My Christmas Wish List

Jord here. I've decided after 5 months of writing on this blog that I am quite possibly the only member of the male species who (a) knows what a blog is, and (b) actually writes on one. Oh well.

I told Santa this is what I want for Christmas.

America here we come in T-Minus 23 hours.

its one of those days...

where I really miss dancing. Probably because I watched this beautiful thing.

Thought of You from Ryan J Woodward on Vimeo.

incredible.

Dear Jord,

I can't believe that we've been married for 6 months and 2 days. Can you? Time is kind of relative when I get to spend every day with the most wonderful guy in the world. I just can't get enough of you! I love you so much, and I'm so lucky to have you by my side! You're my everything.

I love how you always go on crazy adventures with me around the world. I love how you hold me when I need it most. I love how you always laugh at my jokes, even if yours are a lot more funny. :-) I love how you are so strong in the gospel, and you always do whats right. I love how you are always so cute and dance crazy to get me to laugh. :-) I love how you are always so kind to everyone around you. How did I get so lucky?

You are wonderful. Heres to the next 6 months of being married to you.

I love you handsome boy.

-me

Running Away to the Circus

We decided to run away to the circus for a day. And a day was plenty. I don't really get why as kids we always planned to run away to the circus as if a life of cleaning elephant poop and wearing face paint was infinitely better than chores and Mom's cooking.

But we had a blast at the Russian circus.

And so did these frigid boys. It couldn't have been warmer than 20 degrees that day. Brrrr.

A plug for Kels. She took all of the following videos and pictures at the risk of being thrown out on the curb. As the circus started, Kels had the camera out taking pictures when a worker lady came and starting chewing us out. For some reason we thought she wanted us to scoot down, so we started to, but then she got even more mad and we figured out through the Urim and Thummin of sign language that no cameras were allowed and the next time she saw our camera we'd be kicked out. Go Kels!


Kels downed that whole thing of cotton candy faster than you could say, "heart attack"

We loved the acrobats. Kels was so cute. She was so nervous they'd fall, that her palms were sweating and she'd squeeze my arm during every jump.

The lions were the big finale. And the biggest disappointment. The dumb lion tamer was beating the lions with this big stick, and was so mean to them that half-way through the routine we started cheering for the lions to attack.

Sea Lions

The bears were the best! It's totally driving a motorcycle. How do you like them apples Jazz Bear?

This was a mall right by the circus

Matrushka Doll made out of Legos

MacLeaks

Warning: The following leaks contain highly classified information, which, if distributed to the wrong people, could disrupt current relationships between the McMurtrey family and certain foreign countries. Read with caution.

Leak #1: We may or may not have broke the security system at our hostel in Lithuania last month. It kept beeping, the manager couldn't fix it, and it was like 3 in the morning. So, we popped the cover off the alarm, found the little speaker and ripped it completely off. We then hid the speaker in a drawer, and put the cover back on the wall like nothing happened. Fortunately, we were able to make it out of the country before the owner found out about it and covered us in a big, warm blanket of expletives and vulgarities.

Leak #2: I ran over 3 babushkas at the grocery store today. Initial reports indicate that no one was critically injured, but they did find a pair of broken glasses, a bent cane, and a torn fur hat at the scene of the accident. (In my defense, babushkas are a menace to the grocery-world society. It's a miracle I haven't ran over more.)

Leak #3: I definitely showed up to the grocery store wearing this sweater. Embarrassing. Might as well have stamped Kick Me in the Shins, I'm a Foreigner on my forehead.

Leak #4: This empty jar of Nutella was most definitely eaten by one person and one person only-- Kels.

Frozen.

This is a random post containing bits of our life at school and adventures in the city. Just fyi, we are FREEZING here. This past week has averaged at -10 degrees, during the sunny daytime. Brrr!! We're not letting the cold stop us though, we are still having a blast!

Exhibit A: Jord makes Stacia stand behind the board so he can draw an almost flawless replica of her head. :-)

Exhibit B: Bundling up to brave the weather! One of the 5 year old students saw me with the scarf over my face, pointed at me, and yelled, "Bad guy!!" :-)

This is our lovely hallway, that ALWAYS reeks of rotting garbage and bad BO. Our apartment is the door straight ahead.

This is our trusty elevator that we ride everyday. It takes approximately one hour to get from the 15th floor (where we live) to the bottom floor in this elevator... not kidding. Its just a tad rickety and scary to step into. One of the guys in our group got stranded in it for 2 hours the other day. Fun times!

A random cool church downtown!

I forgot to put up a couple Thanksgiving pics of Jord's other class. This is Dasha (on the left), and Stacia (on the right). Stacia is our favorite!! She is a doll. She's 10 years old, and has the best English in the whole program. We want to take her home!

These guys were obviously thrilled that I took a picture of them... haha. Nastya is on the left, and Sofia is on the right. We don't really want to take them home.

*To fully appreciate this story, you have to know that Jord is trying to teach his kids cool American slang words so they will fit in if they come to America. He just taught them the phrase "Sweet!" the other day...

Stacia and Dasha decided to draw their dream house during the class breaks. Afterwards, they had chalk all over their faces so Jord said, "Girls, go wash off your faces so your parents don't ask why you are covered in chalk."

Stacia quickly responded, "No, its ok. I will say to them, 'We draw a sweet house!'" :-)

You gotta love American slang. haha.

We took a picture right as we got to the school, after ten minutes of walking outside in the middle of the day. My hair was FROZEN, and both of our eyelashes were frozen too! Nuts!

Frozen hair!

Frozen Eyelashes!

Last but not least, Jord always tells crazy stories to his classes if they are good, and the LOVE it! I took a tiny video of him telling one about a boy from India named Muhammad, escaping from some dinosaurs. I seriously love this guy. :-)