8580 x 2170.  You will still need the project number {343-310}.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.  Please consider giving something...even $5 will help more than you know.

Better late than never :)

I am home safe and sound after a long hiatus of marshrutka rides, metro rides, bus rides, long and incredibly cold walks in the snow/ice, a visit to my wonderful host family, and most importantly, Russian language refresher!  I arrived home last night and made myself my first bowl of easy mac :)

 

It was phenomenal (thanks Hayley and 'rents!).  It tasted just like home.  

I went to work today and got our summer plans started for numerous summer camps and Europe trips and English clubs. However, today, the subject of the post is on a small victory I obtained:

I finally have a new PO box lock!!!!!!!!!!!!

It has only taken a month for them to find and install a new lock.  The good news?  The key works and I didn't have to pay for it! The bad news?  They only gave me one copy.  I'll be going to get a copy made very soon :)

Waiting for me in my PO box was a package slip (for a package from my bro and sis-in-law!), a letter from my Pops (complete with Zits cartoons and a $5 bill that I plan on showing students tomorrow), and a large squishy envelope from an address I didn't know.  I would normally not be able to contain myself from ripping into all of the packages, but since I had two other things to open, I managed to save my brother and sis' Christmas/birthday package to be opened on a skype date late tonight or tomorrow.

Upon getting home with my loot, I remembered that sweet Lyndsay had told me to be on the lookout for something in the mail.  The mail is still WAY backed up over here and I wondered how long it would take for it to get here.  This is Miss Lyndsay Jain, who in my phone is also known as Tarzan from a summer camp we did together in Toronto :)  Get it?  "Me Tarzan, you Jane."    

 Lynds and I on Senior Recognition Sunday (2010)

Also taking part in the package sending was Lyndsay's sweet boyfriend Matt Schlegel (or Schlegel as I have always called him!).  I have known Schlegel for a long, long time...like maybe since 2005?  I was trying to think back and remember the first time we met and I honestly couldn't remember.  Pretty sure the first trip we traveled on together was Choir Tour 2006 to Washington D.C.

3-d movie...Matt's in the blue striped shirt.

Ever since that trip, I have been all over the United States and Mexico and Canada with him...and Lyndsay accompanied us on a lot of those trips the past few years!

"The date train's a comin', the date train's a comin'..."--Juners 2008

caught in a bit of downpour in Glacier National Park (in Canada!)

at the double Quincieniera in Mexico (with Chris!)

surprise going away party, when I was about to leave for Ukraine...

Anywho, you see how much these two mean to me.  I could continue on, but let's just say that they are two of the sweetest and most genuine people I know.  They both have a love for life that is simply contagious and makes you always want to look on the positive side of things.  So, as I opened up my package, this is what I found...

I instantly recognized their own separate handwritings and was so excited to read their sweet HANDWRITTEN notes inside :)  And boy do they know me well...pics from home and Reese's Pieces?  

Inside the large red envelope (which was the last thing I opened) was one of the sweetest surprises ever:   

a Christmas card signed from a lot of my kiddos and friends at church :)

it made me laugh out loud and smile from ear-to-ear as I read each and every note on it.

Thank you LJ and Schlegel for going to all of the trouble of getting everyone to sign it.  And thank you to everyone who signed the card!  It absolutely made my day!  And let's just say that the Reese's were an added bonus :)

K-grad Snow!

I walked to work today, even though it was SUPER windy outside.  I walked right into the wind for the first 15 minutes of my walk until I turned to go down a side road to my work.  Some of the sights along the way...

An old abandoned building about 4 minutes from my apartment.  I LOVE the striking turquoise of the doors and windows though.  As I was snapping the shot above, two of my favorite puppies came bounding through the snow.

I haven't named him yet.  He's probably 15 pounds if that.  Name ideas will be taken in the comments section.  He screams mischievous. 

This is his pal who also needs a name.  He's a bit bigger than the b&w one.  Maybe 20-25 pounds.   

Adorable.

Freezing and squinty because the snow is pelting my eyes.

A side road on the way to work...

A perfect little snowflake! (smaller than a pencil eraser)

Our snow-plow system: 4 tractors in a row that cause EVERY marshrutka/vehicle on the street to go uber slow.  I was impressed we had the tractors though.  They are on the bridge, and right after I snapped this pic, they caused a giant traffic jam on the main road in K-grad by ALL making a u-turn.  I stood there with my mouth gaping and forgot to snap a picture...

Frozen and snow covered river

Sometimes I walk on the left of the river down that side road.  However, today I needed some buildings for protection from the {Oklahoma like} wind.

Typical Ukrainian car.  Is it a Lada?  Not sure of the brand...

Looking into our courtyard at work.  Those are our two buses that I've seen put to use once (when I went on my week-long camping trip).

the spot behind me on the left is where the circus' always come set-up (about a 5 or 6 minute walk from my apartment).  There was a circus here less than a week ago...can't imagine how cold it would be to sit and watch with the temps in the teens.

Word of the Day:

ПОДТВЕРЖДАТЬ--to confirm

This word is hard to pronounce in Russian...but it can be used relatively often when you need to confirm a spot on a bus or to confirm a reservation.  Happy happy Friday :)

kids playing outside of my work on a giant block of ice...

P.S.  I finished the last of my queso tonight. I have eaten Mexican food once a day since last Saturday (minus Wednesday).  Can't wait til the next time I use my precious Velveeta :)

Way-Back-Wednesday #17: Happy Birthday, Kym!

Today's Way-Back-Wednesday post doesn't go too far back because every picture available for today's post only comes from my time in Ukraine!  However, there are definitely some good pictures and stories to tell with the photo montage.

Meet Kym. 

also known as Kira, Ken, Kim, and a slew of other names. My fave: Kymmy Gibbler.

Kym Starno, one of my bestest friends in the PC, was in the training village next to mine.  I will never forget the first time my cluster group met her cluster group.  We had probably been in country a week and a half.  The Kozelets group (Kym's cluster) was coming to our village that day for a lesson.  As we sat in our teacher's apartment with the windows open, we heard a very strange noise slowly getting louder and louder.  Turns out the noise was coming from four incredibly loud and boisterous girls and their lone guy of the group, Matt.

The Kozelets group: Kym, Anne, Mary-Kathryn, Matt, and Maria in the front

I thought I wrote a blog entry about "how sweet the Kozelets group was" but I couldn't find it just now.  If I did in fact write one of those entries, at the time I was probably lying.  The first session that we were all together I didn't say one word the entire hour.  They were so overwhelming and so completely polar opposite my training cluster.  I can remember letting out my breath after they left that day wondering what the next few months would be like.  If someone had told me then that some of the Koz. group members would be some of my sweetest and closest friends, I would have laughed in their face.  But, I'm lucky to call them friends now :)  They are quite the bunch, that's for sure.

Back to Kym's birthday photo montage.  I have more awkward and embarrassing pictures of Kym and myself from ALL over Ukraine and Eastern Europe too.  I think I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.  

First time in the Black Sea together--Odessa, summer 2011

Alien night at Camp Bereg, summer 2011

Kym, Lydia, Theo

Second time in the Black Sea together--Camp Bereg in Sergiivka, summer 2011

PEPFAR (HIV/AIDS) training w/some of our clustermates, September 2011

Kym, Jamie, Lydia, Mark, Maria

Sight-seeing in Kamyanets Podilsky, September 2011

EuroTrip with my work, Dresden, October 2011

Hello Kitty earmuffs.  Eurotrip, October 2011

Squash in Kym's apartment hallway, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving 2011!  There is so much that I love about this picture.  Words can't even explain it...Kym, Lydia, Matt, Mary-Kathryn

doing my "special" make-up on my birthday, December 2011

My New Years work party, December 2011

Olena, Lydia, Kym, Mary-Kathryn

Happy New Years!!! Celebrating in Kiev...2011/2012!

Matt, Kym, Lydia

Words can't describe the relationship I have with Kym.  She is the best travel buddy ever (she brings half the toiletries, and I bring the other half!), she has the most gung-ho attitude where nothing is impossible, and she can literally make me laugh uncontrollably just by being herself.  I feel like I've known her my entire life.  You are a blessing in my life and I hope you've had a happy, happy birthday :) love you Kymmy Gibbler!