Осенью в России

Translation: Autumn in Russia

It's that time of year.  As much as I LOVE the sunshine and warmth of summer, there is something about the changing seasons and the start of fall that brings me great joy.  I enjoy having the windows open in the morning, and the chilly morning air blowing in, or walks in the evening when a light jacket or cardigan is needed.  

Unfortunately, I am not able to experience some of my other favorite fall activities.  I desperately want to go to an apple orchard and a pumpkin patch.  One piece of good news, my Russian instructor has a few apple trees at her dacha and for the last few weeks, she has supplied me with bagfuls of apples.  Delicious, crisp, just the perfect size apples.

Since I am always attempting to make our apartment a bit more "homey" I have decided to decorate for the autumn season.  It has proven itself quite difficult, but I am always up for the challenge.  This week, I visited a couple different markets.  Going to the market is like going to a giant garage sale, or flea market.  It is an outdoor setup where multiple people have small stalls, filled with the most random assortment of items.  If you are patient, and enter the experience with an open mind, you can actually have a lot of fun.

My market hunting was successful and now our apartment is ready to welcome the autumn season.  No need to contact Better Homes & Gardens, I will not win any prize for these decorations, unless they have a Russia category.  

A potentially carve-able pumpkin!
He isn't a big, orange pumpkin, and he doesn't know it yet, but when Ryan and I return from Italy, we are carving him!!
Best 55 roubles spent (about $2)!

Beautiful autumn colors.  The flowers were actually purchased a week ago, and are still going strong.  Does anyone know the name of this flower?  It comes in a variety of colors, and lasts forever.

I found this little guy at the market, hiding on a shelf.  I am starting to think the Russians are finding American women (or just me) to be very odd.  I get SO excited over the smallest things.  This pumpkin and the white one brought much celebration.  

Put on your creative caps for this one.
This is actually a potholder.  And going with the tree theme,  the little glass dish reminded me of an acorn!  I actually put coffee beans in the dish with a tea light candle, supposedly the candle heats the coffee beans and gives off a coffee scent.  I have not been very successful with the coffee aroma (yes, I take the lid off the dish).  Any suggestions? 

My little jack-o-lantern at night.  He brings me great joy.  

Once I return from Italy, I will again visit the markets, searching for another pumpkin to carve.  I hope Ryan and I will each have our own, if not, it will be a team effort for the current white one.  Look for future pictures!

Now, if only I could go to Starbuck's and get a pumpkin spiced latte.........

Seize the moment...

Ryan and I have been fortunate enough to have experienced many adventures together.  Even though  he frequently travels for work, it makes our times together that much more memorable.  Ryan is amazing at getting me to test my limits, and try new things.  I love his adventure side.  I never want to look back on life and ask myself, "What if....", or say, "I wish I would have...." With Ryan, I don't have to worry about that, I have my adventure partner, and what an adventure we have had thus far....

Recently, Ryan and I were discussing some future travel plans.  We were thinking about trips that we want to take while it is still the two of us (I am NOT pregnant).  As we listed off places we would love to visit, we also talked about things (adventures) we want to achieve.  I mentioned the idea of a "Bucket List" but I really hate the term.  It's not like we are kicking the bucket anytime soon, I want it to be a list of things we have achieved in our lives.  Ryan came up with "Seize the moment" list.  PERFECT!  It will be our "list" of opportunities we did not let pass us by, we seized the moment, and experienced everything that was offered.  This rings especially true for our travels.  We have the opportunity to travel to such an extensive variety of destinations, and I never want to travel somewhere and sit, I want to experience what that country, city, destination has to offer.  I want to look back on our years and say, "I can't believe I did that...." or "That was such an amazing experience...."  I want to live life fully.

Here is our "list" of moments we have seized thus far:

*Skydiving (Texas)

*Riding a camel (Egypt)

*Riding an elephant (Thailand)

*Riding/owning a motorcycle (Indiana/Texas)

*Tasting Black Pudding (never to be repeated) (Scotland)

*Hot Air Balloon Ride (Egypt)

*Scuba Diving (I never made it out of the pool, but at least I gave it a try.  Ryan is now certified!) (Egypt and French Polynesia)

*Exploring underground, cave river (Mexico)

*White Water Rafting (still not sure I will ever try it again) (Costa Rica)

*Boat ride among all the big ships along the Panama Canal (Panama)

*Snowboarding (my first attempt. Ryan is a pro) (Utah)

*Climbing in a pyramid (Egypt)

*All the countries we have visited, filling our Passports.

*Riding World's Fastest Roller coaster (Abu Dhabi)

*Going to the top of the World's Tallest Building (Dubai)

*Rock Climbing (nothing extensive, but I did have to wear the gear, so it counts) (Bora Bora)

*Swimming with sharks (Ryan did this, I walked among them in shallow water) (Rangiroa)

*LIVING IN RUSSIA (a gift (adventure) that keeps on giving the whole year) (name that movie!) :)

I am sure I forgot things, but ultimately, and most importantly, it is not complete.  We have many opportunities (some we know of, some we don't) in our future.

With that said, I will not begin to discuss our future travel plans, though I am so excited for what next year's travels will bring.  I know, I know, it's only September, soon to be October, and we are already thinking about next year.  Next year (fingers crossed) will be an incredible opportunity to add "seize the moment" experiences to our list.  We already have one trip planned, I will not share that with you yet (Mom, I know you already figured it out and have expressed your concerns).  Just be warned, we have a few "big" adventures up our sleeve.  :)

Even when Ryan is away, and I miss him dearly, I can reflect on our experiences together, or daydream about future experiences, and it makes our time apart less lonely.  Because I know, when we are together, there is no stopping this adventure pair.  I love every moment spent together, and I am so excited to see what future "seize the moment" opportunities come our way.

What is life if we simply live to survive each day?  

What happens when we begin to truly live?  

Regardless of magnitude, seize each moment, 

embrace the enjoyable and conquer the difficult.  

Create a life you have not only survived, but lived......fully.  

Sloppy Steak Dinner

I don't cook when Ryan is gone.  As much as I enjoy cooking, I don't see the point when it is only me eating.  Luckily, I have found a reasonable cottage cheese, and at least one meal a day consists of cottage cheese, cucumbers, and tomatoes.  I was thinking about this earlier today.  How did I survive without cottage cheese?  I have yet to have a popcorn and wine dinner, but I still have a week left. :)

This dinner was cooked prior to Ryan's departure, I believe the weekend before.  I had the urge to make sloppy joes, but I wasn't in the mood for my go-to recipe.  I decided to do some research and found a new recipe which used steak seasoning as one of the ingredients.  It sounded good, and I had steak seasoning in the cabinet (brought from the States).  I wasn't in the mood to make buns, nor did I want to have to trek all over the city looking for acceptable buns, so I decided to play up the "steak" dinner and served the sloppy joe mix over baked potatoes.  AND, since a steak is not complete without the sautéed mushroom and onions, I added those to the meal too.  A nice side salad, and the sloppy steak dinner was complete.

Mushrooms and onions ready for the stove. 

Prepping potatoes for the oven. 

Sauce components.  The recipe only called for red bell pepper and onions, but in my constant attempt to add more veggies, I added orange and yellow bell peppers and shredded carrots.  

So excited to have baked potatoes!  I finally found a decent sized, baking potato.  

  I always keep fresh veggies cleaned and chopped in our refrigerator.  This evening I decided to just set all the containers out, and make a salad bar. 

Love all the colors.  

Your dinner is served.  Highly recommend this tasty meal.  

I have found my new favorite sloppy joe recipe.  The recipe was a more well-rounded flavor, not your typical spicy/sweet combination, I like to say it had more "depth" to it.  Our dinner table will see this recipe again.

I have said it before, and I'll say it again.  I need to develop an expat wive's cookbook.  Maybe with all the pictures I am taking, I will actually get around to creating it some day.  :)  I have been doing a lot of photo books on Shutterfly recently, hmmm.....this may be my winter in Novo project.  :)

Date Night(s)

During Ryan's business trips, when I remain in Novorossiysk, the weekends are the toughest and loneliest.  I still do my normal, daily gym visit, and usually try to find something to occupy my afternoon time. Yesterday, I scheduled a hair cut (I love it).  But the weekends, are the days Ryan and I get to spend the majority of our time together.  His weeks are unpredictable, busy, and filled with work related obligations.  The weekends are his days to get in his workouts, get his adrenaline fix with mountain biking, and spend time with me.

Last weekend was especially nice.  We planned a Date Night.  He had heard of a hotel in Gelendzhik (Kempinski) and recently, a Chevron wife sent an email reminding us of this hotel and the restaurants.  Since I was in desperately in need of getting away from Novorossisyk (if only for a few hours), Ryan made reservations.  Date Night was scheduled, I was excited!

Any Novorossiysk expats reading this, I would recommend this hotel if you are able to sit outside.  The balcony table provided a nice view (nice sunset), and the tables are situated so you have a lot of privacy.  The waiters speak a little bit of English, and the menu is in both Russian and English (yay).  

Major downside, the hour and forty-five minute drive to get there.  

View from our table.  

Probably the best (and only) thing about having a driver.  No worries about ordering a bottle of wine, you don't have to drive.  

I wish I would have brought the better camera.
The blur on the left is an airplane taking off from the nearby airport. 

 

Saturday night Date Night was a success!  The only thing I wasn't able to fulfill, my craving for sushi.  So, one evening after work, Ryan and I had another Date Night.  He walked from work, I walked from the apartment, and we met at a nearby sushi restaurant.

I am looking forward to Ryan's return from the States, and meeting him in Moscow.  Our upcoming trip to Italy is much needed, and there will be many Date Night dinners and lots of quality time spent together.  :)

Our next R&R....

I am in my seventh straight week in Russia, with 2 more weeks to go.  My travel itch needs some major scratching, or possibly medication.  It was briefly mentioned in my previous post; Ryan and I leave from Moscow for our R&R in exactly 2 weeks.

I do not go to the pharmacy for travel itch or seek the help of our company doctor.  No, I turn to this lovely book.....

This book provided countless hours of entertainment during our frequent power outages during the month of August.  It is a wise friend, one that provides interesting facts, best time to visit, local phrases, foods, etc. for every country in the World!  Our trip to Egypt, last November was inspired by this book.  We knew our second R&R was scheduled for November.  I browsed the pages to see what countries were the best to visit in November.  Our Honeymoon destination was also selected with the help of this book.  I knew I wanted to go somewhere warm, I began flipping through the pages, looking for warm destinations.  Hello, French Polynesia!  I always wanted to see Tahiti and Bora Bora, AND July was a good month to go.

Now that I think about it, this book doesn't reduce, but rather, it increases my travel itch.  It doesn't matter, I am willing to deal with any potential side effects.  I LOVE this book!

Back to the upcoming R&R.  Two clues:

Recently viewed and/or purchased movies.  

Current computer screen saver.  

Any guesses!?!?!

Two pages from my wise friend, the Travel Book......

We are going to ITALY!!!!!  

Ryan worked with a travel agent to plan our amazing Honeymoon, so I was in charge of our next (this) trip.  I channeled my inner travel agent and made us a fantastic travel itinerary.  

Small side note, even when I am in charge of planning a trip, Ryan is still in charge of all plane tickets and hotel reservations.  I DO NOT even attempt to tackle those tasks.  

He's the plane and hotel whisperer.  :)

Destinations include:

Naples

Pompeii & Mount Vesuvius

Amalfi Coast

Rome

Venice

We went back and forth between heading south to Naples, Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast or north to Florence and Pisa.  It was decided Florence, Cinque Terre, and Tuscany would be saved for a return trip to Italy.

Two weeks cannot pass fast enough, but once we land in Rome, Oct. 5th, time can stop.  

A farewell dinner...

The title may sound somber, but the evening was actually pleasant.  Yesterday, Ryan left for Moscow.  Today, (currently) he is flying somewhere over the Atlantic, en route to Houston.  Your immediate question may be: Why are you blogging and not on the airplane with him!?!?!  Great question, one I have asked myself numerous times yesterday and today.  

Originally, I had planned to join Ryan in Houston, but a few circumstances led me to stay in Russia.  First, I would only be going for about a week, with no trip home to the Midwest.  If I am going to spend that much time traveling and with the cost of the ticket, it is much more reasonable to stay in the States for an extended period. Second, many of our closest friends have moved away from Houston.  Chevron is sending people all over the place. :)  Third, Ryan is staying in the Woodlands, so my downtown shopping adventures would not be as easily accessible while he is at work.  Fourth, after leaving Houston, Ryan will spend the next week in Moscow, prior to our R&R departure.  I have no desire to spend an entire week in Moscow.  Fifth, I may have temporarily lost my mind at the time of our decision, but I guess it's only fair for Ryan to make a trip to the States without me.  Since our move to Russia, I have been very fortunate to spend much more time in the States than Ryan.

Be prepared for emotional, endless rambling the next couple weeks.  I have a tendency to blog extensively during Ryan's absences, AND since he will be gone for over 2 weeks, AND since I am bummed that I am here in Russia instead of the States, the rambling posts are only going to be more frequent.  :)

The light at the end of the tunnel......in 2 weeks I will join Ryan in Moscow prior to our R&R departure!!!!!  SO EXCITED!

Also, I made a "small" Kate Spade purchase online and had it shipped to Ryan's hotel.  It has been something I have wanted for a long time and Ryan told me to order it this morning.  I think he could tell I was upset he was leaving.  Fingers crossed it arrives before he leaves.  What?  A bit of retail therapy ALWAYS makes a girl feel better!

So I warned you about the endless rambling.  If you have made it this far in the post then congratulations!  Now, back to the dinner.  With weeks in Houston, Moscow, R&R, and Moscow again, Ryan will be out of our apartment for a month.  I had to send him off with a delicious, home cooked meal!

No farewell dinner is acceptable unless it has a delicious dessert.   I found a "from scratch" version of the "No Pudge" brownies.  

Ok, I added some pudge, a bit of crumbled chocolate pieces.  

Now for the meal.  Chicken Autumn Stew was on the menu.
The carrots, onions and celery are in bags because I planned ahead and chopped them earlier that morning before leaving for the gym.  I was going to have a busy day with my daily gym visit, lunch date (with Ryan), errands, and Russian lessons.  

Beautiful brownies.
I did not feel guilty for eating these.  No oil or butter and they were super delicious.  

I have been trying (and pretty successfully) to cut out bread in our meals.  I am not a huge bread fan to begin with, so it is easy for me.  But, a stew needs a friend, and bread is it's best friend.  I thought I would go "easy" and be adventurous, trying some pre made freezer dough.  

Your dinner is served.  The stew turned out to be really delicious.  I love the smell of rosemary and it added great flavor.  Also, the apples added a lovely sweetness.  Ryan was a HUGE fan of the cheddar, rosemary and garlic rolls.  It isn't noticeable in the picture, but the rolls made perfect sponges for the broth.

We dined on this meal for dinner and the next day for lunch, prior to his departure.