19 Weeks...

This week, Baby Bruce is the size of...

No, not that Mango. This kind of mango!

And I am getting closer and closer to the size of a house!
Just kidding. I am actually kind of proud of my bump. It is looking and feeling like a real baby bump! And when I lay on my back, I can see my belly button looking back at me because my tummy below the button is pushing up. It's kind of fun.

I'm using the website this week for information because my Book is packed away in one of the suitcases that's sitting by the door!

One minute you're lying peacefully in bed and the next your calf muscle feels like it's about to explode. Leg cramps during pregnancy are pretty common (though no one knows exactly what causes them) and tend to strike at night. You might also be wondering about tingling and numbness in your fingers and toes about now. It's a weird sensation but totally normal, probably a result of your body's swelling tissues pressing on nerves. And speaking of weird, have you ever seen a mango dipped in cheese? Well, that's what your baby looks like this week due to a little growth spurt (she's about a half pound in weight and six inches long) and a substance called vernix caseosa. This greasy white stuff covers your baby's skin, protecting it from the surrounding amniotic fluid. (Without it, she'd look totally wrinkled as she entered the world.) The vernix sheds as delivery approaches, though some babies still sport a bit of the coating at birth.

-whattoexpect.com

And this picture kind of looks like my shape up above, doesn't it?

This is just a picture of us after eating at Pizza Hut for the final time yesterday with our good friends. We just had to have our picture taken in front of the Eiffel Tower! No, we have not secretly been living in Paris. Some dude had it built to get in good with the big K's President because his wife loves Paris. Funny, huh?

So, we will be heading to the airport in about five hours! Originally, we were planning to have a taxi van take us, but the guy isn't answering his phone, so that isn't going to work out.

Thankfully, we have awesome friends who are going to help us. Matt & Derek both have station wagons, so we should be able to fit everything in them. We are coming home with less than what we came with a year ago, so that's good!

Please keep us in your prayers. Huzz and I are looking forward to being on the plane out of Almaty because a lot of the stress will be over at that point. I will be going to bed in a little bit for a few hours because I'm pretty sure that without a nap, I will be crying at around 3:00 in the morning. I'm a big baby when I'm over tired. Especially when I'm pregnant. First plane taking off to last plane landing, we will be traveling for about 25 hours.

We will see some of you really soon! Love ya!

It's Over...What's Next?

It is finished. Over. Completed. That's all. Closed. Ceased. Concluded. Done for. Ended. Executed. In the past. Wrapped up. Over and done. Through.

In Russian: "fsyo"

I have had a couple of days to unwind and think about what has come to a close.

The worst professional year of my life.

Yes, this has been the most difficult year of my life, actually ~ mostly due to my job. But when you spend over 10 hours a day at a destructive place, it wears on you.

Even these goof-ball faces tortured me at times. Two-thirds of the children you see in this picture had no English knowledge nine months ago.

Now, they all understand me, verbally. Even the little guy who joined our class in March.

This is me and my teaching assistant, Katherine. Difficult year.

All lined up, ready to go to the assembly, where the Headmaster informed the entire school that I have found the atmosphere in the big K "procreational."

I wanted to crawl under my chair.

I put on a happy face for my kids, while dealing with one headache after another with administration. One headache including the accounting department deliberately choosing an exchange rate that did not exist and shorting all of us a few hundred dollars in our pay.

Don't worry ~ it just reminded me over and over that those of us who are leaving the school are doing the right thing.

I was a wreck on Friday night because I was just so relieved. I could not stop crying.

Our actual last day was on Saturday because we had this ridiculous awards ceremony that couldn't possibly have been done on Friday afternoon.

Then, we had a Summer Ball to attend on Saturday night at the school, with the parents.

A group of us decided to go for a drink before the Ball.

New Apart-a-mento

Hey there! Welcome to the big K, and welcome to our apartment that we moved into about a week and a half ago. Please excuse the piles of things around the place, as that's what happens when you live in furnished apartments. There's nowhere to put your STUFF that you brought with you.

So, this is what it looks like when you walk in the front door.

Don't you love this little sign? Our good friends, Matt & Jonna, gave it to us. We will keep it forever to remind us of our time here.

To the right is the living room. Now, here's what I'm talking about: there are no bookshelves in the apartment, so we have nowhere to store all of our DVD's and books, which are extremely important to us here! So, they are living in the box next to the couch.

This is the dining room, which is across from the living room. It gets lots of light because of the big window. That's why I liked this apartment. It doesn't feel like a hole.

Here is the kitchen, which is open to the dining room. It's alright. No dishwasher, though, and if you know me, you know that I DESPISE doing dishes.

This is the view from the kitchen. A few things to notice here: the drying rack for our laundry. The washing machines are just KILLING our clothes here. Air drying your clothes makes them very crunchy and threadbare...that and the fact that they spend about 3 hours in the washing machine with each cycle. Also, the curved doorway is leading to the living room.

This is the second bedroom that we only use to store a bunch of our STUFF and Stephen's clothes go in the wardrobe in there. And, all the bedding that the owners were storing in the wardrobe is now on the bed. There were about 10 blankets, none of which we are using because it FREAKS ME OUT to use strangers' bedding.

This is the toilet room. Not to be confused with the bathroom.

That is next door. Why they are separate, I'll never know. I'm sure there's some non-logical reasoning behind this.

This is the view from the bathroom, looking back at the front door.

And this is our bedroom. It's pretty much just big enough for the bed, bedside tables, and wardrobe. The sheets are ours and the afghan is one that I knitted a few years ago. Those are the only bedding items that my face will be touching.

Looking out of our bedroom.

And this is how I feel like it is sort of home: our books and pictures are arranged on the window sill in the living room. I look at these every day!

We Did It....

I just sent the email to the HR guy at my school, letting him know that we'd be moving out of the staff accommodation by February 8.

Huzz and I just feel like it will be for the best. Even if the school follows through with what they're promising now, it will always be something more that we are dealing with. It will probably relieve a lot of stress to live elsewhere. Even though moving is stressful.

But hey, most of our stuff is back in Colorado in the storage unit, so at least we don't have to move all of that!

Now for some random-ness:

I've been thinking lately that I might want to dye my hair. Should I? It is all natural color right now and has been since college, so for several years. I think it'd be kind of fun, don't you? I'm thinking lighter...like blondish. What do you think? Leave me a comment and cast your vote. You will decide for me. When I go home at Christmas, I will do what the majority verdict declares on this here blog.

We really need to do our Christmas shopping this weekend...online. No, we are not bringing back authentic big K gifts. Trust me, you probably wouldn't want them. Unless you have an unfathomable hankering for horse meat. Although, we do have a gift for a few of the men in our families that we just thought they might think interesting. Nothing too exciting.

I knitted some baby booties for our friends, Rick & Katy, who are having a baby girl in March. They are so tiny! I'm nervous they'll be too small, even at the beginning. That's something I'm trying to work out with my knitting, is being consistent with the tightness of my stitches.

I know at least half of you just fell asleep, there, so I'll stop talking about knitting.

I made chicken parmesan last night and it was sooooo YUM. Thankfully, we have leftovers for tonight. Although, Huzz likes to have large second portions, which throws off how much is left for the second night. So, I usually end up having a half a portion, plus anything else I can find...usually bread. Which is not a good choice, but hey - I roll with it.

I am in the midst of writing reports, figuring out grades, and grading exams.

Yes, I had to give my baby seven year olds exams. And to the ones who can't read English, too. Of course, I read it to them, but their understanding is still so minimal. I make them sound like sweet, innocent things, but they're not. I am praying for patience each day, as they are very challenging children...spoiled, to say the least.

So, this week is crazy! I'm almost done with the written reports, though, so that's a relief.

Now, I need to pack up my things so I can grade exams at home tonight. Oh, joy.

Hopefully, I will post some pictures soon. I really need to get better at doing that. Maybe that will be my New Years' resolution.

Should We Stay or Should We Go?

Some of you are aware of the “situation” with my job at the school. I’ve hinted at it a few times here. Let me give you a taste of what that’s been like and what we face now, because of it.

When we first moved here this summer, we lived in an apartment, temporarily, until I was to report for work. The school would be providing the teachers with subsidized accommodations.

Remember that first apartment? We frequently were without hot water. We didn’t have internet at all for the first 3 out of 5 weeks that we lived there. I kicked out the Internet Master by saying Goodbye! in Russian. I was home alone during the day while Stephen was at work, watching FoxNews repeat itself in 4 hour cycles and watching Friends on my computer because the DVD player wouldn’t play our DVD’s. I knitted a lot. I didn’t know anyone and I was lonely. I wondered what we were thinking.

We were so excited to move into our staff accommodation! Although we moved in a week late, since they weren’t finished yet, we were going to have internet, a large apartment, the quiet of living just outside of the city, better t.v.! Things were looking up!

Now, I don’t want to seem ungrateful, so I will tell you the good things about living here before I inform you of all the problems.

• We have made some good friends while living here than I’m not sure would’ve happened if we hadn’t lived in close proximity with the teachers.
  
• This place is huge! 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms that I get to clean, a large kitchen, two living rooms…Huzz and I lose track of each other sometimes! Much different from our NYC studio.
  
• I have free transportation to and from the school with these little buses the school has.
  

Now, for the gripes.

• We had no t.v. service or phone service for the first 5 weeks we lived here. We still don’t have internet service. The first month we received our bills, we got one for a “service charge,” which came to about $200 a month! This is essentially a home owner’s association fee, which the teachers were not informed of, ever. We were promised that the school would pay that for the teachers.
  

One week later, they said they couldn’t pay it because it wasn’t in the school’s budget.

Believe me, this is only one of the issues the teachers have been fighting since August. The downstairs units are falling apart, due to faulty plumbing and wiring. Just last week, we didn’t have water at all on one side of the house because the pipes were clogged with plastic bags and building materials. The plumber made known his disdain for us in Russian, because as you know, we love shoving plastic bags and drywall down the toilet. We are forced to stay at the school at the mercy of the bus schedule, which most days come to twelve hours. It seems that everyday, there is something new. It is incredibly wearing.

The teachers have had it. Last weekend and this weekend, several teachers have moved out of the accommodation houses, at the risk that they will not receive the subsidy that has been promised, as yet not fulfilled. We have learned that the Soviet apartment buildings, while ugly on the outside, actually have pretty decent apartments inside. You have to tread through dark, smelly, syringe-filled hallways. But, once you get inside, all is good. Then, today they had another meeting with the housing people. Apparently now, they have offered to pay the service charges for us and pay our bills, plus have “promised” to get internet installed.

Now, I am not a stupid person. Based on past experience with these people, I’d say they’re full of it. I’d say these are empty promises. I’d say we still won’t have internet by the time we report for school in January. I am not being pessimistic. I am being realistic. And smart.

If they actually did fulfill all of these “promises,” I would love to stay where we are at. #1 reason is because I am sick and tired of moving. This would be the third move in 4 months. Doesn’t that seem a bit excessive?

More pros to moving: All of our friends are moving out of the staff accommodations, so we could get an apartment near them, hopefully. And without them, I’ll be lonely again. The school will have one less thing to have a hold on me. No more taking rent money out of my paycheck! We’ll actually save a significant amount of money by moving. I actually think I might be a lot happier if we moved away from the accommodations. I say might because I don’t want to commit myself to some feeling that I’m not ready to display.

Anyway, that’s just a taste of what we (I) have been dealing with for the past few months. Now, just apply that to starting a school, teaching for 6 weeks without any books or supplies….the list goes on.

Now, I have that song in my head Should We Stay or Should We Go?

I better turn on some Christmas music. That’s much better to have in my head!

Would You Like A Straw With That?

Notice anything strange about this picture?

No, it's not that I'm drinking a beer. I've actually grown to enjoy a decent light beer, on occasion. My taste is evolving, much like my drift from drinking only sweet white wines to now preferring the dryest red wine I can find.
I'm not sure that I will ever change my beer preferences to wanting a straw with it, though. However, here in the big K, one is always placed in my pint.
These pictures were taken at a local brewery here, called Tinkoff. They have a great rooftop restuarant, where we have found delicious shashlik (remember - meet on a stick) and their beers are pretty good and reasonably priced. As seen below, Stephen sometimes enjoys the darker beers. I say, yuck.
The best part about Tinkoff is the view. I mean, seriously, people. You have to come visit sometime and see the mountains in person!
Starting tomorrow, we will have lots of room! We are moving into our new apartment tomorrow morning! You might not hear from me for a few days, as internet will not be ready tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll be reconnected soon.

This has been a pretty good week of "work." I say "work" because it has included meeting for about an hour, as a whole group, and then another hour long meeting with our departments. Then, they feed us lunch. Then, we are done for the day! Next week's pace will increase a little bit, but not enough to complain about at all. Also, they are giving us a 4 day weekend to get settled in our apartments!

I am so excited, I am going to go finish getting everything ready to go tomorrow morning!

Our New Place

It is a little after 4 pm on Monday and I just got home from my first day of reporting for work! This week is slightly leisurely, only reporting by 10 am until mid-afternoon and having the afternoons free and usually some sort of dinner or evening gathering is planned.

Last night, we went to Mad Murphy's Irish Pub for the school-sponsored BBQ of shashlik (kebabs, usually lamb) and some other traditional Kazakh foods - potatoes and this coleslaw that tasted like kimchi. We were able to meet most of the teachers, so it is great to make some new friends. So, today when I arrived at the hotel for our welcome ceremony, there were some familiar faces.

After being officially welcomed by the British ambassador, we enjoyed a "business lunch," which is extremely popular here in Almaty. It was alright. Soup was offered, but I was sweating hot, so I passed on that. The main course was some spaghetti noodles with some sort of meat sauce that did not taste like spaghetti sauce. But, it was okay tasting. I might be having an apple here pretty soon, as I'm hungry! The apples are great here, since they supposedly originate from Kazakhstan. Little tidbit fact for you, there.

Anyway, after lunch, they bussed the teachers over to our apartments that we will be moving into on Friday. Stephen and I visited them when we first arrived here about a month ago, but they have come a long way, thank goodness! I am soooooooo excited to get moved in there and get everything out of our suitcases and boxes. The apartments are HUGE! 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, living room, kitchen....a little different from our teensy-weensy NYC apartment. I'm pretty sure we will lose each other!

I took a couple of pictures when I went, but was rushed, so didn't have time to take a picture of each room. Plus, we couldn't get the door unlocked to the living room, so I didn't see that! Apparently, they have been having troubles with theft already, so they're locking the living rooms, since the TV's are in there.

This is a picture of the kitchen, well, half of it. The other half is behind the camera, where the fridge is. It is long and narrow, so I'm pretty sure I'll be rearranging this somehow. Plus, there is supposed to be a dishwasher, but there isn't. We will be purchasing one, as I absolutely despise washing dishes.
This is one of the bedrooms. They are a good size and each has its own full bathroom attached. Notice the hideous curtains.
This is the Master bedroom, as it is the largest and has a balcony! I'm not loving the furniture, but you can't complain, when it's provided for you. It has a very Asian feel, which I just am not the biggest fan of. Notice the carpet ~ it is brand new and about 10 times better than what was in there in July. It was that indoor/outdoor carpet in varying colors throughout the place of blue, gray, and black. And the seams were exposed and looked horrible! I thought it was just laid down to cover the real flooring underneath. Then, it was explained to me that that was the permanent carpeting. A few days later, I learned that the woman who owns these places was appalled at them and demanded that better carpeting be laid, thank goodness.

There are some things that I hope to change, to make it our own. They have already hung up curtains, which is nice so that we aren't having to duck down to change when we first move in. However, they are U-G-L-Y. Remember the curtain in our current kitchen, with the fake sunflower? They're along that calibur.

So, I noticed when we were at the Mega Center (nice mall here) that the electronics store had sewing machines for around $40! I might be purchasing one of those and making some nice, normal curtains. Who would've ever known that my sewing skills would come to use in Kazakhstan, of all places?

But, I am very excited, in case you can't tell. I'm just rambling on and on about this place. Don't worry, I will post many more pictures, once we move in this weekend. I haven't heard yet what the internet situation will be at the houses, so I am unclear as to if we will have it when we get there. Based on how everything else seems to go in this country, I'm going to say no. However, we will get it set up as soon as we can.

Yeah!!!

June #3

I know it's not June anymore. In fact, it is almost August. And yes, I am going backwards in time to tell you a little bit about June. This is what happens when in transition for a couple of months.

We were able to go back home to Colorado for about 5 days, before leaving the US. It was not the most relaxing time, but we were very glad to be able to see some of our friends and family before taking off on our adventure.

One night, we drove up to Denver and met up with a bunch of Stephen's (and now mine!) friends at Maggiano's for some family style Italian. It was a lot of fun to catch up with the bunch, although I don't have any pictures of that. Man, I am really bad about whipping the camera out! My husband doesn't help, either.

We spent a lot of time in Colorado, trying to track down our belongings that were being shipped from NY and needed to be put into a storage unit in the Springs. This was all the stuff that didn't come to the big K with us. Thankfully, it all fit into a 10 x 10 unit!

I also had the treasured time with my dog, Riley. I miss her so much, it hurts. She hasn't been able to live with me since November 2006, but I still feel like she is mine. I can guarantee that one of the first things I will be doing when we are done here in K, will be going and getting my dog to live with us. I don't care where we'll be living - if it's in the States, she's all mine! How I wish she was here with us now. She is such good, comfy company. Well, Riley was in need of a new bed again...she needs a new one about every 1 1/2-2 years. We picked up one of those beds that sits up off the ground so air can circulate underneath, which is great because Riley gets hot in her bed at night! Here she is, trying it out. She doesn't look happy because I told her to stay and she wasn't sure about the bed, itself.

Then, one night, my parents hosted a small gathering of our closest Springs friends. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and prayer and delicious desserts.
Ali, me, and Margarita ~ Such good friends from my teaching days at Grace Best.
Angie and Me ~ Angie is one of those people who you become instant friends with. I have only known her for about two years, but she knows me. She gets me. And we have great talks! And she is the inspiring mommy of two adorable twins, Caleb & Carissa.
And here is me and Kari ~ my treasured friend and mentor. Kari is another one who gets me. She did our premarital counseling with us. Kari is mommy to Sarah Grace, Hannah, and Samuel. I have cared for the girls since the day they were born and I treasure them in my life so much!
Here is me and Eli, Ali & Tom's little guy. Well, he's not so much little as he is stinkin' adorable.

It was great to see you all, even if for a few hours. You all are such treasured friends of ours and we look forward to seeing you at Christmas, when we come home to visit.

Kazakhstan...here we come!

So, the day is finally here! We are leaving on a jet plane from JFK tonight. Yikes!

Just kidding.

Sort of.

But really, we are excited to start our adventure. Although, I think the adventure started a few months ago, trying to get ready to go.

Good news! Stephen got an email this morning from his office, saying our boxes already were delivered! And they offered to have them taken to our apartment that is all ready for us. Aren't they so nice?

More good news! Internet is already set up for us at our new apartment, so we will be able to let you all know that we got there alright.

We were also reassured by a woman who works in Stephen's office, that getting cell phones there is very easy, so it will be no problem. Everything will be fine!

It is crazy to think that today is our last day in New York City. And, it is our last day in the U.S.

We are going to be living in Kazakhstan for the next three years! Wow.

Stay tuned on here, for I will be showing off pictures and stories like crazy.

I will also get caught up with posts that I've been meaning to do, but have run out of time before we leave. We have been busy! I am exhausted.

We love you all. We will miss you all. But, we live in a small world. (Cue "It's a Small, Small World" music)

Please pray for us.

June #1

Well, we have been in the middle of a complete whirlwind and will be in one for the next week and a half or so. So, that is why I haven't posted in awhile and why I might not, once we are in the Big K for a little while.

June began with Husband and I moving out of our first home together: our humble 375-ish square foot studio with "sprawling views" of 2nd Avenue and a "short walk" (4 long blocks) to Central Park. These may seem like disappointing things, but they are the things we loved about our place. We will miss it.

After our moving our stuff ourselves from DC to Bethesda, we vowed that from then on, we would be hiring movers. If you remember that story, you can sympathize, I'm sure. If I haven't told it to you, I should sometime.

Anyway, here's what we did while the movers hauled our things down 5 flights in the super tiny elevator and down the narrow 5 flights of stairs for things like the large couch.

After sitting from our perches, directing what was going in the truck to Colorado, for only 2 hours, the apartment was empty. Except for the desk (in the pictures) that we deposited in the basement and the coffee table, which a wonderful friend took for us.

Although this kitchen saw more cooking in the last 8 months than it had seen in the prior 2 years before I showed up, I will not miss its lack of counter space and dishwasher. Plus, the burners on the stove were awful. Plus, there was no garbage disposal, so cleaning the drain of food escapees was a usual and necessary occurrence.

We will miss you, little home! You were a great comfort to Stephen, as a bachelor for a while and we created you as our first home together. You'll be a

good story when we tell our kids how good they have it. I'm sure one day we'll be telling them that "everyone" should live in close quarters when they first get

married. They'll "appreciate" each other so much more!

PS - I am losing my patience with blogger and pictures. It's driving me crazy! What you are seeing is not what it looks like in my "compose" window. Grrrrrr..........

I figured it out!

No, I am not THIS good at manipulating fonts and colors. I was able to finally get a [FREE] HTML template imported onto my bloggy. I don't know why this time it worked, but it did. I think Blogger is a little temperamental because I did the same thing about 4 times and magically, the last time worked. I don't know.

Anyway, what do you think? I love it.

Box count is up to: 10 KZ boxes; 5 CO boxes so far
Pretty much packed completely for KZ, so it's all about CO today, probably until the wee hours of the night, since the movers come tomorrow.

Oh, by the way, it was in the upper 80's yesterday and it rained during the night, and it's already 73 at 11:00 in the morning. You do the math. It's so humid, I'm pretty sure I saw a little cloud float through the apartment. Great packing weather! I should be nice and sweaty and stinky all day long. Lucky Stephen!

Open to Change...

Have you ever read something, or listened to someone and it changed you? I mean, really changed you. Like changed how you feel or think about something. Or maybe reinforced your thinking about an issue.

I experienced this last night. I am going to blog about it more in a few days. I don't have the time right now to get into it, but I will share with you.

Right now, I have an apartment to pack. The movers come Wednesday! I went to the Triple B again and got more Space Bags today, so once Husband is done taking his practice exam, I will be using the vacuum to suck air out of those things like you wouldn't believe!

Anyway, think about if you have had this changing-type experience before. Maybe it will re-spark the significance that it has had on your life.
I can't wait to share with you!

I Heart Space Bags

Our goal when moving our things to KZ is to have as few boxes/luggages as possible. So, I did the sensible thing and headed to the Triple B and purchased the 12 bag set of Space Bags. Can I just say these things are great! I mean check out these before and after pictures! The last picture is ALL of our winter clothes, stacked up. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a TON of winter clothes. If you're looking for a great space saver solution, I recommend these little treats.

AFTER I had sucked the air out of all of the bags, my wonderful Auntie Steph suggested sticking a

dryer sheet in there so that it smells nice when you open the bag back up. I was too lazy to re-do all the bags, but I will definitely do this next time. Although, I worry that the dryer sheet will stain the clothing, perhaps?

I finally started to really pack today. I got EIGHT boxes all packed and taped up! Four for CO, four for KZ!

I'll keep you posted on the box count. You might be surprised at how much stuff fits in this tiny apartment.

And although my friend, Brie, gave me great advice with how to do the pictures and spacing, as you can tell, I am still struggling. I mean seriously, can it really be this difficult?

Of course, after having my new computer in my possession for at least two weeks now, I just today figured out that I can get my pictures from my camera to my computer by simply placing my memory card in the special memory card slot in the front of the laptop. Clever, ain't it?

The Next Chapter...

FINALLY, I can make this official announcement! Stephen and I are going to be moving to.........Almaty, Kazakhstan! Yeah! (The crowd goes wild.....)

No, not Pakistan. No, not Afghanistan. No, not any of those scary -stan countries that you see in the news all the time. Kazakhstan is a peaceful country that sits just to the south of Russia, northwest of China, and north of Uzbekistan and Kyrgystan and east of the Caspian Sea. I suggest you google it - you'll be surprised!
You may be asking, "Why are you moving there?"

• Answer: Stephen has been given a wonderful opportunity to work with a private equity fund there.

You: Can't you do that in the US?

• Answer: Of course. However, the people that Stephen will be meeting are people that will only be met in this realm. It will be a great move for Stephen's career.

You: How long will you be there?

• Answer: The time commitment is three years.

You: When will you be there?

• Answer: July 1

You: And what will you, Beth, be doing?

• Answer: I already have a job with a new British school that is starting up in the fall, teaching 7-8 year olds (second graders).

You: How do you know you'll like it?

• Answer: We spent 6 days in Almaty a couple of weeks ago. I know 6 days isn't much, but it was enough for us to see that we can see ourselves living there. It reminded us a lot of Denver, probably what it was like back in the '70's.

You: Where will you be living?

• Answer: My school has staff housing, which we have chosen to take advantage of at a very subsidized rate. They are building brand new mansions and dividing them into 2-3 bedroom condos. They're in a gated community, about 10 minutes from downtown (Stephen's work) and 10 minutes to my school.

You: Are you excited?

• Answer: YES! Stephen and I were just talking last night again about how it is so clear that He has laid this path for us so plainly. We feel like we could not not go. If we didn't go, we would definitely be dealing with knowing that we're going against what He has planned for us. The fact that I got a job the first day we were visiting, we also lined up housing through that, I really like my boss (the headmaster), Stephen is really excited about his job and the people he'll be working with, and we just found out last night that there is a young couple going there for an indefinite amount of time. They have a little baby and are moving there the middle of May. We will definitely be calling them up!

You: What are you most worried about?

• Answer: Being so far away from our family and friends. However, we thank Him that we live in a world now where communication is so easy. We will, of course, have internet service. So, email is still the number one way. But also, SKYPE will be used all the time! If you don't know what SKYPE is, check it out. It's a FREE service online (just create an account) and you can make phonecalls and video phonecalls to anyone who has an account, anywhere in the world. You don't have to have a webcam, but if you want to see us, you do. If you are interested in contacting us, email me and I'll let you know what our SKYPE user name is and you can find us. We tried this while we were there and were very pleased at the quality. Plus, we live in the age where anywhere is just a plane ride away. :) (Yes, that's my subtle way of telling you that you should come visit!)

I am in the middle of trying to figure out how to pack everything up in our tiny apartment! And, how to pack for two different places. We are only taking our clothes and a few sentimental items to KZ and sending the rest back to good, old CO.

So, that's the basic low-down for now. Obviously, this blog will get very interesting for the next three years! I'll be sharing all about our life and experiences there, so you'll have to make a habit of checking on the blog on a regular basis.

We love you all and are so excited about this next chapter in our lives. If you think of it when you lay down at night, please say a little prayer for us. That's all we need right now!

Click here and here to find out more about Kazakhstan!