updates...

okay, because it's been so long since i've written any blogs, i'm going to have to briefly share some updates of what's going on in my life right now.

so, you all know i'm back in the states.  right now i'm in chico, ca visiting my family.  my ten year high school reunion was this past weekend and i was able to take luke to some of the festivities so he could meet some of my old classmates.  out of a class of close to four hundred, only about sixty showed up, it was a little disappointing.  anyway, it was fun to see old friends and it's been great to see my family after being away from them for a whole year.

back in az, i just got a job at starbucks and i love it.  i have to remind myself that i'm getting paid to be there, it's just so much fun. 

luke and i just bought a house.  he gets to live in it until we get married, but we're both doing stuff to try and fill it up a little.  you know, buying a refrigerator and a little bit of furniture and stuff like that.  i have to confess it's a little bare right now, but we love it!

and last but definitely not least, wedding plans!  omg, there is so much to do that i never would have thought of.  it's kind of crazy and a little overwhelming.  sometimes i wish i could just not have to think about any of it and just show up on the day of the wedding.  nevertheless, this is part of what i need to do, and i'm trying to make it fun and enjoy it as much as possible - enlisting friends and family helps, and many of them are more than willing and happy to be a part of everything.  what would i do without them?!

anyway, that's about it for now.  i'll try and write again soon. 

omg, i'm back!

well, after a long three days of airports and airplanes, i'm finally back in the states.  my year in central asia has finally come to an end, but it was a great end to a great year. 

i mentioned in my last blog that we were starting the little league baseball program.  it was a blast and it turned out even better than we had hoped it would.  we had just the right amount of kids on each team - and even a few additions as the weeks progressed.  the biggest challenge was the language barrier.  we had one translator out on the field with us, but when there are 15 kids that we were working with individually, we couldn't have the translator with us at all times.  we learned a lot of ways to communicate and demonstrate the things we wanted to say, and learned some fun baseball phrases in russian as well.  most of the kids picked up the game really well, we were all impressed.  luke and i got the privilege of coaching the wildcats - named after the u of a.  and our team ended up being first in the league.  it was so great.  we also picked four kids from each team to be on the two all-star teams we put together for our final game.  it was such a great game, all the kids played really well.  all along the way, we taught them the importance of having a good attitude and learning how to play as a team.  we had an awards ceremony at the end and every kid got a medal and a bag of goodies including a picture of their team.  the kids on the all-star teams got their own baseball glove, and we chose one kid from each team to have a bat.  we want them to be able to play throughout the year and keep practicing so they will be ready for the next year.  the kids were so sad when the season was over.  they all kept saying, "now what am i going to do everyday until school starts?"  we had them practicing everyday with games every friday.  their parents were really thankful for the little league too.  it was great to see them out at the games, supporting their kids and cheering them on. 

anyway, there's so much more i could say, but this is already getting long.  i'm so thankful for a super fun and successful summer of baseball in kyrgyzstan.  i'm excited to see how things progress over the next few years. 

it was hard to say goodbye to all of my new friends.  but, it's a good thing that xanga and myspace exist so we can all keep in touch.  i love you all! 

i'm engaged!!!

it was already wednesay, may 16th, and i had two more days until luke arrived.  a group of students from texas had come out to visit and join us in some of the work that we are doing here and katrina and i were in charge of taking them around town and giving them things to do.  katrina and i had been meeting at 8:30am every morning to head over to the church where the team was staying to have breakfast and devotions.  wednesday morning, katrina called me and told me to meet her downstairs instead of going over to her apartment.  when i got there, she looked really upset and really tired.  she explained to me that she hadn't gotten any sleep that night and that she was so tired and upset and stressed with everything, and on top of that, she had left something in her apartment that scott had given to her to give to the team.  i offered to go to her apartment and get it for her, and she was happy that i was willing to do so.  all she told me was that it was a yellow piece of paper. 

when i got up there, i found a yellow piece of paper laying on the ground with a camera next to it.  when i picked it up, it was addressed to me.  after reading the paper, i found out that katrina and beth had made a little scavenger hunt for me around their apartment and that there was a prize at the end of it.  it also said that i didn't have to meet up at the church until around 11:30am.  katrina had said that she was going to do some nice things for me that week since i was having to wait for luke and she knew that i was trying not to get too anxious.  i thought for sure there was a nice chocolate bar waiting for me at the end of this little hunt, but i wasn't quite sure why i needed to take three hours to enjoy it.

anyway, each clue had something written on it about luke and i and our journey together as a couple.  when we were friends to where we are now, and pictures were included.  the last one said that the prize was hanging on the bathroom door.  for some reason i assumed it was on the inside of the door.  however, when i got to the bathroom, i realized that someone was in there.  i had heard the shower earlier and i figured that liz was still in there getting ready.  i knocked on the door and no one answered, but i thought for sure i had heard someone.  next, i heard the door unlock, but no one opened the door.  i was just about to knock again and the door swung open and there was luke hill!  i was soooooooooooooooo surprised!  he was down on his knee, holding a ring, and he asked me if i wanted to marry him.  however, i was in so much shock over the fact that he was there (i wasn't expecting him until friday morning), that all i could say was, "you're kidding me!  how are you here?  what?  omg!"  he had to ask me again, "will you marry me?"  i finally said, yes of course!"  and he gave me the ring.  now i understood why katrina had given me three hours to enjoy my prize!

so, at 11:30am, luke and i joined katrina and the team and we've been going crazy ever since.  not only was our group from texas here, but we had another group from missouri here to help do some construction work for the baseball field as well as for the living quarters for all the students coming out to help for the summer.  today was our first day off.  it's been a lot of work, but very rewarding, and fun at the same time.  i'm loving having luke here and being able to see him and spend time with him every day.  anyway, now i hope you have an understanding of why i haven't blogged about this sooner.  hopefully, i'll be able to write more about what's going on soon.  baseball season is fast approaching and i'm sure there will be lots to tell. 

whahoo!  i'm engaged! 

spring is definitely here!

so, i promised some pictures of me around town and all the pretty green leaves that are everywhere because it's spring time!  so, here's a few pictures that my friend beth took of me to give you a little bit of an idea of where i live and stuff.  this first one is of me riding on a trolleybus.  you can't see much of the outside, but it gives you an idea of one way that can we get around town.

this one is me sitting on a monument.  i wish i could tell you what the monument is for, but i don't know for sure.  anyway, it's big.

this next one is me in front of my university.  this is the main building, there is actually another one that has the library and the computer rooms in it on the other side of the street from where i am standing.  naturally, i spend most of my time in the main building where all the food is and where people hang out.  maybe i've been in the library once or twice for a couple minutes, i think.

in this picture i am standing in front of the fountain in the main square.  there were kids playing and swimming in the water and it's a popular place for young people just to hang out.

this last one was me standing and waiting for a mashrutka to come by that we could take to get us back home.  you just stand on the side of the road and wait for one that has the right number on it, that you know will get you where  you want to go, and then you flag it down and it pulls over and you jump on.  it's kind of a fun game.  best to have your five som ready in your pocket or in your hand cause once you get on, you have to hold on for dear life just to keep from falling all over everyone when the driver starts moving again.  i think it adds great excitement to a normally boring ride.

i love it when my rent is due

the reason i love it when my rent is due, is because it's one of the few times i get to see my landlady.  well, she's not actually my landlady, her parents are my landlords, but they don't speak english and she does, so they get a free interpreter, and i get a friend.  from the first time i met her, when we were going to look at the apartment, i knew we would become good friends.  you know, when you just have that instant connection with someone.  she almost didn't think i was the one looking at the apartment because she heard that there were three american women (which in their culture translates to 'old ladies'), and here she was looking at me, whom she thought was a young russian girl.

anyway, she is very friendly and has a lot of interesting stories about her experiences with some of the americans that have visited her country.  and she's actually one of the friends that i've met here who is pretty close to my own age - only three years older (as opposed to 10 years younger)!  she is married with three kids, so she's ahead of me in that respect, but otherwise we have a lot in common.  everytime i call her to tell her that i need to meet up with her to give her the money for the next months rent, we both get excited that we get to see each other again.  we are both busy, and always say that we want to hang out, but haven't ever really been able to do it.  the crazy thing is that we live so close to each other.  we usually meet on the corner near my house because it's inbetween my apartment and hers, which is just across the street.  even though all i'm doing is handing her an envelope with our rent money in it, i always have to set aside at least a half hour because that's how long we usually end up talking with each other out on the corner.  this last time, we finally decide that we should go somewhere for dinner so we could sit and talk longer.  she left her kids with her parents and we headed out to have some fun.  

we went to this one restaurant that i must have passed at least a hundred times on the way to my university everyday, but i've never actually eaten there.  it was very reasonably priced and had beautiful outdoor seating, and according to jane, the best music.  we had decided to sit outside because the weather was beautiful and we wanted to be able to enjoy it.  about half way through our meal, a huge gust of wind swept through and almost blew our food right off the table.  after that, it started to rain.  we finally got the servers to move our table and our food inside so we could finish eating.  the weather here can be so unpredictable.  anyway, it was great food.  she asked for fruity ice cream for dessert and they gave us what looked like a chopped up popsicle.  popsicle or not, it still tasted good.  when we were finally done and the taxi dropped us off, we still ended up talking for at least twenty minutes on our usual street corner!  i guess it's just meant to be.

so, i just have to make a comment about the picture.  for some reason when i take pictures with people when we are sitting on opposites sides of the table, i feel like i need to crane my neck to get closer.  i never realize until after the picture is taken how silly i look, especially because there is plenty of room in the frame.  maybe i'll get it right someday.