Auntie Anne's.

For as long as I can remember, I've loved soft pretzels.  The best kind were usually from Auntie Anne's in the mall as they tempt you with the smell of gooey butter and salt.  However, I often got pretzels at OU football games (not very good) or at the softball field when I watched the McFarlin boys play during the summer months.  Or, I would eat the soft pretzel brand found in the frozen section at Target or Wal-Mart.  Regardless of where I ate them in the states, I can't buy them here in Ukraine.  Ukraine has lots of good breads that I indulge in, but pretzels are not one of them.  So...to google and pinterest I went.

I pinned this recipe the other day.  However, upon further inspection, I do not have a bread maker here in K-grad.  Back to the drawing boards (or google).

I finally found this recipe which looked promising.  And, bonus, I had all of the ingredients in my kitchen.  Winner winner, chicken dinner (can anybody name that movie quote?).

As I made the pretzels (overall, a very easy and simple recipe), I even documented the process...just for the blog :)

dough waiting to rise...

After I got the dough finished and ready to rise, I headed to the store across the street to try and get the ingredients for nacho cheese, which eventually turned into an epic fail.  They didn't have cornstarch (to my knowledge, and I even had the Russian and Ukrainian words for it).  The recipe I had for nacho cheese required condensed milk (recipe here), and when I thought I was buying regular condensed milk, it was in fact chocolate condensed milk.  Cultural moment for Lydia.  I still tried to make the recipe...not with the chocolate condensed milk.  With regular milk.   You'll see in a bit...continuing on with the photo story:

after an hour...

starting to make the pretzel bites...

You drop the bites into simmering water for 30 seconds, then transfer to the cookie sheet.  I dropped mine in a bowl of melted butter after the simmer time, then dusted with salt.  HIGHLY recommend this part of the process :)

the first two bites!  success!

minus the bottoms sticking...

Cooking in a toaster oven is a tricky business the first time you try a recipe.  The heat is SO much more concentrated in such a small area, that things can burn very quickly.  See pictures above.

I think I eventually cooked these at around 150 C for 5-6 minutes.  The butter definitely helps this part of the process because they won't stick to the bottom...

Voila!  :)

I froze the rest of the dough (thanks for the suggestion, Mom!) so that I wouldn't eat all of them during this one sitting.  However, I wanted some for dessert tonight.  But, I didn't want to wait for them to defrost.  Gonna have to plan ahead better tomorrow...

And in case you're interested in what my failed attempt of nacho cheese looked like...

It actually tasted decent, but looked disgusting.  Ukraine does not have the right kinds of cheddar cheese for this...

It rained most of the day today, which meant that when I went to dinner tonight with Phil, Dan, Vicki, and Angie (who lives in a village about an hour and a half away), I got to wear my PINK RAIN BOOTS :)  Any excuse to wear those things that scream, "I'm an American!" makes me laugh.  People literally start at my feet and scan my whole body trying to figure out what the heck I'm wearing.  

I'm about to start the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo tonight. Who's read this?  I don't even know what it's about, but it's a phenomenon I'm jumping into.  Toodles :)  enjoy your Friday night!

just for funsies.

Today has been a day full of laughs so far.  I'm feeling pretty normal, with most of my voice back and coughing only when truly needed (or when laughing).  And I have a confession to make.  

About a week ago, I joined the {horribly addictive} world of Pinterest.  Phew.  I said it.

I knew the day would come sooner or later when I joined...and it has saved me through the past few days as I've been laying in bed bored out of my mind.  I can only watch so many episodes of Modern Family (which I'm all caught up on) or so many chick flicks...and I'm also reading.  So, thank you Pinterest.  For helping me laugh the past few days.  

I watched Moneyball last night, thanks to Kendall's suggestion.  It was good! A little long, but good.  Also been keeping up with Passion live stream.  Since I'm done with Modern Family, I decided to go back to an old favorite tv show, Monk.  It had me laughing (and coughing) a lot today while I watched an episode during lunch.  

But perhaps the two things that made me smile and laugh the hardest today were the two following pins from Pinterest.  

The first one, a clip of Bert and Ernie, reminded me of my dear friend Bert, who is currently living in Japan as an English teacher.

I have traveled many a place with Bert and I'm so glad that we are both fulfilling some dreams as he is a teacher in Japan and I joined the Peace Corps.

The second picture from Pinterest, about 42 Wallaby Way...comes from none other than a fave Pixar movie of mine: Finding Nemo.  If you have never watched this movie, I highly recommend it.  With this story comes a bajillion memories...like watching it in Spanish class.  Buscando a Nemo.  I think we watched it in Ms. Harjo's class senior year of high school.  I also showed Finding Nemo at Camp Bereg this summer to the most advanced English speakers.  They loved it...having seen it in Russian or Ukrainian earlier, but never in English.  They even understood the jokes in it.

So, on this cold and dreary Thursday in Kirovograd, I hope that you can find something to laugh about, because I sure have.

Way-Back-Wednesday #15: Passion

I've been talking about this thing called Passion for a few days now.  What is it, you ask?  What started out as a small idea many years ago, has transformed into a group of 45,000 college age kids worshipping and praising together in Atlanta.  Check out the website here to read more about it.  Words can't describe the amazing things that happen at Passion, but I'll try to explain a bit...since that's the point of today's post!  

One of my best friends, Tino, convinced me to go to this conference in January 2010.  I was excited, but truly had no idea what I was getting myself into.  6 of us went that year from McFarlin.  

Stephanie, Matt, Lydia at Passion 2010

You go, go, go from 8 am until midnight, with different worship services, different break-out sessions, time to pray, etc.  There are late night concerts by famous Christian bands and singers such as Matt Redman, Hillsong United, David Crowder Band, Chris Tomlin, Christy Nockels, etc.  I probably forgot a few, but seeing them live is breathtaking...and that's all you need to know.

Artwork done at Passion 2010

towels and socks.

In 2010, they started this idea that every person who comes to the conference is asked to bring a towel and some socks to give to the homeless in Atlanta.  Over the course of the conference, the towel and sock piles continue to grow, and grow, and grow...until they could be 15-20 feet tall.  I think at last years conference something like 80,000 pairs of socks were donated...by 25,000 college age students.  Pretty phenomenal, no?

So, six of us went in 2010.  I think 23 of us went in 2011.  And this year, there are 29 or 30 in the group of McFarlinites.  Tino has been the brave leader every year, always coordinating everything, doing a lot of the driving, going on basically no sleep.  Since Oklahoma to Atlanta is a pretty long drive, we have stopped and stayed in my hometown of Tuscaloosa each time.  This year, the group was too big to stay at University Presbyterian Church!  I'd say that's a good thing.  

Lydia and Tino--Passion 2011

Lyndsay, Katie, Stephanie, Kayla

Lydia, Gracie, Britney at Passion 2011

The Christian speakers they have at Passion are incredible to listen to.  Beth Moore, Francis Chan, Louie Giglio, Andy Stanley, to name a few.  And let me tell you, if you ever have the chance to hear any one of them live, do it.

Tenth Avenue North concert-2011

Every year, they have a big area called "Do Something Now."  There are different organizations that help people in different ways--building wells in Africa, stopping human trafficking, rebuilding homes, etc.  You can choose which organization you feel called to give to.  Last year, over $1,000,000 was given.  This year, the focus of Do Something Now is to stop human trafficking.  More information about this years causes can be found here.

I'll end the post with some other pics from last year.  Enjoy :)

Bryce, Lydia, Katie, Collin-2011

Feed a child for a year for $50--at Passion 2011

The group in 2011

The group this year--2012!

The grand finale: last year at Passion during the 10th Avenue North concert, band did an impromptu performance that was a complete surprise and total crowd favorite.  I happened to catch the whole thing on video.  

From the sick bed of Lydia...

I slept for over 10 hours last night, which tells you how good I was not feeling.  I called the PCMO (Peace Corps Med. Office) to find out what I should start taking because I had a feeling my lack of a voice was not going to cure itself.  I also have a pesky cough that I am trying to keep under control too.  I feel pretty good except for the fact that my voice comes and goes every hour...and the annoying cough.

Dan and Vicki (the married couple that now lives in K-grad, part of the newest group of volunteers) came by to pick something up at my apartment, and also brought me some great homemade pasta salad :)  I needed to get out of the apartment though, so I made the trek down to the post office and to pay my internet bill (all $10 USD!).  I am still waiting on Christmas/birthday packages to arrive, so every day I hold my breath that one of them will arrive.  None were there today, but I got an unexpected envelope, complete with handwriting I instantly recognized!

That, my friends, is the handwriting of one of my sweet interior design friends who was brave enough to try Russian cyrillic letters!  Out of all of my friends and family back home (besides my parents who can write in Russian cursive), Kristen would be the one person whom I would guess would try her hand at the handwriting!  All of the hours and hours we spent working on our handwriting in college finally paid off.  

Side-story: In our freshman year of college, we would get graded on our handwriting.  No joke.  I can remember hovering over my drawing board with a 60 degree triangle, practicing my slant of letters.  If you got a C on the weekly writing assignment, you had to re-do it to make you practice more.  Let's just say that I got to practice mine a LOT.  I would spend a few hours writing an excerpt from Harry Potter, only to get it back the next day with a note to re-do it.  You eventually develop your own style of architectural handwriting, but man does it take some practice.  I love my architectural handwriting now...and when people over here learn the story that I got GRADED on it, they think I'm nuts.  Thanks, Dave and Janet...for making me keep practicing :)  

Moving on, inside Kristen's wonderfully written envelope was her and Grant's (always adorable) Christmas card.  This years design did not disappoint!

Their adorable pup, Dexter

Sorry for the grainy pic...I was lazy with my iphone :)

I'm 99% sure Kristen designed the whole thing.  That's one of her talents :) and Grant is a pretty mean photo-shopper too!  He might have helped with the process!

After my walk downtown, I took a marshrutka up to Phil's apartment to give him a receipt I need turned in for reimbursement.  Then, it was time to curl up in bed again and watch a movie.  I treated myself to Something Borrowed earlier today. Now, I'm about to finish up Crazy, Stupid, Love.  That's a record for the number of movies I've watched in a good while...especially in one day!  Both movies were recommendations from my number one movie go-to advisor: Miss Kendall Haney.  She never disappoints me with things that I'll like.  After all, she's the person who introduced me to Glee.  Enough said. I've also been watching Passion conference stuff live...which you can do here.  Pretty amazing stuff.  Stay tuned for a special post tomorrow about Passion...

So, I'm still lacking motivation on doing a giant entourage of pics from vacation and celebrations.  But, I'm slowly getting them uploaded to my laptop.  Which means, you'll get little teasers here and there until I finally bite the bullet and just start uploading like crazy!  Without further ado, I give you a performance from my work.  This performance was last Tuesday, December 27, 2011.  This is in our performance hall at work and features dancers from our studio.  I have tons more video footage...so get ready.  They definitely liked rockin' out to old America tunes.  Enjoy!!

procrastination at its finest...

Today has been a pretty laid back day.  Most places in Ukraine have the day off today, which meant that I got to sleep in until 11 am which was glorious considering I got maybe 5 hours and 3 hours of sleep the nights before.  I've been in a bit of a funk today as I lay around being lazy and watching tv shows and eating.  I finally started doing laundry tonight, which was something I told myself I had to check off my list of things to do today.

I also told myself I would get out of the house today, which meant changing out of my lounge pants and xl t-shirt.  Mission accomplished.  I walked to the post office, but found it closed (which is what I was expecting).  My gym was closed today also.  So, I stopped at Cilpo (grocery store) on the way home to pick up some staples to get me through the next few days.

I made some homemade mac and cheese tonight for dinner.  I found a recipe online that looked lovely, and it actually came out quite tasty.  I added broccoli to it, which was one of the suggestions, and loved the way it made it taste.

Recipe here

I am trying my best not to get sick right now.  I noticed yesterday that I might be coming down with something, and today I have a bit of a cough.  Lots of fluids for Lydia!  In the meantime though, I got to skype with a special group of girls who are currently in Atlanta to go to the Passion Conference (more about that in another post).  

Stephanie, Allison, Katie, Lyndsay, and Britney

I've known some of the girls in the picture above for 5 years or more I think!  Most of them started out in the youth program when I was a high school youth intern, and now they're ALL in college! Talk about making me feel old...I could have DRIVEN them to the conference this year for the first time.  More about that later too...but for now, I can't wait to see what the big guy upstairs has in store for the conference that starts tonight (in the U.S.).   

Since my motivation is lacking at the moment to do a big post with lots of pics, I'll give you a teaser of a birthday pic...

The hair was a birthday present from my friend Lyuda, who works at the cosmotelogy school here in K-grad (this is also a pic of the hair at the end of the day...it looked much less frizzy and stray at the beginning!). The earrings were a present from my counterpart, Olena.  More pics to come in a few days from all of the birthday celebrations :)  much love!

Happy New Year, Ukraine Style!

I can't believe that Christmas, my birthday, and New Years have all come and gone in a week. It was a whirlwind of days with so many different celebrations I had trouble keeping my memory cards empty to document things!! That's a good thing though in my books.  I just got home from Kiev today in the late afternoon after staying up late and welcoming in 2012 with about 15 Peace Corps Volunteers...in addition to all of Kiev. 

The New Years tree in Kiev...they don't have Christmas trees in Ukraine.  I believe they call a New Years tree a "yolka."

Kym!

In true Ukrainian style, Kym and I rocked bright tights for NY2012.  I went with teal, while Kym went with purple. 

Cluster/link-cluster love.  Lydia, Kym, Matt, and Mary-Kathryn.  During this photo session, there was not one picture (on my camera at least) where we were all looking at the camera.  Typical Oster/Kozelets group pic.

I took a marshrutka into Kiev early Saturday morning, only to have my ceremonious McDonald's fries upon arrival :)  After some time at the PC office (where I snagged a full bottle of free hair spray in the volunteers room where people can put things they don't want/need anymore), the big group of us headed to our respective hostels/apartment to get ready for the evenings activities.  A late lunch was found in a cafe with a few brews to match.  I had a lovely veggie sandwich with feta spread, tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers.  After hanging out for a while, we decided it was time to get going.

Kym, Matt, Simon, Lydia, and Chris in the front

I went to Kym's hostel with her to curl her hair in prep for the fun evening ahead of us.  Then it was off to the apartment I was staying at with other PCVs where one of them was preparing a lovely feast of eggplant parmesan with spaghetti.  It was to die for and makes my mouth water now thinking about fixing it again soon!

I am almost a full head taller than Kym.  Especially in heels...

I could not have asked for a better or more memorable New Years celebration.  We headed to the center where they had a giant stage set up for performers and a huge fireworks display.  I have video of the fireworks show, which rivaled Disney's nightly fireworks display, and was definitely one for the books.

Matt, Kym, Lydia

Can't believe how quickly 2011 came and went...with 9 months of it spent in Ukraine!  I will hopefully be updating the blog a lot the next week, trying to play catch-up from things that I have yet to blog about that were 3 or 4 months ago...whoops :(  I am in the process of transferring all of my older pics on my laptop to two external hard-drives (to be double backed up! so OCD, I know) at the moment.  I finished A-D tonight, which included over 5000 pics.  Some are from 5 years ago, which make me very excited to have some fresh material to blog about for Way-Back-Wednesday posts.

Here's to the next year of my life in Ukraine.  Happy New Year America and с Новым годом Украина! I have much to be thankful for now and for the past year.  Can't wait to see what the next year holds :)

My Christmas Poem :)

Every year, my good ol' Pops writes my mom, my brother, myself, and now my sister-in-law a Christmas poem.  This has been going on for at least 35 years...maybe longer?  It's a Frost Family tradition to have it read on Christmas Eve or Christmas day, no matter how far away you are.  So, although my Christmas yesterday was one of the books, I ended up being able to skype with the fam (at 2 am my time nonetheless) and hear my Christmas poem!  Pops outdid himself this year.  Every Frost Family poem usually requires a lot of time on Pops' behalf, but also a lot of thinking about important/funny/random things that happened that year.  This years poem has to do with the Peace Corps (of course), so without further ado...

One Surprise After Another 

Your mom thought Africa was where you’d have to go;

She didn’t know you’d end up where they have a lot of snow.

You took a hush-hush trip to Dallas, driven there by Scott,

But afterwards, what you could tell us was really not a lot.

“What’s Lydia gonna do?” folks asked 10 times a day,

And all 10 times we’d shrug and simply not know what to say.

We’d say, “She’s working here for Cathy…now and then”—

“We’ll know more later on…but we’re just not quite sure when.”

All that was in 2010—the PC takes its good time choosing

While candidates spend theirs just wondering and musing.

But then, word comes that thrills your very being—

You’re in!  Eastern Europe!  So you go…skiing.

You’ll take your brother and good friend Jill,

Hoping they won’t have a spill.

Ol’ Pops can send you Peace Corps papers

While you’re up north pulling skiing capers.

You’re skiing, but you want to know—

Where is it that you’re gonna go?

Mom’s in the car—I’m in the house,

And you’re as quiet as a mouse.

The FedEx man has brought the news,

Which means that soon you have to choose:

Have me send it…the question’s how…

Or have me open it and find out now.

Up in New Hampshire, you think a minute

About the packet and what is in it—

It isn’t long…the die is cast.

You vote to learn your fate at last…

My knife cuts through the envelope

While all that you can do is hope—

I rush to ease your aching brain…

And tell you…it will be Ukraine!

  

Before we know it, you’re in Oster,

A faraway place on a distant shore,

Learning Russian in a hurry,

With new words coming in a flurry.

For forty years I taught that tongue,

But you were bored when you were young.

I failed your appetite to whet—

You knew no more than да and нет.

You used to ask me…”An adjective’s what?”

You really didn’t know diddly-squat

When it came to English grammar and such

And didn’t want to discuss them much.

Somebody asks, “Is that the dative?”

“No clue,” you say, “I’m just a native.”

Participles, verbs, or nouns

To you are terms that just cause frowns.

But you can get around по-русски

And hang with Phil and have a brewski.

You buy your tickets at the station,

And you can navigate that nation.

It’s not your most important care

Whether you have to wash your hair.

You’ve learned to cook, but here’s the catch—

Most things you have to make from scratch…

Without an oven or a range!

To live abroad, you have to change.

The бабушки know how to push in line,

But so do you, so you’ll be fine.

With e-mail, Kindle, and such stuff

You’ve somehow managed to write enough.

The techno-world can keep me puzzled,

But no way does it keep you muzzled!

This is my yearly, silly poem—

You’ve heard ‘em before, and so you know ‘em.

But from the heart, though far away,

It means have a wonderful Christmas Day!

Circa Christmas-ish 1991?

Cool acid wash jeans Pops :) Loved this years poem, even from 5500 miles away!  Hope y'all had a wonderful Christmas day, remembering what the day is truly supposed to be about.  Love love, from Ukraine :)

Merry Christmas Eve, from Kirovograd :)

What started out as normal Ukrainian adventure, quickly became a day for the books.  Not only was it freezing outside with a dusting of snow on the ground, but the entire reason of today's adventure ended up being put on the back burner due to how cold we were!  Let me explain a little more...

This is the New Year tree in the center of K-grad.  Today was the lighting festival, complete with performances, street vendors, and too many Father Frost (Ukrainian Santa) outfits to know what to do with.  

eskimo Lydia

I'm not sure how cold it was today, but it was honestly the first time I've been cold since being here.  Definitely below freezing...but not by very much.  This makes me incredibly nervous for actual winter...but we won't think about that now!

Winnie the Pooh and Piglet (the Ukrainian/Russian versions)

Perhaps one of the funniest parts of today's adventure occurred when Julia (one of my K-grad oblast friends) and I spotted what we thought was a baby panda bear.

Turns out it is actually a dog, with a very creative fur coat cut to look like a panda bear...and somehow dyed fur as well?  It was so bizarre.  

Then the same guy who charged 20 grieven for a picture with the "panda bear" pulled a monkey out from underneath the table.  It was SO tiny and so adorable, and was incredibly bashful for the camera.

Phil purchased one of the most ridiculous hats available from a street vendor, complete with light up stars going across the front of it :)  

One of my post entries soon will feature Phil with numerous Father Frost impersonators, but it's so good it deserves a post of its own.

We got too cold to watch the tree lights be turned on...so we eventually headed to a local favorite, Churchill's, to enjoy some American-ish onion rings (which are currently making my stomach hurt).

The best part of the day though came while waiting for the dadgum lights to be turned on for the city tree.  Phil has been working on this present for my parents for a while now...but it can also be applicable for most of my Oklahoma friends :)    

Merry Christmas Eve, from halfway across the world!

Craft time and a movie...

This is how I'm spending my cold Friday night in K-grad...bundled up with a craft project (to be featured later)...

And one of my favorite movies ever.  You already knew that though...

Throw in a little laundry and you've got one heck of a Friday night :)  Happy Friday everyone!!

Ok, I'll say it...

I snapped a picture from my office window of the snow just so you could see I wasn't making it up :)  

Although it's not very much, I was still ecstatic  clomping through it on my way to work today.  And, the weather forecast has changed...so I don't know if we'll be getting any more, but this will suffice as the closest thing I've had to an honest to goodness White Christmas in a city that I lived in!  

Apparently, I'm not the only one who loves snow here.  The right side of the picture is the playground for the school next door to my work.  I watched kids throwing snow balls for a few minutes, then noticed dogs playing in the snow together in the far back of the picture.  I only had my iphone with me, but I have a feeling there will be lots more snow pictures for the next few months :)  

I had my second group of 3rd formers from the school next door today.  They are the more rambunctious class, to put it lightly.  I had trouble keeping their attention today because they had been playing out in the snow and wanted to be back outside instead of in English club.  However, I did get them to say a few cute things for the camera :)  Merry Christmas, from Lydia's absolutely precious kiddos.  

And, in case you're wondering what the title of the blog is in reference to?  I'll say it...my kids are absolutely adorable, even if they make me want to pull my hair out.