Week in Review

I have always known that I was not the type to scrapbook, update, and such.  But I did think I would get a little bit better at moving away and not working.  Well I was wrong, very wrong.  That talent was definitely passed to my other siblings.  Last week was a busy week.  It was a good week just busy.

Owen and I had a play date on Tuesday.  Lisa and her 10 month old son, Cayden, came over.  They have been gone for too long in the US by this point.  I was missing my friend and Owen missing his.  Cayden is a very active crawler and Owen is a very active walker, so they hit it off.  Owen was showing Cayden how to crawl under the table and over the chairs, up the stairs, and around the house, not to mention how to pull all the food out of the refrigerator and the cabinets.  I am sure Lisa was thrilled with all of Cayden's new tricks.  Owen plays with other kids, but that is the first time I have really seen him interact with another kid.  They were talking to each other and playing.  It was great.

Look Owen, I got into the cabinet!

And this is how you chew on cords

This is to keep us out of cabinets, but I play with it instead.  Why don't you try it?  Nothing can keep me out.

I think I will!  Thanks Owen!

Wednesday, Owen and I went bowling with the SSA (Schlumberger Spouses Association).  That was quite fun too.  Owen loved all the bright colored balls and kept trying to be the ball down the lane.  And even with him I still managed to bowl over 100.  We had a nice lunch and Owen ate a fair share of cheese pizza.  He missed his nap this day and only napped for about 30 minutes.  I learned he is not cranky when he misses a nap but quite hyper.  Which can be quite tiring on me.

Thursday, Owen and I went to the IWC (International Women's Committee) membership meeting at the Finland Embassy.  It was their sign up day for interest groups and my Bible Study leader asked if I would help her out while she was out of the country.  Sure why not.  Owen played in the playroom with the other kids and was the perfect little gentleman.  They said he shared his snacks and emptied all the draws. That would be my boy.  Me on the other hand am not sure what I was doing.  Obviously telling a point.  :)

Friday, was the weekly play group.  It was small group of all boys at play group this week.  It was quite nice.  Owen made a new friend that was around 2 1/2.  They seemed to follow each other everywhere. At the same time Owen helped Kim clean her house with the broom and dustpan.  He seems to love this toy anywhere he is.  And then Friday night David and I went to the IWC Embassy Ball.  It was quite fun.

We went and ate at the Switzerland Embassy and then headed to the Ritz Carlton.  It was the first time David and I have really been out in a long time.  Isn't he dapper in his tux!?!

So now I am nearly through with this week and will hopefully start blogging a bit better from here on out.  I guess we'll see.

Baby It's Cold Outside

Well the sub-artic temperatures have arrived.  From what everybody says it has been an unusually warm winter.  When we left in December to head back to Arkansas it was in the mid 20s here.  We got back with it being in the mid teens.  Still not too bad.  Then this past week it hit. It has been in the negative teens.  That just sounds wrong.  Weather should not go to negative numbers.  That is too cold!

Before I moved here and was completely uneducated about Russia I had the vision of cold miserable days with snow swirling around me and under foot.  Then I moved here in the summer and was in shock.  And then winter came and it didn't seem so bad.  Well last Thursday was the vision in action.  I think it was -12 that day.  I do talk in Fahrenheit.  I am a little fuzzy on Celsius and most of the people that read this already think in Fahrenheit.  So we will keep it that way.  Plus talking in Celsius just makes it seems colder.  -12 F is  -24 C.   That is an even bigger negative number.  So we will stick with F for now.

Anyway, the day was cold and slightly miserable, but did that stop Owen and I from braving it.  NO!  Owen and I went to the mall to have lunch with David on his birthday.  The Russians don't let the cold stop them, so why should I.  The only problem is that the Muscovites are much more used to the cold so they do a casual stroll.  I on the other hand am practically running.  And mind you I have the stroller in front of me, so I am clipping these arm in arm snugglers, yelling excuse me "извините" the whole way.  So when I get to my destination my face is frozen solid and my legs are numb but I am sweating under my coat, scarf, gloves, and hat.  And not to mention that buildings here are overheated so I am in short sleeves.  And Owen is cozy and warm in his snowsuit.  First thing we do when we get to the mall or anywhere is to take off the outerwear and do a combination of thaw and melt.

Then Friday came and Owen and I are gearing up for baby group at my friend Katherine's.  It is not far from me and I walked there last time.  So I thought if the number is positive I will walk again.  I would have even taken the number 0 for positive, but no as I leave the house the temperature is -13.  I mean seriously!  So I took the metro which was an experience as always.  I don't know if the holidays or the weather made people more grouchy but they are not helping the way they did before.  And then the exit gates at the metro stop I took didn't have a wide turnstile for me so I had to take Owen out of the stroller and fold up the stroller to get through then pop it back open to put Owen in.  Just another normal day in Moscow.

But yesterday was by far the coldest day for me.  I was just asking David the temp yesterday and he said it wasn't the coldest day we had but it sure did feel like it.  I don't know why but I was cold all day.  Even to the point, that today I go out and think that it is not too bad and fairly warm at -2.  What is wrong with me!?!

So, who's ready to come visit?

Someone's in the kitchen

There is this recipe I found on Pinterest that I have been wanting to try, so two days ago I decided to cook it.  Well it turned out I did not have enough chicken, so last minute I decided to make chicken fried rice.  For me to last minute decide and whip something up is a shock.  There is no other word for it.  So yesterday I went to the store and got some chicken.  Knowing I wanted to make this dish, crispy cheddar chicken, I went to 2 different stores earlier in the week to get all my ingredients.  The hardest for me to find was cheddar cheese.  Last resort I would have pulled out the gouda again or maybe edam.  But alas I did find the cheddar.  Here is the link to the recipe,
http://jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com/2011/10/crispy-cheddar-chicken.html

I started cooking at 4:30 while Owen was asleep.  It does not take long to prep this meal, so I was done in no time.  I didn't follow the measurements exactly since I am only cooking for two and knew I did not need a lot of chicken.  David is not big on left overs so less is better here.  I did have a hard time making the cheese and ritz cracker stick with just milk.  I am not sure of a better method here.  The only substitution I made was for the sauce.  I can't find cream of chicken soup here, nor cream of celery this week, so instead I used cream of mushroom.  David made no comment on this, so far so good.

I also decided to make a potato recipe that I found on Pinterest.  Cheese and Bacon potato rounds.
http://allrecipes.com/Cook/11770279/Photo.aspx?photoID=592510

This turned out quite successful too.  Maybe a little crispy.  Of course for this I had a little problem with the bacon.  I bought bacon and then had to second guess myself but it was super thin.  It worked all the same but it is not the bacon I care for.  Oh Petit Jean meat how I do miss you.  Even Oscar Meyer.

A can of green beans and we had a complete meal.

Owen even helped in the end with cleaning up :)  All in all a successful meal.  Who is this?  Abby doesn't cook!  And soon I might even remember to take pictures so you can see the end result.  

Abby's Mexican Casserole

Today I decided to cook.  This is really the first time that I have cooked since we moved here.  When I say cook I mean looked up a recipe and made something new.  I usually make spaghetti or stroganoff.  Something easy.  One main reason I have not been cooking here is that the recipes I am used to involve ingredients I cannot get here in Moscow, particularly Rotel.  I have learned I rely on rotel way too much.  So here I am venturing into something new in my tiny kitchen.

The first thing I did was go onto Pinterest and look through all the recipes I have been pinning thinking someday I will make these and they are not just on here for looks.  Well that someday came.  I had to think about the ingredients I had on hand.  There is no running to the store to get what I need.  The market is not far but there is a good chance it will not have what I want and I did not want to have to bundle Owen and myself to go check.  Yes that would be laziness!  After looking through all the pins I decided on Paula Deen's Mexican Chicken Casserole.  I knew I didn't have all the ingredients but figured I could substitute a bit here and there.  This is a scary thought for me.  I am one to follow the directions when cooking step by step and I am definitely not knowledgeable enough to know what to sub in.  And then to top it off I am messing with Paula Deen's recipe.  But here I go anyway.  (Disclaimer:  for anybody reading this, I followed the recipe exactly and did not substitute.  David gets a bit scared when I cook in the first place so as he is concerned I followed Paula Deen.)

Here is the original recipe:
http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/recipe_view/mexican_chicken/

Servings: 8 servings 
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 30 min
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients Add to grocery list

1 10 3/4 -ounce can cream of chicken soup
1 10 3/4 -ounce can cheddar cheese soup
1 10 3/4 -ounce can cream of mushroom soup
1 10-ounce can tomatoes
1 whole chicken, cooked, boned, and chopped or 4 cups leftover cooked chicken
11 1/2-ounce package flour tortillas
2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, stir together the three kinds of soup and the tomatoes. Stir in the chicken.

In a greased 13 x 9- inch pan, layer the tortillas and the chicken mixture, beginning and ending with tortillas. Sprinkle the cheese over the casserole and bake for 30 minutes.

Here is what I actually used:

1 can of cream of celery (no cream of ckn here)

1 can of cheddar cheese soup

1 can of kidney beans

Almost a whole box of chopped tomatoes

1 package of taco seasoning

chicken

tortillas

sliced gouda cheese

Now I am sure after you read my list of ingredients you have to think this is the most disgusting dish ever.  Oh but it was quite yummy.  I thought I had cream of mushroom but did not so I decided to add kidney beans.  Because we all know kidney beans and cream of mushroom soup are the same thing.  The food was lacking a bit of flavor so before I added the tomatoes I thought long and hard about using one of my precious cans of rotel, but as I am hoarding them for cheese dip and tacos I decided against it.  So instead I went forward with the chopped tomatoes and added a package of taco seasoning.  This seemed to do the trick.  But mind you for all the people in the US, particularly in the south, rotel would have been all that you needed.  After boiling my chicken and stirring it all together I added it to the casserole dish as instructed.  I did debate about using tortilla chips instead.  I did not but will next time.  It was hard for us to cut the tortilla.  I did not have cheddar cheese and since I am saving the velveeta for cheese dip I decided to use my gouda cheese slices.  Yes I am sure you think this could not possibly be good but I have substituted gouda for many things here and it worked.  

So all in all I can say that I probably created my own dish and Paula Deen was just an inspiration.  So I guess now I can call this Abby's Mexican Casserole.  Of course it will never be repinned or reused because if you go by reading alone you would never add these ingredients.  But taste is the key.  So trust me it was good.  And David liked it too.  Which is all the test, because he does not always (most of the time) like what I cook.  So cheers to me for a job well done!  And it turns out that Owen likes kidney beans.  So I guess I will be buying more.  Now if I can only remember which market I bought them in.  Hmmmm.

a birthday and a haircut

While we were in the US we celebrated two milestones for Owen.  He turned one and he had his first haircut.  I had a hard time with both of these.  It is a sign that our little boy is growing up.  It is hard to believe that a year has already gone by.  So many things happened last year that it all seems like a whirlwind.

We had Owen's party on Saturday, December 17.  His actual birthday is December 21st.  It is amazing to see how much that little boy is loved.  David's brother, Aaron and his family were able to make it from Ohio.  David's parents and sister and her finance (Randy, lives in LA) also made it.  My sister and her boys came in from Joplin, while my dad traveled from Mt. View.  My grandparents came from Morrilton and my Aunt and Uncle came from Hot Springs, and my brother David lives close by.  Even Owen's nanny, Beth, when we lived in Lafayette made the jaunt.  It was amazing to see how people traveled from near and far to see this little boy celebrate his big day.

I kept the festivities simple, with a Razorback influence.  :)

Owen played his part perfectly that day.  He entertained like a pro.  He went and saw everyone.  Made sure each person got to hold him.  He chatted with each person.  Fought through his tiredness and triumphed.  Opened presents like a pro.  He was made to socialize.  David says he got it from his mom.  I have to agree.  :)

Now onto the haircut!  I kept putting it off.  I thought I should wait until after his portraits.  Then I should wait until after his birthday.  Then I never seemed to make the effort to go by there.  It's like it is the final mark of him no longer being a baby.  He looks like a toddler instead.  :(

He did a great job.  He sat in a fire engine, which he did try to drive and ring the bell.  He had a blue sucker in one hand and Thomas the Tank Engine in the other.  Such a good boy!

Two big exciting events that make my heart heavy.  I love seeing my baby grow up but I am also sad that he is growing up.  Where does the time go?

I'm Back!

Hello all!  It has been awhile.  I was starting to get a bit negative with Thanksgiving approaching and hearing all the plans everybody had.  It has been a good first six months but that does not mean that I don't miss my family and my friends.  So I thought it would be best to take a break.  We just got back from our first trip to Arkansas since the move.  It is currently 4:24 am in Moscow, so I am sure that tells you how I am adjusting to the time change.  Owen is on strange hours which puts mom on strange hours.  The main problem is that it is much easier for Owen to fall back asleep than me.  So I have tossed and turned, counted sheep, and finally gave up and decided to blog.  It is nice to be back.  I am going to try to make more of an effort in 2012 to write. Hopefully at least once a week if not more.

We arrived back to a peaceful Moscow.  It is their holiday time here so the streets are calm and the stores are fairly empty if open.  Of course, when I say fairly empty I am not just meaning people.  The grocery stores are fairly picked over.  There is snow on the ground.  The temperature is in the mid to high 20s.  I find it quite nice.  I also enjoy walking again.  Three weeks in the US proved that my waist line is better off over here.  After getting off the plane in Houston, we could tell we were back in the US.  Larger people, more food.

It was good to be back in the US.  There were many things that David and I took for granted until we stepped back on US soil.  We new we were back when people were extra friendly again and talking to you randomly.  We were excited to get free ketchup and free refills at McDonalds, having someone bag our groceries at Wal-Mart and the bags being free, people stopping to allow you to cross the street.  It was even a nice convenience to be able to put my groceries in the car and not have to have them way me down and cut off my circulation from the carry home.

We arrive in Fayetteville and are greeted at the airport by the Lacy's and my sister and her two boys.  It was great to see family again.  After that moment it was a whirlwind of events to sum up our three weeks.  We had a birthday party, a hair cut, Christmas (several times), lunches, dinners, and shopping.  I will blog separately about the birthday party and the hair cut.  Our first stop after the airport was Taco Bell.  Boy how we have missed that place.  We had a long list of food we wanted to eat and we made sure and got everyone of them in.   I did learn many things from our trip home.

• No matter how much you miss some one and love them you don't have time to see everybody
• Don't put stuff off until the last minute thinking you have plenty of time, because you don't
• You can't make everybody happy
• It is hard to spread your time evenly
• The bigger the duffel bag the better to bring stuff back
• Traveling with a baby people cater to you a bit more, especially if you have an adorable baby like Owen :) (had to throw that in there)
• My life is very blessed.  The Lord has been very good to me.  

It is good to be back.  I miss the schedule, friends, and life that I have set up here.  I always wondered how I would adjust to being a stay at home mom.  Particularly when you think it will never happen.  I love it.  I love being able to spend my days with Owen and watching him grow up.  He is always good for a laugh.  And being back in the US for a few weeks showed me even more how fast he grows up.  In a short three weeks he stopped eating baby food, started on whole milk, walks all the time, learns to take more (not necessarily good).  Has two more teeth to total eight.  Communicates more on what he wants.  My child is fearless I have learned and a bit of a bulldozer.  He wants something and he will take out everything in his path to get there.  There is never a dull moment.  I love being an expat's wife and I love being in Moscow.  Don't worry I miss the US and my family and friends there.  And there are many things that I wish Moscow had but overall I love my life.  Now if I can just get more visitors here everything would be set.  :)

Moscow 1 Million : Abby 0

Monday I skipped ballet to run some errands.  I am sure you are wondering why I have to skip something that is an hour long to run errands.  It takes at least 30 minutes to get to ballet and then to get back, so that is an additional hour.  Also, for me to run my errands it takes at least 30 minutes to get to my destination and then home, so that is also an hour.  Not to mention that you are exhausted by the time you are done, the metro and the rude people are enough to make you feel the need to relax when you get home.  

We are going to a Halloween party on Saturday.  I was in hopes to find Owen a Halloween costume other than the horse that was handed down to him.  No such luck.  I am not sure if he will be the horse (with a broken neigher) or if he will go as a Hog fan (lots of Hog gear).  I obviously didn't put much thought into Halloween in July when I left the US.  The only thing I found in his size was a neon orange fox.  I will leave you to ponder that one.  I had very little hope to find anything so this did not get me down.  So maybe instead of Moscow 1 we will give her 1/2.  

What did defeat me those was the fact that I was not able to find any of the goods I wanted to make Halloween appropriate treats to take.  There are so many fun ideas out there; mummy dogs, voodoo cookie, eye of newt.  But NO I live in a country where it is hard to find the ingredients that I need.  I really wanted to make mummy dogs.  Hot dogs, check!  crescent rolls, no check!  So plan B:  pumpkin dip, out of pumpkin, no cool whip, no vanilla pudding mix, no nilla wafers.  Okay so plan C:  eye of newt, eggs, yep!  mayonnaise, of course, sweet pickle relish, NOPE!!!  Sweet pickles yes but not relish.  (and no I am not making it).  At the same note there is no food coloring for anything.  So I left Stockman's very defeated.  I will be making apple smiles.  Cute yes but not what I wanted to bring.  I will be stopping at the bakery on the way to bring something in addition.  So after this visit I feel that Moscow was at probably 5 billion.  Okay maybe just 3 but still.  

Now on to the Metro.  After riding the Metro you always feel like you have hit bottom.  Okay not always but a good portion of the time.  And yes I keep submitting myself to it, but compared to the traffic here I will gladly take the metro with a few complaints.  Walking into the metro station this woman was in front of me.  She held the door open just long enough to let it slam in my face.  And with the wind here it is a true slam.  So I then think let me move quickly to push her out of my way.  Of course I am thwarted at every turn.  She cuts me off to get on the escalator then to get on the train.  Then a woman gets up I move to sit and there she is again stealing my seat.  I am a bit frustrated at this point but I wait and a seat opens up so I sit for the next two stops.  At this point vengeance, sweet vengeance came along.  A man that was too large for the non existent spot came along and crammed his way into sitting by the woman.  Ohhh!!! She gave him a bad look!  The Lord kept telling me:  Abby do not retaliate!  :)  

So all in all I felt depleted.  Moscow has won again! I have a feeling this is not the last battle either!