dreams, realities, and eternities.

[again, this is mostly for myself to have typed up somewhere besides my journal.

you can read it if you want. or don't. either way is fine by me.]

(written 25 June, 2011, 9:07am.)

    Last night I had a dream about one of my boys. We'll call him Fred for online purposes. I was with him just walking out of somewhere with my family and the Ricks (my cousins) behind us.  As we were walking, his hand in mine, suddenly he started imitating lyrics that Steven had been singing.  He talked!  Words!  I was completely overwhelmed with excitement.  And then asked him to say something else, which he said completely perfectly (it was English in my dream, I think).  But the point was that he suddenly could speak perfectly.  I tried keeping my cool, but as my family and then the Ricks, and people I didn't know surrounded us and Fred went over to show this new excitement to my Aunt Jane, who was his mom in my dream.  And as I watched him from the other side of a circle we were in around him, I couldn't hold it in, and I started to cry.  Tears of happiness, joy, and overwhelming emotion.  He was surrounded by people that loved him, and he could finally speak!  And in all this excitement, he and I were the only ones with tears, for we were the only ones that really understood what all this meant, and all of the work and sadness behind it before reaching that moment.  And so I couldn't help but cry, I was so proud of him.  And after that he went with his family and would be gone all through July, meaning I'd never see him again (according to the world in my dream.  A cross between imaginary and reality.)  And that was the end of my dream.

    I don't know why I feel so compelled to record this.  It's just a dream, for heaven's sakes.  But I think there's more to it than that.  In the past couple of weeks, Fred and I have made connections, and he's become my boy.  Yes, he can be really naughty.  But I love him all the same, as if he were my own.  With him, as well as the other kids, I feel protective over how he is treated by the workers and the people that come to visit and are most likely quick to judge him by the tiny glimpses of him that they get.  But there's more to him than that.  More to all of my kids than that.  They're all individuals.  They all have their own personalities.

    Sometimes I question if my major is really what I want to do.  If I really care that much about language, speech, and communication.  And my dream gave me another answer that this is completely right.  There's a reason I became emotional when suddenly Fred could talk.  I realized what a breakthrough it was for him.  I do care.

    Sometimes I wonder if my presence here even makes a difference for these kids.  Especially after weeks like this week, that don't run so smoothly. Three months is a short time in a child's life.  And then we leave and they're left alone with the workers for over a month until the next group comes along.  But seeing Fred in my dream was like seeing a glimpse into eternity.  He'll be surrounded by people that love him, as every child should always be.  He'll be able to talk and communicate, like any average child.  All of my kids will have that.  Love and communication.  So someday I'll sit on a park bench in heaven and chat with each of them.  And I can only pray that the moments we've shared will be brought to their remembrance and mine.  Though sometimes I think words won't be very powerful compared to the communication we've shared when words aren't an option.  Only eyes and feelings.  And with kids like one of my other boys, only feelings.  Someday they'll have their mansions on high.  All my kids.

illumination.

[this is mostly for myself. to have it typed up somewhere besides just being in my journal.

but i figured some people might like to read it. and if not, fine with me.]

(written 19 June, 2011, 8:38pm.)

Member how I love my life? Don't even worry. Definitely still do.  I'm sitting out on the balcony right now.  As usual.  As I sit here and watch the clouds go by in the rather overcast sky that rolled in after a clear, hot day, I can't even imagine the thought or idea of leaving this place--this home of mine.  For that's what it has become: a second home.  Sometimes life feels like a dream.  Like I couldn't possibly be lucky enough to live this life of mine.

Today makes 6 weeks since I boarded a plane and left my American life of familiarity and comfort behind, and headed towards the great unknown.  Unknown country, unknown language, unknown life.  But here's the thing about the unknown: when you face it head on, it can't stay unknown for long.  While the change is abrupt and at times hard, the foreign soon becomes the natural, the routine, the familiar.  And maybe that's the point of life.  Before I left, my Grandma Janette told me that Grandpa Hales used to say, "life is measured by new experiences."  Once the new is no longer new, you only remember a routine and enjoy it for so long before itching for something new--if you're willing to take a chance and take that step into the unkown.  Make a change. Those are the hardest steps we ever take in life: that first step into darkness and unknown, before everything becomes illuminated.

When I was flying here, and in several moments when everything was still so new here, I questioned and doubted myself. Wondering why I was doing this, and sometimes going so far as to wish I had just stayed home.  But now I spend my days recognizing that I wouldn't trade this opportunity and experience for anything in the world.  Changes are hard.  Being in a foreign country that has a different way of living and speaks a different language is hard.  The thing about hard things is that they always get easier.  The night is always darkest just before the dawn.  The Lord sometimes brings us low so He can bring us higher.  I knew from the start that this summer would be full of changes within me, hard things, and joy beyond description.  But until I actually experienced it, I never could have foreseen the growth, learning, changes, or beauties that would manifest themselves in my life and in the world around me.

Good thing I took that step, eh?  Here's to six more weeks of new changes, joys, beauties, and growth.

[which is now five more weeks.]

"As you walk to the boundary of your understanding into the twilight of uncertainty, exercising faith, you will be led to find solutions you would not obtain otherwise. With even your strongest faith, God will not always reward you immediately according to your desires. Rather, God will respond with what in His eternal plan is best for you, when it will yield the greatest advantage. Be thankful that sometimes God lets you struggle for a long time before that answer comes. That causes your faith to increase and your character to grow."

Richard G. Scott, The Transforming Power of Faith and Character

and then i reach the point of no return.

hi family. friends. whoever happens to maybe take a peek at this blog these days. which is probably just about no one considering i never update it anymore. sorry. really, i am. life is so busy! and romania is so super cool [just figuratively. we sweat profusely every day.] that i have hardly any time at home or on a computer. mostly because i don't want to be. ha. at this point i've adopted the philosophy that i'll catch anyone who cares up when i get home. which is not very many people when it all comes down to it. so that's just life. i'm ok with it. my journal is ok with it. and that's about how it goes. sorry. c'est la vie. so i'll just give you a random smattering of updates, as is the usual lately. sorry. real life is cooler than updating a blog in which i can't really talk about very many details. it's the truth.

the view out the window from the villa during fhe on monday.

today's one of those days i'm feeling quite defeated and helpless and like i'm not doing much good when it comes to my kids. i don't really want to relive details from the past few days on blog world. but they were kind of long. i've been mostly lucky as far as having relatively good days with my kids and my workers, especially after the first week. well, let's just say these past few days have been not quite that way. no need for details. i'll just get frustrated again by thinking about it. the point is, i'm quite happy about the fact that tomorrow is friday, and we'll be on vacation all of next week.

speaking of which: we'll be out of town all of next week! in other words, you probably shouldn't plan on hearing from me. because you probably won't. we'll have internet in some places maybe. but only two internet accessable devices to go around. and let's be real. when i'm in brasov and bucharest, i'd rather be enjoying brasov and bucharest, or resting up. just sayin.

one of melissa's girls is in the hospital right now. and she's one of the ones that kind of feels like one of my kids because we see them so often when playing outside and whatnot. and the fact that our rooms are right next to each other. so today and yesterday we visited this girl. she's adorable. and i hope she gets better soon. being sick is no fun.

speaking of the hospital. in one of the rooms, on monday there were four babies. on tuesday there were six on wednesday there were three. and today i heard there were the same three. ha. i love me some baby flesh. :)

institute tonight was probably one of the funniest things of my life. as far as hilarity is concerned, i mean. i was teaching, which is funny in and of itself. (and i taught sunday school on sunday. even funnier. they can't get enough of me. haaaa. not.) and there were a million distractions and interruptions. mostly, it was kind of just plain hilarious because it was so ridiculous. such is life. we're all still living.

today has been flaming hot. like, fiery furnace hot. more than usual hot. don't even worry. it's supposed to be rainy all of next week on our trip. personally, i'm pretty excited about this detail. :)

cherries are everywhere! literally. everywhere. and i'm pretty sure almost every tree at section 2 is a cherry tree. at least it seems that way lately. the kiddies love them. :)

i haven't been able to see much of the kids in the back rooms the past few days, so today i spent over an hour with just them. it was an excellent part of my day. we won't talk about the rest of the day. haaaa.

we made sarmale on monday at fhe! it was exciting. i quite like the inside stuff. but i don't know how i feel about the wrapped in a grape vine leaf. i made rolls the other night and put the sarmale inside and it was delicous. and i might have just been excited about the rolls thing. i've missed them. and baking in general.

this weekend i might be helping a girl we know from the branch with working on a violin piece. if not this weekend, then sometime after our trip. i'm super excited about it. like it's probably embarrassing how excited.

romania is beautiful. hot as heck, but beautiful. as are the kiddies. most days, at least. and let's face it. even if they have different ideas on how to take care of kids here, i still love my kids. and have been mostly lucky as far as workers in my room go. and let's be real. while i'm excited for the break next week, i will most definitely miss them like crazy.

i promise these gypsy carts getting tickets looked even funnier in person.

anyway. that's all for this edition of a crazy random update of many different thoughts streaming through my head.

lots of love! can you believe there are only 21 days left with our kids? i can't. i might cry at the end of july when i have to leave them. ok, so i probably definitely will.

from romania to peru, we're here for you.

just an average wednesday evening. with a couple skype dates in between.

starting with thailand, and ending with peru.

i'm just that cool.

:)

p.s. sorry i don't have a picture, hayley. we'll have to try again someday. ha. :)

can i have another bread?

guess what?
there are a million fun things i could say right now.
but i'm too busy loving this day.
and that we're five days from leaving on our vacation.
and babies.
here's a teaser: SIX babies in one room! four of which were in two cribs.
four boys, two girls.
probably the best thing of my life.
another teaser: homemade rolls with sarmale mix type stuff inside.
buuut before hearing about how cool the past few days have been, you'll have to wait.
i'm going to go watch chuck with mikey, melissa, and the rooommates.
yessssssssss.
pa pa pa.

fresher than fresh.

just a few sunday pictures.

roxana came and said her goodbyes. we'll miss her.

our branch will not be the same without her. that's for sure.

(please embrace our faces shiny with sweat. haaaaa. it was hotter than hades today.

also, michael is smiling in a picture? whaaaa?)

also, i love this branch they're super cute.

and i love that i understand almost everything most days.

speaking? i don't want to talk about it. ha.

 chicken enchiladas! mmmm.

we went singing with the missionaries again this week at parcul copou!

it was fun. until we went blind from the dust being blown in our faces.

and the people leaving the park in droves.

but it was fun.

and the bus ride home was one to remember.

aka, imagine people in a bus like sardines in a can.

that good.

sora holman, sora mullen, michael, breezy, amanda, and melissa.

our singers, minus me and the elders who made a short appearance. 

one word: bus.

baaahahahaha.

and that's all for this edition of 'this romanian sunday.'

super exciting, i know.

we'll just be over here sweating. and trying to sleep. but not, because it's hot.

also, t-minus seven days till we leave for our trip!

this week will go faaaast.

bring on the fun.



also, i miss my kiddies. good thing i get to see them in 9 hours. :)

sometimes i'm even jealous of myself.

while waking up early on a saturday morning after a less than restful sleep to start with is not ideal, it did give me some time to myself to read and things. and then i ate breakfast on the balcony while listening to music. i think my balcony breakfasts are the best part of my day. i kid you not. and then i started sweating like crazy, because even when it's morning, it's quite hot. so thus ended that adventure and started the day. but while it lasted, it was divine.

delicious yogurt, corn flakes, and apple juice.

life is gooood. :)

the blazing, but beautiful, sunshine.

and last, but not least. my view.

i know, right?

you wish you were me.

a breakfast of music and solitude.

don't mind if i do.

people talking without speaking.

any day in which i wake up with simon and garfunkel stuck in my head is bound to be a good one. or at least an interesting one. in case you were wondering, the song was the sound of silence. hello darkness, my old friend.
i woke up earlier than normal. though none of us ever sleep all that much anyway. ha. and then i ate my corn flakes (yes, i splurged and bought cereal. while it is slightly expensive, it was worth it. i love cereal too much.) while sitting on the balcony in the sunshine. and while i ate i listened to the sound of silence. the song, i mean. sitting on the balcony is far from silent thanks to all the honking and pigeons cooing and all that. was it blissful? yes. you better believe it.
my babies all know me, i think. it's super neat. we all enjoy ourselves together. every day i go give my morning round of kisses and love to the bed and chair-bound kids. today it was an event of all smiles, and one was sleeping. and then off i go to find the other kids outside with most the kids from the room next door to mine (computer boy's room. so most of those kids seem like mine as well. and i count computer boy as one of mine.)
outside was rather mellow. and today has been hot. the shade isn't too bad, though. but we went inside a little earlier than usual because it was 'prea cald.' aka, too hot. killing me slowly. haaa. i'm a utah baby when it comes to heat. never fear. i'm still alive. and getting a nice little tan face and arms. nice consolation, i suppose.
i went to masa today. (lunch) i helped feed one of the kids. and let's just say it was less than elegant. but nice to be able to go at my own pace and still help.

MY BABIES WERE STILL AT THE HOSPITAL! this is super exciting, you should probably know. today makes 7 days that they've both been there, the little girl and boy in next door cribs. and i could just eat them up they're so cute. i can hardly stand it. they kill me. so today i spent almost all my time at the hospital with them. when i was getting ready to leave and check the other wing, a nurse came and at first scolded me gently for feeding one of the babies. [she had brought the bottles in, and we usually do feed them if we're there. so i figured it was fine. no biggy. never fear.] after which she asked me to help her carry one of the babies to the parter floor. [numbering of floors is different in europe. the main floor is parter, and then up one is floor 1, and so on.] i held one baby, she held the other as we held up these gas mask/anesthesia type things to their faces. and then some sort of gassy substance came out and into their noses/mouths and spilled out the edges. i was slightly creeped out. but i think it might have been medicine or something? i don't know. it was odd. so if anyone knows what was going on there, let me know. i'm clueless. after holding these fumes up to their faces for a few minutes, we went into the physical therapy room where they both had tummy time, backs were patted, and then massaged (i think). obviously it was not an average hospital experience. but it was neat to see, if nothing else. it did give me more respect for what the hospital does, though. romania and the way it runs is just a different world. not necessarily better or worse. (debatable depending on the specifics.) just different.

being here feels natural, but at the same time there are often times i'll be walking down the street and think about how foreign it is that i'm walking down a street towards a hospital in romania. ROMANIA. i know. weird, right? but i like it. i like the adventure of it. despite the fact that people here speak romanian. aka, whether or not i'm going to be able to carry a conversation with any given person at any point in the day is debatable. depending on the topic, and depending on the speaker. let's just say it makes life interesting.

this is a slow and silly update. lacking in many details. but better than nothing. i keep guilt tripping myself that i never blog anymore. but i kind of don't care. i quite like the seclusion there is to be had here in romania. completely removed from everything else. though i won't lie to you. last night we watched the joseph smith movie at institute, and all the shots of american scenery and a closing shot of temple square made me incredibly homesick. i love temple square. it's my hometown, you know. but that soon passed. especially with the beautiful view of the full moon to fall asleep to last night, and the sunshine shining through the windows this morning. i'm living the good life. and adventures and unusual things have become my new normal. my motto: welcome to romania! this place still keeps coming up with fun surprises to remind us we're not in america anymore. ha.  but i like it. life is just a little different. that's all.

6 more weeks! this weekend marks the halfway point of our time in romania. crazy, right? i know. blowing my mind. and the downhill slide always goes faster than the uphill. oh boy. fasten your seatbelts!

pa pa pentru acum!

life is too good to me.

i don't ever wanna let you down, i don't ever wanna leave this town.

i'm never leaving this place.
i don't really want to, that is.
i want to stay here forever.
i adore my kids.
today was a day for the memory books.
one of those days filled with moments that should be filmed and put in an ad for happiness.
that's what kind of day it was.
i love them.
and i love when the worker in my room trusts me.
and mostly, i just love my kids.
every single one.
even the ones that aren't mine, but are in the next room over.
when those that can walk run to me when they see me,
when all of them get huge grins on their faces when they see me or hear my voice as i walk towards them?
when the ones in their beds hear me in the other room, and i can hear sounds of excitement coming from there?
all of their smiles of contentment, when it is achieved?
there's nothing else in the world like it.
you can't buy feelings like this.
there's nothing like this place.
there's nothing like these kids.
i don't ever wanna leave this town.

song of the day:

it's time, by imagine dragons.

skies are blue, sunshine.

i wish i had a way to capture every thought, feeling, scent, face, pair of eyes, and emotion that i see and experience here.

i've a baby girl i'm bringing home with me. but seriously. she's been in the hospital since last friday. and is the most beautiful little thing. she couldn't be more than 6 or 8 months old, but her head is already misshapen from being in a bed laying down all the time instead of held, and her one ear is flat as well on the side of her head that is. have i ever mentioned that? a lot of the kids have this problem. one side of their head more flat than the other. especially the cerebral palsy kids. it's heartbreaking. and the thing about this baby girl, is that you can't even tell when you look at her beautiful face straight on, but any turn, you can soon see how misshapen her skull has become. it's awful. but anyway, she's the new love of my life. and i'm considering stealing her from the hospital. not that they would even notice. haaaa. kidding. kind of.

when it comes to the hospital, there are mixed feelings among all of us. but personally i quite love it. there's something exciting about the fact that you never really know what you're getting yourself into. you never know how the nurses will react to us. never know if you'll meet a new kid you adore, or if one you do adore is now gone. every day is a new adventure.

my kids know me. i had a breakthrough with one of them, starting yesterday. and he and i are good friends now. i love them. also, i really love the workers in my room.

i'm slightly attached to the kids in the other nearby room too. we spend so much time near each other, especially when we're outside together, that it's almost impossible not to be. melissa says she feels the same about my kiddies. it's nice. we have big borders for our loves. her kids are darla-arling.

our computer boy is probably the funniest kid to walk this earth. i adore working with him. we have too much fun.

i love my life. it's been overcast the past few days. since last thursday, to be exact. but today it's started to clear up, and i can tell it's going to get hot again. boy, oh boy. whatever will we do?

we have a hostel booked for bucharest! we won't be sleeping on the streets! don't worry. not that we'd ever consider that. but it's all set. now all we need are our train tickets. which will happen tomorrow. life is so exciting when mid-semester retreat is a week and a half away. :)

sorry this is so scatterbrained. i have a million thoughts when it comes to romania. every single day. most of them revolving around how neat it is. also, i'm in love with having a balcony to look out on the city. well, out at the nearby blocs. it's a perfect evening activity. which i'm about to go enjoy while writing in my journal.

i only have five and a half more weeks with my kids. six and a half more weeks in romania. when did this happen? clearly, that is not enough time.

i feel like i'm a different person now than i was before this experience. as in i've changed in little ways, mostly because i've seen so much while here, that's changed how i look at the world. and every time i think about that, it kind of freaks me out to realize i have to readjust myself to a place and a routine that is similar to before, even though now i've changed. does that make sense? anyway. just a thought. re-entry into america is going to be quite an experience. one that i'm not fully looking forward to. the shock part of it, at least. the seeing family and friends thing, i think i'll be ok with. :)

adventure is out there! every single day.

ca la douazeci de ani, fără griji şi fără bani

oh the stories that could be told. oh the adventures that have been had!
life is neater when you're living it in romania. just saying.

cliff notes version, because details would take too many years:

i learned the reason for all the stray dogs in romania. (they're everywhere!) i'm reading a book about romania right now whenever i have a free minute at home. it's super interesting.

(in case you were wondering, it's because when Ceauşescu forced the people out of their homes and into the blocs, there wasn't enough room in the blocs for the family pets. because the point of blocs is having many people in as little space as possible, thus leaving people with not enough room.)

though i've yet to find a reason for the pigeons. or a method of killing the two lovebirds that are outside our window every morning, starting at 5am doing their morning cooing to each other. we want to kill them. don't think i'm kidding. roslyn has been considering buying an axe, if she can find one. or maybe putting poison on some bread and feed it to them. haaaaa. but really. we're serious.

exploring the little shops behind hala centrala.

adventures on a whim that lead to dacia and discovering a big field that looks like the countryside. BEAUTIFUL!

(just a few photos to wet your whistle. until i have a computer again to put them on. just believe me. it was like a dream.

and the wind sweeping through the long grasses and horses' manes and tails only added to it.)

mikey went a little crazy with taking pictures. he was like you, steve. hahahaha.

 wild daisies!

"i love daisies! don't you think daisies are the friendliest flower?"

harses, harses, harses, harses, harses, ring-a-ling-a-ling! this one's for you, kaitlin. :)

cleaning the church building, and having everything we cleaned gone over again by the relief society ladies.

shaorma. and french fries! food here is always an exciting occasion.

free concerts in front of the cultural palace. voltaj! bahaha.

packed plaza means seriously priceless people-watching. i can't even begin to describe. haaaa.

an excellent church meeting. these members are indescribably incredible. i love this branch. and i love when i can understand what they say in sacrament meeting/testimony meeting. the gift of tongues is real, though not always for speaking. sometimes it's for listening, i'd say.

singing hymns in copou with the missionaries.

transfers were last week, so there's a new elder and new sora.

we like them. and feel bad for the elder straight out of the mtc. welcome to romania! haaa.

concerts in the metropolitan cathedral. it's a beautiful place. with beautiful sounds.

texting laursy (through email on my end, of course) as she drives to the oregon coast with her family,

and deciding that sometimes i miss the wertz's as much as my own family.

and.

skype dates with brother steve who leaves for peru tomorrow. (bon voyage!)

what better way to end a weekend?

there's just a few slices of this edition of my romanian weekend.

all of which occurred on beautifully breezy overcast days that have been around the past few days.

just a little taste.

obviously everyone reading this should be super jealous right now.

and roslyn just drew a big donkey for part of our fhe tomorrow night. his name is ed.

and he's hilariously beautiful as he hangs off the side of our fridge.

our party for rebecca's birthday will obviously be cooler than cool.

this place is cooler than cool. almost every day i end my journal entries with "i love this place."

[ p.s. sorry i'm totally becoming the kind of blogger i hate. the kind that stops blogging. but seriously. i don't have very much time. like ever. especially because naps usually take precedence with these states of constant exhaustion. but i promise i'm trying! ]

mai vorbim mai târziu, da?

vă iubesc!

o zi (sau noapte) buna!

a quicky, as usual.

i'm in love with my kids.

i hate missing family get-togethers. oh well. happy graduation, mikey!

i'm in love with my kids.

i'm in love with romania.

i'm in love with sitting on my balcony watching the surrounding blocs, and watching the city.

i'm in love with pretzels. (the snack of the week.)

i'm in love with my family. and i am blessed to have the best brothers in the world. one of which is the best brother in the world, because he sent me a power cord. now the question is how long the mail decides to take. ha.

i'm in love with the fact that i'm in romania.

i'm in love with holding babies. life is such a miracle. babies are miracles.

i'm in love with my kids. it's almost odd the way i feel a sort of possession for each of them. one of my boys has a fever of 40 degrees celsius right now, which he's had day and night for the past couple of days. which translates to 104 degrees fahrenheit. i know, right? my poor little man. and he's definitely sick of being stuck in his crib/bed thing since he's been mostly just in there the past few days. when he got out for a couple minutes today, he made a run for it and ran over and gave me a hug. how cute is that? i know. really, i do.

i'm in love with my kids.

want me to say it again? i wish you all could know them as i do. they're so beautiful. and darling. and hilarious. and wonderful. if you'd like, i'll give them extra kisses and hugs on monday for you. i'm sure they wouldn't mind.

though in other news, i do miss home every now and again. i won't lie. but never fear, it soon passes.

all's well on the [eastern] front. :)

you'd think communism was still around.

hi family, friends, and whoever else may be reading this.

here's the thing. as usual, our electricity is on the fritz again. as in, this morning it went out, one of our light switches is broken and those lights in the bathroom and hall closet don't work.
and my favorite detail: my laptop charger isn't working. not in our apartment anyway. so my laptop is very dead. and roslyn is kind enough to let me use her computer. so that's me right now. but, this also means i'll be getting even more behind. someday i'll catch up on telling you about how cool romania is, lack of electricity and all.
but until i get this little situation worked out, i send my deepest apologies if you were wanting to hear about how neat romania is.

also, if you've sent me an email, i promise i got it. and squealed in delight upon receiving it, or something like that. i just am maybe a little bit behind on replying. starting with being slow and unmotivated to sit down and do it, ending with the fact that my computer is temporarily (i hope) unavailable.

i promise i'm still alive, family. though i'm sure sometimes you question it while i'm over here on the other side of the globe. don't worry, i'm just too busy becoming romanian. slash wrangling in the children of romania. ahaha. someday you'll get to hear about it all if you'd like. even if that someday is when i get home.

speaking of. we go home in less than two months. how i feel about that depends on the day. but after today, it is most definitely feeling like two months from now will be too soon. but tuesday i was feeling quite the opposite. go figure. haaaa. c'est la vie.

cu mult drag!

sweat curls, flowers, and babies.

sorry, world. i'm super behind on blogging. and my motivation to blog at all is completely pathetically nonexistent. mostly, because there's not much i can say beyond talking about the streets of romania and other random things. which is only a minor part of my life here. and i can kind of talk about my kids. but it's not the same. and keeping up on blogging? kind of a huge effort. so i apologize now that from here on out it will probably get more and more pathetic. but i do try occasionally. kind of. ha. the sad truth.

on sunday, because of roslyn's upcoming birthday (TOMORROW!), the relief society gave her carnations and a present. and then they found out my birthday was last week, so they gave me some carnations too. super cute, huh? they're too good to us.

our carnations. in romania. which makes them even better, naturally.

monday was rather average at section 2. i went outside at the beginning, though. and we were outside for almost the whole time before i had to leave to go work with our computer boy, so i didn't get to see much of my other kids, besides the walkers that were outside. which is sad. but today i made up for it and spent most of the morning with them. followed by maniac children that came back in from outside in awfully interesting moods. more than usual, anyway. we'll just leave that at that. i'm trying to forget it. haaaa. it was an interesting day. ha.

at the hospital yesterday, all 8 of us went! which hasn't happened since probably the first day, which makes it exciting. usually there's always someone sick or something. but, of course the day we are all there, babies were few and far between to be found. only a couple floors had any kids at all. one of which, they were all in one room. four little babes! so we spent all our time with them. and today was the same story, except not everyone went today. but seriously, i'm bringing these babies home with me. hope no one has a problem with that. haaa. if only.

last night was fhe, so we played charades! it was funny. that's for sure. and after which we went to kaufland to stock up on food. i was out. most everyone was. so, i have food again! this is exciting. i'm trying to cut back on just drinking apple juice, because it's been getting ridiculous. so i'm trying some new ones. this week, i got a carton of red orange juice - delicious. and a mix juice of pomegranate, grapefruit, and apple, i think? i haven't tried it yet. but it sounded promising, wouldn't you say? hope so! ha. and then we lugged all our goods back home. that was fun. ha. while walking i kept feeling like i had bought the whole store to carry home with me. never fear, we survived. and it wasn't really that bad. just a day in the life. though we did look a little hilarious with our big bags walking past people just out to enjoy a summer evening with friends. haaaa. whatevs. it's fine. we loved it.

thanks to it being super hot here, the lack of any air flow inside buildings, and being inside said buildings most the day, especially in the afternoons in the hospital, romania gets to be greeted by the famous sweat curl often. i'm sure everyone here loves it. i sure do. good old sweaty me. i've never sweat so much and so often in my entire life. it's getting ridiculous. and it's only going to get hotter. even better. bring it on. haaaa. the following photo is dedicated to my lovely sister-in-law, sherry. i know she'll love it. and yesterday i had a really good ringlet going on, so i had to share! bahahahahahaa. i'm so funny. obviously. [previous sweat curl is at the bottom of this post.]

yes, my hair is always as messy and out of control as it looks. i can't help it. and at this point i've mostly given up on trying. ha. once again, welcome to romania! the land of many adventures.

and that, my friends, will have to suffice as an update for now.

i've more pictures. and more words. but not for here. and not for now.

bine? bine.

noapte buna!

romanian elevators.

need i say more?

also, i'm wearing the exact same thing right now. that's embarrassing.

welcome to romania!

baaahahahaahaha.

dragoste și iubire

as aforementioned, sunday we went to sera's wedding! he's the physical therapist in section 2, and was ever so kind to invite us to come join the celebration.

we could probably make the longest list in the world of reasons why teo is so wonderful, and this weekend just added to the list. let's just say, romania has made me incredibly grateful for utah's grid system for the roads. and i wish everywhere had that system. romania's a little less than organized in that regard. so, if we had been left to our own devices, we probably wouldn't have made it to the wedding before it ended. but thanks to a call to teo, she helped us by telling the taxi driver where to go. our problems: 1. we didn't know exactly where we were going, we just had the name of the church written down.  2. even once we decided to take a taxi instead of trying to walk, there were slight issues in helping the taxi driver know where to go. then enters teo to save the day!

the wedding itself was an interesting experience, and definitely different than anything i've ever been to. it was combined with the normal church service, i think. or it seemed like it, at least. with a whole lot of musical numbers, scriptures, prayers, and talks of well-wishers. all within a big and humid room. like, really humid. we were a little tired. but it was good. and the choir? they don't mess around. i was surprised when they first started singing, because it was so loud and powerful. while the acoustics of the building probably helped, it was still incredibly impressive. america should take notes. also, the couple was beautiful. and the bride? so very pretty.

a few photos from our adventures getting there, and at the wedding.

 hahaahahahahahaha. that's all i have to say about this moment of our romanian experience. ahaha. ha.

 sera și georgeana

 this guy had the best musical number.

songs about love, by a guy playing the accordion and singing? so classic.

 please take note of how exhausted everyone looks. ha.

 steve carrell! haha. kidding. but he looked and acted like a darker skinned version of him. almost creepily so.

 where the bride and groom sat throughout the service.

just another beautiful sunday in romania.

:)