So what is a camp anyways?

Camp life...what I have been talking about this past month and how we are living....

Are you thinking that we have these super high tech tents set up for us? Maybe a commune type of house similar to a Big Brother house?

No...this is our "camp".

We all have a townhome with pretty fenced -in yards. There is a large field for the kids to run and play in, as well as a playground and outdoor swimming pool for the hot summer months.

Here are the indoor tennis courts and indoor swimming pool.

There is a clubhouse that has a restaurant open a few times a week, pool tables, and a reading/craft/tv area.

The kids can ride their bikes to school when the weather allows...which, so far, has mostly been sunny and really pretty despite the cool air!

This is the school gym, which is also used for events, like tonight's Thanksgiving dinner.

We will all gather here tonight and I will post the pictures tomorrow of it!

I am thankful for my family, our health and the wonderful opportunities that we have been

given and Blessed with this Thanksgiving Day!

Hope you are enjoying you Thanksgiving!

Intricacies of a camp life

It is different living on a camp.

I usually like to give my whole self, but sometimes maybe that's not always the best thing to do.

Like any relationship/friendship that is just starting, sometimes you find awkward moments when you are not sure how much to give or how much to hold.

Here on a camp, where there about 75-80 families, some with kids, some without, it is even a little trickier. You think that you have found friends that are willing to learn about you and give some of their selves out also....

but then you just are not sure how far to go.

Your news is spread far and wide...good or bad, happy or sad.

I have found a nice group...but still, I am a little worried that I give too much too quickly. I am who I am, and I rarely hold anything back. I think I need to learn to do just that...not give too much, and not trust too quickly.

When you live any expat life, I think you learn that you really don't want to give all of yourself. At least not in the first days anyways. You know that there will be some people that make a difference in your life, and some that you can really do without. You learn and trust fairly quickly, because at any given moment, you or they may leave.

If you don't take a chance and trust your instincts. then you may feel very lonely.

I hope that I have made the right choices...only time will tell.

Two down and one to go...

The animals arrived on schedule today.

It was quite interesting...

after 7 days of travel, and 4 weeks without me,

I'm not sure Bella even knew who was taking her out of her cage!

Once she got inside the house and actually listened and turned around to see, she started howling.

Then my daughter and I gave her a bath, and she was so calm. She doesn't like the water really anyways, but she still was a very good girl. She moaned a little while combing her...I took it as she was telling me all her woes from this past month.

Now, she seems content to be home, but still very new to the surroundings. It will take awhile for her to get used to it all.

And Tiger? She ran out of her cage, found the litter box, and has been hiding under covers and under the beds ever since this morning.

It is good to have them here. I missed them.

and now, this also means that my husband will be here in the equivalent of one hand...5 days.

We are all on the countdown, and wishing we could make time move a little quicker,

just this once :)

Dinner is served

A lady here offered to hold cooking classes for the children.

On Monday, my daughter made smoothies. We had them for dinner that night and

they were yummy!

Tonight, my son made us dinner:

Stromboli

Cucumber and Tomato Salad

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

It was so good...

I may have a chef in the making!

The animals are on their way...

Well, at least they have started their 7 day long journey.

Tiger

and Bella

flew on Monday to Sao Paulo, and spent the night in the kennel there. Tuesday, they supposedly left for Amsterdam, but I am getting conflicting reports on whether the plane left or not.

I know it was delayed, but have not figured out if it actually left yet!

I hope so, poor babies!

I would not want to be locked up in a cage while delays take place. The flight is already extremely long for them, around 10 hours I think!

They will then spend a night in Amsterdam, and fly on Thursday evening to

Almaty, Kazakhstan, arriving Friday morning.

Then they will have to spend two night in Almaty, not sure why exactly they can't fly on Saturday, but...they fly into Atyrau on Sunday morning...we hope.

Do you think they get frequent flier miles?

:)

Book Review: Angels in My Hair

I have to write to tell you all about a wonderful book by Lorna Byrne called:

"Angels in My Hair"

It is Lorna's personal story of her experiences with the Angels and God. I know some of you are doubting me already, but I loved this book.

It spoke to me personally, touching on a few subjects that are close to my heart.

I recommend it and hope that you can see after reading this book, that we all have our Angel with us, and we just need to talk to them to let them know that we believe.

Maybe if more of us talked with our Angel,listened to our Angel, we could learn about how to get along.

There is so much war and hurt in this world; so much wrongdoing from one human being against another....we need to figure out how to live in peace with one another, respecting each other, loving each other.

Air shipment and roses!

Well it was an exciting day Wednesday to receive our air shipment.

This is the shipment that is sent along first, very small in size, that is supposed to contain some of your favorite things.

We packed a few favorite kitchen items, the cat toy (which made me laugh when it came bouncing out with it's balls on springy metal things), clothes, and of course, about a zillion stuffed dolls that my daughter put in!

It is nice to use our own plates again, and to feel just the little bit like the home is coming together. We will not have our other shipment for at least 2-4 months...so that will be a long time to wait for the comforts of home!

Me being the forever florist, I also packed a few vases into the shipment and good thinking on my part because for the 2nd week in a row I have received these from my wonderful husband! We only have 2 more weeks to be apart, and I hope it flies as quick as these past two weeks have!

November 1st

Have you seen my cool, new weather widget to the right?

Did you notice what it says tonight?

Snow!

Yes, November 1st, and there is a little bit of wet snow falling. The kids screamed with delight!

It is probably a little too warm to stick, but it means that the promises of snow are forthcoming!

Happy November 1st...

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!