The Reason for the Season...

"And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Ceasar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." Luke 2:1-7


I don't know about you but this story has been such a big part of my whole life, I don't remember the first time I heard about Mary and Joseph going to Bethlehem and Mary having baby Jesus and laying him in a manger. I don't know about you but sometimes when I hear of something so often you forget that it actually really happened and that these were real people who really lived through these things, and then there are the times when something would strike me about the story that I had never really thought about before, some part of it would just come alive and it would be so real to me. This year being pregnant has been bringing a whole new area of the story of Jesus' life alive for me, as I feel my baby move inside of me and the thrill that goes through me every single time it happens, I think about Mary and what she must have been feeling, and the fact that at some point in time she first felt Jesus move inside of her.
Have you ever tried to think of Jesus as a baby? One that wets his pants, cries because he is hungry and spits up after eating? Have you ever wondered what a perfect baby would be like? We all know what the perfect adult would be like, the Bible tells us that when we read about Jesus and what he did or didn't do while he was alive on this earth. But what was he like as a newborn? Can you imagine the absolute thrill that must have gone through Mary and Joseph the first time that he smiled? How about when he said his first word? Have you thought about that? the son of God, the maker of the universe, the one who said "Let there be light" had to learn how to talk. That just amazes me.

Let me encourage you to really think about what you are celebrating this December 25th,
Jesus, the son of God, creator of the universe and my (and I pray yours also) own personal savior came to this world as a little newborn baby.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas trees and tummies

On Friday Curtiss and I were able to go and get our very first Christmas tree (last year we used my in-laws artificial tree that we set up before they left for Romania) Because it is just the two of us this year we wanted a small tree that could sit on top of a chest that sits in our living room, but we have come to find that places that sell trees around here are rather scarce so we went to the only place we were able to find that sells them any where close to near by. We got the smallest one they had and then Curtiss took the saw to it and trimmed it down to size :)



Here it is waiting patiently for the lights and such to be put on it, it had to wait 24 hours to get it's trimmings due to the fact that Curtiss started work yesterday, so after getting it into it's stand on Friday night the rest of our time was spent getting things ready for him to go the next morning.



We found "mini" bulbs and bells at Big Lots that we both really like, and we had fun putting them all in just the right place (I am married to a perfectionist after all:)




The finished product, I have always loved looking at a lighted tree and this one is no exception :)



And I had to post a picture of the ornament that my sister Bethany sent to us this year, she found it last year but when she went to buy it they were all sold out so she got it this year and some of those of you out there will really appreciate it...



... and as promised here is a picture of me and baby, we are both getting bigger :)

The day my hair turned gray...

Yesterday my hair turned gray,

For a day.

I was over with the boys cleaning the house and the vacuum was not working quite right, so I decided to check and see if the vacuum was full. It was not full, that was not the problem, but the filter looked like it had about 10 lbs. of sheet rock dust ingrained into it. So I promptly took it outside to shake it out. And as everyone knows this little town that we live in is prone to windy days especially in the winter... and yesterday was no exception. The wind was blowing and blowing and blowing, and I even made sure it was blowing away from me. But the next time the boys saw me, they asked what happened, as it looked as if the vacuum had blown up and then sucked everything including me inside it. As I was sitting at the supper table last night, the boys were commenting on how dirty I was, and we were talking about how I had taken the filter out to shake it and that the vacuum was working much better now, and Dad made the comment, "Three accidents happened today on Main St. in O- because of low visibility." For a second I looked at him in shock half believing him, until I remembered what we had been talking about and that the wind had been blowing towards the road, and that there probably were people wondering what in the world the white dusty stuff was pouring out from behind that house.

That was the day my hair turned a whitish sort of gray.

Yesterday was also Dad's birthday, and I would just like to say,

"Happy Birthday Dad! I love you!"

Another Update

Phew! Back to blogging and back to the people who faithfully check it to see if anyone has posted anything "new." As you all probably know we have been keeping extremely busy working on completing the house. We also have had Thanksgiving and a couple of birthdays and now, ready or not...
Christmas is coming!

Nathanael and Claire both celebrated their birthdays in the last couple of months. Nathanael turned 9 and Claire turned one... How time flies!

One of "my projects" in the house was painting a medieval looking shield display on Isaiah and Nathanael's bedroom wall. It turned out pretty good, and it didn't take as long as I thought it was going to. The boys like it anyway, and that is what counts.

And this final picture is the first box that made its way over to the house today, it even managed to get unpacked onto the bookshelf it is sitting on. Exciting! This bookshelf is actually the foot board on my bed, and hopefully I will soon be able to post and show you the whole bed.

I have been taking pictures for the whole house project, and I really want to do some "before and after" posts on different rooms, it will just be a matter of when I will have the time to do it. But for now this post will have to do.

An Update

Yes, you may all be surprised but I am still alive, just haven't felt much like blogging :)
Over the last month or so since I last posted I have gone from being exhausted all the time and kinda nauseous to having my stomach be all right most of the time (although it doesn't feel like it used to:) and having more energy for the most part, for which I am very grateful.

As you can see (in the bad quality photo) I am well cared for by my wonderful husband, who has been using his cooking skills in the kitchen from time to time so that we both don't go hungry :)

I am very thankful that he like to create in the kitchen, that means that he opens the fridge, freezer and cupboards and pulls things out adds them together and adds spices to taste and voila we have a wonderful tasting dinner at a time when I go to the microwave and can't remember which button I need to push to start it :)

Over the last few weeks we have had the chance to be at my Mom and Dads house for a couple of weeks while Curtiss helped do some work in the house project, we have finished our Christmas shopping had a wonderful Thanksgiving and as of tomorrow will have reached the 16th week mark of pregnancy. Not bad huh???

I shall try to not have it be as long before I post again, sometime I shall have to post a picture of my expanding belly for all of you :)

Why are we surpised???

Are you ever surprised when God answers your prayers? Has it ever taken you two days to realize that two days ago is when He answered a certain prayer? I don't know about you but I do it quite often. Now sometimes I think it is because the answers to our prayers aren't always that obvious, they don't always come all wrapped up with ribbons and bows with a flashing card that sings, "An answer for you, from God." Usually the answers are more subtle, but sometimes I wonder why I am surprised when God answers my prayers... Did I not think He would or could do it?

~~~

Anyway, all of that to say, God has been teaching me a couple of things, the first one being: He has the ability to do anything, and yet even in this position of power, cares enough about us to answer our prayers, even when our prayers are over little vain things. He has made it very evident that He is the God that still answers prayers. When you call out for help He will send someone, or several "someones" to help and encourage you. I would like to thank the several "someones," who have been councilors and encourager's to me in the past several weeks. God sent you to help me... and I just want to say thanks.

The second thing God has been teaching me is to just trust Him. Trust, trust, trust... I have heard or seen that word many times in the last week and finally I realized, "God must be trying to tell me something."

Proverbs 3:5-6 is a passage of scripture that most of us are very familiar with, most of us had it memorized by the time we were five. It was so much easier trusting God when I was five. Do you need to go back to a five year olds mentality of just trusting? I know that I do. I need to have the trust of a five year old. As a grown up, it is way to easy to just grab the reins and take control away from God. If we could just trust him and willingly give Him the reins to our lives, I believe He would drive us to places that are beyond our comprehension, better then we ever could have imagined...

Sometimes we just have to give up the reins and trust Him.

~ Proverbs 3:5-6 ~

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not on thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths."

Can 't

by Edgar Guest

Can't is the worst word that's written or spoken;

Doing more harm here then slander and lies;

On it is many a strong spirit broken,

And with it many a good purpose dies.

It springs from the lips of the thoughtless each morning

And robs us of courage we need through the day:

It rings in our ears like a timely sent warning

And laughs when we falter and fall by the way.

• Can't is the father of feeble endeavor,
• The parent of terror and halfhearted work;
• It weakens the efforts of artisans clever,
• And makes of the toiler an indolent shirk.
• It poisons the soul of the man with a vision,
• It stifles in infancy many a plan;
• It greets honest toiling with open derision
• And mocks at the hopes and the dreams of a man.

Can't is a word none should speak without blushing;

To utter it should be a symbol of shame;

Ambition and courage it daily is crushing;

It blights a man's purpose and shortens his aim.

Despise it with all of your hatred of error;

Refuse it the lodgment it seeks in your brain;

Arm against it as a creature of terror,

And all that you dream of you someday shall gain.

• Can't is the word that is foe to ambition,
• An enemy ambushed to shatter your will;
• Its prey is forever the man with a mission
• And bows but to courage and patience and skill
• Hate it, with hatred that's deep and undying,
• For once it is welcomed 'twill break any man;
• Whatever the goal you are seeking, keep trying
• And answer this demon by saying: "I can."

A Belated Birthday Song...

A very Happy Birthday to you Mr. Guthrie! I hope you enjoy it too Jake!

( I am posting the lyrics below for your convenience.)

We Saw the Lights

• We wandered so aimless down Guthrie Lane,
• We couldn't see through all of the rain.
• Then we were blinded by something so bright,
• Praise the Lord! We saw the birthday lights!

We saw the lights! We saw the lights!
No more darkness the cakes much to bright
Now were so happy we celebrate tonight
Praise the Lord! We saw the birthday lights!

• We saw the porches, your sons, they did make
• 54 candles on top of your cake.
• You won't need your flashlight to illuminate the night
• Praise the Lord! We saw the birthday lights!

We saw the lights! We saw the lights!
No more darkness the cakes much to bright
Now were so happy we celebrate tonight
Praise the Lord! We saw the birthday lights!

• We hope you've enjoyed this version of the song,
• And tell your 9 children they must sing along.
• So Happy, Happy Birthday, and enjoy your cake!
• Thank your newest son-in-law, This ones from Jake!

We saw the lights! We saw the lights!
No more darkness the cakes much to bright
Now were so happy we celebrate tonight
Praise the Lord! We saw the birthday lights!

All right....

I will now release all of you who are wondering and those of you who know/figured it out and make it public.

I am pregnant!!!!!

Come May Curtiss and I are expecting a bouncing baby_________
(insert boy/girl your guess is as good as mine :)


The picture of the stork was one that I took while in Romania this last spring. Storks are a common sight over there and most villages have at least one nest up on top of one of the cement electric poles. The one in that picture wasn't from the village we lived in but in the next village over. We have been saving it for just such an announcement as this :)

For those of you who will be wondering....

I am feeling good considering the circumstances :)
Most days I don't have much if any energy but I have for the most part gotten over the morning sickness and it's not an infrequent thing to hear me say that I am hungry :)
If any of you ever have a hankering to do dishes or clean the bathroom by all means come on over since there will most likely be at least one of those things that needs doing :)
I have decided that I don't like being a lazy person, life is much too boring when you don't do anything but I keep reminding myself that the cobwebs in the corner aren't the most important thing in life and even though I don't have the energy to cook gourmet meals (or anything at all for that matter), or keep my house spotlessly clean, my body is very busy bringing another life into the world and that is one of the most awesome things that any woman can do.

One Year ago today...

It hardly seems possible that a year could've gone by already since Curtiss and I said our wedding vows.

And yet so much has happened in that time that I sometimes wonder how we fit it all in :)



I just want to say how thankful I am to the Lord for where he has placed me and the lot he has given me. I am blessed beyond anything I could've ever dreamed.

"Hanging by a Thread..."

As I was waking up to one of my favorite Cd's this morning, this song really stuck out... It kind of describes the way I feel sometimes.

• Hanging by a Thread
• Wayne Kirkpatrick and Gordon Kennedy

There's a kind of emptiness that can fill you.

There's a kind of hunger that can eat you up.

There's a cold and darker side of the moonlight.

An' there's a lonely side of love.

• With you here, Jesus, I am strong; no sign of weakness.
• With you gone, Jesus, I am hanging by a thread.

There's a certain kind of pain that can numb you.

There's a type of freedom that can tie you down.

Sometimes the unexplained can define you,

And sometimes silence is the only sound.

• With you here, Jesus, I am strong; outside of weakness.
• With you gone I am hanging by a thread.

A Progression...

Our house project started over a year ago, and at that time we didn't know that it was going to be "our" house project. At that time we were planning on using it as a guest house for friends and family. So with that plan in mind we started by putting new shingles on the roof. It was a fun job, Joanna, Anja, Olivia and I did a lot of the work with the guys helping out when they could.

Several months went by and the plan was changed, my family would be the ones moving next door. So with that change of plans came another change of plans, instead of just patching and painting up the walls and fixing the floors we were going to gut the whole place. We will be forever grateful that we picked the gutting instead of the patching route, as we found major problems with the structural soundness of the house.

(a picture of our soon to be kitchen)

After putting in beams and supports to insure that the house would not collapse on top of us, we were finally ready to start studding in new walls. Next came electric, plumbing, inspections, insulation, and dry wall.

Our 2" tongue and groove flooring was now ready to be put in, which involved measuring, marking, sawing, nailing, sanding, and three coats of the same stuff that they use on gym floors. The floor turned out beautifully!

We are finally to the finishing stages such as painting, putting the kitchen in, and putting trim boards up. We still have quite a bit of work to do, but we are finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We are trying not to put a time on when we will be able to move in, but hopefully I will soon be able to post that we are moved in, and give you some before and after pictures. But until then I will try to keep you updated. ;)

(the beginnings of our kitchen.)

The "eyes" have it...

Mark Shultz wrote a song, it is called "Running just to catch myself " right now that is the story of my life, and the lives of those around me. We have been running and running and sometimes it feels as if we are running in circles... or at least painting in circles. ;) Yes, we have been painting an awful lot! But through all this painting I have learned two things:

1. Make sure paint can lids are tightly secured before tipping paint can over...

2. Do not wear contacts while painting ceilings without wearing the proper eye protection, or this might happen to you. Little droplets of paint all over your contacts.

A big "Thank You" to Mom who finished painting the ceilings for me!

Well, I was kind of posting this as an excuse for why I haven't had time to blog lately, but hopefully it will also motivate me to blog more with updates on the house and such. So, goodbye for now and I hope it will not be as long between posts next time... ;)

Oh, and here is a sneak peek of our new kitchen cabinets being safely delivered to there new abode.

Happy Birthday...

I know I haven't blogged in a long long time, but I wanted to get on here to wish my sister a very quick "Happy Birthday!" Have a very special day with you husband! "" Happy Birthday from the whole clan here! We love you!"

Of Foam and Curtains

I thought you might all like to see/read about a few changes that I have been making to various things around the apartment. First of all our living room has been rearranged again... I think this makes it the 4th time, but you didn't know about all of them since they were mostly done before I ever took pictures to share with you. I think it will now remain the way it is for a little while, at least until Christmas when we have to make room for a tree that is :) Curtiss thinks that I am nutty for actually liking to do these kinds of changes.

The next change is actually a piece of furniture that my in-laws gave us.
a few years ago they were at a garage sale and they bought a chair and dubbed it...

THE HIPPIE CHAIR

Now this chair is quite unique and we think you would have to go a long way before you would find another like it. It sits quite low to the ground and the shape of it is not a common one.
But we needed furniture and since the chair had been sitting in the garage unused for quite some time we were given the option of taking it and fixing it up.

The biggest problem was that it had no cushions and since it had a spring bottom it was quite uncomfortable to sit in besides the fact that it meant that you were even lower to the ground.
So I thought "no big deal, we'll buy some foam and some nice fabric and I'll make some"
So sure enough I got the measurements and after a call to my ever faithful sister, Trina, I had the information I needed for a trip to Joanns.

I never before knew how expensive foam is, I think my jaw just about hit the ground
when I saw the sign that said 4" foam $56.99 a yard.
I quickly decided that I didn't like the chair that much, it would've cost us about $100.00
to fix the chair up. So we figured that the chair would just have to
go back to the garage where it came from.

This is where my mother in law comes in.
It seems that there were some ugly porch cushions that belonged to Curtiss's grandmother and she was just going to get rid of them so Mom asked me if I wanted to take them and see if I could use the filling to make some cushions out of. She also had some curtains that had been hanging in the living/dining room of the house in St- and she was replacing them so she wondered if I wanted the material. So I figured "nothing ventured nothing gained" and set to work...

The first thing that I did was take the foam
(it was actually more like think batting that had been layered)
out of the plastic like fabric.



(you can see the chair in the background there)

My next step was to take the curtains and remove all the meddle hooks and pleats that were all along the top, and wash them. To tell the truth I felt kinda like Maria Von Trapp when she is making clothes for the Von Trapp children. I still have lots of fabric left so if any of you want a dress or something let me know :)

I don't have any pictures of the next few steps but suffice it to say I pieced the foam together so that it would be the right size to fit in the chair and then I layed them on the fabic and cut them to size. I didn't have any zippers or elastic to finish off the back of the covers so I made them with a flap that folds over the end.
And here you can see the finished product.

The next thing that had to be done with the chair was to stain and refinish the wood. What had been on there years ago was completely worn off so I took an old sock and some varnish and went to work.

Personally I think it looks like a completely new chair
and instead of $100.00 we spent about $5.00.
(and yes, I did get the stripes to line up just about perfect on the two cushions :)

I also spray painted a floor lamp that Curtiss's grandmother gave also,
it was one of those pieces that has been around since the time when everyone thought you should paint all the furniture gold and some thing..
most things that I have seen are green with gold but this lamp was off white and gold, well to make a long story short it is now a nice black and it is vastly improved :)

Fame, Wealth, Love and Health

That is what the four leaves of a four leaf clover stand for according to Wikipedia.
Shortly before Curtiss and I left Romania we were visiting some friends and we were all out in their back yard picking cherries (they gave us a Wal-Mart sized bag full of them) and after wards we were standing around talking (or rather everyone else was talking and once in a while Curtiss would fill me in on what was being said:) and I looked down and staring right back up at me was this:

A four leaf clover. It was the first one that I had ever found or ever seen in person for that matter.
I have always wanted to share a picture with you but up until now haven't been able to since it was put into one of my books to dry and has been packed ever since :)
But now we are all unpacked and all the books are on shelves and I can get a picture for you:)

Our Apartment

I was going to wait until I had pictures and decorations on the walls but I don't know when I am going to get to that and I don't want to wait any longer before showing you where I live :)
So if you want to see how it will end up when everything is done (does that ever happen for any housewife???) you will just have to come and see it in person :)

We're in!!

We did it, we are now living in our new apartment! Of course we have been for almost a week and I am just now letting you all know but I have been just a little busy:)
We were able to move last weekend, we did most of it on Saturday. It was quite something getting all of our furniture up the steep stairs and through the narrow doors but we did it with the help of several people and then we were able to get most necessary things settled by the time my Mom, Elise and Nathanael left on Monday night (they traveled out Saturday afternoon to help) Since then I have been pretty busy getting most other things set where I want them. I am to the decorating stage where you pick what knickknacks go where and where you want different pictures hung. The part that I really enjoy and that Curtiss just grimaces and looks at me like I went mad:)
But we are having fun and enjoying having a place of our own.
Sometime soon I plan on taking pictures and sharing them so that you can "see" where we are living:)

One year ago today...

I got up VERY early in the morning so that Curtiss could take me on an all day date to the city of Cluj in Romania. It was a beautiful day, bright and sunny (and quite warm). Since we took the train there and back the only way we had of getting around was by foot so walk we did, while taking pictures and enjoying each other's society. There were suppose to be some kinds of ancient ruins some where around the city and since we were both interested in seeing them we decided to go looking for them. We never did find them though, part way up the hill while we were taking a break and enjoying the view of the city Curtiss asked me to marry him, and of course I said "Yes" :)

If any of you want to read more about our story or if some of you just want to refresh your memory you can go Here
or Here
if you want to see more pictures :)

It's coming!!!

Moving day is on the way. Come Saturday night Curtiss and I (and hopefully Elise who is coming to help me) will be sleeping in our new apartment. I am getting quite excited about being able to set up house. We have greatly enjoyed being able to stay with Curtiss's parents but it will be nice to be able to have a dresser and to stop living out of a suitcase (which I have been doing since we got back here in June) and to have more than one room in which to put our things instead of having them piled about the room or in a storage unit. I am also looking forward to setting up my kitchen and arranging the furniture and hanging pictures and curtains and making a home for Curiss and I.
Hopefully next week sometime I can post some pictures of our new home so you can all be a part of the fun too :)

The Sky is Falling...

Have you ever heard the story of Chicken Little, Henny Penny and all the others? Well, if you have then I am sure that you know when something drops from the sky it is no light matter. Well, I have my own "Chicken Little" story.

Once upon a time, (a time not much different then our own.) Little Girl waking up from a long nights rest, was rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, when suddenly she saw something on her floor that made her gasp.

"What is that?" cried Little Girl.

You see Little Girl wore glasses and therefore without them on she could not see very well. Now Little Girls glasses were not anywhere nearby so she squinted her eyes to see if she could see what was on her floor.

"It looks like I must have broken something last night!" said Little Girl to herself. "I wonder what it could have been? It looks like it was something glass, I don't think I have anything that big in my room... Maybe I was sleep walking and broke one of my lamps." All these thoughts went through Little Girls head. But none of them made any sense...just as she was getting a bit puzzled over what was on her floor she looked up at her ceiling. " Ah-HA, that is what is all over my floor, it is my ceiling!" she said relieved that it wasn't something else.

After climbing out of bed she went running through the house telling everyone that her sky was falling. She told Mother Brother, and Brother Other. Mother Brother went and told Daddy Paddy and they all went to inspect the hole in the ceiling. "The sky really is falling today." said Little Girl and that was all she said. Chicken may have been wrong when she said those famous words, but I think Little Girl was right, don't you?

What to blog???

It seems that every time that I try to sit down at the computer to post something here my mind ends up being a complete blank with nothing there to write. There is always something going on around here but not always something that would be interesting to all of you to read.
You might be wondering if we are moving? Well, yes we are but not as soon as we had originally thought. The people who are renting the apartment that we are moving into after they leave are buying a house, and as we all know closings on houses never happen when they think they might so they aren't going to be able to be out of the apartment until the 15'th of the month or so and hopefully a few days after that we will be able to move in. So that brings you all up to date on the house situation. Other than that Curtiss is busy with different odd jobs and is still looking for a permanent job, and I am helping out who ever needs something done around here when and where I can. So as you can see not much of interest on the home front for all of you but we are busy living life even if there isn't anything unusual to write about :)

An Update

Yes, I know it has been a long time since I posted anything. Apart from being quite busy over the last few weeks I really haven't been in the blogging mood so even if I did have time I usually didn't even think about it :) In the last couple of weeks since getting back to the states we have:
1) Moved all of our things into storage until we can move them into the apartment that we are renting
2) Moved Daniel, Whitney and Nate up here for the summer
3) Bought a truck (yeah I know I should've posted about it and put up pictures)
4) Gone to the H- family reunion
5) visited with my family (and got to celebrate Elise's 19'th birthday with her!!!)
6) Gotten cell phones (I have my very own!! Exciting I know:)
7) Curtiss has started working on some remodeling jobs (and will be looking for a more long term job)
8) Got a dog (who will live here in Steamburg after we move down the road) her name is "Momo"
9) and last but now least found a place to rent that should be available for us to move into on August 1'st.

There if that hasn't gotten you tired it sure has me. Like I said we have been busy with getting everything settled and it isn't slowing down any let me tell you.
Tomorrow we are celebrating Nate's first birthday (his birthday is actually on Wednesday but we are having the party tomorrow) so that will be fun.
I think that just about catching you up on what our last 3 weeks have been like, I think that the next couple will be a little bit slower (until moving time) but you never know :-)

Home We Go (eventually)

I finally have a minute to tell all of you about our trip home. We have been so busy that blogging just hasn't happened and so much has happened that could be blogged about, sad isn't? :(
Here goes.... We started the day at six am on Friday the 19'th of June 2009. The day we had tickets for flying home. Our first flight was scheduled to leave at 1:55 pm but since we had to close up everything in the apartment and had a (depending on road conditions) 3-5 hour trip to the airport we had to get up and get moving. Other than several delays for construction the trip to the airport was smooth and uneventful in fact everything went very smoothly, getting there, checking in, the flight left almost on time (a rare occurrence when leaving the Romanian airport:) and we landed in Munich, Germany without incident. We had a half or so wait in Munich and then it was time for the LONG flight across the Atlantic to the Chicago O'Hare airport. The flight was about nine and a half hours long and the whole way was day time since we were actually headed back in time :) The flight was good though, we had good seats (thanks to a very nice man in the Romanian airport) and several movies to choose from to pass the time. We landed on time and made it quickly and smoothly through Customs and immigration. Since we already had our boarding passes we were able to head right to our gate and wait for our next flight that was suppose to leave about 9:30 to Buffalo, NY. By this time we had been up for about 21 hours and I for one was VERY tired. But we were relatively close to home and we both looked forward to getting to and sleeping in our own bed. It was about this point that we started listening to what the other passengers were saying who were sitting and waiting for the same flight we were. It seemed that due to weather most of the airport was shut down and there had already been multiple flights canceled, some of the people there had had seats on earlier flights to Buffalo and had had their flights canceled before we even got there. We're thinking "O No, not a good time to have our flight delayed or canceled" We weren't there long when some one said "it's been delayed to 1:30" I think it was about this point that my headache, which I had from being so tired, got decidedly worse. Since we were coming from over seas where we had planned on being for a year or two we had no phone with which to communicate with our parents at home who were suppose to pick us up so Curtiss went to find a pay phone and get us something to eat at McDonald's. After waiting half an hour or so and having the time for our flight get pushed back further and further it was canceled. Everybody got up and went to stand in line at customer service (the line there was VERY long and it wasn't moving quickly) and we were left there trying to gather ourselves together and figure out what we were suppose to do. A guy from United Airlines came and we found out that because of all the flight cancellations there were no flights available until Monday and that everybody was going to have to come and be on standby and hope that they could get seats on one of the flights. Because we weren't pressed to be home by a certain time Curtiss went to talk with him and see if we had to go on standby or if there we would lose our tickets if we just had them put us on the next available flight two days away. The guy told us that we wouldn't be able to do that but he would check and see if there were any other flights that we could go on that would at least take us close to where we needed to be. There wasn't anything to Rochester or Syracuse or even Cleveland but he found a couple of first class seats that were available for the next afternoon (Saturday at 4:45). He told us not to tell anyone else but he was going to make an executive decision and do something that he wasn't suppose to do and give us those tickets, for which we were VERY thankful. After that all we had to do was make it to a hotel for the night... simple right? HAHAHA :)
The airlines gave us a pink slip of paper with a number on it that we were suppose to call and get a discount on hotel accommdations so we called the number were given a hotel name with a confirmation number and told that we could take a free shuttle from the airport to the hotel and that we had a room ready and waiting for us when we got there. So we found the shuttle (which took a while) and made it to the hotel. We weren't the only ones who were stranded there so we had a bus full of people armed with pink slips and confirmation numbers on our way to the hotel. At the hotel we waited our turn to be waited on and everybody was getting in with no trouble until we walked up to the counter. We handed the lady the slip and said that were had a confirmation number from the airport and she looked at it and turned to the guy who was working with her and after consulting for a few minutes they said that they were only suppose to take five of these pink slips and that they were full and couldn't take us. To make a long story short we ended up having to take a taxi to another hotel that didn't have free shuttle back and forth to the airport. By the time we made it there and had checked in we had been up for more than 27 hours and we were beat. It has been a long time since any bed felt as good as that one did :) Anyway we both woke up (most likely due to jet lag) after about six hours sleep and we were both wide awake and hungry. The hotel didn't have a free breakfast so Curtiss walked to the nearest convenience store and got us some breakfast sandwiches and we heated them up in the microwave that was in the room. After spending some time trying to get the internet to work (it turned out that the phone lines were down and none of the phones or internet in the rooms were working) and watching most of a movie on tv. We went to check out of our room. We were very blessed to have a nice lady working the desk, she allowed us to leave our carry on bags in a locked room after we checked out so that we were able to walk to a near by pizza place for lunch. After eating we walked back to the hotel picked up our bags and waited for the taxi driver that we had talked to to pick us up. We made it safely to the airport and back through security and made it to our gate several hours before our flight was suppose to take off. But the time passed fairly quickly, there were enough interesting people to watch and we got an ice cream flurry to eat (which tasted really good:) About an hour before our flight was suppose to take off we were told that we had had a gate change and that we needed to move across the hall. After moving over there we waited again for the flight to start loading. Right about the time that we were suppose to get on the plane it was announced that the flight was going to be delayed for a while because of technical problems. After waiting about an hour we were told that the mechanics had it just about fixed they just had to fill out paper work and we would be able to load. We waited and waited and all of a sudden the flight was canceled and we were told that we needed to go and talk with customer service. I guess it was a good thing that it was canceled it wouldn't have been good to take off in falty plane but we were ready to get home. The line in customer service wasnt' as long as it has been the night before but we were still one of the last ones to make it over to stand in line so we had a bit of a wait. By this time we were ready to just a get a pink slip, get a good nights sleep and rent a car so that we could make it home. Neither one of us wanted to wait on standby for three days until there was a spot for us on a plane. But by the time we made it to the desk United had scheduled a special flight for all of us stranded people (there were 26 people waiting on standby for the plane that we had tickets for that was canceled) The airlines paid for the night at the hotel (they gave us our registration right there at the desk so we were fairly sure we wouldn't have the same thing happen to us that had the night before) two fifteen dollar meal vouchers. The flight was scheduled to leave and 7:06am so we ended up getting up at 3:30 so that we could shower and make the shuttle and get through security on time, but that flight left on time and we made it safely home :)
There now that I have written a book that I hope is understandable, you can understand why I am still not completely recovered:)

HI From NY

Hello everybody, I know that it has been a very long time since I have posted anything and you are all going to be surprised because I haven't been not blogging because there wasn't anything to blog about but because there was a LOT to blog about :) I might as well get it out now, Curtiss and I are in NY again. There anybody surprised??? We arrived here yesterday morning after some great hassle to get here. A couple of weeks ago Curtiss and I had been praying for wisdom and direction as to whether or not we should come home or not due to the fact that Curtiss had not been feeling well the entire time we were there, mostly due to allergies. He had had a non stop headache, he had a hard time breathing most of the time and the longer we were there the worse he got. A few days after deciding that if his health hadn't gotten much better by the end of June we would have to go home we found out that I wasn't going to be able to get a visa to stay in the country and we took that to mean that the Lord had given his answer and we needed to go home. After having many talks with parents and others and because of some other circumstances we decided that the sooner we got home the better. Some other time when I am not feeling exausted from jet lag and lack of sleep I will share about our trip, it was most interesting since we were suppose to be home the same day we left Romania and we didn't get home until three days later :)

Operation Dance Recital

Helping someone else get ready for a dance recital is so much easier then getting yourself ready. That is why it was very enjoyable to be able to help my nieces Havalah and Esther get ready for theirs. I didn't have to worry about forgetting my costumes or not being able to put my hair in a bun, it was lovely. And it was a whole lot of fun to boot!

Havalah having her hair blow dried as the clock ticks down to when we had to leave.

After getting Esther's eye makeup all done we sent her out to the living room to see what she would look like on stage and the result was, " She looks like a CAT!" So, after calming down her makeup to look good on stage but not cat like we were all set. Except for waiting for her toe nail polish to dry which is what she is doing in this picture.

I think that Esther looks like a frog in this picture, she is so adorable!

She danced to the song, "Singin' in the Rain" She did a really good job, she was the only one following her dance instructor.

Havalah had two dances one was her ballet which was called, "Egyptian Princess" Here she is in her costume, she did an awesome job.

Her tap dance was called "Freeze Frame" and here she is posing for me. Her dancing gets better and better each year, I can't wait to see both of them again next year!

Life...

I was trying to figure out what to call this post and the most fitting seems to be this one word... life. I have been checking the blog over the past few weeks and find myself saying, " I really should blog." but I find that there really isn't a whole lot to blog about even though life is happening. There is one thing that I am sure most of you would enjoy seeing and hearing about though: our dance recital. It seems really weird that just last year Joanna was dancing with us, as I said though life happens and when it does, it seems to happen fast! ;) I am having trouble getting the dance video's to load, the one that did load is my Irish dance so I hope you enjoy (I am in the third in from the right.) I don't think I will take the time to load all of the videos, as there are two videos of our tap dance, so if you would like to see them you will just have to visit us. ;)

KAABBOOOOOM

The other night I was busy working in the kitchen fixing our supper. We were having my Romanian version of Alfredo sauce over spaghetti with cajun flavored chicken and some broccoli thrown in for a veggie, along with some rather yummy garlic bread (even if I do say so myself:)
Everything was going quite well, I had the sauce already made, the water for the pasta was boiling (finally) and the chicken was just about finished cooking. It was time to warm the sauce so that it would be hot to put over the noodles. Since both front burners were in use I went to light one of the back burners (you have to light all of them, including the oven with a match) Since I haven't done a lot of cooking here I had never tried to use this particular burner before. I turned the burner on, moved the pot out of the way so that I could get to the burner and put the lit match next to it and..... KAABBOOOOOM!!!!! the blast hit me in the chest, Curtiss (who was in the other room) said that the windows rattled (he came out to the kitchen rather quickly:)
I don't remember ever being told not to light this burner before (but I probably was since it has been several months since I have been here to use it) but when Curtiss came out he said he vaguely remembered it not working before. Anyway, the burner itself might not light but it does get gas cause it blew. There was a fire somewhere underneath the stove top and I turned all the burners and the oven off (before Curtiss even made it into the room, I was fast:) and the fire went out. After waiting a few minutes (and after Curtiss turned the gas off completely and then back on) I very nervously lit one of the burners and supper was a great success :) But I won't ever use that burner again and Curtiss has now insisted that we get a new stove cause to quote him "That things gonna blow up one of these days!"

Plus-and-Plus = Equals

Esther + Chocolate Fountain + Marshmallows = a very happy sticky little Princess

Jesse + Hide-and-Seek + Blanket = Big Smiles

We did have a slight problem taking pictures when we were playing hide-and-seek though, he thought it was a lot of fun to hide from the camera. So if I couldn't capture a still of him then I would capture him on video.

(I thought you would enjoy this Joanna)

Picture My World

THE WATER CLOSET
Other wise known as the bathroom

is going to be the first room in the house that I tell you about.
Yes, we do have indoor plumbing (for which I am very thankful)
and we have one of the two water heaters in the whole apartment building
(at least as far as we know, something else I am truly thankful for)
The shower and toilet complete the list of things for a working bathroom
(in most American minds anyway)

The bathroom also holds the reason for this room being the first on the picture my world list.

THE WASHER

Why is it the first you might ask?
Well, because the washer is an adventure every time we use it.

As you can see from the picture it really is most interesting, this was probably a week ago when my mother in law and I were trying to get the laundry done and I opened up the washer after it had finished it's cycle and my feet got all wet.

As you can see it is a front loading washer
(which most washers are here since there isn't much extra space in any ones home and there is usually something above the washer, in our case the water heater)
and it never drained so we got to wash the floor as well as the clothes,
such a handy multi use machine :)

So we tried to find the spot on the dial that was suppose to drain and ended up with a VERY full machine.

That line across the top, do ya see it?
that is where the water was.
It was so full that water was coming out of the drawer that you put the soap in.
Any way we ended up getting our laundry out (eventually)
and now every time we put a load in we wonder "what's it going to do this time???"
Today Curtiss called someone who fixes them and he is going to be coming sometime Monday or Tuesday to see what needs to be done with it.
In the mean time I have all the laundry done
(I only washed the floor one more time while using it:)
and we shall see what happens now.

I have a slight problem...

It is booksale time again... and with it comes the hastle of trying to fit all the new books in with all the old books, and sometimes it can be quite the task. As you can see in the picture above that the end of my bed is already quite full, and now I have a whole new stack of books to try and fit in. Maybe I should start stacking them three books high, or maybe I should just go and buy myself a bookshelf.

(Joanna the rest of these pictures I posted mostly for you, I knew you would enjoy seeing what I got.)

The best "catches" of the day.

Three books by one of my favorite authors.

These three I call my "just because books." I bought them "just because" they looked interesting.

The oldest book I bought, Printed in 1851 with a inscription on one of the front pages dated 1856. I wonder who Mary Davis was???

Here are all my Treasures. Beautiful aren't they???