Space Date

June's date was Space themed!!!! I got off work a little early that day, so naturally I decked out the apartment in space themed home-made crafts and surprised Dima when he walked in: 

It had all the essentials: a model of the solar system (complete with fun facts on the back of each planet:

"The big yellow one is the sun!!" - The sun makes up 99.86% of the solar system's mass. It's light takes 8 mins to reach Earth.

Mercury: Smallest planet in our solar system

Venus: is the hottest planet (over 400 C)

Earth: Only planet in our solar system known to have life

Mars: Its surface has vast volcanoes

Jupiter: is two and a half times the mass of all other planets combined!

Saturn: The rings are made up of small ice and rock particles

Uranus: Named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky; also the 1st planet discovered by telescope

Neptune: 1st planet discovered by mathematical prediction

 

 The control station

 the portal

 General space-like decore

After some delicious home-made pizza we headed to the planetarium!!! It was awesome (even if it is a little outdated.... they still had pluto as a planet. Poor Pluto, he was always my favorite one growing up too)! Even as adults we had a blast and learned a thing or two. Then we came home and watched a space movie (The Fifth Element). We planned on doing some star gazing and constellation finding, but it was still light after the planetarium, and too late after the movie. Oh well, for another time I guess!

By the Planetarium they had the annual Chalk Art Festival again where they raise money for an adoption or foster agency or something. So we went back the next day to see the finished product. These were our favorites: (seriously blows my mind!!!!)

TRON Date

For Valentines I gave my dear husband a date each month. For May we did a "movie night". but I had a little more up my sleeve than your average movie and popcorn. We decided on Tron, so to start it out we headed to the arcade

Then we came home and I surprised Dima with our own homemade tron suits!!! And so naturally this was the next logical thing to do:

Here's a better picture of the outfit. We had blue power up juice like in the movie as a snack while we watched :) 

Cotton Anniversary

Our anniversary this year was in the midst of all sorts of things: Dima going out of town for training and Stake Conference the weekend before; and moving out/in to our new apartment the weekend after; and a slew of things going on during the actual day/week. But, Dima was still able to plan an amazing celebration even with the busy schedules.

When we got engaged, Dima told me our good friends had extra tickets to a symphony in Salt Lake and asked if I wanted to go. I immediately said yes, and was sooooooo excited!!!! I'd never really been to a symphony before, and I just LOVE string instruments! So we went to Salt Lake to meet our friends but they were "running late" so we went to memory grove park to walk around while we waited. That is where he proposed to me, and then we took a carriage ride around downtown and went to dinner. Needless to say there was no symphony that night. Which, if I had to choose between the two, I'd definitely choose getting engaged! However, that means I still have never been to a symphony. So this year, that's where Dima took me! We went to a wonderful dinner and then saw the Utah Symphony at Abravanel Hall, and had amazing seats!!  (And, the conductor was awesome - I've never seen anyone get that into conducting! I'm pretty sure he lost a few pounds during that concert...)

Pretty much, I was in heaven, an evening listening to angelic music with my cute hubby by my side and a delicious chocolate oreo shake in my belly! I'd say the husband did pretty well! Thanks again Dima!

So apparently we didn't get any pictures of each other or the artists, we were enjoying it too much. But we did get a picture of the cool statue in the building made of glass:

happy 2 years

Are You My Mother?

I want to wish a happy Mother's Day to the wonderful women in my life. Thank you for your selfless service that often goes unnoticed. Thank you for your love, patience, kindness, and teachings that go on to bless the world. 

First to my sister Nicole. The mother of 3 of the cutest kids I could ever hope to call my nieces and nephews! I've learned so much just from watching as you went through life, knowing I would soon be following; dating, dancing, marriage, and now motherhood. I only wish we lived closer so we could spend more time together and I could see those little cuties of yours more - life just goes too fast. You have a fierce dedication to your family and I know there is nothing more important to you. I love you!

Next to my sister Alicia. While not a mother yet herself, she was like a second mom to me growing up, mixed in with a best friend and sister. She has always been so supportive of me in school, sports, and life choices. I can tell her anything even when I can't find words, and she knows what I'm trying to say. She is protective, loyal, supportive, and has unconditional love. And I don't think there is a better aunt in the world, you can see love gushing out of her when she's with or talks about our niece or nephews. I know she will be a great mother someday because she already is.

Next I want to wish a happy mothers day to all my grandmothers. You are such wonderful mothers and women, that to adequately describe you they had to add "grand" in front of your titles! Thank you for the legacy and name you have given me. Thank you for your faith and the way you have raised your children - your influence continues to bless many as they continue to teach me and their other children. I love you and am so grateful for your wisdom, love, and example.

 

And a very Happy Mother's Day to my дорогой Mama. Thank you for raising such an great man to be my husband. I couldn't have asked for a better mama to inherit. Thank you for taking me in as your own daughter, for the love and kindness you have shown me. You are such an amazing woman, I still marvel at all you have accomplished in your life; at your flexibility and faith. Thank you for being in my life, я тебя очень люблю!

 

Of course no Mother's Day tribute would be complete without mentioning my Mazha. Thank you Mom for all that you have sacrificed to raise Nicole, Lici, and I. Thank you for all the opportunities and experiences; the support, quite service, patience, forgiveness, love, and teaching. You are so much a part of who I am today. There's no way to adequately describe what you mean to me and what you have done for me, but thank you for everything. I love you!

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane (but not for a while...)

So, this summer Dimitriy and I are going to visit Dima's motherland: Ukraine!! I am so excited to see where he grew up, meet the rest of his family, and experience all things Ukrainian! And, while we are all the way over there we just had to plan on visiting a few other countries. It was so hard to pick where to go, there are just so many amazing places in the world! While we were trying to decide, I would get on google maps and just type in "Europe" (Dima still laughs about that) and I would just look at all the countries and cities and see where I gravitated. This is what we finally settled on:

First stop: Odessa!! Then we will spend a day in Kiev before flying out to Prague. From there its a train to Venice, then on to Rome, and we'll finish it up in Switzerland (Interlaken and Gimmelwald)!

We already have our plane and train tickets, and most of our hotels! Once we book the rest of them it is on to planning the activities! So if you have any suggestions on what to see/eat/do feel free to leave them in the comments!!!

Songs I Can't Get Enough Of

What are favorites lately?

Ambitions: reporting 23, and divulging 24

Wow! I can't believe it's been a year already! Well here's the final word on this past year's list of ambitions:

KEY: (don't know why but it won't let me do strikethrough text, or change font colors... so I had to get creative on how to classify them. Sorry if its confusing!)

*=Completed!!

!=Close or 1/2 way

...=Worked on/attempted

Nothing= Goal not met in any form

*1. Move: Moved up to SLC to start grown-up life.

2. Hike Mt Timp

3. Attend the Sundance Film Festival

*4 Make Flower clips: Made them with the sisters and Mazsha

!5. Host a party: It was a basketball party, but it was just me and DIma, so I'm not sure if that counts or not... it had some of the elements I had in mind when planning the goal: decorations, outfit for the theme, food... it was just missing the guests.

!6. Attend the Temple 2x/mo.: Short by just a couple of visits...

*7. Try out Zumba: I go every Thursday during my lunch break. Not a great workout, but its nice to get out of the office and move a little bit.

!8. Run a race: Didn't run... but I'm signed up for one, so that kind of counts right?

*9. Meet my new nephew: and what a happy little cutie he is!!!

*10. Read 5 books for fun: they weren't new books, but it was fun! Harry Potter will never get old.

*11. Cook 5 new recipes: Olyvie, French Onion Soup, Variniki, Chicken and Gnocchi Soup, and Sole.

12. Make a quilt

*13. Take a vacation: Vegas!

*14. Finish the Photo Wall project: Finally!!!! And soooo glad we did!! It adds so much to the room!

*15. Edit and print our wedding photos: Finally made our wedding album, only a year and a half later... but it turned out great, and it was fun to be editing and building albums again!

16. Attend a Monster Truck Rally

**17. Attend an NBA game: double check!! Jazz vs Clippers and Jazz vs. Thunder

18. Go to Zions

19. Secret Service Project

*20. Have 6 couples over for dinner: I'm not sure if it was 6 or not, but I think it was

...21. Continue to earn Russian: this one gets an "attempted"; i'm learning a little more, but haven't been studying as much as I should have.

* 22. Find 2 new hair-do's

23. Make a rice sock

And here's the new list:

1. Ride a train! (a real passenger train, with compartments and a trolly lady and everything!)

2. Sleep in a hostel

3. Hike Timp (been a goal since I moved here... it has to happen sometime- hopefully this is the year!)

4. Make a new friend (all my besties keep moving away!)

5. Get a new hairstyle

6. Make yoga/workout/lounge shorts

7. Plan a date at least 1x/month

8. Make some kind of "art" (and I do use that term loosely)

9. Find a headboard

10. Attend the temple 2x/mo (I like that one)

11. Visit the Salt Flats

12. Make a home-video

13. Take more pictures (adventures, and the everyday)

14. Read "Daughters In My Kingdom"

15. Read a conference talk each Sunday

16. Work on my family history

17. Make something

18. Cook 3 new recipes

19. Call an old friend 1/mo to catch up

20. Try a new food

21. Get through our pile of clothes that need to be altered/fixed

22. Be festive for holidays

23. Go to a symphony/opera/theater

24. Learn more Russian (baby steps dear friends... it's all about the baby steps)

Birthday Celebrations! and Furniture Make Over

My birthday fell on a Memorial this year, so I got to spread out the festivities :) I got lots of birthday calls and messages and enjoyed the love and catching up with old roommates, friends, and family.

To kick off my bday weekend, my office took me out to lunch at Zupas! (this is not Zupas... but it is my little work family)

I went out for frozen yogurt with one of dear friends that I haven't seen in way too long

I am a member of the birthday club for Red Robin.... YUM!!! So naturally we just had to go there! (I was so excited about the fries and my shake that by the time my free birthday burger came all I could get down were 2 bites!!! oops.. :) I did take it home and enjoy it later though.)

Dima got me my lovely glasses!!!

My dear aunt Juju got me Rick Steve's book on Italy for our big trip this summer!!! (more on that later!)

Mama, Erwin, and Babushka also sent me a birthday package with chocolates/candy (always exciting to get!), make up, coin purse, and some bday money! I love you guys! Thank you so much for your generous and thoughtful gifts!

And my sweet seester signed us up for this amazing race!!! I am seriously so stoked about it!!! We're hoping to make it a tradition to run one race together each year... So far we've done Ragnar (the wasatch back); and Provo's Halloween Half! This year it's: The Dirty Dash!!! :)

My dear mazsha came up for the long weekend and helped me redo our bedroom furniture!! This was the main birthday event/marathon! But I wouldn't have had it any other way!!! It turned out just how I envisioned!! So I'll give you the 5 cent tour of journey:

Dima and I inherited this furniture when we got married from my grandparents. Its functionality is GREAT.... but not so much our style... its was a pinkish-kaki wood color, which made everything in our bedroom look muted and blahhh. SOOO we decided to paint it and put on some new handles!

So here is the before:

We had to fill and sand all the holes for the handles because none of the newer handles had the same spacing, and the screws they all used were smaller than the handles.

Then we primed it with this AWESOME stuff that allows you to paint on finished pieces without sanding!!!

My mom and I spent Friday night picking out the paint and gathering supplies, then painted 3 coats of this lovely yellow Saturday night (after filling and sanding holes, and priming).

(and the entire time I was painting it I had this stuck in my head: skip to about 4:19)

We resumed our project on Monday with the tinted glaze that we painted over the entire piece and then wiped off most of it... although it didn't stay in the creases as easily as we had hoped, so it took us the majority of the day to carefully paint/wipe to get just the right amount of brown glaze in just the right spot... but it turned out perfect!

Now all that was left to do was buy the handles, drill the holes and put them on! Which my dear sweet husband helped me do throughout the following week after long days at work. And TA-DA!!!! Here is the final product!!!!

We were so happy to finish up so we could clean up and get back to a normal and functional living situation! :)

Year 24 is off to a great start so far!!! (new list of goals to come! along with a report on my 23 ambitions)

Thanks again to everyone for making it a great birthday!

Jazz Fans

We've recently had the opportunity to go to TWO real life NBA games!! Our good friends had some tickets, but were going to be out of town, so they let gave us the tickets. I called to see if Dima could get off work early, and before I could even finished explaining he was already saying "Take them! Take them!!!" Needless to say we were VERY excited to go! They were great seats too, which added to the excitement of the game - it was so cool to be able to see how tall the players really are, and see the plays and dunks in real life. We watched our Jazz battle it out with the LA Clippers; it came down to literally the last tenth of a second. We ended up losing, but we couldn't have asked for a more exciting game!

Two weeks later Dima scored some tickets from his work, and we were back in the Energy Solutions Arena cheering on the Jazz as they took on the Thunder (currently the best team in NBA). Again, the Jazz played amazing - the whole game was so close, with amazing plays, steals, and dunks from both sides, but again, we ended up losing (this time by about 10 points)... but still so fun to experience the game live, feel the energy in the arena, and of course people watch (there were 3 guys in brightly colored gorilla suits only 1 section over from us that were hilarious). Speaking of entertainment, check out the half time performer from the Thunder game... he makes me proud to be from Las Vegas! :

Nerdy Chic or Soft Contemporary?

This past week I got new glasses as an early birthday present!! I couldn't decide between two pairs. One was a square black frame the worker described as "nerdy chic" and the other was a deep red with a more roundish frame that the worker described as a "soft contemporary". We put them on hold and I slept on it for a few nights... I went back and forth a million times! But finally it was time to decide (they would no longer hold the frames for me...) so I went right before closing to make the decision (that way I couldn't be there for 3 hours putting on and taking off the two pairs trying to decide). So, are you ready for the unveiling?!

Drum roll please.............................................................................................................................................

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Nerdy Chic won out!!!! I liked the simplicity, timelessness, and the fact that it would go with almost any outfit. Also, if I decide to cut bangs again, I think these frames will go better with that look. So what do you think?!

(p.s. no photo of the other pair will be shown in case you think I should have gone with that pair.... It was already too hard to let it go, I don't want to get thinking that I made the wrong decision) :)