30 days of Thanksgiving

This month I have been reflecting on my life a lot. I have been thinking about what I am thankful for. I have seen lots of posts on facebook about 30 days of thanksgiving and although I didn’t do it day by day like many others. 

1               The wonderful cross and the promise of eternity

2               My best friend, my husband, my strongest companion

3               My amazing one-of-a-kind family, I’ve been realizing that most people don’t have a family as close or nearly as large as mine and in those two things, I am so blessed!

4               Dad’s provision of family overseas in the form of our team

5               Good friends in America

6               Good friends Overseas

7               My Parents- I am so proud of my parents who have been married for 42 years now! This is probably my favorite picture of them, it was taken at my wedding and it just reminds me of how they have held hands through the good and bad times of life.

8               My Sisters – My best friends, I love you both more than I can say!

along with my sisters I am also thankful for two very awesome Sister-in-laws, Brenda & Sheila

9               My Brothers- They always make me laugh. I really enjoy family times with them 

and my two crazy, silly, awesome brother in laws

10           Curtis’ Family – I am especially thankful that his Mom (Chris) and Grandma Angell and Aunt Diana as well as Aunt Sabina and Uncle Allen all came to visit us this year in the spring.

11           Curtis’ Sister Theresa- This deserves a special place of it’s own because Theresa is probably the biggest miracle I have ever witnessed. We are so proud of her and so excited about the big things that Dad is doing in her life!

12           My nieces & nephew

13           My extended family- Aunts, Uncles & Cousins – I only got to see them briefly this year when I was home. But I am still thankful for them and all the memories that we share and the closeness that I still feel with them even through the years of separation. I love them all very much!

14           Our Ch*rch family & Supporters back home: This is a picture of some of our friends who are very dear to our heart whom we used to have a home study with.

15           Our Students: They are our reason for being here!

16           My Russian teachers and friends that I can speak to in Russian: on the left is my friend janna who works in the cafe. I love speaking Russian with her. It seems so easy.

17           Our great city. Thankful for the warm temperatures most of the year and the beautiful flowers and trees that line the streets.

18           The English Center: There is so much that is great about this place and it is getting better day by day!

19           Our New Apartment

20           The opening of the Cafe: working there has been difficult at times, only because there are so many other things that I need to do as well. But what I am most thankful for is the way this place brings our site together and really creates a community atmosphere.

21           My Russian Progress: Despite the difficulty of this crazy language, I am making progress and really enjoying being able to communicate with people here!

22           My home city and the gift of going back over summer: So much about being home this summer was amazing and special! I am just thankful beyond words for this experience and the love that I felt while I was home this summer. I am also thankful that I got to see the ocean again, I was beginning to feel like it no longer existed, but there it was, a mere 10 miles from Camarillo in all it’s beauty and former glory!

23           The ability to travel through Italy this summer: A.M.A.Z.I.N.G

24           The Word: I am so thankful for the refreshing that it brings to my life each morning when I open it up. I am also starting to understanding more and more the reality that it is a love story written specifically for us by our he@venly Father.

25           My health: as I get a little older and experience more aches and pains than I did in my youth, I realize how blessed that I am to be in good health. Although I have some minor setbacks, like allergies and asthma, I have generally good health and in that I am blessed!

26           A warm bed to sleep in, warm apartment and warm winter clothes! This year my winter clothes are really nice because I was able to get new ones which are more suitable for the cold weather than the ones I had last year. Also our apartment is much warmer than both of our previous apartments!

27           Movies & Entertainment: These things just generally make life more fun 

28           Good Coffee: I LOVE COFFEE! I am thank for those of you who send us Decaf coffee in packages and also for the delicious coffee in the cafe 

29           Baking. I Love it! PERIOD.

30           Last but definitely not least, the fact that our Saviour came to Earth in the form of a baby and the whole month of December we get to celebrate this wonderful gift with the holiday of Christmas, but better yet we have something much more precious than just Christmas, we have eternity with Him to express our pra!se and thanks for all the good things he has done for us!

And here is to a beautiful Christmas season! From our home to yours 

Everyday

Yesterday we celebrated our four year Wedding Anniversary. It was a really special day filled with surprises for both of us 

The very first surprise was for me from Curtis. He set up a whole spread on our coffee table. He put out a bunch of romantic movies and games and activities for us to do and then made me a nice breakfast and some coffee. The movie part was special because he doesn’t usually like to watch movies during the day.

The first surprise that I couldn’t wait to give Curtis was a slide show that I made him. I have made this a new tradition in the last few years to create a simple slide show of our year together. This year I felt like the one I made was really special because it was a really special year. We did so many great things together including going to Rome, Venice and also home for the first time in two years!

The song in the video is called Everyday and it is about celebrating life everyday. I had heard it before, but I heard it again for the first time in a long time about a month ago and this time I heard it differently. So much so that it made me teary. I especially love this part of the song:

Everyday of our lives,
wanna find you there, wanna hold on tight
Gonna run, while we’re young
and keep the faith
Everyday, from right now,
gonna use our voices and scream out loud
Take my hand;
together we will celebrate,

I realized all the days when I am so negative and Curtis always tries to point out the positive things about our life. He also tries to make me laugh everyday.

I tend to take things quite seriously and it is really wonderful to have Curtis in my life reminding me to celebrate simply because it makes life better and because we are called to live an abundant life, that doesn’t mean hiding our real feelings. It means loving with abandon, when I am hurt, I cry and he comforts me, but then he guides me towards the good things and reminds me how blessed I am.

You can view the video here on youtube: Curtis & Katina’s Anniversary Video 

The whole day was very special. I couldn’t wait to give Curtis his gift since I bought it this summer in America. It is called “The Book of Us.” It is a book in which they ask 150 questions about your relationship from the very beginning. I took time to answer as many questions as possible and was so excited to give it to him. He was happy to receive it and we read through it together throughout the day, laughing, crying and reminiscing. We decided to make it an anniversary tradition to read through it and update it together.

After we watched a movie together we went to a local restaurant that has delicious Hot Chocolate. Then we went to dinner at an amazing Italian Restaurant in town called Mozzarella where we ate some awesome four cheese pasta and creme brulee, which was so delicious I am determined to try to make my own creme brulee, so stay tuned!

After dinner we went home and Curtis had another surprise waiting for me!

He also wrote on a bunch of balloons the things that he loves about me and scattered them around the room.

It was a very special day with many reminders of how blessed we are to have each other!

My heart is full

Last week was filled with good things; things that filled me to overflowing with love, joy and peace. For the first time in a while I feel so much peace and joy and unity with my brothers and sisters around me. I have been struggling a lot since I returned here, constantly seeking to find refuge in the things of this world. Only finding small moments of peace when I am alone with ‘Dad’, or Curtis. In that I have been blessed. I have been gaining understanding on some things, but failing to live them out. Only this weekend did I have a breakthrough, one of forgiveness and understanding.

I am aware now that I was the cause of my own loneliness. I felt so alone here, away from family and friends. In a world of different languages and mixed cultures. It all felt so foreign and unfriendly. Until the other day. Thank you to those of you who have been asking Dad to strengthen us. He truly has. He has broken through my cold heart of stone and filled it with good things. He has filled me with his love and understanding, with more joy, patience and contentment with life here. I truly feel peace for the first time in a long time, and for this I am truly grateful.

Life changing cookies

Do yourself a favor and make these cookies. You NEED them. I haven’t been this excited about a recipe in a really long time! These things are DELICIOUS, ochen fvakooszna, as we say in Russian. But back to the cookies, they are caramely, creamy, spicy and ridiculously good! Yes mom, I am aware the caramely is not a word. The dough tastes like chocolate chip cookie dough with a fall kick, sans chocolate chips. But the actual cookie is SO much better than the dough, unlike, chocolate chip cookies, at least in my opinion. Dare I say, these cookies are better than chocolate chip cookies! For me, that is saying a lot, since chocolate chip cookies are my absolute favorite.

So, here’s the deal, these babies are pretty simple, but I got the recipes for the cookies and the icing in two different places. This cookie recipe just seemed so much more delicious than the one that was paired with the caramel glaze and since I didn’t have any cream cheese, I decided to make the caramel glaze instead and it turned out to be the most perfect melt-in your mouth goodness that you could ever imagine. If you LOVE caramel as much as I do, you WILL love these cookies! I also used half white sugar and half brown sugar in the cookies and I think it emphasized the caramely goodness even more. Yes, I said wrote it again.

Pumpkin Cookies: 

Adapted from:House of Hepworths

Combine:

½ Cup Butter

¾ Cup white sugar

¾ cup brown sugar

Add: 1 egg

Mix in: 1 cup pumpkin

Now add: ½ tsp. vanilla 2 & ½ cups flour

And then add: 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. nutmeg 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. baking powder ½ tsp. salt

Now, bake @ 350 for about 10-12 minutes.

Caramel Glaze

Source: Simple Girl at Home

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup brown sugar

1  teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup confectioner's sugar

Cook butter, milk and brown sugar until dissolved.  Cool and add confectioner's sugar and vanilla.  Spread over warm cookies.

"Priyatova appetita!"  (Russian for- "Have a nice meal" or Bon Appetite)

All good things

Come from Above..

The last couple of months have been difficult, SO. VERY. DIFFICULT. We continue to struggle with busy schedules, but also the last week or so has brought some relief, excitement and overall good things! As I said in my last post, there are always things to be thankful for, and it is important to find those things at all times. But right now we have some really major pra!se reports going on!

Let’s start from the very beginning ♫ a very good place to start ♫. I have been working in the cafe way too much the past couple of months and have really desired to have someone to help take the load off. In the beginning of the year I overcommitted a bit because I didn’t realize what a strain it would be to learn Russian, teach English and work at the Cafe. I was extremely frustrated with the lack of time for Russian practice and study. Since then I have felt very tired and overwhelmed with all of the work that I have been doing.

You may have also noticed my lack of communication and blog involvement, which is something that I really love, one of those things that really gives me joy. Another thing that fills me up, is meeting with friends here and I haven’t been doing much of that lately either. I was working a lot of hours, and becoming very frustrated. I felt like I had lost my purpose here and also felt very disconnected with friends and family back home as well.

I had voiced this to our manager at the cafe and he was understanding and knew they needed to find someone local to work as a barista, so that the Native English Speakers who work at the cafe could spend time speaking to students, which is something that I love to do  But we weren’t sure how long it would take to find someone, they thought it could possibly take another month or so. But Dad’s timing in this situation was swift, and exactly what I needed!

Two weeks ago when I was closing the Cafe on a Friday night, I said to Curtis, I don’t think I can take more than two more weeks of this schedule! I was so tired every friday night when I got home and the weekends usually weren’t much easier, full, with meetings, gatherings etc. Then back to work on Monday, then Tuesdays is our sabbath, but it seemed that every Tuesday we had to do something, whether it was a meeting, sanitation tests for the cafe (loooong story) or planning for classes, that made it feel a lot less like a sabbath day.

I am not saying this to complain, we really tried to make the best of it while it was like that, and at times I DID complain. Not gonna lie, I was like a whiney little baby at times. But there were many times when I thought, I love everything I am involved in for the most part, but there is just tooooo much of it and no time to breeeeath!

So, all that being said, we have found an amazing little asian solution to the problem. Her name is Janna, she is family, and she works in the cafe with me now  I L.O.V.E HER sooooooo much! She speaks very little English and our relationships is all in Russian! PTL! My Russian is THAT good now! Two pra!se reports there! We found someone for the cafe and some of my cafe time has turned into Russian practice time!!! OUR DAD IS AMAZING! He is our PROVIDER! He is so VERY fa!thful!

I have been aspiring to learn Russian the past two years, last year I spent a little time each week building vocabulary, and this year I finally have the time to put in the hours it needs and it seems to really be flowing out of me.I feel like it is finally happening because I know what to do to learn, I have the confidence to practice and I also found that listening to Russian on my ipod (thanks mom  ) really helps.

Now, I feel more like part of our team, since more than half of them are Russian speakers, and life in general is just easier. It is also an amazing accomplishment for me to have this new relationship completely in Russian. The only others that I have had that with these last couple of months is my teachers, but talking with Janna is so easy and really fun. I am so thankful for this beautiful and loving girl that is helping in our cafe now 

The next pra!se is from Curtis, a little bit shorter. He has been working to put together curriculum for his second module of classes for Global Citizenship. A class that is much more than a simple English Class. He and our director have been talking about this for sometime now and have not been able to find any inspiration until recently. The other day they sat down in a meeting, and by Dad’s gr*ce, two hours later came out with ideas for an entire semester’s curriculum! Before their meeting they asked for inspiration from Dad and they surely got it.

So, we really have a lot to be thankful for, a lot to pra!se Dad for, so many answers! We are also thankful to you who have fa!thfully been interceding for us. We are truly blessed to have you all in our lives! So, we want to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts ♥