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 :)

Two month mark of being home in 'homa...'

Two months ago, I left Kiev on a very early flight, eventually heading for Oklahoma City {Kiev-->Paris-->Atlanta-->OKC}.  I was being medically evacuated by Peace Corps so that I could recover from having mono.  Because mono can take months {and months} to recover from, I wasn't able to make it back to Ukraine in the 45 day allotment they give you for medical evacuation.  On June 11, 2012, I was medically separated from the Peace Corps and am now a RPCV {Returned Peace Corps Volunteer}. I'm still getting better from having had mono.  Most days now I have a decent amount of energy...but I'm still easily sleeping 10-11 hours at night.  

So, what have I been doing since being home in Oklahoma?  Enjoying a few of these...

Nothing beats an Oklahoma sunset.  

I received my two 50-pound bags from Ukraine.  Surprisingly all in one piece and pretty much unharmed!  Kudos to Dan and Vicki for packing those things...

I am in the process of washing everything that was in those suitcases...mostly winter things that had only gotten one season's use during my first real winter {ever} in Ukraine.  There are days that I'm here and forget about the use of a dryer...and the fact that if something is dirty, I don't have to wait 3 days for it to dry if I wash it. 

Also during my two month span of being home, my parents have purchased a new home here in Norman.  So random and such odd timing...but the perfect one came on the market and we all love it.  That's probably what a lot of blog posts in the future will be aimed towards :)  More about that later.  But, demo work has finally begun this week.  The kitchen is 40 years old...and in need of some major TLC.  

More about kitchen projects soon...and don't worry, I didn't lift a hand in there.  

I got my teeth cleaned for the first time in over a year today.  No cavities!  So, I celebrated with Chick-Fil-A breakfast because I'm usually not up in time to enjoy their breakfast menu...love me some chicken-minis :)  I'm almost done with all of the Peace Corps paperwork for closing out my service...I will be so happy to be done with the mounds of paperwork they send you.  And medical and dental stuff you have to do as well.  

I miss blogging, and hope to start doing it more.  It's really therapeutic for me...but I haven't been in the mood the past few weeks. And, because I never replied to all of the emails and text messages and sweet words people said to me after my last blog post, thank you all :) I plan on responding to them, but it still may take me some time.  

And, because I probably won't end up blogging tomorrow, I need to wish Mr. Matthew Schlegel a very happy birthday :)  We've traveled many a mile together...from Mexico to Canada and beyond.  Hope you have a wonderful day Schlegel!

The Time Has Come, the Walrus Said...

This is the post that I've been dreading for quite some time.  I don't like dealing with confrontations and this is a major one.  But, as the lyrics from Alice in Wonderland state, "The time has come...".  

So, to all of my friends and family scattered from Ukraine to Oklahoma, I have to face the facts and let you know that my Peace Corps service is ending.  Officially, it ended on Monday {June 11, 2012}.  It's been a long time a'coming and when people recently asked me whether I'd be going back or not, I usually tried to skirt around the issue.  

My time in Ukraine was wonderful and something that I will cherish forever.  There were three things I really wanted to accomplish when I joined the Peace Corps: learn a new language, be immersed in a totally different culture, and travel.  I'm fairly happy with the fact that I can basically check those three items off my bucket list {although the travel part will never be done!}.  But it's still bittersweet.  There are days that I've been here in the states and wish I were still in Ukraine.  Those are the bad days, when I miss the more simplistic life of a Peace Corps Volunteer.  But I've had a lot of good days since I've been here in Oklahoma.  

I never could have dreamt that this chain of events would happen.  Getting sick in February...which was really mono but we didn't know it...and then getting pneumonia while recovering from mono.  It wasn't fun, but couldn't be avoided {no matter how much antibacterial hand sanitizer I used!}.  

I am still recovering from mono.  The recovery period can be months {and some people say it takes a full year...fingers crossed that that is not my case}.  The past two weeks-ish have been better.  I was finally given the go-ahead to start working out and jogged for the first time since January.  Granted, I lasted all of seven minutes at a v e r y slow pace, but ya gotta start somewhere :) it also made my body hurt in ways that I had forgotten because I've been so inactive for the past 5 months.  Five months.  Of being sick.  Let that settle in for a minute...

Since COS'ing {Close of Service, in Peace Corps lingo}, I have to make one more minor adjustment.  Upon arriving in Oklahoma, it's been hard for me to say where "home" was.  I really have just avoided saying "home" in general since being in OK {typical Lydia style}.  When I lived in Ukraine, I called Kirovograd my home. I was from Oklahoma, but K-grad was my home.  At one point during my service, I had a few Ukrainians comment to me that I called Ukraine home.  I totally didn't see the weirdness of this.  And I still don't.  I had every intention of spending my two year service in Ukraine...so why wouldn't it be my home?  But now, I have to change that and start calling Oklahoma home. 

I'm not sure what the next few months will hold.  Still resting.  Helping my parents move to a different house in Norman.  Doing design stuff for the new house. 

I'm kind of in a funk right now and don't know what else to post in this entry...so I'm going to go ahead and hit publish.  Perhaps more thoughts will come tomorrow :)  but for today, that's all I've got.

Way-Back-Wednesday #25: Happy Wedding Week, Kyle & Bayley!

It's my favorite post of the week day--Wednesday!  I wish every blog post were about old and awkward pictures.  Today's is no exception :) Get ready for some really old and super embarrassing pictures.  But first, you've gotta have a little background.

Meet Kyle and Bayley

*picture stolen from Facebook*

I met Kyle {the groom} when I moved to Norman 11 years ago.  He's a year older than me, and although we went to different high schools, we became good friends at church.  Summer of 2002, we traveled to Los Angeles on a mission trip.  Kyle and one of his best friends, Brandon, sat by me while I used a CALLING CARD {way before the days of cell phones} to talk to my parents during the trip.  Pretty sure our friendship was solidified after that.  

During my sophomore year of high school, I took Kyle to our winter semi-formal at Norman North.  This is where the super embarrassing pictures come into play.  And it involves a funny side story with my PC friends in Ukraine.

Side story: At some point over the last few months, my friends and I {in Ukraine} were discussing the evolution of clothes.  Kym and I got to talking about our old prom dresses...and eventually I described the dress {if you can call it that?} that you'll see below.  This was during the time that showing your belly was uber popular.  So, for the record, I thought this outfit was incredibly cool at the time.  But, now, I realize how really embarrassing it is.  

the top of the outfit...not too bad!

There it is, in all of its glory!  Sheer overlay, pants, and black lace.  I can't imagine what Kyle's parents thought of my outfit.  

best of buds--Brandon and Kyle

obligatory picture with the parents

Wally (who happens to be my dentist!), Lydia, Kyle, and Cathy (who happened to be my boss for 6 years!)

So now that those pics are out of the way, we'll start with some other goodies of Kyle.  Don't worry Bayley, yours are coming too :)

Kyle and Darren--ballers.

some youth event...Kyle is in the back left doing one of his infamous dance moves.  

Kyle's mad dance skills.  Hope I get to see this in person again at the wedding...

totally in his element!

going to see Tim McGraw

Darren, Amy, Nora, Kyle, Jacey, Lydia

Wonderful memories after Timmy...a flat tire in the parking garage!

Harry Potter?  Or Steve Urkel?  

Kyle, Darren, David, Bennett

hanging out in Seattle--2005

After high school, Kyle and I both headed to OU.  We would see each other occasionally, sometimes through studio classes in the College of Architecture.  After a few years though...he began to come around more.  That is, once he met Bayley :)

Bayley, now an architecture grad from OU, and I met during the good ol' days of studio.  We happened to be in a class together that involved combining my interior design class with her architecture class.  After that, our paths crossed every day.

Lydia and Bayley {with Robert in the background, who actually introduced Kyle and Bayley}

Winter White Out--Bayley, Lydia, Drew

Lydia, Bayley, Drew, Beth

Bayley and one of her best friends, Drew

I know I'm being long-winded, but their engagement story is one of the sweetest things ever.  Bear with me. 

I can't remember all the details, but the pictures speak wonders. According to a Japanese legend, whoever folds 1000 paper cranes is granted a wish.  So, Kyle got to folding...

and folding...

and folding...

His wish?  For Bayley to marry him. 

Pretty magical, isn't it? 

So happy for the both of y'all :)  Happy Wedding Week!  And just because this is one of the best engagement shots ever...

Kyle & Bayley--May 19, 2012

Surprise time...

If you know me in the slightest you know I love surprises.  I love planning them, but love receiving them too.  SO, I've been keeping a pretty big surprise hidden for a few weeks now.  Some have slowly found out, but others have not.  And it's finally time to come clean on the blog/every other social media network out there {although I'm only on facebook.  No twitter/instagram/whatever for me...yet.}.

Back to the surprise.

Are you ready?

drum roll please...

I am back in Oklahoma and actually have been for two-ish weeks.  

Yep.  I'll go ahead and let that settle in for a little bit...

So, why am I here?  Pretty simple answer: my health.  I wasn't recovering as quickly and as easily as we would have liked for me to from mono/pneumonia.  Here's the overall gist of the story:

You might remember that during the months of February and March, I was really sick.  Really, really sick.  I would get better, but not 100% better...and then get sick again.  It was a continuous cycle.  And I was sick about 95% of that time with random illnesses {viral infection/upper respiratory/whatever} that we thought were getting treated.  Well, I never really got better.  And then I got pneumonia.  And then when the docs did my blood work for pneumonia, they saw that I had had mono at some point.

"Mono?!? I've never had mono!!"

That was my exact reaction.  I guess when you have mono, a certain type of blood cell stays in your body and it never really goes away.  So, when they did the pneumonia blood work, they saw that.  We assumed it had been way previous in my life, even though I had never been known to have it.  I got better after getting the correct antibiotics for my pneumonia.  But, my energy levels were still way low. Horribly low.  And they haven't gotten better.  It was at that point that the docs decided that maybe I had actually had mono the entire time I was sick in February/March.  That would explain how my immune system was weak and I got pneumonia.  

So, my PC doc thought it might be a good idea to send me back to the states to recover for a while.  Simply put, it's hard to recover on your own...especially in a foreign country.  It was a continuous cycle of, "Should I stay here and try to recover?  Or go back to the states?"  My mind changed decisions what seemed like every 5.4 seconds.  It wasn't a sure thing that I would be sent back to the states.  We had to get approval from PC headquarters in DC.  They wanted a follow-up chest x-ray.  I obliged...and by 7 pm that night, I knew that I would be stateside in less than a week.

I left Ukraine early Saturday morning, April 28, and made the {incredibly} long journey to the states, arriving in Oklahoma late that night.  I've been in "hiding" since then.  My activities upon arriving in Oklahoma have included: 

*Trying to adjust to this time zone.  

*Resting.  

*Eating more Mexican food and Chick-Fil-A than is probably healthy for a person to consume in a two-week period.  

*Resting.

*Basking in the glory of my giant bed with 15 pillows.

*Resting.

*Slowly surprising random groups of friends.

*Resting after surprising said random groups of friends.  

This is why I've been pretty absent from the blogging world.  And why I've been slightly not telling the {whole} truth in blog posts.  My biggest apologies for that.  I've needed to stay incognito for as long as possible to get some good rest and really get adjusted to this time zone.  Still working on both of those  parts...

I am currently on what is called "Medical Evacuation" which is also known as "medevac" in PC lingo. This is a time period of up to 45 days where I can return to Ukraine without too many hiccups along the way.  Right now, I'm focusing on getting better.  And it's a slow, slow process.  I feel like I take teeny tiny steps each day, and then have a bad day and go 10 steps back.  It's super frustrating because my brain is telling me it's ready to do things.  Walk around the block.  Go to the store.  Eat a meal out.  But as soon as I get home from that activity, I'm wiped out and usually collapse for a few hours.  I'm an active person who likes doing every opportunity that comes my way...and this has been by far the most frustrating part of this entire recovery process.  

SOOOOOOO, now that this is the longest blog post ever {without any pictures}, I'll show you one other surprise that we found in my parents backyard today.  

little bunny foo foo {approximately the size of a hamster}

there are at least 5 of them in the backyard...

My mom was mowing the lawn...and one darted out of some high grass. They are the most precious thing EVER.  Can't wait to play with them more tomorrow...

Much love, this time from America :)

Lyd

happy happy mother's day :)

Mother's Day 2012: probably one of the biggest Hallmark days of the year. But, I didn't get to support their enterprise this year.  Instead, I'll do a blog post :) It's cheaper and more economically friendly (although my brother did send my mom an e-card yesterday...guess I could have gone that route.).  

My mom, Lena, can do just about anything.  And if she doesn't know how, she's usually willing to try.  She carted me from every dance, piano, baton, gymnastics, acting, singing and cheerleading lesson when I was little {just for the record, the piano lessons were the only one that she chose.  Another day, another blog post...}.  Pops helped some too...but when it came to gluing rhinestones on a yet another dance costume, that job usually went to good ol' Mom.  

"Mom, I need a costume for _______ {the Nutcracker, the King and I, etc.).  Can you make it?"

"Mom, I forgot that I need to have a Spanish inspired dish for language day at school..."

"I reallyyyyy want a toy poodle.  I promise I'll take care of it..."

"Mom, this dress is 8 sizes too big {for my brother's wedding}.  You can fix that, right?" (pictures to boot, scroll down...)

My mom and I are the same person.  To. A. Tee.  If you wonder where my OCD, germaphobia {made up that word}, stubbornness, or sense of creativity comes from, look no further.  We love each other to the core, but we also like to argue with each other.  Sometimes just for fun.  Let me tell you something though, when you're 5500 miles away from home and you've got a temperature of 103.5 {as I did on March 8}, you just want your mommy.  No matter how old you are.

And since no post is complete without a few pics {or a lot, as is usually my case}, let the good times roll...

baby Jeremy and Mom 

Lincoln Logs! A Frost Family favorite.

cool acid-wash jeans

more acid-wash jeans.

the days of Pops' beard and Mom's perm.  

**pretty sure AOL instant messenger is on the screen in the computer in this shot**

At the tree my brother's elementary school class planted on the playground.  Mom is motioning to how tall the tree was when they planted it...{cough cough, some 25+ years ago}.  And now it's a massive pine, still standing after the Tuscaloosa tornado last year.  

costume time...

"Mom, we're going to sell fireworks this summer to help raise money for our Chicago mission trip...but there have to be parents supervising the whole time."

Halloween party--mom in her traditional Ukrainian shirt wayyyyyy before I ever went to Ukraine!

senior prom

OU/Saxet...

What other mom can turn a bridesmaid dress that's 8 sizes too big...

into one that actually fits?

Ukrainian bazaar time.

happy mother's day mom :)  hope it's a wonderfully wonderful day!

A few other shout-outs today too:

Today is confirmation Sunday at McFarlin.  Happy day, 8th graders :) proud of Tino and all of the adults who have contributed to such a wonderful day.  

It's bell concert day at St. Stephen's church (mom's church).  Good luck, bell choirs!  And a special surprise will be there too!

Camp HEAL (HIV/AIDS summer camp in Sergiivka, Ukraine) is FULLY FUNDED!!!! Woot woot!  Thanks for y'alls help.

Interesting blog post for tomorrow...stay tuned.  You won't want to miss it, promise!