lizka’s blog

QotD: Ring, Ring.

nobody@vox.com(Liza) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 04:41:17 +0400

How often do you call your parents?

Not as often as I would like to. It ends up being really expensive. I talk to my Mother online and I text message with my Father most of the time. I see my in-laws often as they live nearby.

And I haven't written anything in quite a while. It's been over a year! We moved back to the Emirates last spring and we didn't have internet access until February. That's a long time without the internet, but it wasn't that bad actually. I did a lot more reading and we did a lot of dvd watching. In particular: One Tree Hill, which was cheap and looked interesting. I thought it was okay. I only bought the first three seasons though and that's all I've saw. And then we were addicted to Lost. Really addicted. We bought the seasons that were available on dvd and went through them quickly. We still have not seen the new season, but I've downloaded the episodes that have been on television so far and just need to stick them on a disc, so we can watch them. We bought new laptops in February as well and they have dvd writers, so I've been going a little nuts making dvds.

I also started working as an English teacher and Alyona attended nursery. We've pulled her out of the nursery because we're planning a trip to America to finish up my husbands greencard later this month, but I am planning on putting her on the waiting list for next year. The nursery is a really nice place and she really enjoys going, although in the past month or so so many sicknesses were going around that she was home most of the time. And when I received a note in her lunch bag that conjunctivitis was going around I really decided not to send her back again before the trip.

She talks a lot. Way, way, way more than before. Her new favourite word has been "naughty". And anybody who does anything she doesn't enjoy is "naughty". She says: sit down, come, hug, kiss, pig, cow, pony, circle, red, green, heart, star, papa naughty, i tickle, let's go, cookie, soup, draw, owwie, ouch, fall down, boom, car, vroom vroom, head, toes, feet, shoes, shirt, pants, nappy, boob, bird, water, let's go shopping, let's go sara, sleeping, baby, shh papa sleeping, shh baby sleeping, etc. As well as many Russian words and a few Arabic words. Her Russian was good at first and now it's English.

Anyway, I just thought I'd write an update to make up for a year of saying nothing.

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I recently watched something that...

nobody@vox.com(Liza) — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 11:30:51 +0400

I recently watched something that I wished I would of watched years ago.

The Secret

What did I watch? A movieish documentary. It's called The Secret. It will
sound ridiculous if I try to explain what it is about. Well, it's about getting
what you want by thinking positively and truly believing that it will happen. Relationships, minor things, ideas, money. Any of it. Instead of worrying about how it will happen, just trusting that it will happen and picturing the end result. Sounds silly, right? But it really makes sense and I'm so grateful I watched it. It's helped me to become so much more positive. I'm still having a tough time trying to apply it to my life and get over the negativity that sits in the back of my mind and whispers silly things like no way, that's impossible! Nothing is impossible and sometimes it can be so hard to have faith that good things will happen and it's hard to have faith in the Laws of Attraction, but it is something I believe. I paid $4.95 I think it was for a one time download after hearing rave reviews on MDC from many different ladies and then going to Youtube to see what I could find, which were a few intriguing previews that left me wanting to see the entire thing. I dragged the husband around town searching out the dvd, but apparently it's not sold in stores, only through the website. So, I decided the quickest and cheapest way to see it would be to pay for the one-time-view version, that you can watch on their website. Now I'm dying for the dvd.

Gimme Your Stuff: From Marceline in Scotland

I received my first swap from Gimme Your Stuff. It's a swapping blog that lists people by their country that are open to swapping and links to their blog page that lists their likes&dislikes, etc. I've posted about it here before, as you may have read. My first package was such a success. Everything in it was amazing. Beautiful ribbon, cute hand covered journal, gorgeous fabric, chocolates, cookies, a handmade bag and the cutest felt brooch and I could not possibly forget the deer button. I'm in love with cartoon deer characters such as Deery Lou, so that button was absolutely perfect. All of this was courtesy of Marceline from Scotland.

That's all I've got for now. I'm nursing at the keyboard completely exhausted, dreaming about slipping under the covers.

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Haircuts and family portraits!

nobody@vox.com(Liza) — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 11:28:45 +0400

Just us!

Today was a haircut and pictures day. This morning I was up bright and early for my hair appointment at Serendipity. It is such a beautiful salon and my stylist was such a sweetheart and she did a fabulous job. I got a few inches of hair off, layers and highlights. So, if you need recommendations for a stylist in Logan, I'll give you her name and number!

We did our photographs at JcPenneys. Honestly... I wasn't too happy with them, but I ordered some anyway. This is what I get for not going to a photographer and paying a little more. I just thought it may be easier to go to JcPenneys and do it and it always seems so busy, so I thought they must be decent. The lady used cheesy backgrounds. Thank god I jumped in and asked her to change them when she took pictures of Alyona, because she was using the tackiest blue background that totally didn't match her outfit! You know the kind they use on school photographs for a yearbook? The cheesy, cloudy blue? Seriously. Plus Syoma wasn't smiling in half of them because he wasn't prepared, but she didn't seem to want to re-take any photographs. I regret not being a tiny bit more pushy. Oh, and the photographer girl used props like a feather boa and pearls, which just screams cheap glamourshots and it's definately not the style I'd usually go for, but she still looks like a doll. But next time no JcPenneys! I'm just going to a photographer. I had actually found one I liked and tried to book an appointment with her, but unfortunately she was going out of town and will be out of town until January. So, I think in the spring I'll try to book an appointment with her. Oh, and to top it off we won't get out pictures back until the 8'th of January! They were supposed to be Christmas presents. I missed the before Christmas cut off by an hour! How unlucky!

I finally was able to watch The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe! I *loved* it. I don't know what took me so long to finally see it. Well, I had it in my netflix queue, but I still haven't watched the latest dvd that I received from there. Anyway, it was amazingly done, I thought. I loved the cast. The Queen was cast well, I think. I loved Mr. Thumnus! The husband loved it as well and now we're dying of anticipation to see the next one! And now I really have the urge to go to the library, which is where I found this dvd and go check out the books! I haven't read them in years! Cold Mountain is next on our list of dvd to watch that we've checked out from the library. I've heard alot of nice things about it, so I hope we enjoy it. I'm not a terribly huge fan of American Civil War movies, so we'll see. But it has a really good cast, so how can I refuse?

I really need to get into the Christmas mood and try to do decorations and finish Alyona's stocking, but I've been so tired. The house is literaly a disaster. I can't keep it clean and I've just been feeling very worn out the past few days. Today was exhausting. All of the picture nerves and Alyona was acting a little monsterish most of the day.

Anyway, I really feel like crashing. I think at this point I could fall asleep and not wake up for about a week. Yawn yawn yawn. Sleep tight everyone!

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Doctors and Christmas.

nobody@vox.com(Liza) — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 23:02:51 +0400

On the run

Alyona has been growing up a bunch in the past week. She desperately tries to say "roll it up" while playing patty cake. I'm excited about spending Christmas with her, even though she will be still a little bit young to enjoy it as much as I'd like. Next year she'll have more fun, I think. She walks so well. And she had her first American doctor appointment the other day and it went well. I'm so glad we picked the pediatrician that we did. He was so kind and playful with her and she actually stopped crying when he came in. He let her play with his stethoscope and gave her toys to play with and the clinic was warm, friendly and inviting and didn't give off the scary hospital vibe. I will also admit to be in complete glee when he told dh and I that we have done an excellent job and she looks healthy and beautiful. It made my year.

Mail day.

Yesterday was a good day for mail. I ordered some Japanese Craft Books from Saucy Louise on Etsy who lives in Japan and they came *so* fast. I placed the order on the first and I don't think she got it out until the 2'd or the 3'd of December, so that made it less than a week! I ordered two different book and you can click on my flickr album if you'd like to see the other one. She's giving free shipping for a limited time for the holidays, so a heads up if you'd like to order from her!

The other package was a shirt I ordered off of Cafe Press for Alyona as a Christmas present. It has Cheburashka on it, which is a Russian cartoon character...

I also got a few free samples that I didn't take pictures of.

An Unfinished Christmas Stocking

Oh, and since it's our first Christmas in America we don't have many Christmas items. I'm almost literly on zero Christmas items, so I've been trying to create. As a Christmas present my grandmother bought me fabric and we drafted a pattern for a stocking together and spent part of the afternoon sewing together. We bought fabric on sale at JoAnn's and the border in a muslin, which is a nice natural looking touch that I love. I've only actually finished this and it's still not finished. I'd like to do some embroidery and add a yarn pom-pom or two. This one is mine. Dh and Alyona's are still under construction. Worked on a tree skirt as well, but I haven't quite finished it yet. I picked up a tree stand from my Fathers house last night and I can't wait to stick a tree in it. Hopefully this afternoon.

I've been a little worried about how Alyona will be around the tree. I debated on putting one up almost because I'm afraid that she'll tear off the ornaments and lights and I have these daydream type nightmares where she pulls the tree over and it falls on her. I have a wicked imagination. I'll just try one anyways and I suppose I'll just have to teach her that yanking on a Christmas tree is a no-no.

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Her first flu.

nobody@vox.com(Liza) — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 06:17:52 +0400

Yesterday Alyona was in a bad mood. I wasn't sure what it was at first. I thought maybe she was just having a bad day. We went out with my dad to start my mobile plan and by the time we came home she was screaming. Literally. Non. Stop. Screaming. I started to worry. She started to have stomach problems and soon a horrible diaper rash appeared. I changed her diaper around ten times. Then she started vomiting. I held her in my arms and she calmed down a tiny bit, but every once in a while she'd start sobbing and then would vomit. It was hard to watch her so miserable. She wanted to do her usual naughty things, but I would watch her stop what she wanted to do (like throw things in the toilet) and cry her little heart out. I nursed her for a while and it didn't want to stay down either, so we decided around midnight to take her to the emergency room and make sure she was okay. We got in quickly and checked her out and everything was okay, though they worried about her being dehydrated. We gave her some medicine to help hydrate her and a little part of a tablet and she was soon feeling better, playing patty cake and ladushki and running around looking so sweet in her hospital gown. I was so worried about her being afraid in the hospital. She was so calm and well behaved. She loved the nurses and doctors and all the attention. She has such a flirtatious attitude that warms my heart. She seemed to feel better today and the hella big rash is still there, but it's slowly going away. I still have some of the ointment from the Emirates I brought with me and it works well. They diagnosed it as... some huge word and I'm much too lazy to jump up and find the paper, but basically it was the flu.

We went to Chili's today and she coloured on the paper and the table. I saved the paper. I'm going to hang it up on the refrigerator. Her little "artwork" is the second thing to make me feel like a real mother. It's funny, strange things shock me and then I think to myself "wow, I'm really a mama now!" Both occurred within two days. The first was when I had vomit all over me and I thought I'd die and then I reminded myself that I needed to stay calm not to upset her more. But after the seventh time or so it wasn't as bad as the first few times and I sort of got used to it. But I'm not looking forward to her being sick again. I wish her the best health. And not just because I dislike being vomited on!

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Clean-bot.

nobody@vox.com(Liza) — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 09:47:51 +0400

I spent most of the afternoon cleaning today. I washed the floors, vaccumed until I felt sick, washed all the dishes and counters and every inch of the house and made sure everything was put away in it's proper place. It's evening now, around 10:30 and it's a complete disaster again. Which makes me a tiny bit sad because I finally got a cheapy folding table that I can put my sewing machine on since our laptops occupy the kitchen table. Finally I'll be able to get working on something and have a place to do it. It's in our bedroom. Maybe I should put it in the other bedroom which is the "free" bedroom... I still don't know. Ever since we've moved into this house I imagined my craft area to be in a certain spot of the bedroom, so maybe I should just stick with that.

Tonight was frustrating. We ran to the shop and dh decided to buy a pack of beer. When we got to the checkout they insisted that they had to see my i.d. Well, I didn't have one on me as I had left my purse in the car. Dh had an old i.d. of mine in his wallet that was expired. No, they wouldn't take it. "Federal law!" So, I had to go out to the car and bring a valid i.d. It was just really annoying and the lady acted like a complete bitch. I don't even drink beer!

Anyway, I am going to finish my late dinner and try to get the baby to sleep so I can organise everything for projects!

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Cloth diapering mama!

nobody@vox.com(Liza) — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 12:05:33 +0400

This is one of the drawings I'm working on. I actually whipped it up tonight in around 30 minutes, so it's still not perfect. I'll probably change the colours... Still unsure. But I thought I'd share!

Work in progress...

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Fat Quarters Swap

nobody@vox.com(Liza) — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 05:26:24 +0400

I finally made a swap group. I've been wanting to make one for swapping fabric and I finally did. I'm really excited about this swap group. It's for swapping fat quarters. We'll do monthly swaps of fat quarters. Currently there is one open for sign-ups. It's for sending three fat quarters. Go over and join if you're interested!

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QotD: Heartbreaker

nobody@vox.com(Liza) — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 20:59:04 +0400

What's your favorite heartbreak song?
Submitted by esta86.

That would be have to be Love Hurts by Nazareth. Cliché? Maybe!

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Atc? Huh?

nobody@vox.com(Liza) — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 20:05:47 +0400

I've been looking on Swap Bot for swap that allow new swappers to that site to participate as most of them require you have a certain amount of good feedback, so I can build my feedback to do better swaps which I can't do now. But I'm a bit confused on one tiny issue. What is an ATC? Art? The? Craft? Or something? Haha! I can't come up with a single normal sounding thing. I know it's a mail art sort of thing and I assumed it was decos. Am I right? But if so when I used to be into decos.. I don't think it had that label. Or maybe I just forgot? I'm going to find out and edit with what I find out.

It's Artist Trading Card! Now I understand it a bit better.

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