We're Back!

Obviously, it’s been a while since our last post. Since I’ve recently been asked three separate times if I am ever going to post again, I figured I should catch-up on the last (almost) two months before it becomes hopeless…

Unbeknownst to us, when we woke up the morning of July 7^th we wouldn’t have more than two or three 2-hour naps for the next 56 hours (we didn’t get to bed until about noon on the 9^th—Almaty time). Our flight departed on Wednesday, July 8th at about 3 a.m. which meant we disturbed Addie at about midnight and although we tried to keep her asleep, she was as awake and alert as ever. She was fascinated by the headlights of the other cars on the road, loved walking around the airport, and went to sleep rather easily once our flight began to take off. We’re pretty sure she thought it was all a very realistic dream!

Blurry, dark, and out of focus, these pictures show two things:

1-Chris capturing Addie after one of many runs around the lobby, and

2-Michael Jackson tributes were everywhere--even the Almaty airport at 2 a.m. I snapped this picture of the ending credits for the Thriller music video (I’d never seen the full video before and it’s actually kind of… creepy…)

Although Addie went to sleep rather easily, she stirred at the slightest motion of being laid down, so we were stuck holding her the entire seven hour flight to Frankfurt where we managed to survive the six hours wait for our eight hour flight to Dulles (where we again held her the entire flight). When we finally arrived in Dulles we were anxious to get through customs and see family. As we collected our baggage and walked to the customs area I became profoundly grateful to be an American. While our citizenship comes with many wonderful blessings, the one that hit me instantly was that we wouldn’t have to wait three hours at the back of the non-citizen customs line! (When I first saw the line I thought we DID have to wait in it and nearly cried.)

After speedily making it through customs we found my dad waiting for us and learned that the rest of our family who had driven up had come earlier in the day to go to the temple too and although they made it to the airport in plenty of time… they went to the wrong airport! ;D Luckily the wrong airport wasn’t far from the right one, so we were soon joined by my Mom, brothers John and Josh, and Josh’s wife Caroline and children, Kelsy, JJ, and Petey. Petey was one of the two little ones born while we were in Kazakhstan so it was exciting to meet him! We went to Generous George’s Positive Pizza & Pasta Place for dinner and met up with my Uncle Greg and his wife Ann. Although they didn’t drive all the way from Louisiana to see us arrive from Kazakhstan, they knew they would be in DC the day we flew in, so we were able to have dinner with them and meet my “new” Aunt Ann. (They were married about a week before us) Next, we hit the road and drove down to Virginia Beach! We arrived home at about midnight, but it took me another two hours to settle down (and stop talking) enough to actually sleep!

We were able to enjoy being with most of my family Thursday evening at a little barbecue at Josh’s home. It was fun to be surrounded by family and to see nieces and nephews doing new things. We handed out some of the souvenirs we purchased too! (These are my brothers John and Eddie in their Kyrgyz-style hats.)

On Friday morning we flew to Utah for the first-ever family reunion for Chris’ immediate family. Soon after our arrival we were able to meet our two new nephews! We had a few days before the reunion started, so we were able to finally make it to the temple (it’d been TEN months!!!), do some more wardrobe-replenishment shopping, and see some of our much loved friends that Saturday and Sunday. Although we neglected to use the camera we brought, it was great to catch-up with our friends and we were grateful they were able to take the time out of their day to come and visit us!

Our family reunion began Monday at a cabin in Heber and man was it fun! We ate great food (including way too many desserts!), shopped at the Park City outlets, took at least one run too many (ok, so maybe most of us only went on one run…), laughed ourselves silly in the hot tub once the children were asleep, and so much more! It was great to be with everyone and get to know them all a little better.

The original nuclear family:

The silly face picture with all of us (Chris' family does this every time they take family pictures. Does yours?? My family has sometimes done it, but definitely not as regularly.)

Our family reunion came to an official end at the extended reunion for Chris’ grandparent's family (dad's side). Grandma P has ten living children, seventy-five grandchildren, and (as of July) 44 great-grandchildren. With those kind of numbers this was a reunion that would overwhelm any in-law—thankfully, the entire family is really nice! An interesting fact about Grandma P's posterity: at the beginning of 2008, there were just EIGHT great-grandchildren— within the last year and a half, that number has grown to 44, with more already on the horizon!

The following Monday morning we were to fly out at about 7 a.m. We planned to leave the house at 5:30 a.m. to give us plenty of travel and wait time. Imagine our horror when Chris’ mom flew into our room at 6:00 a.m. and said, “It’s 6:00 a.m.! Our alarms didn’t go off!!” Thus began our day! We managed to get out of the house in record time, but—try as we might—we were unable to make our flight. Fortunately, there was another flight leaving just 50 minutes later that would get us to our destination. We arrived in Virginia just an hour later than originally planned. We were again greeted by family: my mom, Josh, Caroline, and their kids. We headed to my mom’s house where we feasted on her famous enchiladas and then Chris packed up his things and headed up to his internship in DC.

I stayed in Virginia Beach and over the next two weeks was able to spend time with family and visit many friends. It was great to see so many and catch-up on much that was missed! My mom was amazing about finding ways to give me full use of her car and she also managed to find ways to keep Addie back with her so I could have “girl-time” with friends. Addie and I were really productive in our visits which meant I was able to leave town without a long list of friends I’d “neglected.” Hallelujah!

The last few weeks have been spent together as a family (at last!). We have enjoyed getting a little more settled into our apartment—but we are a long way from being completely “moved in.” We are living in a basement apartment that needed some finishing, so with the help of my brother Josh and the support of his lovely wife Caroline, Chris was able to get a lot done (tearing down walls, rebuilding walls, and a lot of work related to that effort). [To give credit where it is due, I should probably say Chris was able to assist Josh with getting the work done…] My mom, sister-in-law Barbara, and niece Kirsten came to visit and help the day Josh left and we were able to get some various bits of work done around the apartment. I think my mom was most glad to be able to use the double-stroller Caroline handed on to her!We recently received the okay to go ahead and finish the work in our apartment which means putting mud on the walls, sanding, more mud, more sanding, more mud, more sanding... and eventually painting. I am excited to have the work completed, but not as excited to do the work… Since Chris is busy with his internship and studying for the LSAT, I have, naturally, taken the mudding, sanding, and painting on as my project. I have been able to get two layers of mud up, one sanding session, but the rest has come slowly.

We have been able to attend our ward for a full month now and have already received callings (activities committee members). I received a visit from my new visiting teacher about a week ago and received my own visiting teaching route during the week after our first Sunday! And just in case you didn’t already know, play groups are a wonderful thing! I have been able to meet and become familiar with some of the other mothers in our ward who have young children and live rather close.

There is a lot of uncertainty accompanying this new phase of our life, but hopefully you won't think our blog is too mundane as we live the average American life!

Quiet on the Blogging Front

In a few short hours we will be leaving Kazakhstan on a jet plane... the past few days have been busy and the next few weeks will be even more so.

For now, things will be kind of quiet on our blog.

Non-Verbal Communication

Shortly after arriving in Almaty, I began to notice "yield" shaped stickers on the back of vehicles. The image inside the yield sign varies, but each sends a specific message to other drivers. It took a few months to have someone explain them to me, but here they are.

The symbol below signifies "beginner driver":
This one indicates studded tires because the car is more likely to have a shorter braking distance, particularly on wintery roads:
We're not sure what this one means (maybe a quick temper?), but it's kind of funny:
Any guesses on this one? It says "Respect Me," but most of these I've seen have just the shoe, no wording underneath.
And in a country where women drivers were uncommon and practically unheard of until ten years ago (or less), it actually is a yield, or warning sign that the driver is a woman.

Birthday-Palooza

Birthday-Palooza is what happens when husband and wife celebrate their birthdays two days in a row. Since Chris' birthday was on Sunday, most of our celebrating was done on my birthday, which was Saturday.

The day began wonderfully as we were able to talk to family on Skype and then read a post dedicated to us. We went to an Iranian place for lunch and then stopped at this place with my name on it (which we've seen for months on end but never checked out) and took a picture. In case you wondered, it's a medical center (We aren't sure why a medical center is named after a woman... our bets would've been on a cafe, jewelry shop, or something of that kind).

(HELLO Powder! Although I do actually have a few light "tan" lines, I apparently still glow in the daytime!)

We went to one of the nice grocery stores in the city looking for a specific kind of chocolate mousse souffle we discovered a few months ago. Unfortunately, it had been made--and sold out--the day before, so we shared one of these:
We walked along the streets of Almaty and noticed things like the five pigeons hanging out in someone's open window--with a sixth on the ledge.
We stopped at TsUM for a few pieces of locally made jewelry I'd had my eyes on, picked up tickets for the "Puss in Boots" puppet show that's in town, and then returned for a quiet dinner and night at home.

The next day after church, I delighted Chris with a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough made (and then frozen) when he was at his Friday night meeting, and then we enjoyed a quiet and relaxing evening at home, receiving birthday wishes and Skype calls from family.

Although not one of our birthday days, on Monday afternoon we went to the "Puss In Boots" puppet show! Our camera was left at home, so these pictures are from Chris' phone.

This is the puppet stage before the show started:
A man and woman puppet with a donkey puppet. On the left is a stone water pump that poured real water!
It's difficult to see, but the black mass is the cat and all the gray masses along the bottom of the "stage" are mice!
One of the cool things about the stage was that it was round and could show motion. During a journey through a few different areas, the outside part (where the trees are) moved and changed...
Into a bridge! There are a few scenes missing, during which the puppets acquired the horses seen below.
There was a scene with a giant, which was pretty cool in and of itself, but he held up a magic cloth three times and turned himself into a lion, and then turned himself into a mouse. It was really neat to see the transition on the stage.
The puppets dancing in couples... It's hard to show, but it was really neat.
The puppets take their bow!
Addie was amazing! She wasn't amused the whole time, but she did really well at sitting through the performance with the aid of crackers, water, the show itself, and the toys of the little girls sitting next to us. We were delighted that she lasted the whole hour!

A few days later I managed to make it back to the grocery store to inquire after that chocolate mousse souffle, and left with two:

During the last two years, our time together on our birthdays has been brief. Two years ago, Chris was working exhausting hours and I was preparing for our wedding, and then last year we were apart as Chris worked in Maryland and I stayed behind recovering and taking care of Addie. It has been nice to reflect on our past birthdays as we celebrated this year. While we were able to do much more this year than before, the best part of our birthdays wasn't anything we did, it was that we were actually able to spend them together.

Stroller Ramps

Along the sidewalks in Almaty you will find these:
They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Some are built with wide wheel ramps, others have narrow wheel ramps, and some are simply sloped walkways rather than steps.
Upscale stores often build nice stroller ramps that are a little more comfortable to maneuver.
Because not all stroller ramps are created equal, they do sometimes offer their own set of quandaries:

Future Post?

While doing the dishes I began to wonder, if I publish a post when it is early in the morning does that post appear to be in the "future" to those friends who are ten+ hours "behind" in the United States? And will comments post with the time of the person who commented at their time zone, or mine?

I admit I should probably know this already. Maybe I do, but have stared at the sponge and soap bubbles for too long??

I am publishing this post at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, June 30th.

What day, time, and time zone is it where you are, while you read this? If it's still Monday where you are, does the post reflect that it was published on Tuesday, the 30th?

Don't worry, now I'm going to bed (and it isn't actually midnight yet, but that's because you can post date your post's date. =D)

Picking Favorites

I have never had an easy time picking one favorite of anything: food, color, music, friend, etc. I remember describing my difficulty picking favorites to a friend my freshman year of college. It went something like this: If I were to say that my favorite color were yellow, to me it means that I am saying I like hunter green, red, blue... less. If I say that Indian food is my favorite, then it must mean I am saying I like Mexican, Italian, Chinese, sushi… less. Part of my dilemma is that I don't really think I like the other options less (or at least, not all of them), and any preference is often due to external circumstances (who wants hot cocoa when it's 97 degrees?). The other part is that somewhere inside of me I am afraid of hurting the other colors', foods'… feelings. (I know... I know...)

With that said, I must include a very important "However,". You see, I do have one favorite. I recognized that I had this favorite pretty early on, and because of my long history of non-favorites, it was pretty significant.

Chris is my favorite. I've been telling him that for some time now. He's my favorite person, friend, boyfriend, fiancé, husband, baby-daddy… I think you get the picture.

Chris IS my favorite. And today is his birthday.

Happy Birthday, Chris!

We, Addie and I, love and adore you.