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.

Surprise! Look who came to visit...

That's right, folks!  Mom and Pops graced Ukraine with their wonderful presence.  It was fabulous. Simply fab.

Their trip started off in Germany visiting some friends from our Alabama days.  Those friends now live in the picturesque, mountain town of Garmisch, Germany.

one of the views from their house...not too shabby, eh?

Soooo pretty.

After a few days in Germany, they came  to Ukraine and we were reunited for the first time in just over a year :) I ended up surprising them at the airport, which was a welcomed surprise because they didn't have any grieven {Ukrainian currency} yet and would need some to pay for a taxi.  I am still recovering from pneumonia and maybe mono as well {a whole 'nother story in and of itself}, so most of their trip, I sat around a lot of the time and let them do the exploring.  My energy levels are nowhere near where they used to be, but I'll talk about illnesses in a different post.  I'll let the pictures do the talking today.

One of the entire reasons for them coming--Ukrainian pysanka eggs {click here if you don't know what they are}.  Mom was in heaven when she saw this giant one in K-grad.

Visit to the host fam's home in Oster. 

Mom, Pops, Andrei, Gala, and Christy

Pops was most shocked at the amount of dishes I wash by hand on a daily basis. 

Mom got to go in the root cellar at the host fam's house.  I was never allowed to go down there because it was too cold...guess that rule doesn't apply to moms? :)

Pops was most excited to go to the post office in Oster and mail post cards.  I was less than thrilled on that dreary, cold day.

We didn't take much luggage to Oster.  Important things that were left behind when we needed them: gloves.  Mom and I shared a pair of mittens while walking around Oster on the coldest day of the trip.

One-mittened Lydia, outside of the gymnasia school where I taught during training.

dinner in K-grad with some of my fellow k-gradders.  

Angie, her mom Dorothy {who also happened to be in town for Easter!}, Mom, Lydia, Vicki, Dan, Pops, and Phil

this picture deserves a post in and of itself.  Photo credit goes to mom. See if you can find something that doesn't belong...

doing pysanky eggs at my office

obligatory pic with the map in my office, and counterpart, Olena

the kittens were born while my parents were here too.  

SO SO SO cute.

Easter meal at Olena's

"The Frost's Take Ukraine"--could be a book.

Pops needed a pic of me with my OU wall art.  

This is what I did most of the trip.  Rest.  

on their last night of the trip, Mom trimmed my hair...this was the first time I've had it cut {other than me chopping off my bangs} in over a year.  

good job, Mom!

Obviously, there's lots more to elaborate on, but this gives you a good overview of their stay :)  they arrived back in Oklahoma last night safe and sound.  Gotta get to work now...toodles!

One last thing...we got to watch some of the kids from my work practice in their dance class.  They are amazing.

Kittens, inspired by kittens!

For those of you who don't know what the title of this post is referencing, you need to watch the following youtube video that went viral a few years ago: 

Some of my favorite quotes:

"AHHH!"

"AHHHHH!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"I'm her mom!"

"Nooooo, she's not!!!!!!"

"La lalalalala la laaaaaaaa!"

"Bow wow chicka bow wow chicka bow wow"

"I have to go potty!!!"

("move down to his feet...")

"psssssstttt"

So, today, I was greeted with a surprise in my small entryway of my apartment.

4 teeny-tiny, itty-bitty, black and white kittens!!!

they are less than one day old...showing you my finger so you can see how tiny they are.

look at the tiny paws!!!!

 

I realize that I sound like the little girl in the viral youtube video.  Apparently, it's easy to talk like that to kittens.

I wish you could really see how small they are.

I've gone out to check on them at least 10 times today.  The last time I went out tonight, there was an older woman (not quite yet babushka status) feeding the mama cat.  This was the first time I'd ever seen her in my apartment complex.  Her name is Elena and she's super, super sweet.  She told me I'm always welcome to come up to her apartment on the third floor and pointed to which apartment she lives in.  Might have to make her some snickerdoodle cookies and take them to her!

I got my nails done for Ukrainian Easter tomorrow!  Lyuda came over to my apartment today and tried out a new painting kit that she got as a present from my mom.  This means that I got some pretty flashy/groovy nails for Easter.  Lyuda and I checked on the cats a few times as well and she told me the word for "kittens" in Russian.

I taught Lyuda the word for "bling" after she explained that they needed some glitter on top...

Word of the day:

kittens--котята {pron.: kahteeyah-tah}

Long post today, but too much to tell.  The last bit is a crazy video of the Norman tornado that happened yesterday afternoon.  It begins to get interesting around 1:18.  This guy caught the actual formation of a tornado in perfect view.  He then realized it was coming a little too close for comfort.  

  

More tornadoes are expected all over Oklahoma today.  As much as I hate tornadoes and am glad I'm not there, it is not easy to be 5800 miles away and wondering if everyone is okay!  Yesterday's storms uprooted a lot of incredibly old and large trees.  Praying that everyone stays safe today.  

The last bit of news for today is that it's a dear friends birthday :)  

Since this is our "friendship" picture on facebook, I decided it was too good {and truly captured both of us} not to post for your birthday pic, Darren!

You might remember this post here about Dare Bare.  I'm still on the lookout for a certain picture of him and Kyle in high school.  Another day, another post.  Stay safe Norman, and happy birfday Darren!

Reason #831 I love my host fam's house

There's nothing like arriving home after being gone for a while.

Random Frost Family tradition: after a long trip, we return home to a Snoopy beach towel {that is probably 25+ years old, which is as old as I am btw, weird.} hung up in the bathroom.  The towel has something along the lines of, "Happiness is a warm blanket" written on one side, and my family is going to have to help me out with what's written on the other side! Totally blanked on it now.

Anywho, the home that I was talking about is my host family's home in Oster.  When I get off the bus and walk the 15 minutes down hill to their house, I know I'm home again.  The dog greets me at the gate.  The cats dart in and out of the open door.  Food is offered before I even have time to take off my jacket.  It's feels so good to go there and be home.

And then, there's my bed.  A queen-size bed that I can roll ALL over and still not use all of the available room.  It's glorious.  That's all.

I got to visit one of my old teacher's Lyuda.  She's a TCF (culture/technical teacher) for Peace Corps trainees.  It was fun to get to chat with her and catch up on life. I also got to meet the new group of volunteers that are living in Oster.  I can remember how excited we were the first time a real PC volunteer came to visit us during training.  The questions we bombarded them with were probably ridiculous. 

I got to say hi to a few of the babushkas who live in the apartment building across the street from my house.  They complimented my Russian {nice ego boost} and asked where all of my cluster mates live now.  Even though it was pouring rain when we stood outside talking, they still had to catch up on all of their gossip.  Babushkas in Ukraine are about as gossipy as a group of middle school girls.  

Can't wait to go back and visit my host fam's house again soon.  Christy {one of my host sisters} showed me how to make a bead bracelet I've been dying to learn how to make.  Super excited to buy more beads and start making them.  

It snowed/sleeted/rained/hailed in Oster today.  Nice April Fool's joke, eh?  Not so much.  

I splurged and had Domino's pizza today in Kiev.  Super yummy margarita pizza.  If only I could get some Papa John's garlic sauce or Kraft Ranch Dressing.  :) 

My energy level is still lacking after the pneumonia.  Walking for 10-15 minutes has been tiring me out. I feel so old having to sit for a while and recuperate after something as simple as going to the store.  

Gotta get going now :) much love. 

home sweet home :)

I'm finally back to my apartment in K-grad :)  It is great to be back.  There's not much else to say than I'm very glad to be home again!  Had blood work done this morning at PC and then went to lunch with Phil at a nice Italian restaurant in Kiev (he had to come get some paperwork done for the day). Our marshrutka ride home was one for the books...it started snowing on the way home and practically turned into a blizzard for a little while.  And, the road between K-grad and Kiev has gotten so bad that the pot holes span an entire lane.  This means that the driver is swerving back and forth for minutes on end.  After finally making it home, I was greeted with one of the sweetest care packages...but not from the states!  This care package came from my lovely and sweet site mates--Dan and Vicki :)

homemade cornbread, chili, chicken noodle soup, bread, butter, and a red pepper. 

Some of the food was still WARM (ie, fresh out of the oven) when Dan brought it over.  I could barely wait 5 minutes to dig into the chili and cornbread.  I'm full and tired and ready to curl up in my own bed for the first time in almost a week!  So excited.

Much love,
Lydia

P.S.  My water is off at the moment.  Lovely surprise to come home to.  I think my landlady turned it off...but I don't know how to turn it back on.  Wah wah.  Let's hope she comes and turns it on tomorrow :)  toodles

The many different lives of PCVs...

I've found that some of my best times of brainstorming future blog entries comes at inopportune times. Sometimes I'll make a note on my phone, or try to ingrain the idea in my brain, but it usually never comes to fruition.  As I was just cleaning up my kitchen, a topic flickered through my head.  I finished doing the dishes and decided to sit down right now and type it up.  I'm also {highly} procrastinating going out to run errands like I need to.

Late last night as I lay in bed (quite bored out of my mind), I decided to sign onto facebook chat.  I never use fb chat but decided to see if anyone was online.  One of my sweet high schoolers (Rachel) messaged me and even said, "Whoah! You're on facebook chat?!"  Ha.  See...I never get on that thing!  But as I looked through the people online...lo and behold, my favorite curly red-head was on!  I couldn't believe it.  The red-head I'm talking about is Mr. Darren Downing Gore. 

One of my last nights in Norman before leaving for the PC...

I met Darren when I moved to Oklahoma in 2001 and no matter the distance between us, I can always count on a good chat (and a good laugh) when I talk to him.  He has a rather hectic schedule right now because he is going to Physician Assistant school at Baylor and going through rotation's at the moment.  So, I was super excited to see him online at a time where we could both chat for a minute.  Turns out he never uses facebook chat either, so was it pure coincidence we both happened to be online at the same time?  I think not.  Somebody up above was looking out for us :)

I wasn't planning on making this a picture montage, but Darren and I have been on many an outing together and well, some of these pics are just too good not to be posted.  This is totally not the direction the blog post was supposed to go today, but I'll get to the point in a minute!  Let's call this a decade of Darren, shall we?

Probably gonna kill me for some of these, but I'm 5500 miles away, so he can't do very much :)

Darren, David, and Mark--circa 2001 BASIC retreat 

Anna, Darren, Lydia--circa 2002 choir tour to Florida

bored on the charter bus...who knew that a person could fit in the overhead compartments?

Yep, he'll definitely be mad about this one.  This was sometime during high school at youth one night. 

Dinner theater 2005--Darren, Karen, Lydia, Swenson

Prom 2005--Bert, Lydia, Amy, Karen, Anna, Rose, Darren

Graduation 2005--Darren, Rose, Amy, Lydia, Kevin (Darren's brother-in-law!), Anna, Swenny

Choir Tour to Disneyland--2005

Disneyland 2005--Darren and all of his girls :)

 

Mission trip to Seattle--summer 2005

Lady Liberty, Darren, and myself--summer 2006

 

Birthday celebrations--2007

Tacky Christmas Party 2007

Opies Reunion--2008

Happy New Year!  Love Amy cheesin' in the background--2008/2009

Mexico 2010

My hot date to Jacey's wedding--2010

And last but not least, he came to surprise me at my going away party...we're both doing the "Darren smile" :)

So, that photo montage was completely off subject, but I had fun finding all of those pictures on my external hard-drive and on my laptop.  Back to the topic of my chat with Darren!

Darren has a friend from college (Katie) who happened to leave for the Peace Corps about a month or two before I left.  She is currently serving in Tanzania, Africa, as a teacher!  The story for how I came across the fact that Katie was leaving for the Peace Corps is somewhat creepy (or really creepy as Darren would inform me).  I went to post something on Darren's wall in early 2011.  Katie had just written a note on his wall informing him of her blog and that he could follow her service through that.  She didn't mention the PC once in that post, but the lingo was some of the same PC lingo that is used worldwide.  I found her blog and facebooked her...never having met this girl.  Okay, okay...kinda creepy on my behalf.  BUT, I love reading about her adventures in Tanzania and thinking how utterly different every PC experience is.  

Katie must have a sense of humor very similar to Darren's because anytime she posts something on facebook, I typically laugh (or gasp if it has to do with an African animal encounter in her house...).  One of her more recent posts on facebook said: "not too happy about this bat that has taken up residence in my pit latrine...".  Wow.  She's fighting a bat in her "toilet," while I'm fighting to keep my apartment semi-warm with temps still in the negatives.  

You can find Katie's blog here, with the most recent post detailing a snake encounter in her house.  Oh, Ukraine...I'll take your cold weather any day over the bugs and animals of Africa :)

Darren is probably shaking his head at the fact that I would post all of this, and I hope Katie isn't too weirded out since I have never actually met her.  BUT, what else could I write about on a Sunday afternoon?  Congratulations if you read all the way to the bottom.  Молодец!  Or good job... :)