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.

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.

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.

Kiev, Ukraine Journal - 3-6-1997 and 3-7-1997

*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.

3-6-1997

At twelve thirty I went with the Cs to that hamburger joint. The hamburgers were really good. We got take out and we ate on a bench on Crashabik street. Chelley and C then went on a date and J went home. On the way to the joint there were these men selling pictures. They all had monkeys and you could pay to have your picture taken with one. Well one man came up to us and the monkey got on C's arm. I put my arm out and it got onto mine. The monkey was so cute. It tried to grab my braces but I didn't let it. Then I went with R to a really nice dollar store. I bought some ice cream and a Kinder Suprise. The ice cream was strawberry swirl. It hit the spot. In my Kinder Suprise I got a man with a rake and a basket. I was an Egyptian. It had a cloth had that went down to its shoulders like the one King Tut wore.

*My Dad told me later that the monkeys were trained to be pick-pockets and that is why it tried to grab my braces.

3-7-1997

Mom and I went with R and Julie to learn how to make Palamini at K2s. It was really fun. It took most of the day. First you had to make the dough. You had to knead it alot. Then we had to cut up onions and ground up the meat. We rolled out the dough and put it on the molds. We had to get each little piece of meat and put it in each little hole. Then we rolled out more dough and put it over the meat and mold. We rolled the dough until the mold's showed through. It took a long time. Then later we went to the Cs for a bible studie.

Kiev, Ukraine Journal - 3-4-1997 and 3-5-1997

*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.

3-4-1997

I went souvineer shopping with mom, K2, and D. I bought alot of stuff. I bought a box for mrs. Drain and Brown. and also for me. I bought a bunch of just stuff for my friends. I haven't gotten Vickie anything yet, though. We all got burgers for lunch. They were so good and they hit the spot. Of course it wasn't McDonalds, but it was enough. We went to the bizzarre and I bought a Kinder Suprise. I got a clicker. I was happy. The best ones are the ones you put together. After that I went home and called R and she and I went to exchange money. I bought some bread for mom also. Then R and I went Rollar Bladeing. I love that. When I went home mom was worried. They had already eaten supper. I had also bought another Kinder Suprise. This time it was a little pig and bear on a teeter-totter type thing. I like it. It came in a lot of small peices, so I got to put it together.

3-5-1997

D and J came over and played GROUCH with us. R came later. J won. He was to fast for us. I lost really bad. The winner was 165 points ahead of me. My high was 1. It was pretty sad. Then C came over and we all had lunch. C and R left while D did the dishes and J and I talked. J was putting his shoes on and I was walking through the living room. There is this one place that is really slick and I fell on it. I was rolling on the ground laughing and mom and J were both doubled over laughing. Then everyone went home. I needed to get some egg's so later I went with J to get them. I paid and the lady pointed to them. I started putting eggs in my crate. J started to help me. J put the last egg I bought into the crate. But, the last row on the counter was hanging off. Ten of her eggs broke over the fish. All she did was look at us so we left. Then we went to church services.

Tears

This week has been so hard.

First, we are okay. Thank you to those of you who checked in on my family. We live in the Tulsa area and we didn't get hit anywhere near as hard as Oklahoma City. We did have 2 tornadoes close to us. Our city sirens were going off and we were under cover for over an hour. It was so scary. Luckily, no tornadoes hit our town or friends in other towns. One friend took a picture of a tornado that passed very close to her home, though. She was lucky.

I had talked to Chloe Jo on Sunday and Monday about taking cover. While she didn't understand the gravity of the situation, she did comply (not that she had any choice) with our commands (yes, in times like these, we gave commands). Russ came home from work because our sewer was clogged and I'm so glad he did. He was on his way to a town to drop off some needed food for a family and that town did get hit. I don't know that there was much damage, but there was a tornado on the ground and I am soooo thankful that our sewer decided that that was a good time to clog! Chloe Jo ended up falling asleep in the bathtub. I think the stress of the situation was too much for her to handle.

While Moore, OK was definitely the hardest hit, please keep praying for all of those in Oklahoma who suffered damage. I know the Miami area was hit and there were around 10 homes destroyed up there.

The biggest tragedy of this week was the loss of life. While I am thankful the original death toll of 51 was revised down to 24, I know it is still a horrific ordeal for the families of those 24 people.

While I have been extremely emotional while looking through pictures and watching news coverage, I also know that I serve a God who is bigger than these tornadoes. I serve a God who makes anything that happens okay. I don't have to worry about death or destruction because, in the long run, none of that matters and I know I will be home with Him in the end. I am so blessed to know my God cares for me and that he will get me through or take me home.

There are a couple of pictures that pricked my heart to the core that I would like to share with you.

This first one is Big Dog and Little Dog who are neighbors. Big Dog ran to the school where Little Dog was to help with search and rescue as soon as the tornado passed. He found Little Dog whose parents were at work in the city and weren't able to get there as fast as they would have liked. The love between those two is heart-wrenching.

Lastly, this picture sums up this disaster so well.

We have our lives. We have our families. We will move on.

Kiev, Ukraine Journal - 3-2-1997 and 3-3-1997

*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.

3-2-1997

Church was great today except the guy doing the Lord's supper spoke his own little sermon. He must of read every verse in the bible about the fruit of the vine. Scince I couldn't understand him because I don't speak Russian it was not good. I about fell asleep. He made us go twenty minutes over. Then they had a potluck thing. The people wouldn't even ask you if you wanted thier food they just put it on your plate. I gave the Ukranian food away. it looked bad. K1 and K2 and kids came over for supper tonight. They stayed for about three hours. The kids played with my Kinder Suprise toys and then A wanted to take them home with him. I was not to happy. I just ended up taking them away. He put up a royal fit, but I didn't care. DON'T MESS WITH MY KINDERS!

3-3-1997

I did homework all morning. I got two lessons done. I just don't want to be doing it on the plane. I will probably be to tired out. It is hard to believe we have already been here two weeks. Then D and J came over and we played grouch. I lost by about 50 points. Everyone was so far ahead of me. The R came later and we played taboo. My team lost by only 3 or 4 points. It was really fun. Then C, Chellye, R, J and I all went roller blading. There were only three pair. I have the smallest feet of us all so I got to wear the pair of Rs all the time since nobody else could fit into them. I might buy them. R went home mad because she couldn't skate all the time and Chelley didn't skate at all. Then J and I traded family's for supper. I didn't want what we were having and he didn't want what they were so we just swapped. Then we all watched Speed. That is the best movie.

Renaissance Faire Chloe-ism

Last weekend, we ventured out to the Oklahoma Renaissance Faire.

While we were walking, Chloe Jo looks up at me and says:

"Mommy, is this Ponyville?"

Ponyville

Renaissance Faire

 "Why yes, dear. Yes, it is."

What I Love about Sundays

Ladies Day

About a month ago, the ladies of the church I am a member of got together to host a ladies day. This congregation hosts a ladies day for the area every 18 months. The theme this year was "Blessed Be The Tie" and we took that and ran with a western theme for the decorations. We had a fantastic day and I think everyone was uplifted and got something out of the lessons that were brought to us. There were two things the speaker said that really stood out to me. 

"It's okay to disagree. It's not okay to be disagreeable."

Sometimes I need to be reminded of this. I can get my feelings hurt when people don't like my ideas. I know that is silly. I don't always have the best ideas...sometimes my ideas are pretty lame-o, but it is how I am. When that happens, there are times I just want to shoot down every idea because if they aren't going to like my idea...I'm not going to like theirs. Ridiculous and disagreeable is what that is. I need to work on that.

"It's easier to bring someone down than to lift someone up."

This is so true. Trying to make someone feel better about something is soooo hard! It's hard to find the right words or to say something negative in a loving and kind way. I need to be more aware of how I word things and how I speak to others so that I am not guilty of bringing them down.

So, back to the decorations!

The western theme was so fun! I kind of put myself in charge of this. I didn't mean for it to happen, but I was the one that suggested it and then I bought the things to decorate with so it just landed in my lap and my leadership side took it and ran.

We had a lot of burlap left over from when we used it as sand for our Treasure Hunting VBS last year so that is where the Western theme idea came from. Might as well use what we have! I used the burlap to line galvanized buckets and to make banners. I wanted the burlap banners to look very rustic so I just painted the lettering on the separate sections. I used burlap ribbon to make the bows.

I had pinned several ideas of things to do with bandana's and made this tablecloth from one of those ideas. While this did work...it didn't work well. If you make a tablecloth or quilt from bandana's, you need to square them up first or they will be wrinkly. We also used sunflowers around the building to give the theme an extra, needed pop of color.

We served a lunch after the ladies day so we also decorated in the multi-purpose room.

We originally wanted to put flowers on the tables for centerpieces, but that ended up being a little more costly than we wanted it to be. Again, Pinterest came through for me and gave me the idea of filling the buckets with our eating utensils.

Our bulletin board in the multi is 12 feet long so it can be a challenge to work with. I do think it turned out pretty cute. I cut the letters out with my Cricut machine.

I thought the jute with clothespinned lettering turned out cute for the theme.

We had just enough bandanas left over to do a swag over our kitchen pass-through.

I loved all of the cheery sunflowers.

This is our beautiful speaker, Nancy. I have known her all of my life! She stayed with us Friday night and I really enjoyed visiting with her and catching up!

Originally, the ladies who have children from our congregation weren't going to bring them, but then Chloe Jo decided she really wanted to go so I took her. Then it ended up that we all brought our daughters so it worked out perfectly. They all did so good and were well behaved the whole day!

Chloe Jo was so excited when she saw Brianna come in. I had told her Brianna wouldn't be there.

My girlfriends, Kristin and Rebecca, were able to come. These are the girls I like to craft with and we like to get together for playdates since our children are all around the same age.

These are some of the younger ladies from our congregation, Antha, Tia and my sister, Chelley. Love them!

I am so thankful that our little congregation still works so hard to have events and try to spread God's Word. It's easy to say "we are too small for" this and that, but our congregation definitely does not have that mentality and it is a blessing.

Happy Mother's Day!

Me and my two most favorite ladies, my mom and my sister.

Kiev, Ukraine Journal - 2-28-1997 and 3-1-1997

*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.

2-28-1997

We went to St. Andrews Street today with R. I bought a hair barret for Sara and a T-shirt for Mrs. Cole. Sara had wanted a barret from here. It is black and it has a stick through it and it is in a pattern of a braid. Mrs. Cole's T-shirt has a coca-cola symbol on the front and on the back there is a metroiska doll that is open with a can of coke in it. It is really neat. We stoped by the gastronom on the way back and all got ice cream cones. Then we stopped by the Ss and R borrowed the Rockie movies. R and I also stopped at a kiosk and bought some gummy worms while Chelle and mom went on home. We went back to the Ss that night while K1 and Dad had a meeting. to go to. K2 served palomini to us. It is like raviolli without the sauce. We are going to get a cooking lesson to learn how to make it.

3-1-1997

We were hustleing around all morning. The Cs were coming over to dinner and mom was a wreck. We had chili and noodles. We also had homemade bread. Over here all you can buy is homemade bread but this was made in our home. The kids all went back to the C's after while Chelle and C went to get some passports from a man. We all watched the rest of misery and I watched Home Improvement. Misery was so weird. They all love it but I thought it was rejected. I did homework for the rest of the day.