Virtual Coffee Date

I saw this on one of my favorite blogs and I wanted to try it out. I thought you guys would like it because it’s a bit like a heart to heart talk. Let me know what you think. 

So, if we were having coffee together this morning I would tell you how loved I feel after a week of special events celebrating my 30th birthday. The best part was last night, being surrounded by some of my closest friends, gourmet pizza and funfetti cake. It was the best recipe for funfetti I have ever tried. I especially felt loved when we played “Katina Charades” and the list included: Red Jeans, Coffee, Italy, Ugg Boots, Pizza, California, Christmas movies, Pinterest and Taking Photos. What can I say? I guess I’m not that difficult to understand... 

I’d tell you that one of my favorite things about this culture recently has been the heartfelt toasts that people make for birthdays, weddings and other occasions. It meant so much having some of my closest friends saying special things about me yesterday. It was uplifting and a great reminder of how much I am loved and how much I Papa has done in and through me the past few years. It really made me realize some of the good things that Papa has placed in me and that those things are valued by the people that I am closest to. 

I would tell you about Nowruz and how I start looking forward to this holiday as soon as the Christmas season ends. This holiday brings spring without fail and I am always relieved when winter is over :) The weather has been perfect lately and I am in love with this time of year when the seasons change and vibrant plants and flowers start popping up everywhere! 

I'd tell you that some of my closest friends are leaving the city soon and I couldn't be more grieved about losing them, but I understand that it is completely Papa's doing. I don't really want to think about what it's going to feel like when they aren't here anymore. I am just so thankful that they were here for my birthday. Being with them feels like family and I just don't know how I'm gonna cope without them. Throughout our time here I have thought several times about how I don't know if I'd really have made it without them. But I trust Papa enough to let them go and hope to be able to grieve properly as they get ready to leave. 

I'd tell you that on the up side we have had a great time the last couple of days sitting our friend's two kids. We watched movies, colored eggs and made fun food for them! 

I would tell you that it’s been a great five day holiday, but I am super excited to get back to work and looking forward to some of the visitors that we have coming in the next month. 

Thanks for joining me for coffee this morning :) I hope to do it again sometime. 

Movie of the year

Yes. I do realize that this is not a movie review site. But I write about what I am passionate about and at this moment, that's this movie! You MUST see it!

If you haven't seen it, rent it, NOW! Or buy it! I could watch it over and over. I laughed, I cried, I was super inspired. It is just a reminder that anyone's life can be changed and anyone can be a life changer.

It is a french film about a man who is quadriplegic and he hires a young African man to be his caretaker. Both of them could have been deemed useless by society, but they change each other's lives! Neither of them stereotypes or gives up on the other.

Yes, it is in french and yes there are subtitles, but they are barely noticeable because you are just reading along as you laugh and waiting for the next joke.

There are so many touching and precious moments, but there are even more laugh out loud moments. Seriously guys, you just have to see for yourselves. You may not agree that it's the movie of the year, but I doubt that you will go through the entire film without laughing out loud.

small budget, big taste

No one ever said that you have to spend lots of money to enjoy one of life's most amazing gifts. Food!

We have been experimenting with a much smaller budget lately and I am amazed at how great we continue to eat. Food is one of my favorite things, so it's hard for me to skimp on taste, but you don't have to if you add the right spices and use the right flavor combinations.

The past week or so I was craving soups a lot, probably because it was so cold outside. As a result I tried two recipes that are super easy and I have never made at home before. Why? Because it's so easy to buy canned soups or cartons of soup at Trader Joe's.

So this post may not be very helpful to those of you who have that option. But to those who don't or who want something a little less artificial/processed. Here you are :)

Tomato Soup:
Serves 4 small bowls of soup

5-8 medium tomatoes (mine were overripe)
1 cup tomato paste
1 cup water + 1 vegetable bullion cube (or 1 cup vegetable broth) 
1 cup milk
1 large onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp pepper

Cook onion until soft with 1-2tbs olive oil, add garlic, add tomatoes, add tomato paste, add broth or water & spices, add milk. Cook until it's boiling, simmer about 10 minutes or more. The longer it sits, the better it tastes. 

Delicious tomato soup! The perfect companion of a grilled cheese sandwich :) 

Veggie Noodle Soup:  I was craving chicken noodle, but didn't have any chicken
Serves 4 small bowls of soup

1 large onion
2 medium potatoes
2 large carrots
1 cup of broccoli
2 cups water + 1 chicken bullion cube (or 2 cups chicken broth) 
3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp pepper
1 big handful of rice noodles

Cook onion until soft with 1-2tbs olive oil, add garlic, add potatoes & Carrots, add broth or water & spices, add broccoli. Cook until veggies are soft, then add rice noodles and cook about 10 mins until rice noodles are soft. 



We may not have had chicken we did however have toast! Our friends who are moving away ;( sold us their old toaster and we have already put it to good use. 

Our dinner was complete with a delicious salad made with these amazing cherry tomatoes that I stumbled upon. I can't remember the last time I ate cherry tomatoes. These were amazing and crunchy and perfect! So much so that I went back and got some more the next day! 

They only cost about $1 a pound or $2.50 a kilo. 

Red Wine Vinaigrette:

serving size: enough for 2 salads

1 tsp olive oil

2 tsp red wine vinegar

2 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 clove garlic

Tip: This dressing tastes really great over crushed hazelnuts or almonds :) 

Dinner is served!

These recipes may be simple, but they are delicious and easy. I guess I'm still learning how to eat well here.

The food is different. But I like that it forces us to try making things on our own rather than always buying the packaged version of everything.

I don't know if I will ever go back to buying pre-made items such as soups or salad dressings and I can definitely taste the difference now between a box mix and homemade pancakes. Although I still don't mind a good Betty Crocker box of brownies every once in a while.

I can't wait to share what I learn from my newest cookbook, also something I purchased from my friend. 

But that's for another day :) For now I gotta enjoy the sunshine that finally decided to show it's face again! I'll be saving these soup recipes for the next rainy day. 

Life in a day- my first movie recommendation

I don't watch that many movies. I should re-phrase that, I don't watch that many new movies. I don't even know when this movie came out, but I do know that it was very interesting.

It may not be of interest to everyone, but it quite appealed to me. I will warn you that it did feel a bit like an hour and a half long youtube movie, but somehow much more complete. It was more than just a random string of videos. There was definitely rhythm and a flow to it all. 

There is no way to get a full picture of what life is like around the world one day out of history, but that is what this film strives for and it is done well. There are a few disturbing moments, I turned my head a few times. But nothing worth throwing the film away for. 

I would say that if you are interested in getting out of your box of romantic comedies, actions, dramas or whatever other films that you like to watch, or if you are just interested in getting out of your world for a day to see what the rest of the world is like, this is the film to watch. 

It captures so much of the raw beauty, pain and akward-ness of this world, without much of the gore and overwhelming shock value of many other films. 

I just wanted to share this rare gem with you all. 

We watched it on youtube for free. There are actually films that are legal to watch on youtube for free. Check it out if you want to experience something different, but very real: Life in a Day

Be the change

When I was young I used to use a word that started with R. I did a lot of ignorant things, making fun of people with disabilities. I told myself that I was a R if I did something wrong. I told my friends that they were R if they were being stupid. 

I am so overwhelmingly ashamed of all those things. This word is SO ingrained in my mind that even though I am trying to take it out of my vocabulary, I STILL sometimes slip and use it. Even in front of the people that I know it hurts the most. 

But I am not writing this to make people feel sorry for me or my family. I know that they are strong and that they are amazing. I have so much respect and admiration for my brother and his wife and his girls. I know that they are fighters and they are gonna be alright even if the world continues to screw up.

But I want to advocate for them and for so many other beautiful people like my niece Gabriella. The world WILL continue to be messy and sinful, but that doesn’t mean that we need to sit back and accept it. NO.

I will not accept that word as part of my vocabulary anymore and I am asking you to do the same. Yesterday was National Spread the word to end the word day in the states. Since this issue is very dear to my heart I didn’t want to sit back and say nothing about it. Go to www.r-word.org to find out how you can become a part of the movement to take this word out of your vocabulary and to pave the way for our future generations. 

Things in the States are changing much quicker than things here are. Children like my beautiful niece are institutionalized here. Beautiful girls like this who have parents are put away, so that people don’t have to think about them or worry about offending them or even remember that there are people with disabilities in this world. They are locked away for people to forget about. 

The West has a lot of influence on places like this. Most of it being bad. But what I am hoping is that as our treatment of people with disabilities gets better, the way that people treat them HERE will too! 

Please join with me in this fight to change lives and to open people’s eyes to how much people with disabilities have to offer the world. They are not worthless, they are amazing and they can teach us so much if we only see them for WHO they are! 

an education

Thanks to all that responded to my last post. A lot of people asked to hear more about what I am learning and it just so happens that I will be writing specifically about that, with a little bit of every day life mixed in :)  

I really appreciated what my sister-in-law said, “I really think you should write what you want to write. It should be a reflection of you, whatever you are going through, feeling, enjoying.” 

It made me realize that as I looked back over my previous posts they were a reminder of the things that papa has been doing in and around me on my journey here. It is also a great way to process what is happening and how I am feeling while allowing me to share life with those of you who are so far away.

Right now I realize that papa is giving me some amazing gifts that I never expected. I am learning so many things that I never even imagined would be a part of my life. 

A couple things...

The first unbelievable thing that I am learning is the art of verbal translation. I would have never imagined just a year ago that I would be in this position. But right now there are not many native english speakers on our team who can translate from Russian to English in our team meetings, so I have started to do this. 

It is a disconcerting experience because when I hear Russian the first thing that comes to my mind is Russian. 

The first time I translated it was so difficult to get the english words out of my mouth. I knew this before, but at that point I truly understood that my brain switches to Russian when I hear and understand it. It is quite the stretch to get it to hear Russian words and then quickly translate into English what the person is saying and make it sound halfway decent because if you translate directly it will sound strange.

A few weeks ago I was translating for our feeding the homeless event. They were giving directions on how to divide the food and the word for divide in russian sounds like ‘delete,’ so I said “we are going to delete the food.’ It was funny, we all laughed, and I realized how sharp I must stay when I am translating, it’s definitely not second nature yet. Language is a crazy thing. 

The second thing that I am really excited to be learning is story writing. I took a couple screen writing classes in film school and I really enjoyed them, but aside from that I haven’t studied the art of story telling. 

One of the main things I am part of right now with our organization is the communications team. We have a newsletter that goes out quarterly and we would like to push that up to once a month eventually. In the newsletter we always share a story about people who have been blessed by goods given by our organization. 

The man who usually writes these stories is a really great writer, but he will be leaving in a few months and won’t be returning. Right now he is teaching me to develop into a better writer through writing stories and trying out different methods, writing from different view points etc. 

It may sound boring to some, but to me it is quite exciting and has really stirred up a passion inside of me for the lives that are being effected through what we do. 

I am so excited about what Papa has had me involved in lately. I am learning such a wide variety of skills here, managing a cafe, baking and developing recipes, writing, translating and so many more life skills.

I could write for days about what I am learning and I will continue to try to share more of it since that is what encourages me and apparently others as well :)