No checked baggages...

I felt this accomplishment deserved sufficient documentation.  I could simply tell people about my accomplishment, but I know my story would not be taken seriously.

I, Virginia, will be traveling for longer than an overnight stay and bringing only a carry on.  


Now this may not seem like a monumental accomplishment for the average traveller, but this is personally significant.  I depart for Bangkok today (Wednesday) and return Tuesday.

I am using Ryan's silver carry on and as always, my handy-dandy backpack (I take my backpack on all trips).    The gray thing on the side of my backpack is my travel pillow.  Macy always gets a bit flustered when we start packing and she was getting a bit more nervous when I moved my bags by the door. 

Next stop: Bangkok!

Our finished apartment!

Allow me to begin with an apology.  I apologize for the delay of this post.  I realize it has been months since our air and sea shipments have arrived.

I took a lot of pictures and I typed some long captions, but it is hard to give a "tour" of your apartment in photos.  I truly wish I could have family and friends visit, but this photo tour will be the best I can offer.

Welcome to our apartment! 

Day 200!

The little day counter I have on my iPod says that today is the 200th day since our move to Russia!  Wow, time is flying, I think the last time I did a "day count" posting was back at day 100.

I can't say life in Russia is overly exciting, but we find various ways to stay busy or entertained.  Luckily, Ryan travels a lot for training so we have been very fortunate to have numerous trips during our stay, along with vacations and R&Rs.  Plus, when I think of it, I have also spent time back in the States.  I am curious (but will probably not calculate the exact number) how many days I have actually spent in Russia since our move.

In the past 200 days, Ryan and I have discussed and decided that being away from our friends in the States is probably one of the hardest adjustments.  Before we moved to Russia, we were living in Houston and even during my short ( 9 months) stay I was able to meet such a great group of people.  Ryan and I really miss just the simple "hanging out" with friends, whether it's at someone's house, out on the lake, going out for dinner or to a bar.  We miss our friends network.

Okay, okay, enough with that.  Since a post just isn't a visually entertaining post without photos, I found some pictures on my camera from various ways we have entertained ourselves recently.

We had Dasha and Charity over for dinner, I made fajitas (woot woot for Mexican food in Russia!).   They are both working on the CPC project.  Dasha is originally from Russia and Charity is from Michigan.  

Yet another form of torture for Miss Macy.  Numerous snorts and tears came out of me during this latest trick.  Ryan stuffed her toy under her collar so she couldn't reach it with her mouth.  The funny part was that the toy had a squeaker, so every time she turned her head it squeaked and reminded her it was still stuck.  She looked as if she was having a small seizure, but after a good amount of laughing, Ryan finally helped her a bit and she got it loose.  We were both very impressed with her techniques, one included rubbing her neck along the carpet, to move the toy closer to her mouth.  

Cooking!  It's what I do. :)  Dinner for this night was my mother's "chicken 'n' noodles" Russian style.  I have yet to find cream of mushroom soup so our version was 'lighter' and I am not satisfied with the available celery so I substituted with frozen peas.  We also spice it up with Tabasco sauce. :)  Either way, it was delicious!  Served with rosemary cheddar muffins and a cold glass of cider. 

How does Macy entertain herself?  She sits on her thrown!   She likes to relax and recovery between Ryan's tricks. :)
P.S. Phil & Diane, I think she learned how to sit from Roxy. :)  They must have spent too much time together before our move.

Awaiting our next adventure(s).....

Ryan came home at lunch today and packed for his next trip.  He leaves today for Moscow and Saturday he leaves from Moscow and flies to Bangkok, Thailand for 2 weeks of training.  This would leave me two and a half weeks with no hubby.  We decided that since he has 2 weeks of training with a weekend in between, I should fly out to do some weekend sightseeing.  So, this "trailing spouse" will be packing her bags next week and flying out Wednesday (arriving Thursday) and staying until Monday.  I have been doing some online research and have found many things I want to see and do.

My excitement for this trip to Bangkok only intensified when I saw this article on MSNBC website yesterday.  :)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44441366/ns/travel-destination_travel/#.TnnBjOt2m18

If you noticed in the title of this blog, I put an s in parenthesis, that is because this past week, we also booked our second R&R for the year.  We will be going to EGYPT!!!  In November, we will be spending a week touring various areas of Egypt.  Destinations include, Cairo, Luxor and Sharm el Sheikh.

Stay tuned for photos from Bangkok.  I know it is currently rainy season, but I have heard the rain does not last all day.  Either way, my rain boots are packed! :)

Such a Domestic Diva...

I have always been a fan of cooking and baking and since our move to Russia (just over 6 MONTHS ago!!!) I have definitely taken full advantage of my extra time to try new recipes and creations.  If I may add, Ryan is a pretty lucky lad to be married to such a domestic diva.  :)

I have discovered that cooking in Russia is somewhat comparable to a "sport".  You must be prepared both physically and mentally, while remaining focused to practice, practice, practice.  It takes a good amount of physical skill to maneuver through the store, including, but not limited to, controlling the cart (and getting an amazing oblique workout), to avoiding other patrons' carts and employees in forklifts.  Mentally, you have to always be in the game.  Case in point, everyone speaks Russian!  Granted, I am slowly, but steadily learning more and more Russian, but it is still mentally exhausting to communicate while running errands.  It is also difficult to understand some package labeling or instructions.  Third, practice makes "perfect".  It is no longer expected that I will be able to walk into one place and be able to find all ingredients I need to prepare dinner.  It takes practice (and patience) to learn what places offer which products and how many stores I will need to visit before my shopping list is completed, or completed to the best of my ability.

In all seriousness, cooking takes so much more time and effort in Russia than in the States, but luckily I have plenty of time and I actually have come to enjoy the "sport". :)  I have also discovered a lovely website that provides incredible substitutions for cooking items.  Many items are not available here, so I have learned to substitute.

For your viewing pleasure, I have snapped a couple photos of some recent dinners.

Sweet and tangy pulled chicken on lettuce wraps.  In honor of our recent trip to Greece, a Greek Salad.  Since we saved calories using lettuce wraps instead of bread for the pulled chicken, for dessert, Cinnamon Roll cookies!  The cookies were fantastic, but took almost 4 hours to make!

Southwest Goulash.  I found fresh cilantro which was super tasty!  Ryan claimed it was chili, but I responded with chili has beans and no noodles.  We "discussed" this issue for a great deal of time and finally agreed to disagree.  The final remark of our discussion came from me, "Honey, I cooked it so I can call it whatever I want. It's goulash!" 

Cuteness update

Our recent trip to Greece and all the accompanying photos have seem to overrun our blog.  I believe it is necessary to update everyone on the unbelievably cute, Macy! :)  After our return flight from Greece,  Ryan and I stopped at the Krasnodar mall.  We decided it was appropriate to bring treats back for Macy.  Lately, she has become quite the extreme chewer.  She does not does viciously attack her toys, but if her tooth catches a seam and stuffing is exposed, she cannot resist.  Macy has effectively "killed" all her stuffed toys.  Sadly, for me, I am no longer able to buy her the "cute" toys but must now buy her the "practical" toys.  I look for toys labeled "indestructible" or for "extreme chewers." :(

Enough with the ramblings, here are some recent photos.

Hi punkin! 

What do you do on a quiet, boring night?  Peanut butter in Macy's toy?  Fantastic idea.  

Intense concentration.

It does not matter how many times we do this.  It NEVER gets old. 

She NEVER cares that we are laughing at her expense. 

Persistent puppy, 10 minutes later.

Next stop...Santorini.

The sunsets of Santorini did not disappoint.  Ryan and I both greatly enjoyed Santorini and would say it was our favorite island.  It is definitely a different feeling of relaxation.  We loved our Catamaran tour of the island.  We also enjoyed exploring the different color beaches, Red, White and Black.  The beaches were formed from various volcanic rocks.

Again, I will let the photos speak for themselves.

Santorini