Saturday, July 13, 2013

Kiev, Ukraine Journal - 3-20-1998 and 3-21-1998

*Disclaimer: Please remember that I wrote these when I was 15! I could be a snarky brat! I also am typing these journals exactly as I wrote them, bad spelling and all, except I have abbreviated names to protect the innocent or not-so-innocent.

3-20-1998

Marmie and I went with Shawna to Deskemeer today. It's a huge department store...huge for here at least. It's so different from how it was last year. We went to three floors of it and they were all stocked and full of merchandise. It is just so different. This country is getting up there with the big dogs now. Ha Ha. We went to K2's to play games. J and D walked with Marmie and I and Chelle. We played Phase 10 for a while but since it is so long we all decided to quit. Then D, Weaga, and J all started playing mind games where we had to figure out what they were doing. It was quite boring until Chelle and I decided to play the "What is it" game. They all were stumped until finally J figured it out. I worked on K2's present also today.

3-21-1998

Started out as a good day. I guess it ended ok also. R came over to make plans with me but that didn't work out. Shawna came to eat lunch with us. Dad was in a really bad mood. He is so irratable lately. Must be stress. I read or worked on that cross-stitch all day until about 4:00. We all went to McDonalds together and ate. I hate McDonalds. It wasn't even good here. I was hoping it would be really good because I am craving pizza....American pizza and I thought maybe that would be ok. Apparently not. Jeremy and Shawna then took Chelle and I to the Garmantna building to watch a movie. We watched Overboard. It was pretty good for having Goldie Hawn in it. When we were going up the escalator this guy asked Chelley for directions. Well she just looked at him like an idiot and he realized she was a foreigner. Then he asked where she is from in English. She said that she would rather not say. He then said "Is it a secret" and she said yes. Then he asked if we were spies. It was hilarious. We set him strait though.

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Kiev, Ukraine Journal - 3-18-1998 and 3-19-1998

*Disclaimer: Please remember that I wrote these when I was 15! I could be a snarky brat! I also am typing these journals exactly as I wrote them, bad spelling and all, except I have abbreviated names to protect the innocent or not-so-innocent.

3-18-1998

It's great to be back over here again. As always, I didn't have any jet lag. Everyone is mad at me for it. LOL. J/K. We went to the bizzarre to buy a bunch of junk. Marmie says that if we buy enough today for a while we won't have to come back for a big trip again. I hope we don't ahve to go a lot. The bizarre was...bizzarre as usual. These people are so rude. The push and shove and are just idiotic. I was about to yell at the Ukranian behind me but it wouldn't do any good because he wouldn't be able to understand me. The meat market wasn't as terrible as usual. It's usually really busy but it wasn't when we went. The smell was herendous (sp?). I hope I sleep a full night tonight. I know I probably will so I'm not all that worried about it. The bus drivers here are terrible! They must drink vodka all night then drive the bus in the morning. Weaga and I have an inside joke about that. We always crack up when we look at each other and the people around us give us these awful looks. If looks could kil....Garmatna is the same as always. Igor isn't that bad...Weaga just thinks that. I hate singing because it is so easy to mess up when there is Russian singing also.

*Marmie is a nickname my sister and I use for my mother. Weaga is a nickname I used for R.

3-19-1998

It was a slow day up until we went to Houm and Shawna's for supper. I started the twin's gift. K2 is so big! Of course with twins....I got a bunch of one of the babys on the bib done. It's a cute little cross stitch thing. We went to Houm and Shawna's flat at about 4:00. It's so cute inside. The previous owners left the furniture and things so they didn't have to buy any. The living room is hilarious! The wallpaper is this pretty Victorian print but of one wall there is this huge beach scene going on. Then the curtains were white with a bunch of fall leaves on them. It was hilarious looking. It's like a lot of good taste mingled in with Ukranian taste. LOL. Then going home Dad got lost and tried to blame it one us all. Enough said.

*Houm is a nickname I used to use for my brother, Jeremy.

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Crazed

Sometimes I have really crazy dreams.

Last night was one of those crazy dream nights. I don't know if it was the fact that I went to sleep hearing firecrackers going off or that Russ and I had a fun conversation about what he would look like as a super hero.

This picture came out of that conversation:

Baha. I love that man, but he is a goober!

Anywho...

Last nights dream was cracked out! Luckily, I woke up this morning remembering most of it so you guys now get to read my dream and wonder about how sane I am.














A Very Psycho Killer
A Wal-Mart Manager


It was late one evening when I realized I needed to go get something from Wal-Mart. Usually I don't go out at night, but that night it was important. I headed to our local Wally World and parked as close to the doors and as close to a light as I could. I had my trusty taser with me so I was feeling pretty safe. I had been having some problems in the recent weeks with a man who would wait for me by my car, but I was undeterred. I went in the store, bought the items I needed, and headed to my car.

When I arrived at my car, the driver's side door was open. Every hair on my body stood up on end. I cautiously peered around to the driver's side and that crazy guy who had been creeping me was sitting in my seat, with his feet out of the car. By that time, it was too late for me to turn back. He had seen me and I had seen the small gun in his right hand.

"Hey pretty lady. Give me your purse and no one gets hurt."

I wasn't about to give him my purse without a fight. We struggled for a few seconds until I realized I was defeated. I handed over my purse, broke free of his grasp and ran back to the store for help.

I ran to the customer service desk to talk to a manager. I quickly told her what had happened and she told me to wait for her while she called the police. Her office was in a building that was next to Wal-Mart. She foolishly left the safe confines of Wal-Mart to go to her office.

I waited for what seemed like hours. My whole body was trembling. I was still very scared and very freaked out.

When I felt like I had waited long enough, I rose from my perch to find the manager. I peeked out of the doors to assess the safety of the parking lot. I didn't see anyone. The lights were all still working and if I ran, I could get to the manager's office within seconds. That's what I did, but I was not prepared for what was coming next.

I opened the door to the office. At first it seemed abandoned. Then I saw the hand on the floor. I walked around the desk to find the manager had been brutally stabbed several times. And then I heard the door creak.

The psycho killer was standing in front of the only way out of the office and he was holding a blood stained knife. I knew the only way I was going to survive was to fight. I lunged at the killer, going straight for his neck. He blocked my advance and swooped down on me with the knife, missing me by a hair. We struggled for several minutes. I finally was able to knock the killer on the ground. His knife skidded across the floor to rest in front of the door. I made a break for the unprotected door. I sped out of the office as fast as I could, stooping to pick up the knife as I made my way out.

I ran back into Wal-Mart where I found my husband, Russ, waiting for me. He had been watching TV when Anderson Cooper broke in with the breaking story of the Wal-Mart Killer. The manager must have had just enough time to put in a call to the police. I have never been so glad to see Russ as I was then. He was fine and in his hands was a blow torch. He was there to protect me.

We clumsily made our way through the store, looking for a different way out that would be undetected by the killer. We decided to split up. We knew we would have a better chance of getting away and I had the knife and he had his blow torch.

I walked into a room on the side of the store and gasped. I wanted to scream, but the sound wouldn't come out. Anderson Cooper was lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Dylan McDermott was lying next to him, also in a pool of blood. I bent down to see if they were alive. I could barely feel their pulses, but I could hear their breath raking in and out. I couldn't tell how many times they had been stabbed, but I knew it was bad. I grabbed a cell phone and dialed 911. As the call was going through, the phone was viciously swiped out of my hand. It clattered across the floor. I turned around to see the killer with another knife. His had was gripped around the handle and it was in the air ready to give the death blow.

It only took me a second to respond. I buried my knife up to the handle in the killer's stomach. The killer gasped in pain and turned around. Russ had heard the commotion and came running. He had his blow torch poised and ready.

"No, Russ! I stabbed him. He can't do anything to us now!"

Russ lowered his blow torch and I turned around to check on Anderson and Dylan. That was a stupid mistake. The killer took one last lunge towards me and I felt his knife cut through my back. I fell to my knees in agony. I turned around in shock, just in time to see Russ blow torch the crazy killer's face. I couldn't breathe for the pain and I slumped the rest of the way to the floor.

The last thing I remember about that horrid night was hearing the sirens and seeing the emergency lights through the front windows of the store.

I woke up a day later in a hospital room. Russ was by my side and I was told had been since the incident. Anderson and Dylan were both recovering well, also.

I would have died that night if it hadn't have been for my husband. He came when I needed him, blow torch in hand.

The end.

It's okay to laugh now.

Craziest. Dream. Ever.

Monday, July 1, 2013

Fournager







So not loving how old my girl is looking lately!

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Kiev, Ukraine Journal - 3-16-1998 and 3-17-1998

*Disclaimer: Please remember that I wrote these when I was 15! I could be a snarky brat! I also am typing these journals exactly as I wrote them, bad spelling and all, except I have abbreviated names to protect the innocent or not-so-innocent.

3-16-1998

*This entry begins our 1998 trip.

Well, off we go to Kiev. We left Tulsa at 1:30 to fly to Atlanta. Very uneventful flight it was. I like looking out the window at the ground on the plane. When we are above the clouds it's neat to watch them. It looks like a bunch of cotton strewn accross the sky. I am glad they didn't serve a dinner on the first flight. It would have cursed the whole trip. LOL. I read and listened to my walkman all the way to Atlanta. Atlanta's airport is the neatest. I remembered most of it from last year and I like it a lot. The posters and paintings on the walls are cool. I love the transportation. The airport has it's very own subway. I can't wait to get to Kiev. I am so excited. I hate airplane food. It is the #2 oxymoron in the world. LOL

*I wonder what the #1 oxymoron in the world is?

3-17-1998

That stupid stewardess lady! I was sleeping and she scared me waking me up. I didn't even touch the breakfast she put in front of me. A different one dropped yogurt all down Chelles clothes. LOL. The movie on the plane was so stupid. It was about the company called CRS and a huge birthday party. Vienna's airport is nice but all the smoke from cigarrettes makes me nausis. (However you spell that) We got into the waiting room to board the plane and I could already smell the Ukraine smell. Yuck. Then at Borispol the customs guy wanted to see all of our money. Dad argued with him about it and we didn't have to show him after all. I was glad. The ride to our flat was ok. K1 has this thing about insulting me, though. Jeremy, K1, S, and Anatole were at the airport to pick us up. K1 had made up a sign for us. (As a joke). We got to our flat around 3:00. Home Sweet Home. We had 5 extra trunks to take up to the flat...on the 6th floor. The elevator wouldn't be able to make it up all the way so a few of us went up in the elevator with a bunch of the luggage. The last of the luggage went up without me so stupid me decided to sprint up the stairs to see if I could make it before the elevator. I made it about 4 seconds after. Then we went and ate with D and R for supper.

*My brother, Jeremy and his wife, Shawna, live in Kiev for 7 months for a college project.

Friday, June 28, 2013

DIY Clipboard (Tutorial)

Sometimes, Chloe Jo has a very hard time sitting during Sunday morning worship services. I think she is old enough not to have a bag of things with her (although I do let her take one baby). In order to help her pay attention to the lesson, I decided to make her a clipboard to help her learn to take notes (more on that later).

What you will need:


A clear clipboard
paper
Modge Podge
A foam brush
A scraper
Ribbon


The first thing I did was trace the outline of the clipboard on the wrong side of the main paper. I then traced around the screws. I cut the paper just a hair smaller than the outline and cut the screw holes out with my exacto knife.


I cut CJ's name out with my Cricut and glued it on the paper how I wanted it.


I then put a layer of modge podge on the back of the clipboard and *very carefully* laid the scrapbook paper on the layer of modge podge.


I used my scraper (the one I have came with my wall decals, but you can use anything with a straight, hard edge) to scrape out the bubbles. Again, be very careful when doing this because the paper will tear easily.


I let the modge podge dry and gave it 2 more coats just to make sure it wouldn't come up.


I cute a few lengths of ribbon and tied it do the clip.


I printed a page for notes from here.


 I added a fun multi-colored pen to use.


While, this craft did turn out really good and I love the concept, Chloe Jo is just not ready for this. I only tried to get her to make tally marks in the blocks that said "Jesus" and "God" but she didn't get it. I realize that sometimes I push things that are not right for her yet so I have put this idea away for while. We will try again when she is a little older.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

My Recipe Box: Cornbread Waffles and Chili


Did you know you can make pretty much any bread type of food in the waffle maker?

I saw a picture of cornbread waffles on Pinterest and had to try it! I love this because it doesn't take near the amount of time as putting it in the oven. In 3 or 4 minutes, you have cornbread without turning on the oven. You can also do this with brownies (although, I have never tried it). Yum!

And what is better than cornbread and chili? Not much, that's what.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Enrolled

I'm trying to play catch-up! This summer...er, year...has been so crazy!

I can't believe Chloe Jo is 4 and that she is starting preschool in the fall! Back in April, we went to the school to enroll her!

Looking so big on the way!


I really wanted to get a picture in front of the school...she was not thrilled about that, though!


They had enrollment set up in the Primary school gym. There were several tables you had to go around to that collected different things. The first table took your basic information (name, address, emergency contacts, etc.), another table took your immunization records, another gave you information about lunches, etc. CJ was great at the first couple of tables, but the more we went around, the more overwhelmed she became. By the last table (where we met one of the preschool teachers) she was crying hysterically.


Yeah, this is going to be fun.

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Kiev, Ukraine Journal - 3-12-1997 and 3-13-1997

*Disclaimer: Please remember that I wrote these when I was 14! I could be a snarky brat! I also am typing these journals exactly as I wrote them, bad spelling and all, except I have abbreviated names to protect the innocent or not-so-innocent.

3-12-1997

I went roller blading and R came out later. Then I arranged for us kids to go to Arsonala and have a picnic. Everyone wanted to so we arranged to meet outside at 11:30. When we all met C and J informed us that they couldn't go all the way to arsonala because they had to go home and study. So we all went across the street instead. We ate all of the food and afterward decided to play kick the can. I was really fun. I was hiding and this wrought wiler came up and started growling. I didn't want to give away my hiding place and it was muzzled so I just let it. The owner called it back and I stayed there. Then R saw me so I made a dash for it and the dog started chasing me full speed. I just kept on running for base because it didn't scare me. Then Chelley started freaking and I turned around and was face to face with it. I screamed. I twas more because of Michelle than the dog. Then the lady called it back to her and I was it. I was it three times. The first time I found everyone but C. So I went to look for him and he made a dash for home. I did to. I ended up doing a nose dive and slid onto home one millisecond after him. Then the same things happened when J did it. Later he said, "That was so awsome. I have never seen a girl dive like that." I was pleased with myself. I was chased by a different wrought wiler later. That one was actually on a leash. Then we all went to church services.

3-13-1997

*This is the last journal entry for our 1997 trip.

We all woke up early and started to pack. Our plane left at 3:30. I got done packing and I went to the S's with R. I had to pick up some mail we were to send to them. I got Mrs. Cole a bottle of coke also. Before that I went to the Cs to drop off some stuff. J gave me his m&m machine in exchange for two of my kinder suprise toys. I still have 11 left. I bought two more for the plane. The pilate on the plane did a really good landing. Vienna is really pretty. The buildings are really neat. Before we left Chelley and I went with the C's across the street and played kick the can for an hour. J laid down in dog stuff. He smelled bad. So he went home and took a shower. Our plane tomorrow leaves at around 1 or 2 in the afternoon.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Kiev, Ukraine Journal - 3-10-1997 and 3-11-1997

*Disclaimer: Please remember that I wrote these when I was 14! I could be a snarky brat! I also am typing these journals exactly as I wrote them, bad spelling and all, except I have abbreviated names to protect the innocent or not-so-innocent.

3-10-1997

I did a lot of homework today. I have my Romeo and Juliet all done. I went with R roller blading at Gedro Park. We bought some cotton candy, cokes, and suckers. The suckers were like hard honey with alot of sugar in them. We skated down a really big hill and almost killed ourselves, also. The park was really busy because it was women's day. I got a really good picture of the park. Then we went home. Later I and the family went to eat at the C's. We had Chinese noodles. They were good after I picked out the mushrooms and cabbage. Then C, J, Chelley, R, and I all went to our apartment and played pit. After we played Pit we played hide and go seek in the dark. We yelled and made alot of noise. Once we calmed down we started to play charades and then mom and dad came home so they had to go home.

3-11-1997

Mom, Chelley, R, and I all went to Crashabik Street to go to the department store. Mom got two glass bowls. One of them is for Granny Tiger. The other is for herself. Then we went back to the metro and mom and D met to go to a pizza pitch-in. R, Chelley, and I then went to St. Andrews Street. We are going to get grandma and Grandpa a wind chime for their trailer, but they didn't have those that day. We ended up getting  a face carved out of a tree. I also bought a pin to add to my collection. It has a cathedral on it. Then we went to Crashabik again and R and I bought pizzas. Chelley bought a hamburger. Then we went home and I did more homework. I am almost finished. We went to the Ss later and just talked.

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Kiev, Ukraine Journal - 3-8-1997 and 3-9-1997

*Disclaimer: Please remember that I wrote these when I was 14! I could be a snarky brat! I also am typing these journals exactly as I wrote them, bad spelling and all, except I have abbreviated names to protect the innocent or not-so-innocent.

3-8-1997

I woke up at about 8:00. C was supposed to call at 9:00 to see if we wanted to do anything. He decided to cancel. It was raining and for a very short time it snowed. I went back to bed after breakfast. I was really worn out. I slept till about 1:30. I woke up and went and got lunch ready. Chelley and I went to get bread after and I also bought a Kinder Suprise toy. Mom and I went to the C's home to do laundry. They were gone so we watched Speed while we waited on our clothes. Mom liked it. I thought it was better the second time. In my Kinder Suprise egg I got a puzzle. It was four peices that fit into a pyramid. I liked it. For supper we had palamini with sause. It tasted like ravioli. I liked it alot. I did two lessons in math later and also did an act in Romeo and Juliet. I will have my math done by Monday, my Shakespere done on Monday and my art should be done on Sunday.

3-9-1997

We went to church as usual. RC had a good lesson on Peter. After church I went home while mom and dad went to the bizzarre. I went out to roller blade until mom and dad got home. C came out to join me and we decided to go to Gedro Park. So C, Chelley, R, and I all went to Gedro Park. We had a really good time. We rode a ride that has a lot of little swings that seat two people. and it went around really fast. R and I also rode a roller coaster. Then we all got into these swings that sit one on one side and another on the other. We swang for a long time. When we got off Chelley and I bought some ballons. Chelley's was purple with white stars and mine was green with bears all over it. I thought mine was so cute. Chelley said it was ugly. Then we all went home and I did alot of homework.