What are you talking about? I am not eating any snow mommy...
A brave and excited girl climbed all by herself on top of the snow mountain!
Back to work today, but glad that I had a full day with my smiley girl.
We are ready for winter!
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Snow day
Our romanian genes were very pleasantly tickled. Lots of snow and a very happy kid
What are you talking about? I am not eating any snow mommy...
A brave and excited girl climbed all by herself on top of the snow mountain!
And off we go down the slide! Weee wee!!
Back to work today, but glad that I had a full day with my smiley girl.
We are ready for winter!
What are you talking about? I am not eating any snow mommy...
A brave and excited girl climbed all by herself on top of the snow mountain!
Back to work today, but glad that I had a full day with my smiley girl.
We are ready for winter!
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Home
They say that home is where the heart is. I am sure glad this holds a lot of truth, as in the last ten years we lived in 5 different places. We had different houses but one home, in our hearts. And that will remain our home as long as there is love around us.
The change that happened is that for once our house is the same as our home. We finally became home owners. It's a small condo, but so cute and quiet, and so dear to my heart. It feels like home. It's in a small community, surrounded by trees, we have a nice balcony and a creek in the backyard. It's lovely.
The process of buying it however was everything BUT lovely. Apparently home buying is as stressful as they say it is. It did not help that I had to do most of the leg work alone. Aside from seeing the house and signing papers where he was told to, Marius was a spectator to most of the process. Daily phone calls to 3-4 different people (our agent, mortgage company, title company, insurance company, former landlord and sooooo many more). It was stressful and frustrating. I cried and I yelled and I laughed. And in the end we had a mortgage, a key, and once again it was moving day.
We did not have a lot of helpers, so the day was hectic and very tiring. Catalina had a lot of fun though. She found mommy's sun hat and played among boxes.
One of the best parts of having my own house was that I could paint Catalina's room. I dreamt of this since I dreamt of having babies. So I went for the challenge full hearted and full speed. Catalina was a very big help, no sarcasm or irony here. She laid protective paper on the floor and played nicely when I needed her to. This is how it started: few smiles and a lot of white walls.
That slowly became pink
And in the end a whole garden!
Catalina loves her room and so do I. My first painting project was a success!.
And then we had a week of walking between boxes. Marius went to a business trip right after we finished moving the bulk of stuff. It remained for the girls (Catalina, bunica and me) to bring and arrange the small stuff. And we still had shelves to install and pictures to hang for when Marius came back. It was a lot of work. But at the end, my heart was full and my face was smiling. I was home in my house.
And we started living in the new home
The change that happened is that for once our house is the same as our home. We finally became home owners. It's a small condo, but so cute and quiet, and so dear to my heart. It feels like home. It's in a small community, surrounded by trees, we have a nice balcony and a creek in the backyard. It's lovely.
The process of buying it however was everything BUT lovely. Apparently home buying is as stressful as they say it is. It did not help that I had to do most of the leg work alone. Aside from seeing the house and signing papers where he was told to, Marius was a spectator to most of the process. Daily phone calls to 3-4 different people (our agent, mortgage company, title company, insurance company, former landlord and sooooo many more). It was stressful and frustrating. I cried and I yelled and I laughed. And in the end we had a mortgage, a key, and once again it was moving day.
We did not have a lot of helpers, so the day was hectic and very tiring. Catalina had a lot of fun though. She found mommy's sun hat and played among boxes.
One of the best parts of having my own house was that I could paint Catalina's room. I dreamt of this since I dreamt of having babies. So I went for the challenge full hearted and full speed. Catalina was a very big help, no sarcasm or irony here. She laid protective paper on the floor and played nicely when I needed her to. This is how it started: few smiles and a lot of white walls.
and a little green
And in the end a whole garden!
Catalina loves her room and so do I. My first painting project was a success!.
And then we had a week of walking between boxes. Marius went to a business trip right after we finished moving the bulk of stuff. It remained for the girls (Catalina, bunica and me) to bring and arrange the small stuff. And we still had shelves to install and pictures to hang for when Marius came back. It was a lot of work. But at the end, my heart was full and my face was smiling. I was home in my house.
And we started living in the new home
Balcony, my favorite part of the house (among many others)
Enjoying her new room with an old friend
My two ballerinas
Outside
And this is where we are now. Relaxing and enjoying our new home. May we be happy and build many beautiful memories here.
Believe
Life happens and time flies. Many good things happened lately.
It started with bunica Milica (my sweet mom) coming for a visit in US. Like usually, she stays with us for few days, then goes to my sister in Nebraska, then comes back to Philly for a longer time.
At her arrival we did not plan much, as time was short and jet lag was bad. But we did have fun and made some time for cute memories.
I wanted to visit the 911 Memorial for a long time, and I planned and planned and planned some more for a relaxing short trip to New York. Ha ha ha...There is no such thing as relaxing, short trip and New York in the same sentence. We did have some fun though, despite the exhaustion and frustration.
Yes, I did feel like I'm going out with my best friend! A day in NYC with my mom sounds and IT IS pretty neat, right?
This is why we should all take a second to think. War and destruction always hurt the innocent. Let's pray for peace and reason and love.
Can you read frustration and exhaustion on this girl's face? We all felt the same at the end of the day. So we had some beers and german food. A nice way to end our metropolitan excursion.
When bunica left, we had some "fall activity" time. Trips with the daycare, Halloween, and lots of love for pumpkins. And then we got our special visitor back and Catalina started a month of happiness, daycare free. She enjoyed bunica day and night, threw all possible tantrums, got as many compliments as possible, learned a lot of counting and gained A TON of confidence. Yes, bunica was good for my little angel.
Can you believe that my little scared of everything girl did this? She walked with bunica on this tree trunk like it was nothing. I tried to follow them, but "I " was too scared.
And then we had a very special event in our house. Bunica's birthday came and she turned a nice and round number. Our house was a mess, and a lot of the things I planned did not go the way I envisioned them. But some did, and bunica had a cake, and we sang happy birthday to her and we gave her a small present. And then, we went for a day out, just the two of us, mommy and daughter. It was cold and windy outside, so we crossed on out way through a Macy's store. I took this picture of my beautiful mom there.
I love this picture for so many reasons! For one, my mom looks gorgeous! But there is a deeper meaning to this picture to me. My mom stands below that "Believe" sign. And this is something that everybody who knows my mom will confirm. My mom is a believer, she transpires faith in everything she does. She is an optimist, without being a fool. She had way to many hurdles to overcome in her life, but she kept her spine straight, her spirits up and she succeeded in everything she did. This is how she raised my sister and I as well. To always believe, to strive looking for what lays ahead. No doubt, no going back. Just believe.
The next part of the day was a surprise. My mom loves theatre, ballet and everything artsy. So the two of us headed for a Broadway show. We had fun, and we relaxed a bit from all the craziness that was going back home.
It was a privilege for me to be with my mom on her special birthday. Being away, across an ocean and half a continent, I don't get these occasions often. And this is why it was even more special for me.
Happy birthday, mami!
It started with bunica Milica (my sweet mom) coming for a visit in US. Like usually, she stays with us for few days, then goes to my sister in Nebraska, then comes back to Philly for a longer time.
At her arrival we did not plan much, as time was short and jet lag was bad. But we did have fun and made some time for cute memories.
I wanted to visit the 911 Memorial for a long time, and I planned and planned and planned some more for a relaxing short trip to New York. Ha ha ha...There is no such thing as relaxing, short trip and New York in the same sentence. We did have some fun though, despite the exhaustion and frustration.
Yes, I did feel like I'm going out with my best friend! A day in NYC with my mom sounds and IT IS pretty neat, right?
This is why we should all take a second to think. War and destruction always hurt the innocent. Let's pray for peace and reason and love.
My favorite girls!
Can you read frustration and exhaustion on this girl's face? We all felt the same at the end of the day. So we had some beers and german food. A nice way to end our metropolitan excursion.
When bunica left, we had some "fall activity" time. Trips with the daycare, Halloween, and lots of love for pumpkins. And then we got our special visitor back and Catalina started a month of happiness, daycare free. She enjoyed bunica day and night, threw all possible tantrums, got as many compliments as possible, learned a lot of counting and gained A TON of confidence. Yes, bunica was good for my little angel.
Can you believe that my little scared of everything girl did this? She walked with bunica on this tree trunk like it was nothing. I tried to follow them, but "I " was too scared.
And then we had a very special event in our house. Bunica's birthday came and she turned a nice and round number. Our house was a mess, and a lot of the things I planned did not go the way I envisioned them. But some did, and bunica had a cake, and we sang happy birthday to her and we gave her a small present. And then, we went for a day out, just the two of us, mommy and daughter. It was cold and windy outside, so we crossed on out way through a Macy's store. I took this picture of my beautiful mom there.
I love this picture for so many reasons! For one, my mom looks gorgeous! But there is a deeper meaning to this picture to me. My mom stands below that "Believe" sign. And this is something that everybody who knows my mom will confirm. My mom is a believer, she transpires faith in everything she does. She is an optimist, without being a fool. She had way to many hurdles to overcome in her life, but she kept her spine straight, her spirits up and she succeeded in everything she did. This is how she raised my sister and I as well. To always believe, to strive looking for what lays ahead. No doubt, no going back. Just believe.
The next part of the day was a surprise. My mom loves theatre, ballet and everything artsy. So the two of us headed for a Broadway show. We had fun, and we relaxed a bit from all the craziness that was going back home.
It was a privilege for me to be with my mom on her special birthday. Being away, across an ocean and half a continent, I don't get these occasions often. And this is why it was even more special for me.
Happy birthday, mami!
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