Thanksgiving was fabulous. Matt's folks came into town and his siblings came over. Matt's mom helped me cook and we had a great Thanksgiving meal, it was great to finally be home for Thanksgiving after the last couple of years, when I had to spend holidays thousands of miles from home. I love hosting events and I love having family around.
But this Thanksgiving is even more special because not only did I get to spend it at home w/Matt and Brovi, but the next day I headed out to Europe. I have to go to France for work, but I only have to be in France for 2 days for work, but since I have to go to Europe anyway, I asked work if I can go to Germany during the same trip and visit my sister. My work had no problems w/such arrangement, which is awesome. So, this Thanksgiving holiday I get to spend w/Matt's family as well as w/my sister and her hubby in their new apartment in Stuttgart.
I am very excited to get there, but as always when you are counting minutes until you are at your final destination, something gets in the way....I was flying from Minneapolis-to Cincinnati-to Paris-to Strasbourgh where my sister will be picking me up. Well, I made it to one flight w/out delays....However, when I got to Cincinatti, well, things didn't go as perfectly as I was hoping. I was hoping to get on the flight, I was hoping for the flight to land early in Paris so I can make my next connection (only had 1 hour between flights). Well, instead, my flight to Paris got delayed by 2.5 hours...Needless to say, there is not chance I can make my connection now, so I am on the next flight to Strasbourgh....The reason for the delay is maintainance of the plane, so I guess I shouldn't complain, because I would much rather board a safe plane than take a risk...But I am a bit disappointed by the fact that I have to wait a few hours more until I see my sister.
Oh well...Thank God for iPhone, computer and interent connections at the airport, although I had to fork up some money for the latter, but it was only $7.00 and I say that's worth it, otherwise I wouldn't be able to write a few emails, check work emails, facebook, and chat w/my sister as much as I wanted to :)
Looks like I should head over to the gate area (had to leave the area because there is a shortage of electrical outlets at just about any airport, and my computer's battery doesn't last forever). I hope for the plane to show up soon so I can take a nap soon and so I can get over to Germany, spend some time w/my sis, drink beer, wine, visit a few Christmas markets and do all kinds of other fun stuff!!!
Cheers!
PS: Hope everybody had a fantastic Thanksgiving!!!
Friday, November 27, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Training
Well, we have had our puppy since September 9th, 2009....
He is a mini labradoodle and is incredibly smart. He is housetrained at the age of 4 months (w/very occasional accidents) and he knows a few commands (shake, sit, down, come). I say that it's because both poodle and labs are very smart breeds.
Anyway, as soon as I agreed to have a puppy, I realized that it would take a lot of time to train the dog, take it on walks, attend vet appointments, etc. However, I didn't quite realize how much time you have to spend on training. See, I thought I would go to training class, they will teach the dog what to do and then I would reinforce it during the next couple of days and voila....Wow, was I living in a dream.
We's already been through one obedience class and we are on the next level and even though he is doing great, oh my goodness, he requires a ton of time.
Unlike my assumption of what training will be, we go to class once a week, the owners are taught the tricks and behavior that dogs need to learn, the owners are trained on how to communicate w/their pets to obtain the right behavior and then the class is dismissed. We are given homework, where we have to train our puppies EVERY day...Yes, we have to dedicate about 30 minutes every day to train our dogs! It doesn't seem like 30 minutes is that long, right? Well, when I wake up at 6am (keep in mind, I am not an early person), then go to work, come back for lunch only to take my puppy out for a break and a quick walk, and then head back to work until evening at which point I rush back home...take my puppy to the off-leash dog park for an hour and a half (or until his energy runs out) and then come home...Brovi loves attention even when he is tired, so we usually play for about an hour after we come home...So, during the whole day the first time I get to sit down and just relax for a few minutes is at about 7:00pm....by then I really have no motivation or energy left to try and train him on any tricks or obedience....Well, last week has been not so good, we haven't done much training....But usually I try to make a point during the day to dedicate sometime to just training....Next week will be better!!!
He is a mini labradoodle and is incredibly smart. He is housetrained at the age of 4 months (w/very occasional accidents) and he knows a few commands (shake, sit, down, come). I say that it's because both poodle and labs are very smart breeds.
Anyway, as soon as I agreed to have a puppy, I realized that it would take a lot of time to train the dog, take it on walks, attend vet appointments, etc. However, I didn't quite realize how much time you have to spend on training. See, I thought I would go to training class, they will teach the dog what to do and then I would reinforce it during the next couple of days and voila....Wow, was I living in a dream.
We's already been through one obedience class and we are on the next level and even though he is doing great, oh my goodness, he requires a ton of time.
Unlike my assumption of what training will be, we go to class once a week, the owners are taught the tricks and behavior that dogs need to learn, the owners are trained on how to communicate w/their pets to obtain the right behavior and then the class is dismissed. We are given homework, where we have to train our puppies EVERY day...Yes, we have to dedicate about 30 minutes every day to train our dogs! It doesn't seem like 30 minutes is that long, right? Well, when I wake up at 6am (keep in mind, I am not an early person), then go to work, come back for lunch only to take my puppy out for a break and a quick walk, and then head back to work until evening at which point I rush back home...take my puppy to the off-leash dog park for an hour and a half (or until his energy runs out) and then come home...Brovi loves attention even when he is tired, so we usually play for about an hour after we come home...So, during the whole day the first time I get to sit down and just relax for a few minutes is at about 7:00pm....by then I really have no motivation or energy left to try and train him on any tricks or obedience....Well, last week has been not so good, we haven't done much training....But usually I try to make a point during the day to dedicate sometime to just training....Next week will be better!!!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Silence....
...interrupted....Haven't been writing for quite sometime, that is not to say that nothing has been going on. In fact, there has been too much. But that's ok, that's the way I like it.
thought i would share my thoughts about my puppy...he is extremely entertaining, there is not a day that goes by w/o Brovi making me smile....My sister the other day asked me what I think he does when I am at work (everybody remembers now that Matt is gone during the week and I work during the day)....Well, I wish I could say that I have no clue what he does during the day, however, I think I have a pretty good idea. First half of the day he sleeps, of that I am positive. Anytime I come home for lunch (in reality there is no lunch involved, it's just me coming home to take Brovi out and feed HIM lunch)he is waking up from his sleep....When I am by the kitchen he takes his time to stretch and yawn and then he runs to the door (he is very good at house training and goes up to 5 hours w/no accidents!!!)In the second part of the day however, I do think that he gets bored and that is when he keeps himself busy w/playing w/his toys (that take a huge beating from him, we are having a hard time finding toys that he won't destroy w/in a couple of weeks), but when toys aren't interesting enough he proceeds on spreading recycling cans around the kitchen, chewing up my recipe that he had to jump to get, tearing apart boxes that hold soda cans, destroying his bed (there will be holes in it soon enough if he doesn't stop digging) and I am sure he finds other mischeif that is just not that visible to my human eye :)
Overall, he is a very busy guy (Brovi, the puppy that is), when I come home at night he knows the routine: i take him out for 2 minutes to do his business quickly, we proceed to go inside and go immideately upstairs for me to change into comfy clothes so I can take him out on a long walk. If I go in the kitchen after taking him out instead of going upstairs, he will sit on the stairs and bark. If I change into comfy clothes and don't go out immediately and instead contemplate of grabbing a quick bite to eat, he will bark! After our long walk we come home and he goes absolutely bonkers in the house for about 10 minutes, after which he is ready to play w/me and his toys (mind you, he doesn't want to play w/his toys on his own, he wants me to play w/him)....How is he so energetic, well, I am guessing all the sleeping that he does during the day, but the time it's 8pm I am exhausted. Thank goodness, he crashes around 8-9pm. It's amazing, he will be super hyper and than all of a sudden he would just plop on the couch or floor and fall fast asleep...amazing.
Anyway, he certainly does keep me company during the week, I think I haven't been bugging Matt as much in the evenings, because Brovi doesn't give me much free time to do whatever I want to. I do enjoy Brovi, he is awesome and we spend sometime learning new skills, he knows: sit, down, shake! Down was a bit tricky, he really doesn't like to lay down....He finally figured out how to do it on command, but even now he will bark before he will lay down and sometimes he will attempt to jump up before laying down...I think it's his way of trying to protest, but he is losing, because the only way he gets a treat is if he lays down....he is slowly coming to terms to such harsh regime though :)
thought i would share my thoughts about my puppy...he is extremely entertaining, there is not a day that goes by w/o Brovi making me smile....My sister the other day asked me what I think he does when I am at work (everybody remembers now that Matt is gone during the week and I work during the day)....Well, I wish I could say that I have no clue what he does during the day, however, I think I have a pretty good idea. First half of the day he sleeps, of that I am positive. Anytime I come home for lunch (in reality there is no lunch involved, it's just me coming home to take Brovi out and feed HIM lunch)he is waking up from his sleep....When I am by the kitchen he takes his time to stretch and yawn and then he runs to the door (he is very good at house training and goes up to 5 hours w/no accidents!!!)In the second part of the day however, I do think that he gets bored and that is when he keeps himself busy w/playing w/his toys (that take a huge beating from him, we are having a hard time finding toys that he won't destroy w/in a couple of weeks), but when toys aren't interesting enough he proceeds on spreading recycling cans around the kitchen, chewing up my recipe that he had to jump to get, tearing apart boxes that hold soda cans, destroying his bed (there will be holes in it soon enough if he doesn't stop digging) and I am sure he finds other mischeif that is just not that visible to my human eye :)
Overall, he is a very busy guy (Brovi, the puppy that is), when I come home at night he knows the routine: i take him out for 2 minutes to do his business quickly, we proceed to go inside and go immideately upstairs for me to change into comfy clothes so I can take him out on a long walk. If I go in the kitchen after taking him out instead of going upstairs, he will sit on the stairs and bark. If I change into comfy clothes and don't go out immediately and instead contemplate of grabbing a quick bite to eat, he will bark! After our long walk we come home and he goes absolutely bonkers in the house for about 10 minutes, after which he is ready to play w/me and his toys (mind you, he doesn't want to play w/his toys on his own, he wants me to play w/him)....How is he so energetic, well, I am guessing all the sleeping that he does during the day, but the time it's 8pm I am exhausted. Thank goodness, he crashes around 8-9pm. It's amazing, he will be super hyper and than all of a sudden he would just plop on the couch or floor and fall fast asleep...amazing.
Anyway, he certainly does keep me company during the week, I think I haven't been bugging Matt as much in the evenings, because Brovi doesn't give me much free time to do whatever I want to. I do enjoy Brovi, he is awesome and we spend sometime learning new skills, he knows: sit, down, shake! Down was a bit tricky, he really doesn't like to lay down....He finally figured out how to do it on command, but even now he will bark before he will lay down and sometimes he will attempt to jump up before laying down...I think it's his way of trying to protest, but he is losing, because the only way he gets a treat is if he lays down....he is slowly coming to terms to such harsh regime though :)
Sunday, June 7, 2009
LA Fitness and my neck
Well, this weekend Matt and I went to yet another exercise club to see if we will like it and if it's a good price for us to join so I can start exercising. Matt does like to belong to the gym, but since he is traveling most of the week, where he can exercise at the local gyms, and when he is home he has no problem whatsoever putting his running pants on and going jogging or hopping on a bike and disappear for hours. I, on the other hand, am a totally different story. I am rather lazy when it comes to exercising, and while I do enjoy bike riding, I prefer to do it for leisure, not exercise; running, well, forget about it alltogether, I am not runner. I used to love Step class, but my chiropractor practically forbids me to do that, since it's a high impact class and will only intensify my neck pains....Since I need motivation to exercise, I do need to be in classes, so I do need to belong to a club. The best thing for me to do is water aerbics, but you know what, 98% of people who do those are old people, and while I have nothing against the old people, I don't want to be doing water aerobics with them, sorry.
In the past few months Matt and I have toured a few clubs: Bally's, Snap Fitness, Lifetime and finally today we went to LA Fitness. My first choice would be Lifetime Fitness of course, they have a gazzillion of classes, their facilities are SUPER nice, but they are pretty darn expensive. Bally's looked too cheap, uncomfortable and dark, Snap - well that is a totally different kind of a experience in itself, they don't have any staff on duty there even. So, after going to Bally's, Snap and Lifetime, Matt and I knew that Lifetime was winning that war, at a rather expensive price. We have delayed joining Lifetime because of the price, but this week I have decided that I need to start exercising if I don't want to look like a watermelon, so we got up and went on a tour of LA Fitness facilities. And I must say I liked it. Even though it is not as nice as Lifetime, it's still pretty nice and clean and very eye-pleasing. They have plenty of machines and although not too many exercising, I think I will be able to find something that I will like, I will just have to be more flexible with time and days of those classes, but seeing as I don't work, that should not be a problem. The guy at LA Fitness tried his best to make me smile and tell him that I liked the club, but I just took all the info in and by nature don't display my emotions to strangers, so I think he was disappointed that I did not warm up to him. Anyway, once we left Matt asked me what I thought of the club, because in this case I am the decision maker, seeing as the goal of the project is to get me exercising....I think we are going to join LA Fitness next week though. I am kind of excited, it will take me time to get into a habit of going to the gym, but it will be good. Now when I get bored at home, instead of eating I will get to go to the gym. Well, ok, it might not work just like that, but I am excited to finally belong to the gym again, I do miss it, and there are days when I wish I could go to the gym.....So, thanks to my chiropractor who told me to stay clear of the step classes and other high impact classes that Lifetime has to offer, and thanks to LA Fitness for maintaining very nice facilities, I will be starting to exercise again.
In the past few months Matt and I have toured a few clubs: Bally's, Snap Fitness, Lifetime and finally today we went to LA Fitness. My first choice would be Lifetime Fitness of course, they have a gazzillion of classes, their facilities are SUPER nice, but they are pretty darn expensive. Bally's looked too cheap, uncomfortable and dark, Snap - well that is a totally different kind of a experience in itself, they don't have any staff on duty there even. So, after going to Bally's, Snap and Lifetime, Matt and I knew that Lifetime was winning that war, at a rather expensive price. We have delayed joining Lifetime because of the price, but this week I have decided that I need to start exercising if I don't want to look like a watermelon, so we got up and went on a tour of LA Fitness facilities. And I must say I liked it. Even though it is not as nice as Lifetime, it's still pretty nice and clean and very eye-pleasing. They have plenty of machines and although not too many exercising, I think I will be able to find something that I will like, I will just have to be more flexible with time and days of those classes, but seeing as I don't work, that should not be a problem. The guy at LA Fitness tried his best to make me smile and tell him that I liked the club, but I just took all the info in and by nature don't display my emotions to strangers, so I think he was disappointed that I did not warm up to him. Anyway, once we left Matt asked me what I thought of the club, because in this case I am the decision maker, seeing as the goal of the project is to get me exercising....I think we are going to join LA Fitness next week though. I am kind of excited, it will take me time to get into a habit of going to the gym, but it will be good. Now when I get bored at home, instead of eating I will get to go to the gym. Well, ok, it might not work just like that, but I am excited to finally belong to the gym again, I do miss it, and there are days when I wish I could go to the gym.....So, thanks to my chiropractor who told me to stay clear of the step classes and other high impact classes that Lifetime has to offer, and thanks to LA Fitness for maintaining very nice facilities, I will be starting to exercise again.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Pretentious....
not a big fan of pretentious people...i volunteer for meals on wheels and today when I got there, there was this girl talking about Target and Wal-Mart and how she loves Target and could just hug Target, and that she would much rather pay more for her toilet paper rather than buy it from Wal-Mart and then the funny thing is that she and the person who she was discussing it with look at me for some input...not sure why they thought that I would agree with them, because I am not the most agreeable person and I had a look on my face that screamed "i don't agree with you and i can't stand hearing you talk"...anyway, at which point I calmly said that I have absolutely nothing against Wal-Mart and that the company is very good at business and that if I am closer to Wal-Mart than I have no problems stopping by and shopping. the girl who was ready to hug Target just said "well, I am very loyal to Target, they donate so much to local charities" to which I just started looking in other direction...seriously, nowadays ALL companies (well, ALL LARGE companies) donate to local charities, especially in the state where they are based out of...To say that Target donates more than Wal-Mart is ridiculous. I am glad that she is loyal to Target, it's good that she is, I guess, but it's silly to say I am willing to overpay for toilet paper only to support Target. If Target were to charge $3.00 more for toilet paper, would she stay loyal? If Target were going through rought times and did not carry toilet paper, will she go with paper towels? Why are people SOOO against the idea of NOT being restricted to just one store.
I personally like Target a lot better than Wal-Mart, I won't drive out of my way to go to Target or Wal-Mart. There is nothing wrong with having a preference, mine is Target, but what is the deal with people who just can't STAN Wal-Mart. I have yet to hear somebody give me a good reason what it is that Wal-Mart has done to them that they are so strongly opinionated, most of them rely on just "they descriminate against women and they pay very poorly to store personell" Well, most store personell at Target (cashiers for example) don't make all that much either. Anyway, it's a stupid arguement as to why they HATE Wal-Mart and would never shop there.
oh and then i did mention to the other lady that I mostly go to Target because I grocery shop there and that same girl again was like "oh, yeah, i totally love them, they have so much really good pre-made stuff, and I love their Archer Farms stuff"...that is when I definitely decided that i am done contributing to the conversation and just walked away...seriously, I don't buy premade stuff, and Archer Farms stuff while is ok, it's no better than other branded stuff, really, and money-wise, well, Archer Farms is not exactly cheap.
Anyway, just needed to vent...like i said, I don't like close-minded and pretentious people....i am usually pretty good at staying away from them, today though I wasn't so lucky...
I personally like Target a lot better than Wal-Mart, I won't drive out of my way to go to Target or Wal-Mart. There is nothing wrong with having a preference, mine is Target, but what is the deal with people who just can't STAN Wal-Mart. I have yet to hear somebody give me a good reason what it is that Wal-Mart has done to them that they are so strongly opinionated, most of them rely on just "they descriminate against women and they pay very poorly to store personell" Well, most store personell at Target (cashiers for example) don't make all that much either. Anyway, it's a stupid arguement as to why they HATE Wal-Mart and would never shop there.
oh and then i did mention to the other lady that I mostly go to Target because I grocery shop there and that same girl again was like "oh, yeah, i totally love them, they have so much really good pre-made stuff, and I love their Archer Farms stuff"...that is when I definitely decided that i am done contributing to the conversation and just walked away...seriously, I don't buy premade stuff, and Archer Farms stuff while is ok, it's no better than other branded stuff, really, and money-wise, well, Archer Farms is not exactly cheap.
Anyway, just needed to vent...like i said, I don't like close-minded and pretentious people....i am usually pretty good at staying away from them, today though I wasn't so lucky...
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Leap of Faith....
...marriage that is...having children...being happy...it's a huge leap of faith that some of us aren't so willing to make due to the fact that if something goes wrong then you fall hard and end up heart-broken....it happens all over the world, people getting married and then getting divorced, people having children and the losing them...why do people take such risks? is it because they are brave or is it because they are cowards to spend life alone, because they want to be certain that they can't be hurt by those they willingly let into their lives....bravery or cowardness? which one? I am convinced we are motivated by one or the other in everything we do in our lives, but which one? which one?
and at the end of our lives...whatever choice we have made...is it worth it? and is one of them better than the other? and who is to decide that?
and at the end of our lives...whatever choice we have made...is it worth it? and is one of them better than the other? and who is to decide that?
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
2 years!!!
it's been 2 years since matt and i have gotten married, challenging in some respect, but nonetheless the best years of my life :) We got to travel Europe, find out what it's like to be far apart, what a true reunion actually feels like and many other beautiful and very important lessons and experiences.
FYI, we did not give each other any material presents for our 2 year anniversary, we are trying to move away from that, and it's working quite beautifully, as non-material presents are the best, longer lasting and much more meaningful...Ok, I just got to cook dinner for Matt, which was out of his system within 24 hours, but still....Matt woke up bright and early on Sunday (ok it was a day early of our 2 year anniversary, but he had to fly out of town on Monday, so he decided to present his gift to me one day early, you won't hear me complaining about that) to create a space in our yard where I can plant flowers. I have been wanting to plant flowers for quite some time, but we did not have any place to do so. Years ago, there was a tree removed from our yard, and there was a perfect circle left in the middle of our yard from the tree stump....Matt dug in, put soil in that circle and finished it off with stones around the border, it's truly beautiful. That same day he has made the flower space for me, I have planted some flowers in there (mostly seeds) and they are actually coming through the soil already. I love looking and my growing flowers and watering them and taking care of them, it's quite soothing and very rewarding :) I can actually grow something. And that spot that Matt made for me will be there for years, just like our marriage :) It's so much better than going out to a restaurant and getting a sweater or something....
2 years of being happily married and it's going to get only better from now on. I love my life!!! I love my husband!!!!!
FYI, we did not give each other any material presents for our 2 year anniversary, we are trying to move away from that, and it's working quite beautifully, as non-material presents are the best, longer lasting and much more meaningful...Ok, I just got to cook dinner for Matt, which was out of his system within 24 hours, but still....Matt woke up bright and early on Sunday (ok it was a day early of our 2 year anniversary, but he had to fly out of town on Monday, so he decided to present his gift to me one day early, you won't hear me complaining about that) to create a space in our yard where I can plant flowers. I have been wanting to plant flowers for quite some time, but we did not have any place to do so. Years ago, there was a tree removed from our yard, and there was a perfect circle left in the middle of our yard from the tree stump....Matt dug in, put soil in that circle and finished it off with stones around the border, it's truly beautiful. That same day he has made the flower space for me, I have planted some flowers in there (mostly seeds) and they are actually coming through the soil already. I love looking and my growing flowers and watering them and taking care of them, it's quite soothing and very rewarding :) I can actually grow something. And that spot that Matt made for me will be there for years, just like our marriage :) It's so much better than going out to a restaurant and getting a sweater or something....
2 years of being happily married and it's going to get only better from now on. I love my life!!! I love my husband!!!!!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Bookclub
I used to love reading books, well, actually that did not come out right, I should say that I used to read books all the time. When I was in Russia I would take a book on my hour and a half commute each way to and from work, needless to say in those 3 hours a day reading I went through a lot of books. Now, back then all I was reading were flaky chick lit books. There is nothing wrong with them, they are very easy to read and don't require much thinking and you can go through them pretty quickly.
I thought for sure when I got back to the states and having no job I would be reading a ton, but I have discovered lately that I am rather tired of chick lit, lots of it is the same, and many times you can see through the plot by the time you reach page 30.
Ever since I got back to the states I have been busy doing everything but reading. When I decided to start volunteering I focused on doing just that, finding opportunities that I would enjoy! Well, I have done just that, I am now involved in a few organizations and am very happy to be so. Now that I am pretty established with volunteering I have been looking for different bookclubs to get involved, because now only do I want to start reading, I want to be able to discuss books and also socialize and get to know new people. I did not have to go very far to find a bookclub, apparenly NE Mpls library has a book-club on Saturdays, which is perfect. Now, I have been trying to get in the rhythm of reading, and it's tough. First of all, the books that are on the bookclub's list are not chick lits, and even though they are very interesting, the genre is very different to what I am used to. Second of all, I am having hard time dedicating time to read in time for the meeting. I mean I have a month to read a book, you would think that would be plenty of time for a non-working individual to read a book, but I am struggling. I missed second meeting (yes, I have decided to get involved with that bookclub 2 months ago, so even though I have good intentions, I have yet to make it to the meeting), I am still reading the books, just not finishing them in time. I must say I really like the books that the bookclub has on its list, it's nice to read some older writing and just be exposed to different books/ideas, I just hope that I will be able to finish 80 pages of the book from the previous month and then read another one for next month :) I only have 2 weeks until next meeting because of Memorial Day...
I do have to admit that I have been trying to get into a routine of reading for abou 30-40 minutes before going to bed every night, I don't have the habit yet developed to do it every day, but I am trying!!! I really hope that I will enjoy the next month's book and this time will be able to show up to the meet :)
I thought for sure when I got back to the states and having no job I would be reading a ton, but I have discovered lately that I am rather tired of chick lit, lots of it is the same, and many times you can see through the plot by the time you reach page 30.
Ever since I got back to the states I have been busy doing everything but reading. When I decided to start volunteering I focused on doing just that, finding opportunities that I would enjoy! Well, I have done just that, I am now involved in a few organizations and am very happy to be so. Now that I am pretty established with volunteering I have been looking for different bookclubs to get involved, because now only do I want to start reading, I want to be able to discuss books and also socialize and get to know new people. I did not have to go very far to find a bookclub, apparenly NE Mpls library has a book-club on Saturdays, which is perfect. Now, I have been trying to get in the rhythm of reading, and it's tough. First of all, the books that are on the bookclub's list are not chick lits, and even though they are very interesting, the genre is very different to what I am used to. Second of all, I am having hard time dedicating time to read in time for the meeting. I mean I have a month to read a book, you would think that would be plenty of time for a non-working individual to read a book, but I am struggling. I missed second meeting (yes, I have decided to get involved with that bookclub 2 months ago, so even though I have good intentions, I have yet to make it to the meeting), I am still reading the books, just not finishing them in time. I must say I really like the books that the bookclub has on its list, it's nice to read some older writing and just be exposed to different books/ideas, I just hope that I will be able to finish 80 pages of the book from the previous month and then read another one for next month :) I only have 2 weeks until next meeting because of Memorial Day...
I do have to admit that I have been trying to get into a routine of reading for abou 30-40 minutes before going to bed every night, I don't have the habit yet developed to do it every day, but I am trying!!! I really hope that I will enjoy the next month's book and this time will be able to show up to the meet :)
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Pictures!!!
Matt and I definitely need to get better at taking pictures of 2 of us. Seriously, ever since I got back to the states we haven't gotten pictures of the two of us. What the heck? I loved it that when we traveled we had tons of pictures, a few of 2 of us together, but lots of us in different places. I love having pictures to look at, I love having pictures of the 2 of us!!! I almost feel like hiring somebody every month to take our pictures at random times to capture our life and happiness :) Well, actually I would love to hire somebody to do that for free...wait, then that wouldn't be hiring, would it? Man, oh man....
I should just drag the camera everywhere we go and make people take at least one picture of Matt and I whenever we can!!! Although I am sure people will think that I am rather weird, but what else is new. Like Matt said the other day when we were talking about something totally different yet it still applies to this "it won't be the first time people will think we are weird" I must agree with Matt, we are a bit more adventurous, spontaneous and a bit more laid-back than most of our friends or family. I actually get a kick out of people's reactions when they hear how we do things in our life :) Back to pictures....how am I supposed to fix that problem? Seriously people, I love pictures and we just don't have enough!!! Oh, what should a woman do in these situations.....
I should just drag the camera everywhere we go and make people take at least one picture of Matt and I whenever we can!!! Although I am sure people will think that I am rather weird, but what else is new. Like Matt said the other day when we were talking about something totally different yet it still applies to this "it won't be the first time people will think we are weird" I must agree with Matt, we are a bit more adventurous, spontaneous and a bit more laid-back than most of our friends or family. I actually get a kick out of people's reactions when they hear how we do things in our life :) Back to pictures....how am I supposed to fix that problem? Seriously people, I love pictures and we just don't have enough!!! Oh, what should a woman do in these situations.....
Monday, April 20, 2009
It's a never ending job....
....cleaning that is. Seriously, I spent a whole day a week ago cleaning the three rooms downstairs, and it's a week later and the room are no longer shiny :( I thought it would last a little longer than a week, considering how much time and effort I put into the cleaning. I must say I do enjoy my house now, I have been trying to stay on top of cleaning it, and do things bit by bit. Now if somebody could just come and wash my kitchen walls that would be great!!!
That being said, I am thinking that if I do get a job then I will have to hire somebody to clean my home, the thing though, I am so particular at how I like things and really am not all that excited about having other people come and clean my house....so I am actually enjoying the cleaning for as long as I myself can do it, especially since now I have a fancy new vacuum cleaner that works!!!
That being said, I am thinking that if I do get a job then I will have to hire somebody to clean my home, the thing though, I am so particular at how I like things and really am not all that excited about having other people come and clean my house....so I am actually enjoying the cleaning for as long as I myself can do it, especially since now I have a fancy new vacuum cleaner that works!!!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Public Speaking
I have never had any complexes when it comes to me being the center of attention. I love attention, I love being in the spotlight. I enjoy seeing that people are listening to what I have to say. No, I don't like being the center of attention all the time, from time to time it's needed :) So, when I was going to Normandale Community College and taking Public Speaking I had no issues with getting up in front of strange people and talk. Keep in mind, I love talking as much as I love being in the spotlight...to be honest, I probably like talking a lot more :)
Anyway, out of all my classes at Normandale I enjoyed Public Speaking probably the most. Why? Simple. The class was fun, I got to meet a good friend of mine in there, and the teacher was great. Not only was he good at teaching, but he also made the class fun. And I did learn quite a bit in that class. Although I didn't have to overcome any fear of talking in front of public, I still learned a lot about how to give a good speech, and trained myself on how to talk without 'ums' and 'ahs' in my conversations. I notice when people use those fillers, and it drives me nuts! I have learned many other things too...but let's not get into it, because the main reason why I am writing this blog is because of my professor.
The amazing part is that I have stayed in touch with him over the years, and every time I meet with him I walk out with more confidence and ambition. The guy is simply amazing, he is very outgoing, he is open-minded, energetic, ambitious, curious and genuine. Even after spending 15 minutes talking to him, you walk out with your spirit high and new goals. He inspires me to do greater, bigger things in life without even saying it, but just talking about the right things, asking the right questions, he just makes you think!!! Anyway, I am very blessed to have had him for a teacher, because he has definitely played an important part in my life. I am very thankful to him for staying in touch and being genuinely interested.
Anyway, out of all my classes at Normandale I enjoyed Public Speaking probably the most. Why? Simple. The class was fun, I got to meet a good friend of mine in there, and the teacher was great. Not only was he good at teaching, but he also made the class fun. And I did learn quite a bit in that class. Although I didn't have to overcome any fear of talking in front of public, I still learned a lot about how to give a good speech, and trained myself on how to talk without 'ums' and 'ahs' in my conversations. I notice when people use those fillers, and it drives me nuts! I have learned many other things too...but let's not get into it, because the main reason why I am writing this blog is because of my professor.
The amazing part is that I have stayed in touch with him over the years, and every time I meet with him I walk out with more confidence and ambition. The guy is simply amazing, he is very outgoing, he is open-minded, energetic, ambitious, curious and genuine. Even after spending 15 minutes talking to him, you walk out with your spirit high and new goals. He inspires me to do greater, bigger things in life without even saying it, but just talking about the right things, asking the right questions, he just makes you think!!! Anyway, I am very blessed to have had him for a teacher, because he has definitely played an important part in my life. I am very thankful to him for staying in touch and being genuinely interested.
Breakfast, Opera and Dinner
Oh, yes, life is good, and it's even better when you do above mentioned activities with a group of people who are there to support local or national charities. Matt and I have a few events coming up that we have decided to attend to help out local or national charities: pancake breakfast, opera recital and dinner. I think it's great that we get to have a great time while donating our money to a worthy cause. I am all for donating without any events being set up, but I enjoy doing things and being exposed to different people, so I find going to charity fundraising events very tempting and exciting!!!
I can't wait to attend the above mentioned events!!! I am so excited! It should be a blast!!! I might be going nuts about all the charity work, but Matt does not seem to mind and it really does make me happy and opens my eyes and mind to things I never thought of, and sure does make me more humble and thankful for what I have!
I can't wait to attend the above mentioned events!!! I am so excited! It should be a blast!!! I might be going nuts about all the charity work, but Matt does not seem to mind and it really does make me happy and opens my eyes and mind to things I never thought of, and sure does make me more humble and thankful for what I have!
It finally happened!!!
My wedding ring is rather unusual, it's platinum band with a sapphire in the center and it's surrounded by amethist on each side. Well, some of you might not know that amethist is a semi-precious stones and are very soft. Why do I have amethists in my ring? Easy. Sapphire is my stone and Amethist is Matt's birthstone...so, that is why :) Well, about a week after Matt proposed to me I chipped one of the amethists. Then I went in and replaced it and then a month later I chipped the other amethist stone....Before the wedding I went in and replaced it,and about 2 weeks after that I chipped the second replacement stone. After that I have decided that I am just going to wait and replace the stones after they are so chipped I can no longer stand it. Well, the funny part is that I kept chipping the same stone over and over again and finally about a week ago the stone got so chipped that there wasn't enough of it to hold it in place...so now I have a ring with a sapphire in the center, an amethist to one side of it and a hole to the other :) I am going to wait a couple of months before replacing the stones, because I am going to put sapphires instead of both amethists, but I will put the sapphires that are the color of amethists :) I just don't want to keep replacing the stones, and I am quite tired of them chipping. But meanwhile I am without a ring :( It feels weird not to have it on, I must admit!!! 2 years though...it took me 2 years to make that stone fall out, not bad :) considering that it gets chipped so easily....the bizarre part is that i kept chipping the same stone over and over again, the other amethist (that was replaced once) never got chipped after it was replaced....Oh well....such is life!
Friday, March 27, 2009
Headache? Really? Not feeling well? Hmm, not sure
I have been watching the kids this past week, well, almost the entire week. I am actually watching the kids for 2 different families during this week, both families rock!!! I love their kids!!! One of the families is the very first people I babysat for :) Anyway, so today I am watching their kids. The kids are rather grown up now, the oldest is 17, and the youngest is 9, which is very different from when I first met them and the youngest was 1 month old :) Anyway, today the youngest one woke up and informed me that she was not feeling well. She said her head and stomach hurt and she felt funny. After her crying for awhile because she did not feel well and wanted to stay home, I gave in, called the school, cancelled my volunteering that I was going to do while the kids are at school, and let her stay home. She seemed to be ok with my course of actions, and I really don't mind keeping her home if she does not feel well, and I can sympathise with her having a bad headache and just wanting to rest.
However, I find it funny that she decided to play piano and do hopscotch...Hmm, seriously? Because when I have a bad headache I just want to lay in bed until it's gone. She has been rather chipper since I told her she is staying home. I am thinking that I have been tricked :) Honestly, I don't really care, I think her mom might care more about her skipping school today, but honestly, I did not want to shove her out the door if she didn't feel well. Anyway, as part of my agreement to her stay home, she needs to take a nap during the day. I think it's a fair play since most kids who don't feel well are up for a nap anyway. She seems ok with it, although I doubt she will fall asleep. She is laying down as I type, but we will see.
Like I said, I enjoy spending time with her, I just found it funny that she wasn't behaving like she was feeling badly. I wonder if 9 year olds don't put it together that if you say you feel sick then you probably shouldn't be jumping up and down on trampoline and do summersaults off the couch, but maybe I am just getting old and don't know what I am talking about :) Just thought her behavior was amusing and I did chuckle a few times at me being so easily swayed to let her stay home :) For those of you who don't know me, I am a pushover....big times....as long as kids behave they can get me to do just about anything for them.
However, I find it funny that she decided to play piano and do hopscotch...Hmm, seriously? Because when I have a bad headache I just want to lay in bed until it's gone. She has been rather chipper since I told her she is staying home. I am thinking that I have been tricked :) Honestly, I don't really care, I think her mom might care more about her skipping school today, but honestly, I did not want to shove her out the door if she didn't feel well. Anyway, as part of my agreement to her stay home, she needs to take a nap during the day. I think it's a fair play since most kids who don't feel well are up for a nap anyway. She seems ok with it, although I doubt she will fall asleep. She is laying down as I type, but we will see.
Like I said, I enjoy spending time with her, I just found it funny that she wasn't behaving like she was feeling badly. I wonder if 9 year olds don't put it together that if you say you feel sick then you probably shouldn't be jumping up and down on trampoline and do summersaults off the couch, but maybe I am just getting old and don't know what I am talking about :) Just thought her behavior was amusing and I did chuckle a few times at me being so easily swayed to let her stay home :) For those of you who don't know me, I am a pushover....big times....as long as kids behave they can get me to do just about anything for them.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Volunteering is Addicting!!!
Man, I am finding that volunteering is quite a bit addicting!!! I have been trying to get involved in local volunteering opportunities, and I am finding that I really enjoy helping people out. Matt jokes that I am addicted to feeding the hungry, well, it's because I am involved with Meals on Wheels in NE Minneapolis and St. Anthony Village area and also I just started volunteering for the Salvation Army Meal Serving initiative to feed the homeless people in Minneapolis area. Even though I am not doing anything to provide them with food, I do hope that my service will help people in receiving their meals that they are struggling to get. Other than that I am involved with ALS association and these 3 activities are going to keep me rather busy in the near future. Once in awhile I will volunteer for other opportunities, but those won't be ongoing. I love volunteering, and I really don't understand people who are bored living their lives. There is nothing boring about this world, and there is nothing boring about helping people out, so if some people are bored....well, get out and help others. I am actually surprised how very few young people are volunteering. There are a few of course, but many of the volunteers are older people. Sure, you might argue that they have more time, and while that is true, I will never believe that those who are not retire or those who work full-time have no time to dedicate to helping others. If that is true, that there is absolutely no time in somebody's life to leave their print in this world, well, then that person just does not want to make time, it's as simple as that! Anyway, but I am not judging, I am just saying that I am really enjoying it and am getting addicted to it, although like my sister said 'it's a healthy addiction to have' I just hope that my husband agrees with that, seeing that volunteering brings no money into our family :)
Cheers everybody!
Cheers everybody!
Friday, March 20, 2009
ALS
...or better known as Lou Gehrig's disease is...well, just a horrible disease that affects about 30,000 people in the US, and 400 of them live right here in MN. Every week 2 people in MN die from this disease and every week 2 people are diagnosed with it. It progresses really fast, people sometimes have only a few months to live after they are diagnosed, while others might enjoy life for 5 years. Although, enjoying is not what they do when they are alive with the diagnose of Lou Gehrig's disease, because once it's diagnosed, it just gets worse. People lose their ability to move, communicate and get trapped in their own body. People with ALS can understand everything that is going on around them and to them, there is just nothing they can do.
Why am I talking about ALS? Because I am now a volunteer for ALS Association. Most of the time people with ALS have caregivers, however, taking care of somebody who has ALS requires a lot of energy and is a very emotionally and time consuming job! There are quite a few families out there (even in MN) who are looking for somebody to come and help them while they can dedicate their time to taking care of their special person with ALS. I get a chance to clean for a person with ALS and their caregiver in an attempt to make their lives easier by removing that chore from their worries. I can't wait to start!!! April 1st is my first day!!!
Why am I talking about ALS? Because I am now a volunteer for ALS Association. Most of the time people with ALS have caregivers, however, taking care of somebody who has ALS requires a lot of energy and is a very emotionally and time consuming job! There are quite a few families out there (even in MN) who are looking for somebody to come and help them while they can dedicate their time to taking care of their special person with ALS. I get a chance to clean for a person with ALS and their caregiver in an attempt to make their lives easier by removing that chore from their worries. I can't wait to start!!! April 1st is my first day!!!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Things keep breaking!!!
I think it's me, that is the only variable that has changed in the last month and ever since I got home things seem to be breaking, and not just random things, things that I am around, and the ones that I use on a regular basis. Want examples? Oh, I'll give you examples, because I have freaking plenty of those: DVD player, vacuum cleaner and hair dryer. I mean how can 3 things that I need go broken in just a matter of the last 3 weeks. COME ON. SERIOUSLY?
Of course, this should come at no other timing but when we are on a budget :) It's like God is trying to test us as to how closely we will stick to our agreed budget, that we have been trying to be very good about (good meaning very closely). Unfortunately, we did not foresee 3 very important things breaking in our house, and did not really take that into account (budget wise :)) Anyway, the vacuum cleaner technically still makes noise and turns on, it just does not suck anything up, which is the same as broken. Matt even took it all apart to see if it was clogged up or something, nope, just stupid cleaner decided to quit working on us.
Our DVD player broke when Matt's folks were in town, it worked the night before, but when they came to visit and we decided to settle for a nice movie watching evening, it just did not want to play any DVDs, and it did not want to work the next day either. We did get a new DVD player though, because Matt's folks were generous enough to surprise us with a new DVD player, and it's a very nice one, definitely much nicer than what we would have bought. Then, two days ago I took a shower and thought I was going to dry my hair, but nope, had to go with the airdrying it, because my stupid hair dryer would not turn on. I mean I used it the day before, what the heck happened during the night?
Anyway, I am not buying Revlon hair dryer anymore, nor will I purchase any Eureka vacuum cleaner ever, in fact the only vacuum cleaner that I will get is Dyson, because I don't care if I have to spend extra as long as I know that it's reliable and will last me a few years!!!!
So, that is my tale of hair freaking dryer, vacuum stupid cleaner and DVD dumb player. If you want to get something new in your house but haven't had a chance because your old stuff still works, well, just invite me over, because shit seems to malfunction and break around me!!!
No worries, I am still in a great mood, just getting a little "excited" about this whole situation!!!
Of course, this should come at no other timing but when we are on a budget :) It's like God is trying to test us as to how closely we will stick to our agreed budget, that we have been trying to be very good about (good meaning very closely). Unfortunately, we did not foresee 3 very important things breaking in our house, and did not really take that into account (budget wise :)) Anyway, the vacuum cleaner technically still makes noise and turns on, it just does not suck anything up, which is the same as broken. Matt even took it all apart to see if it was clogged up or something, nope, just stupid cleaner decided to quit working on us.
Our DVD player broke when Matt's folks were in town, it worked the night before, but when they came to visit and we decided to settle for a nice movie watching evening, it just did not want to play any DVDs, and it did not want to work the next day either. We did get a new DVD player though, because Matt's folks were generous enough to surprise us with a new DVD player, and it's a very nice one, definitely much nicer than what we would have bought. Then, two days ago I took a shower and thought I was going to dry my hair, but nope, had to go with the airdrying it, because my stupid hair dryer would not turn on. I mean I used it the day before, what the heck happened during the night?
Anyway, I am not buying Revlon hair dryer anymore, nor will I purchase any Eureka vacuum cleaner ever, in fact the only vacuum cleaner that I will get is Dyson, because I don't care if I have to spend extra as long as I know that it's reliable and will last me a few years!!!!
So, that is my tale of hair freaking dryer, vacuum stupid cleaner and DVD dumb player. If you want to get something new in your house but haven't had a chance because your old stuff still works, well, just invite me over, because shit seems to malfunction and break around me!!!
No worries, I am still in a great mood, just getting a little "excited" about this whole situation!!!
MN Spring
I absolutely love Minnesota Spring...maybe because it's always sunny, maybe because it's finally getting warm after long winter months, maybe because I love having dinners on the deck and people over when we can actually grill (although, I must say our grill might need replacement sometime soon) and drink beers and laugh!!! Somehow having parties inside is just not the same!!!
Anyway, I am super glad to see warm weather coming our way, and hearing birds sing and watching the trees turn green!!! This weather puts me in a good mood, that is for sure!
Anyway, I am super glad to see warm weather coming our way, and hearing birds sing and watching the trees turn green!!! This weather puts me in a good mood, that is for sure!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Cooking, cleaning, seeing lots of friends, etc.
If anybody is wondering what I have been up to lately, well, ever since I got back to the states, have no worries, I have been plenty occupied. The main thing that I have been doing really is seeing friends. We have gone out with a few, visited others at their houses, and had a few of the friends come over to our house for dinner. Great times!!!!
I have also been rather busy cleaning my beautiful home (well, it's getting to the beautiful part) and cooking for my lovely husband :)
Recently though I have decided that it's time for me to make a difference in this world and to make sure that when I die (I know, it's early to think about that, but who knows when it will happen, so better start now :)) I will know that I have brought joy to others during my life. So, I have decided to get involved in volunteering. Right now I am on board with Meals on Wheels (delivering lunches to people who can't cook for themselves due to physical health/condition), and also getting involved with association that helps people with ALS (Lou Gehrig disease), it's a horrible disease and I want to be of any help I can be to those people that suffer from it (I would clean, run errands for those people).
But besides just me getting to help others, I want to make sure I live my life to the fullest as well, and enjoy my time, so I am getting involved in the local book club, time for me to start going to church on a regular basis as well, and maybe a couple of other opportunities will add to my calendar soon (such as learning German and maybe getting involved with WEP, wetland bioassessment)
I am getting to the point where I am satisfied with my life :) which feels great!!! Now it's time for a nap :) Cheers everybody!!!
I have also been rather busy cleaning my beautiful home (well, it's getting to the beautiful part) and cooking for my lovely husband :)
Recently though I have decided that it's time for me to make a difference in this world and to make sure that when I die (I know, it's early to think about that, but who knows when it will happen, so better start now :)) I will know that I have brought joy to others during my life. So, I have decided to get involved in volunteering. Right now I am on board with Meals on Wheels (delivering lunches to people who can't cook for themselves due to physical health/condition), and also getting involved with association that helps people with ALS (Lou Gehrig disease), it's a horrible disease and I want to be of any help I can be to those people that suffer from it (I would clean, run errands for those people).
But besides just me getting to help others, I want to make sure I live my life to the fullest as well, and enjoy my time, so I am getting involved in the local book club, time for me to start going to church on a regular basis as well, and maybe a couple of other opportunities will add to my calendar soon (such as learning German and maybe getting involved with WEP, wetland bioassessment)
I am getting to the point where I am satisfied with my life :) which feels great!!! Now it's time for a nap :) Cheers everybody!!!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Home Sweet Home
I love my house, everything about it. I don't care if it's messy, I don't care if it's dusty, I don't care that it takes over a month to get it back into shape :) I just love my house, because it's mine!!! I can do anything I want to in here! It's mine!!! My baby is here (Matt that is), and I have lots of time on my hand to make it look just the way I want to :) Today though I have cleaned the oven, I will be so thankful when we have a self-cleaning oven, but for now I am enjoying what I have :) Tomorrow before I leave for a slumberparty I have to clean the kitchen walls and wash the floors!!! Wish me luck :)
Saturday, January 17, 2009
No Babies!
I have wanted kids for a very long time! Ever since I started babysitting really. When Matt and I started living together, I was insanely baby crazy. When we got married, and up until about a couple of months ago I think I bugged him about having a baby at least once a day, which he found rather annoying at times.
Strangely though a couple of months ago I just decided that I don't want to have kids just yet. I want to do other things first. And they might not be important things, but they mean a great deal to me, I want to spend some time enjoying my life, have enough time to do something I enjoy and not being tied down to too much responsibility. And today I read friend's comments about her having a boy and I realized that I really don't want a kid now.
It's a strange feeling though. I know I should want to have kids, I always wanted them, my parents can't wait for grandkids, but I just don't have the urge anymore. It's weird, but I am glad that I have this before I have a kid and not after I have one, because once it's 'after' well, it's too late. And I don't want to be 30 when my first one is born, but I definitely don't want one right now. Maybe it's me not working...maybe it's something else...strange nonetheless for me to realize that. Maybe I just need to be around kids more to want them, who the heck knows. But lately I have been in "no babies" mood and Matt was sure that when I originally mentioned this phenomenon to him it will last about 2 days tops, but it's been much longer....curious.
Strangely though a couple of months ago I just decided that I don't want to have kids just yet. I want to do other things first. And they might not be important things, but they mean a great deal to me, I want to spend some time enjoying my life, have enough time to do something I enjoy and not being tied down to too much responsibility. And today I read friend's comments about her having a boy and I realized that I really don't want a kid now.
It's a strange feeling though. I know I should want to have kids, I always wanted them, my parents can't wait for grandkids, but I just don't have the urge anymore. It's weird, but I am glad that I have this before I have a kid and not after I have one, because once it's 'after' well, it's too late. And I don't want to be 30 when my first one is born, but I definitely don't want one right now. Maybe it's me not working...maybe it's something else...strange nonetheless for me to realize that. Maybe I just need to be around kids more to want them, who the heck knows. But lately I have been in "no babies" mood and Matt was sure that when I originally mentioned this phenomenon to him it will last about 2 days tops, but it's been much longer....curious.
Sleep
Most of those who keep track of what is going on in my life know that while I was at my parents house in Taganrog for a little over a month my sleep was all over the place. Most of the nights I did not sleep and if I did I slept only 4 hours. It was rather exhausting and very unusual for me, since I am a sleeping beauty :) Before my visit to Taganrog I could sleep for 14 hours straight. Anyway, now that I am in Moscow my sleep is catching up with me. I seem to have no issues falling asleep, although sometimes I might lay for an hour or so trying to drift off. And I kind of sleep through the night, I do wake up 3-4 times, but I seem to go back to sleep rather easily. I must say it’s pretty nice to be able to sleep. I am thankful that I can finally get a good night sleep, because I am much less cranky during the following day and tend to be a bit happier :) I don’t know if my sleep will stay this way as I am getting close to my interviews at the German and US embassies, and I have a feeling that once it gets closer to the actual interviews I will start getting nervous….so we will see :) But as for now I am just enjoying my non-sleepless nights!!!
Script Is Needed Indeed!
That is something that my husband actually agrees on. Whenever we talk, and that happens on a daily basis, I talk like a regular girl where I say things that I don’t really mean, but say them so Matt would disagree with such statements and say something nice instead :) Well, the trouble is that my husband is not so intuitive and he does not catch such little things, instead he falls right into the trap and agrees with my statement. I always do follow with a correction to his agreement by saying “no, you were supposed to say ….” He always laughs when I say that. But seriously, when I say things like “I feel bad for taking all your money” he really should say “But you are worth every penny and I don’t mind at all” or when I say “I needed a husband who could potentially take care of me” instead of him saying “yeah, I figured” he was supposed to say “It’s you who take care of me” ….things like that :) You would think after so much practice (we have been married for a year and a half and I was like that even when we were dating, so add 2 years to that), so after daily conversations for 3.5 years you would think Matt would figure out and foresee such traps that I set oh, once in awhile, but no, he is still pretty oblivious to them :) So, finally during our conversation last night Matt said that he really does need to get a script of what he needs to say before our actual conversation. I am thinking it is not such a bad idea. Although I must admit that I would like him to come up with nice answers on his own, and not just read them off the script. But nonetheless, I will contemplate on this whole script idea, because I must admit it’s a good one :) He won’t be stressed out about figuring out what I need him to say and I will hear what I want :) Although I must say that Matt really enjoys it when I tell him what he was supposed to say, he gets a kick out of it, I think….so that might be worth not moving forward with the script :) I will have to draw out pros and cons of the whole script idea, won’t I?
Bus Trip!
January 13 at 12:10 pm I left my hometown, Taganrog. And who knows when I will come back here again. I am thinking that someday I will come back, but it will be many years down the road, that is for sure. And what is there to come back to really? Well, my parents are still around, but that is about it. I won’t miss much, I am glad to be out of that town where nothing is happening and nothing to look forward to.
Anyway, it was a long 19 hour trip to Moscow, but I made it alive :) Although I must say I will try to not travel by bus on such long distances, but I did save quite a bit by taking the bus route, so I guess I can’t complain.
I guess that chapter of my life is closed, the one where I had to spend time in my hometown while waiting to hear back from the US embassy!
Anyway, it was a long 19 hour trip to Moscow, but I made it alive :) Although I must say I will try to not travel by bus on such long distances, but I did save quite a bit by taking the bus route, so I guess I can’t complain.
I guess that chapter of my life is closed, the one where I had to spend time in my hometown while waiting to hear back from the US embassy!
Friday, January 9, 2009
Theater
Jan. 10 at 17:00 my mom and I are going to be busy sitting in a local theater and watching a play. Don't ask me what the play is, it's written by some famous Russian guy and I haven't heard of it, which is not surprising seeing as I wasn't all that much into Russian literature EVER :) Anyway, so I am pretty excited. We have a pretty small and cute theater in my hometown, and I used to go there about once a year or so when I was little, usually with my mom. My dad refuses to go to a theater :)
The funny part though is when I asked mom if she wanted to go to a theater with me, she said yes, and then she added that it's a bit expensive. So, I went to the box office and found out that THE most expensive ticket was 300 rubles, that is slightly over $10. I had to laugh, considering that last summer Matt and I spent about $80 per ticket to see a ballet in Moscow, theater tickets are no cheaper there, so after being used to Moscow prices, and the ones in the states I was pleasantly surprised that I had to pay a total of about $23 for 2 tickets for the play tomorrow :)
That said, I am very excited to go tomorrow, it will be a good outting for me and mom, and I think we will have a great time. Maybe we will even stop at the coffee shop on the way back home :) I like doing things like that with my folks (although this time it's just mom since dad still refuses to go to theater :)), these are memories that I get to keep forever!!!
The funny part though is when I asked mom if she wanted to go to a theater with me, she said yes, and then she added that it's a bit expensive. So, I went to the box office and found out that THE most expensive ticket was 300 rubles, that is slightly over $10. I had to laugh, considering that last summer Matt and I spent about $80 per ticket to see a ballet in Moscow, theater tickets are no cheaper there, so after being used to Moscow prices, and the ones in the states I was pleasantly surprised that I had to pay a total of about $23 for 2 tickets for the play tomorrow :)
That said, I am very excited to go tomorrow, it will be a good outting for me and mom, and I think we will have a great time. Maybe we will even stop at the coffee shop on the way back home :) I like doing things like that with my folks (although this time it's just mom since dad still refuses to go to theater :)), these are memories that I get to keep forever!!!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
New Year 2009
Well, this year has been a bit different from the previous ones. First of all, I was kind of single...well, my husband was thousands of miles away, and let me tell you it is no fun to be alone on New Years, especially when around you everybody is with their significant others. So, it felt a bit lonely, even though Matt did call me exactly at 12:01 am Russian time and wished me Happy New Year (although, I think it was like 3pm his time :)) We talked for probably 15 minutes, but still, after that I had to go back to the party realizing that I was without my husband :( But besides that, this New Year was great because I got to spend it with my dear friends in Russia. One of my best girlfriends invited me to celebrate NY with them, and it was so special!!! It's been about 10 years since I celebrated New Years with my friends, so that part was spectacular, and it was so much fun! I spent the night at my friend's house and then we continued our celebration on January 1st. It's kind of weird to see that my friend is married and with a kid, but our friendship is still strong :) Anyway, it was great to spend time with friends. I was a bit torn though, because I think my parents were a bit disappointed that I did not spend the day with them...but I hope they forgave me for bailing on them to have fun with my friend.
Anyway, even though this year was special because of reuniting with my old friends, next year will be better because I will have somebody to kiss on the actual NY and I will be surrounded by my American friends. Too bad I have to wait a whole year for that...although I am sure I will kiss my hubby plenty before next NY and I am pretty certain that we will have a party when I get home, so I can see all my friends :)
Oh, and even though I went to bed at 5 am on Jan 1, I made sure that I wake up at 9 am and tell my hubby Happy New Year when it was 12am his time :) I am sure he was a bit lonely as well!
Anyway, even though this year was special because of reuniting with my old friends, next year will be better because I will have somebody to kiss on the actual NY and I will be surrounded by my American friends. Too bad I have to wait a whole year for that...although I am sure I will kiss my hubby plenty before next NY and I am pretty certain that we will have a party when I get home, so I can see all my friends :)
Oh, and even though I went to bed at 5 am on Jan 1, I made sure that I wake up at 9 am and tell my hubby Happy New Year when it was 12am his time :) I am sure he was a bit lonely as well!
Hobbies....
I never really had hobbies in the past. When I was little, I was never involved in sports. I had many tutors: math, English, Russian, French. But never really got into sports. My parents were convinced that it's more important that I was educated than athletic. I am thankful that my parents paid such close attention to my school work, because they trained me to pay close attention to my grades and work hard at excelling at school. It paid off great times in the long run, as I was able to finish college with very decent GPA and on top of that with no school loans... However, I do feel like I missed out on the fun stuff. So, now that I am older and have a wonderful husband who doesn't want me to miss out on anything in life, I finally decided that I am going to take up some hobbies. I am going to do some things that I wished I could have done when I was little. But it's never too late, right? So, I am patiently waiting until I get back to the states, but as soon as I get back, I am going to take up some classes, among those will be: ballroom dancing, swimming, skating, skiing, possibly tennis. I have taken some dancing classes before and skating, but I have never knew how to skii and even thought I am a decent swimmer, I want to be a good swimmer and faster :) Tennis....well, I always dreamed of being able to play tennis. I am also planning on joining running club...never was much of a runner, but I want to run at least 5K before I kick the bucket, so I figured running club will be a good place to start training for that :)
Of course, I won't be able to do all those activities at the same time. I am figuring different activities for different seasons :) And Matt thinks that once I start a job I won't be able to follow the list of activities much, but I bet I will stick to it. I might drop some, like if I figure out that learning tennis is just meant to be...well, then obviously I will drop it, but I am still going to try and stay active and do things that keep me happy :) And being involved keeps me happy. Besides I love dancing, skating and swimming, so I can't imagine why I would stop doing that....
So, I am pretty excited about my new hobbies :) I just hope that Matt can afford all those classes for me :) But he seems to be wanting to join me for some of them :) That would be super sweet :) Anyway, I am excited for my new year and many hobbies that will be keeping me busy...I already found all the classes and studios and stuff, so all I have to do is move to the states and all Matt has to do is give me money for all the classes :)
Of course, I won't be able to do all those activities at the same time. I am figuring different activities for different seasons :) And Matt thinks that once I start a job I won't be able to follow the list of activities much, but I bet I will stick to it. I might drop some, like if I figure out that learning tennis is just meant to be...well, then obviously I will drop it, but I am still going to try and stay active and do things that keep me happy :) And being involved keeps me happy. Besides I love dancing, skating and swimming, so I can't imagine why I would stop doing that....
So, I am pretty excited about my new hobbies :) I just hope that Matt can afford all those classes for me :) But he seems to be wanting to join me for some of them :) That would be super sweet :) Anyway, I am excited for my new year and many hobbies that will be keeping me busy...I already found all the classes and studios and stuff, so all I have to do is move to the states and all Matt has to do is give me money for all the classes :)
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