An act of kindness

Living in a foreign country is never boring...never! lol :) I have been purposely hit with a cart to make me go faster. I've been physically pushed for a reason I'll never know. (That one wasn't in Russia) If I had a nickel for everyone that has rolled their eyes at me or gotten flustered with my ignorance or misunderstanding of something...well, you get the idea! :) In this big city of Moscow, where people prefer to mind their own business, public travel is always very quiet. (unless there's a drunk around) The bus or metro can be filled with people, but no one will talk. They all sit in silence. Some are sleeping, some are reading, some are listening to music, while others are just simply staring at their lap or the door. It always amazes how quiet everyone is. I'm describing some of this to you because something happened the other day that I did not expect! A lady didn't quite make it onto the metro car before the door slammed. Honestly I'm not exactly sure how she managed it, but she got her food stuck in the door.

I took a picture thinking that's a bad day in the metro, that poor lady lost her whole bag of food! What happened next was just sweet. The man whose hand you can see grabbed the food as we came to a stop. The doors opened and he got off and just waited. This was our stop as well and we decided to stop and see what would happen. :) When the next tram came to a stop, the lady got out and there was her food waiting for her! This nice man took time out of his day to help her out. She thanked him and gave him something from her bag. I was so touched, and the Russian lady with me was shocked! I'm glad that there are still kind people who think of others with no goal of personal gain. In a cold country, based in the largest city of that country, a little kindness goes a long way to warm a heart! 

Bolshoi Theater

Moscow never ceases to amaze me with it's beautiful buildings and rich history. I was able to experience some of that last night with my sister-in-law Hannah and Sasha, who is a friend of Hannah. It has been Hannah's desire since she was 10 years old to visit the Bolshoi Theater. Well, for her birthday yesterday this finally came true. It really is a once in a lifetime type of experience. Tickets are not cheap, but for a one time experience at this amazing theater it was doable. I would send to the Wikipedia page about this, but much of information is outdated and incorrect. They recently did a massive and very expensive renovation on the theater. They did an incredible job and the beauty of the theater seriously took my breath away. Everything was exquisitely ornate with great attention to detail. I couldn't take as many picture as I would have liked to due to restrictions on camera use. The pictures that I did take hardly portray the real beauty of it all. So here are a few pictures from our memorable night!

This is in front of the Bolshoi Theater.

The beautiful views from in front of the Bolshoi!

TsUM (department store)

Dropping our coats off at the cloakroom.

The ticket to pick up my coat after the performance. :) I thought this was just fun!

My binoculars to see the performance. :) I thought these were worth it to rent. It is a bit difficult to see details from the balcony.

The inside! GORGEOUS!!!!

The live orchestra was amazing! 

Me with the birthday girl! :)

A morning chat...

It is a quiet morning for me as I sit here drinking mint green tea. (It's so good! Thanks mom and dad for the great idea!) My hubs isn't feeling too well, so he's still sleeping. There's been some pretty nasty flu bugs floating around Russia this winter. One missionary south of us had a healthy, active man in his church pass away from this bug. Another missionary in Siberia was very ill for weeks. Praise the Lord he is doing better. One man in our church got very sick, but he is also doing better. Our family has stayed well, and for that we are quite thankful. It makes me thankful for the prayers of others! Oh how missionaries need your prayers!  I must admit when my hubs woke up this morning and told me he had a sore throat and didn't feel well at all, my heart sank a little. Prayerfully, it's just a little bug that his body will fight quickly and easily.

It is considered springtime already here in Russia. It may not look like it or feel like it compared to growing up in Kansas, but our calendar says it to be so! :) March 1 is considered the beginning of spring here. It's very interesting. There are 12 months and four seasons so each season gets 3 months. Plain and simple...:)  There are still a few feet of snow on the ground, and I will admit that I'm excited to see the ground again! Moscow received record amounts of snow this year, but despite the inconvenience it really is beautiful! Snow can be wet, cold and make travel (especially by foot) a bit troublesome, but I'm still not over the incredible beauty of it!

We have a girl here visiting from Southern California. Yes, a Southern California girl in Russia! :) Some of you may know her. Her name is Jennifer Dunlop, and her dad is a pastor. She is teaching English in Moscow, and enjoying many new experiences! :) She is a talented photographer as well. I think she has captured the beauty of winter in Russia quite well so I thought I would share some of it with you. Enjoy the pictures, and I hope you all have a delightful day! :)

This is in our city of Domodedovo.

This is the forest behind our house. It's beautiful in every season!

I absolutely love all the birch trees! 

This is front of our house. Lots and lots of snow! :)

This is a site I rarely see. We don't make it to this part of Moscow very often. That is the Moscow river full of sheets of ice.

I had to throw this one in there. This is a great picture of old and new Moscow. The smaller buildings are very old apartment buildings from back during communism. The very cool looking blue building in the back is a newer apartment.

Meet Millie

I have always loved rabbits. When I was 5 years old, my parents gave me an adorable grey, floppy-eared rabbit and I've loved rabbits ever since. I've had a few rabbits since then and they have become a favorite pet for me. It sounds a little silly perhaps. They don't do any cool tricks, although some have been masterminds at escaping. They aren't good protectors, but I do love coming home and being greeted with happy hops and a few quick sprints around my legs. They are just sweet, adorable creatures with cute little noes and long ears...how can anyone not melt in that cuteness!

For the last year we have been looking and considering getting a rabbit. It was very difficult (since we were having to leave every 3 months for visas) to have a pet with our strange schedule. Since things have calmed down a bit, and we have been blessed with 3 year visas, it seemed a good time to get a pet. We enjoy going to the pet store and just looking at the cute animals they have. A couple of days ago we were doing just that, and the cutest little baby bunny grabbed my attention. It's soft, grey body and long, floppy ears instantly won my heart. It looked so much like my first rabbit! I knew right away she was perfect for us! So here she is...Millie, the new addition to our household! :)

She's enjoying a snack from the pet store. Just look at that adorableness!! :)

Decorated chocolate bars

One of my favorite past times is crafting. My favorite kind of crafting is anything that includes card stock, ribbon, and a rubber stamp! I shipped some of my craft stuff over in boxes and brought the rest in suitcases. I couldn't bring everything, but I'm pretty excited about what I have. All of my craft stuff has been packed away in storage with my parents for over 3 years. One of the great things about having things packed away for a long time, is that feeling of excitement when you open it up and remember all the fun things you forgot about. I have slowly been bringing over some of the our things in suitcases. It has worked well since we were having to leave every 3 months.

Let the fun begin!

If any of you all are also fans of rubber stamping, you might notice I love Stampin' Up! I got into stamping with my mom when I was 12 years old. That was 17 years ago!! ...OK...now you all know how old I am...Today I decorated some chocolates for the ladies at church. March 8 is Women's Day, and we'll be handing out a gift to all the girls. Women's Day is great! It's like Valentine's Day and Mother's Day all wrapped up into one wonderful day! :) 

Every good idea starts with chocolate!! 

With some card stock, ribbon and a flower punch...

And this is what the chocolates look like now! So I just realized that my camera cord made it into the picture! haha I guess my photography skills could use some work! :)

Ladies' Meeting

So I believe it has been about 2 months since I did a post. Well, I'm back now and ready to share with you once again the fun, adventures and blessings of being a missionary in Russia! We are back now with 3 year visas! Praise the Lord!!!! Now we just have to hop over the border every 6 months. Since we are located on the western edge of Russia, this will not be difficult for us and MUCH cheaper and faster than having to return stateside every 3 months.

We returned to our beautiful, white covered Russia last Thursday. Friday I was blessed to be a part of our first ladies' meeting since I have been here. It was so much fun, and we had a great turnout! :) Praise the Lord! We decorated frames, and my mother-in-law gave a wonderful devotion on the choices we make and how they affect our lives. She used the object lesson of the choices we had made to decorate our frames.

Homemade Ornaments

For Christmas this year, I made ornaments for each family in the church. I found the idea on Pinterest. It worked so well, I decided to share it on my blog. Other than the cooking part, this is a GREAT craft for kiddos. Here is the recipe for the dough:

1 Box of Baking Soda (about 2 cups)
1 Cup of Starch ( I used potato starch because that is all I could find here)
1 1/2 Cups of Water

Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring consistently, until it is too thick to stir with a spoon. Cool for 15 minutes, or until the dough is cool enough to touch. Knead it for about 5 minutes, or until smooth.

The dough is a rubbery consistency, and I found it very easy to work with. After you mold it into what you desire, allow at least 2 days to dry. If it is thick, it will take several days. It can be painted with acrylic paint. Happy crafting! :)