There's no place like home

Well, after 9 weeks of being in Romania, we are finally HOME. And there is no place like it. No matter how much fun you have on your vacation, no matter how much you love the people you visit, I always feel soo grateful to be home. And this time is no exception. I have a whole new appreciation for the most basic things...

Yesterday I went grocery shopping for the first time and made Julia Child's Bouef Bourgoignon for dinner.

I drove my car for the first time in 2 months.

I had my groceries bagged for me and didn't have to pay for the bags. Nor did I have to carry it all home.

I am loving the air conditioner.

I love our home, especially our kitchen.

The girls love their new princess rooms. ( pictures to follow)

I love the fact that we can all have dinner as a family again.

Eric met us at the airport and so did Michael ( my nephew) and Jaime ( my niece). It took us an hour to get from the plane, and through customs and all the way to our family. Luckily I had some help with the luggage otherwise it might've taken me a lot more.

Our friends, also met us at Joe's that night. I am so blessed. Can't wait to get over the jet lag and actually start doing things with our friends, our family, and get back to our normal routine.

Tonight, I am supposed to have a MNO...will I make it or will I fall asleep before 8 PM again??

Time will tell...

Our beach trip

A week on the sandy beach of the Black Sea of Costinesti....what could be better?? A week in the same place with our daddy...no doubt!!

We made the best we could though and the girls managed to have a blast playing in the sand, building sand castles, swimming, spending time with their auntie and their "buni".

We had great weather despite the the fact that we had heard it was gonna rain most of the time we were there.

We walked wayyy more than I wanted to. The place we had reservations at turned out to be much further from the beach then we had thought.

We had chocolate donuts almost every day...fresh and piping hot. Audrey even asked for them instead of breakfast...surprised?? Not me..

We gathered seashells to bring home to daddy.

We missed our daddy every single day, especially with no internet connection except for my "data roaming" plan on my I-phone.

We took a boat out to see the Evangelia shipwreck and it was soo cool, definitely one of the highlights of our trip.

Maile absolutely loved her life saver. She had it on almost the whole time. Can't wait for us to resume our swim lessons, especially with 2 little girls that just LOVE the water.

Me on the balcony of the little villa we stayed at.
Taking a walk on the beach...without my hubby =(

My beautiful sister enjoying the beach on a ...not so sunny day. Notice the big waves behind her.

A gorgeous sunset on the last night of our trip with the Obelisc in the distance.

July 4th

For most people July 4th represents the day the United states claimed their independance from Britain , the day the democracy was born.

For me personally, it meant almost nothing until 8years ago. Still remember that day so vividly...found myself all alone in an empty little room somewhere downtown Bucharest with nothing to do.

If you'd ever told me that I was gonna meet the love of my life that day, my soulmate, the man that was gonna become my husband, the father of my children, I probably would've laughed in your face. After all, I wasn't looking for anything...

And yet, in this little chat room, popped the most amazing guy I could've ever met. We started talking and I could immediately tell he was unlike anybody I'd ever met. He was interesting, funny, witty, and soo sweet. I started talking to him mainly because he spoke English, and I was studying English as my profile in college....and after all, what better way to "practice" right??

It turns out, he found me pretty cute and interesting too because we ended up talking that day for 4-5 hours. Sorry Roger for making your brother late to your 4th of July party.

The day after, I remember leaving Bucharest to go to the seaside with my sister for about a week ( much like I am about to a week from now which reminds me...that was actually the last time I went to the beach here in Romania).

We e-mailed each other during my trip ( I went to an internet cafe since I didn't have a computer), and pretty much every day after I returned, we kept having "web dates" and chatting for hours and hours on end.

Now, I am not saying that online dating is for everyone, bu at that point in time it was the best thing for both of us. I can honestly say we rescued each other in so many ways.

Not even 4 months later, Eric was making his first trip to Romania to meet me. I still have bnutterflies in my stomach just thinking about it, remembering how he actually missed his "first flight" because he wasn't at the airport 2 hours prior to his departure.

I remember seeing him back online and wondering what had happened.

I also remember my "friend's " voices in my head telling me that he was playing games with me and that he really hadn't ever planned on coming over in the first place.

We spent 2 weeks together on that first trip and they were amazing. My sister was only 11 at the time....so little.

He came back to see me right after Thanksgiving and again after Christmas and on that trip, on New Year's Eve in a beautiful hotel room overlooking the Parliament Palace and among the deathening sounds of fireworks, he got down on one knee and he proposed with tears in his eyes.

That was one of the best days in my life...and I am sure his as well.

It took us 24 days to get married and we have been together for almost 8 beautiful years. Life has blessed us with 2 beautiful little girls that we both love and treasure beyond measure.

I couldn't be happier and although July 4th isn't our wedding anniversary, we still "celebrate" it every year.

Happy Birthday, America and Happy "Meeting" Anniversary once again, my love!!

You fill my heart with such love and gratitude and you are forever my hero!

Is it July yet????

Why, yes it is!! Just 26 more days and we get to be back in the arms of our sweet Eric..my hubby and the girls daddy. We miss him soo very very much every day.

Didn't realize just how hard it was gonna be to be away from him for soo many weeks. I thought my parents were gonna be able to give me the extra love and support I needed but it turns out, as much as they DO want to help...it's all so different. I am still the parent, the only one that needs to discipline...that is not easy. I have so much respect for all the single mommies out there, for the military wives who do this for months and months at a time. Wow...I have no idea how you guys do it. Perhaps it just takes a stronger person?? More independent? I dunno...what I do know is that I can't wait till the day that we get to be a family again, have fun together, laugh and cry and share the joys and the blessings that this life has to offer.

We have officially been gone from home for about 5 weeks. It was definitely harder at first but now the girls seem to be a bit more adjusted, they love their new friends and ask to go out and play with them every day, even though they really can't communicate with them much.

The weather was quite warm for the first 2-3 weeks of our trip and very humid. It wasn't easy dealing with that and NO AC but we made it. The last 2 weeks, it rained almost every day and the temperatures dropped significantly, to the point that we were wearing 2 layers of clothing in the middle of June and were still chilly.

Of course, the rain also makes it hard to take your kids out to run wild and escape the very small apartment we have been sharing with my family. Can't tell you what kinda boredom that brings and temper tantrums...

We have had our shares of ups and downs...Maile had her first ear infection since we had her tubes in. That lasted about 2 weeks...then Audrey ended up getting the sniffles and even coughed for a while but she is much better now also.

I have been running into old friends almost every day and it's been nice to get a chance to reconnect with some of them.

The girls had a chance to spend some time with their great grandmothers and meet 5 of their 6 great-aunts and 2 of their second cousins. I don't know too many people that can say that. I think that is SOO COOL. And what I think is even better is the fact that I honestly believe they're both gonna remember this trip, Maile probably a little more than her sister but still...WAY COOL.

This weekend we are taking another trip to the country side for more fun with the girls great grandmothers and next week we are planning on taking the girls to the beach...praying for great weather and no more rain. After that, we'll have another week here in town with my parents and before you know it, it will be the 26th!!!!

WHOO HOO!!!