A Stranger of Strangers

All those months of dreaming about walking down the Walmart aisles FINALLY coming true, the funny thing was, it didn't feel quite like in my dreams.  There I was surrounded by more options and choices than I could have imagined, when I was struck with the realization...I actually enjoyed walking through the open air market more.  But I could have just been overwhelmed with all of the "cheerful" holiday shoppers, or trying to decide between the Harvest Cheddar Sunchips and the Sour Cream and Onion Baked Lays and all of my other favorite foods, or it could have been exasperation at not finding buckwheat, one of our favorite hot breakfast cereals.  I did find kefir, though. :)  Think I'll try Walmart AFTER the holidays when I can leisurely walk the aisles. 

Visiting with Eric's Uncle Gary and Aunt Penny

Here are some of my observations since coming back to America:

~ Some may remember my fascination with how big American ovens are.  Well, I am no longer fascinated by them...now I'm scared.  Every time I open the oven to pull something out I find myself panicing and making the kids go into a different room - those things put out a LOT of heat! 

Aunt Penny was loads of fun and even played ring around the rosie

~ When I first arrived I thought, "Ah, dryers.  Who needs them?"  I don't know what I was thinking.  I definitely don't know how I will go back to normal life after this!

Sammy enjoying his time with Uncle Gary.

~ I realized I needed to be careful about speaking in Russian.  In conversation with my pastor's wife and a friend, I found myself replying with the Russian word for yes... "Duh."  I was so embarrassed and quickly tried to explain myself.  Also, it is very normal for us to give commands to our children in Russian and Sammy, since he is more use to it, responds better.  You say, "What's wrong with that?"  Well, the problem came one Sunday morning when I told Sammy to give me the pen he was holding.... "Die, Sammy."  hmmm. Yeah.  Gotta watch that one.  Don't want to try explaining that to child protective services.

Obviously Uncle Micah knows the secret to capturing the attention of children...

~ If someone says "What did you just say?"  Then most likely I said "it" in Russian.

I know there are a ton more, but since it has taken so long to write this post (days).  This time of re-adjusting to the American culture has taught me one thing...I am a stranger of strangers because not only am I a stranger in a foreign land but now also in my "homeland" as it seems to have changed so much in the time we were gone...or maybe I was the one who changed?  Oh, well.  Either way, we are enjoying and cherishing our time with family.

Phone Games!

Me Singing in Russian

I thought about not posting this, but here it is anyways

with all of it's musical and probably gramatical errors.

Me....Plus Three

Let me start by saying that I have really enjoyed all of your emails. They always seem to come just when I need some encouragment. Thank you so much for your prayers. I have not been half as exhausted as I was and have been able to accomplish a lot more lately...which is good because LESS THEN 6 WEEKS before our little man gets here! (Hopefully, anyways. I start contractions at about 5 months and they have been a little stronger this time so not too excited about going past the due date.)

Many of you have asked how my doctor's visit went. It was probably the best visit I've had yet....probably because the doctor wasn't there so I saw the midwife. She is much sweeter...except for the fact that she told me I was getting too fat. Usually I can just smile and go on because I know that there are pregnant women much bigger than me (I've gained about 22 lbs so far - their scale said 26 but it's an old scale), but I'm starting to get a complex. I even considered putting down the sunflower seeds. I go back on Monday to have some more blood drawn and see the doctor. After that I'm not sure when I will see her again because the hospital is closed the whole month of June. (This is a yearly thing that every hospital - at least maternity- hopistal does.) If a woman has a baby during that time she will go to a hospital in Kharkov. I'm not sure what they do about visits, but I'm sure they will tell me.

We found a dentist office in Kharkov which seemed very nice and up-to-date. Each dentist chair had its own room. The last one I went to was just one big room with all the dentists working in the same room. We were hoping that I could finally get my 3 year old toothache resolved, but they can't do anything until after pregnancy. At least we met the dentist and saw the office. The only thing that would make it better is if I didn't have to go with a translator. It's so frustrating to not be able to understand on your own what is going on and always have a whole crew with you. (For my first doctor's visit I came with 3 other people - Eric, Lina and Yuri (taxi). Talk about drawing attention to yourself.)

Eric made everything better by taking me out for McDonald's afterwards. Then he bought me two climbing rose plants, a cute blankie for the baby and an adorable little hat for him...the baby, thought I might need to clarify. I have the sweetest man in the world! I am so thankful that he can put up with this pregnant woman even though he is never lacking in work.

Ramblings of A Pregnant Woman

....whose brain has a Russian overload.

Because of that, I probably should not be typing, but I thought that maybe if I type out my overloads I'll be able to think clearly before Eric gets home. (He's been giving a Bible lesson to Oksana today, then had to come pick up Natalia and bring her back to the city.)

A Little from TODAY:
Natalia called me Saturday night and said that she would like to stop by for a visit. For those who don't know, she is my Russian teacher...though I'm not sure if I have had even one lesson this year. I should have known that it would be impossible for a teacher to stop by her students house without having a lesson, but I was hoping. We met her at the train station around 3 and she left around 7:30. First off, I AVOID at ALL cost being out at that time of day. Not only do I have a very hard time with the heat, but the heat also seems to change my sweet little Anna-bell...besides the fact that she had to walk about 30 minutes to get there. After talking for a while, she pulled out the books. So between cooking supper, setting up different activities for the girls, bathtime, etc., we had our Russian lesson. I enjoy the fact that I can speak more correctly after the lessons but it's SO hard to balance lessons and being a mommy.

A Little about TOMORROW:
Tomorrow I have to go see my doctor again. I say have because I am not at all looking forward to it. I know she's not going to be very happy with me because she told me to come in last week, but I wasn't able to. Also I did not do all of the tests she asked me to because my former doctor advised me again one. (Even though I think this hospital is probably the nicest looking one I've been in, though still just cement walls and floors lined with wooden benches, my previous doctor seems so much more up to date medically.) Eric is going to drive me so I'm kinda hoping he can come in and help pacify some of her wrath. I'm hoping that there are not too many people in line so we can get in and out quickly because if it doesn't take too long Eric said that he would take me to look at kitchen cabinets. YAY! It would be so nice to have the kitchen in order before the baby comes.

Special Finds:
Eric brought me out to buy curtain rods the other day and guess what I found? A glue gun! I was so excited. Now I just need to find something to use it on.

Thing I can't live with out right now:
SUNFLOWER SEEDS. MMMMMM. Can't seem to keep them in the house. It doesn't seem to matter how sick I may be of them at the end of the day, by the time I wake up - before I even get out of bed - I'm craving a nice, big bag of them...shelled, of course. A lady wouldn't eat them with the shells....unless she was pregnant with no other options AND no one was around.

Well, guess that's about it for now. Tired, content and going to go meet my love at the door. (Not just because he's bringing me sunflower seeds either. ;))

Vodka or Water?

That's what I get for going to the doctor's by myself, without a translator. I can usually get around pretty good without a translator but I've never tried going to the doctor's without a translator and I was REALLY nervous, so some mistakes are to be expected. It makes it even worse that I speak too quietly when I'm nervous.

In English, those two words sound nothing alike. In Russian they are kinda close...closer than I realized. (Vodka-stress on the first part...Voda (water)- stress on the last.) So when the nurse asked me if I had had anything to eat or drink that morning and I said voda in my quiet manner and stress in the wrong place, I got a REALLY strange look. She then asked me "Vodka or Voda?" I quickly clarified. Overall, I didn't do too bad...I think. We'll see once Lina looks at the paperwork to see what else I said. (They were asking me questions about any diseases I had formerly and sometimes I just answered no, not fully knowing what they were asking. Figured that was the safest way to go since I've never had any diseases or illnesses.)

That was yesterday. Today I brought Anna to the doctor (with a translator...though I think I could have made it fine ;)) and she had her brace taken off. She was SO excited that she barely stopped talking and singing all day! The doctor made me feel like I was an awful parent and told me that we need to be even more careful this time that she doesn't break her collar bone again. I was going to explain to him that I really tried last time and how impossible it is to keep Anna from falling, but decided just to leave it alone. Prayer is the only thing that is going to keep her from breaking it again.

Living on the Train

Lately I feel like my second home is on the train. Late last Wednesday night, Eric and I boarded the train to Kiev to have pages added to our passports. We only spent about 30 minutes at the American Embassy (always amazed at how quickly and smoothly they get things done), then we headed over to TGIF for Eric's birthday lunch.

A few days later, I again boarded the train, except this time with Valentina and Lina and headed down to Simferopol for their Women's Day Banquet on Monday. On the train we had a great time of fellowship and I got a LOT of Russian practice. The ladies are still talking about our trip. It was a huge blessing to them to meet so many other Ukrainians of like faith. The Sloan family hosted us while we were there and went way out of their way to make us comfortable. If you would like to read more about the work the Lord is doing in the church there you can visit Jolene's blog or the VanSant's web site.



Even though we had a great time, I was excited to get home and see my husband and girls. This was the first time that Eric has watched them for more than a few hours and only my second overnight away from them. They were all pretty excited to have me home. Anna kept telling me that she loved me and missed me and "Anna's happy Mama's home." Lydia just kept saying "Mama" and hugging me. Eric had the dishes done and even tried making no-bake cookies! I was quite impressed...even if I couldn't quite eat them. (The vanilla here is a little different and you usually only need about half of what is called for in a recipe.)

I have been amazed at how much I've been able to accomplish in the short time I've been home...and even managed a few naps! So far I've "spring cleaned" the bathroom and living room. Wednesday I spent the day at the doctor's office with Anna. They said she is healing well and should be able to have the brace taken off the 23rd of March.

I have so much I want to post but just haven't been able to find time for blogging these days. I have to make the choice between the computer or a nap...and lately, I've chosen the nap. We are in the proccess of re-arranging our schedule so we'll see how everything fits. In just a few more weeks, we'll be boarding the train again - this time with the girls - to head to Poland to renew our visas.

Saturday we made a down payment on a house! YEAH! It hasn't even been a week and I already have the layout of the house all in mind! I've been trying to figure out a way to keep my bed. It's my favorite piece of furniture. If it doesn't work, we'll definitely be living more Ukrainian style...folding out the couch bed every night. Thankfully, they know how to make comfortable couch beds. All but one floor is painted wood, so after looking online, I've decided to just paint them off white. It's always been fun for me to dream of what a place could look like. I'm afraid not many people can see what I can see, and I'm excited to show some of my Ukrainian friends what you can do with a small place for more "privacy" from kids (i.e. curtain in the middle of the room, etc.). Usually they just look at me funny when I mention different ideas. Now I'll get to put some of them to use for our own home. I pray that it will be a help to them too. (Eric posted a picture of the house on our ministry blog.)

Some of you have asked how my cough is. Well, it's still with me, though it seems a little better. We are pretty positive that it is allergy/pollution related. We are praying that the house in the village will help with my cough and other health problems. I seem to always be sick. In the meantime, I am trying to make some diet changes...which is not very easy with all this good Ukrainian food. It is SO hard to serve God, my family, and the people He has called us to when my body is always exhausted and sick. Thanks to my husband, I am starting to take care of the temple that God has given me so that I can then give more to him, my girls, and then others. Pray for me in this area.

Thursday night we talked to Yuri and Christina again about separating. They had separated...for one day, but are now back together. We can see that the Holy Spirit is working on Christina's heart about this, but Yuri is strongly opposed. His biggest reason was because he couldn't hire workers to help with his cucumbers. Eric told Yuri that they were still welcome to church, he just wouldn't let them join the church right now or marry them. Yuri was very angry and has not spoken to us since. All he wanted for us to do was to say that what they were doing was okay. But we could only speak what the Bible says. Please pray for him and Christina. Also for us as we are heavily burdened for them.

Eric and I are now doing Russian lessons in the evening after the girls go to bed, 1-2 times a week. I like how much it frees up my mornings, but I do miss our evenings together. This has given me a chance to put my Russian to more use though. I have been able to get out with the girls in the mornings and buy groceries, either from the store or the produce stands along the way. Before I was just too rushed and exhausted to try to do the shopping. Valentina also comes over every Tuesday to help with the girls and cook up some delicious Ukrainian dishes. If I'm home, we always have a good time talking. If only everyone was as easy to understand as her and could understand my poor Russian as well as she can!

I have been wanting to post a new Ukrainian recipe, but I've tried so many good ones lately that I don't know which one to post first! Maybe cold soup. ;) Yeah, I know, cold and soup don't seem to go together, but it is YUMMY...especially on a hot day.

2 Cups of WHAT???

Learning Russian has been very interesting, and like everyone learning a new language, I have made my fair share of mistakes.

I felt fairly comfortable talking to her, so when our neighbor asked what kind of muffins I had made her, I thought, 'I can do this. Shouldn't be too hard.' I started out by telling her that they were zucchini muffins. She had a hard time believing me. Well, after I finally convinced her that I knew that I had said zuchini, I proceeded to give her the recipe. So, confidently I started off...I mean, how hard could it be??? I cook with this stuff all the time and see the ingredients in Russian. Piece of cake! ("Pride cometh before a fall.")

2 Cups of flies... Why is she looking at me like that? Let me try it again.
2 Cups of flies... What? Is it different in Ukrainian than Russian??

Well, didn't get past that part. She asked me to have Lina translate the rest.

Quick Russian lesson for you...Mooha is flour and Mooka is fly....or is it the other way around??? Still working on that one!

Learning Russian=Losing English

Tonight we had our first service without a translator. Surprisingly, everything went smoothly. It's exciting to be able to understand almost everything when people talk to you, instead of being totally lost. If only I could speak well! It seems like I have a huge pause in-between every word that I say as a try to think of the right word to use and the right form to put it in. It's funny (okay, not really), but I've found myself pausing between words when I'm speaking in English also. So soon I'll be speaking two languages poorly! Not exactly what I had in mind.

We've been looking at houses lately. We are hoping to have a place within the next couple of months. What a HUGE blessing it will be! I have developed a bad cough from living in this apartment and within the past few days my chest has been hurting from coughing so much. Besides that, I'm tired of having our piano hymn cd turned up to full volume just to drown out the sound of war coming from the neighbors below us.

We called Tatiana on Friday, and she said that she didn't think she needed Bible lessons because she was baptized in the Jordan River. When she came to church on Sunday, we again talked with her about having Bible lessons and she said that she would think about it. Please continue to pray for her.