настоящий выходной день

so, normally my weekends are full of activities and running around. But i was pretty beat by the end of this week so i decided to take a break! this video is a result of some of my "relaxation" :)
(Meaning behind the title of this blog: the "word" for weekend - выходной день - is the same as saying day off and the word "настоящий" means real or authentic...get it?)

I can't believe how warm it is today!

As I write this I am wearing a tank top and shorts, my window's open, the sun is shinning and my thermometer reads 16 C (60 F) . . . though I should add – I'm also wearing slippers the heat in the apartment is roaring and that thermometer is in the sun. Last night it didn't get below freezing – we are truly experiencing spring . . . FOR NOW. (That is my disclaimer for when I wake up tomorrow and it's 14 F - like it was just a few days ago).

2 days ago I took a few pictures of our “beautiful” spring, though with today's weather I feel I need to take some more of the flooded streets and the 3 foot deep “sink-holes” in the snow packed walking-paths. My socks were a bit damp after the walk home from school today – after trudging through water and slush.

It was nice of them to start clearing sidewalks . . . the one below is surrounded by 3 foot banks on each side (you forget just how high off the ground you are walking on all that snow)

This area of ground has to have some kind of sewer line under it - for so much snow and ice to melt so much faster then other parts of the road . . .

It's so "exciting" to see just what all is underneath all that snow . . . evidence would show there there are a lot of dogs, drunks and smokers around . . .

S.A.D. (Singleness Awareness Day)

Really, this Valentine's Day didn't feel too S.A.D. at all . . .

On Valentine's Day, the gals from the church had a Devichnik (slumber party). It was held at one girl's parents' house – a 4 story brick home in a gated community, I sure didn't feel like I was in Siberia any more! We eat, talked, sang, talked, did facial masks, talked and slept a little. It was a ton of fun, good language practice and a great time of getting to know the gals from church better.

We talked a lot about marriage and singleness – a subject that comes up VERY often in this circle of women. Knowing that this would be the topic of conversation, I desired to share with them some of what God had been teaching me about His gift of singleness. Though I didn't feel like I was able to share all that my heart wanted to (because of my limited Russian) I was able to share what an encouragement 1 Corinthians 7:25-35 had been to me. Later on that evening, one of the older ladies from the church shared about her marriage and ended up mentioning several of the things that were on my heart earlier but I didn't know how to say – I was so glad she shared!

My prayer for myself and for these awesome gals is that we would use this gift of singleness to have an “undistracted devotion to the Lord” (1 Corinthians 7:35) All in all, it was probably my best S.A.D. ever :)

Nope, we're not talking in Russian - this is my American friend, Rachel that homeschools M.K.'s in the city and occasionally makes it out to our district/suburb

Cinderella, mohawked prince, giant oranges & a girls-night-out

Two weeks ago, I went to my first ballet. I've been wanting to go since I got here but just hadn't found the time. When I saw that "Zoleshka" (Cinderella) was playing I told Jamie we were going, I bought the tickets and we went even though I was feeling under the weather (more like, under the influence of "Russian NyQuile" - see blog "Russian Remedies" for more on that). We went with our friend from church, Lena - which made our girls-night-out a lot of fun. It was ridiculously cheap - 280 rubles ($8) so I'm pretty sure we're going to have to do it again!

As far as the ballet went, it was a bit . . . random! Unfortunately, I couldn't take any pictures during the show to to share this modern ballet with you - complete with interesting costumes, a random chorus line of maids, the ugly step sisters dancing with giant oranges, random characters that where suppose to represent the seasons and a very interesting prince charming (with a Mohawk and a one sleeved "belly-jacket"). Not to mention, that Cinderella doesn't lose her slipper - she actually throws it at prince charming before riding her giant wooden horse with wings off the stage.

If you're ever in town - you should probably check it out :)The Orchestra pit