Answers to some of your most pressing questions...

Is there a difference between American and Russian snickers (yes the candy bar)? 

If so, what is the difference?

And, which one is better? 

Since you've been dying to know the answers (which will be quite Earth shattering I'm sure), Tim and I went out of our way to do a double blind, statistically significant comparison study--- okay not really we just brought a snickers home from Russia, got one locally, and ate them.  Still don't let that make you discredit our findings, because we do have the answers to your queries (or our queries).

Is there a difference? Yes, yes there is.

What is the difference- Well from the out side not much, the name is still snickers (consistent branding is important), but the other writing is in the native language... Oh beyond the writing on the wrapper?  Bigger difference there- American snickers have more caramel and better chocolate.  Russian snickers have a much more "nutty" flavor (and apparently come in hazelnut *see picture below- not of our snickers we just got the ordinary peanut so this did not impact our comparison.)

Now the most important question... drum roll please... Which one is better?  The American snickers (for our tastes which we will extrapolate across the population and thus make this post applicable to everyone).  This is good news though (at least for our friends in the States), you now don't need to book a trip to Russia to get a snickers.  Yes, just stay here.  Although if you are in a foreign country, you can't deny that having a snickers is like a little taste of home and you don't really taste the difference because you can't remember what another snickers tasted like any way. 

Волгоград:Volgograd

This was my first city in the mission. It is one of the longest cities in the world, stretching over 50 miles long and only 1-2 miles wide, all built upon the West bank of the mighty Volga River. Volgograd, which was called Stalingrad in soviet times, was completed destroyed during the German invasion of World War II. It currently has a population of just over 1 million.

The "Mother of Russia" statue stands at the highest point in the city. She is looking back to call the Russian armies on, as they battled the Germans to defend their city. This is the main statue of an entire complex of memorials, all dedicated to the Battle of Stalingrad. As with every good Russian monument, it's GIGANTIC!

 Margo and I with Sister Luba

Margo and I with Brother Kamo and Sister Nadezhda

Here is what's left of the last building standing in Volgograd after World War II.

You can guess that Russians really don't like Germans.

On the banks of the Volga River

I really haven't been the best at staying up with people since I left the mission, 

but it was great that even with all the time that has passed we were able to see 

so many people and catch up on each others lives.

I lived in Volgograd for 6 months and hadn't been back for 6 years. Not much had really changed.
I had a great time seeing the same places and walking the same roads I did as missionary. I was surprised at how many memories came flowing back that were triggered by seeing a particular street, house, or building. I did have a great beginning to my mission in Volgograd. One of my favorite parts of the whole trip was being able to show all of these things to Margo.

Margo sitting where the babushkas usually sat outside my first apartment

Москва:Moscow

Moscow is a bustling urban center of over 10 million people. While it is all things Russian, it is by far the most modern and "touristy" city on our journey. It is built of the banks of the Moscow River and dotted with dozens of Russian Orthodox Churches, all bearing the signature "onion" dome.

MAIN ATTRACTIONS

Red Square
Look at a road map of Russia and you'll see that all highways truly lead to Moscow. Red Square is where all the roads converge. As the center of this 900-year-old city, this square has seen the evolution of Russia, including the rise and fall of communism.

St. Basil's Cathedral 
This is an iconic signature piece of Russian architecture. Built by Ivan the Terrible in 1561, it has withstood the test of time and narrowly escaped communist plans of demolition. Each tower is its own church, dedicated to a particular Saint.

Lenin's Tomb

Russians look at Vladimir Lenin as the one who put Russia on the map. There are still dozens of statues to Lenin throughout Russia. Even though the faults of communism have been exposed and Russia has embraced a new government, they continue to pay respect to their past leader who, in their minds, was one of their greatest. Lenin died in 1924 and his body has been on permanent display in a mausoleum on Red Square ever since. During communism, Russian citizens would stand in lines for hours to see him. Good thing he has a glass case around him because if he didn't and someone sneezed, there probably wouldn't be any Lenin left.

Note from Margo: I knew Lenin's actual body was there. I don't know when I heard about it, but I've known for a long time and always thought it was maybe a bit strange.  Okay, as weird as it is when you think about Lenin's ACTUAL body being on disply, it is a billion times more weird/ creepy when you see it (or at least it was for me)... and I won't lie I had to laugh a little that he is still hanging around, hence my slightly unsure expression in the picture below.

Cathedral of Christ the Savior

This church was completed in the 1860's in gratitude to God for saving Russia from Napoleon's armies. In the 1930's, Stalin ordered that the church be demolished to make room for a Soviet Palace, which was never built. The church was rebuilt to it's original specifications in 2001. It's a good example of Soviet disregard for religion/cultural history and their pompous thinking that they were all powerful. I love that Russia's Christian roots survived well through decades of communism. This church is gigantic: 344 feet tall! In comparison, the Salt Lake Temple is 222 feet tall and the Washington DC Temple is 288 feet tall.

"The Children- Victims of Adult Vices"

This probably wouldn't make the list if you Googled "top 10 sights in Moscow," but Margo and I stumbled upon it in a city park and thought that it is actually very powerful. This is a series of statues by Mikhail Shemyakin. Thirteen figures portraying various adult and societal vices are closing in on a young boy and girl playing. It reminds us of the true innocence of children and how without proper teaching and guidance, children can become tainted and corrupted by the evils of this world. The sculptor said this monument is a call "to fight for the salvation of today and future generations." The thirteen depicted vices are drug addiction, prostitution, theft, alcoholism, ignorance, irresponsible science, indifference, propaganda, sadism, for those without memory, exploitation of child labor, poverty, and war.

Moscow Metro

The Moscow Metro is awesome. Each station has unique architecture, trains come every 1-2 minutes, and you pay a flat rate to travel as far as you want. It's also very deep, hence the ginormous escalators.

Bolshoi Theater

The famous performing arts venue for Russia. The largest of the theaters has the unique name "big" theater. Unfortunately, it was closed for remodeling.

And.... a few more pictures just for fun:

Another cool church

Monument to Peter the Great

Pinocchio!

That's a lot of locks

A funny world peace monument

20 rubles per use

Our hostel was great

Mapping the trek

6 cities, 14 days 

Looking at this map makes it look like we were playing "Ticket to Ride" aka "The Train Game." 

Still getting there...

I tried to prep Margo for some differences that she'd see in Russia. So when we found a really good deal on tickets from JFK to Moscow with the Russian airline Aeroflot, I thought it might be good for her to see what she was getting herself into:

And I'm sure that Margo, being the positive person that she is, thought, "Well, at least I can pet the puppy for 9.5 hours."

Fortunately for us, Aeroflot has really stepped it up a notch from what you can see in the photograph above and from what I remember as a missionary. Our plane was very nice, complete with good service, free movies, and food that was actually not too bad.

Something I didn't prep Margo for were lines. If you value your personal space and are standing in line, pray there aren't a lot of Russians around because you'll soon find yourself squeezed to the back. Getting on our flight in New York was absolute mayhem because they don't call out row numbers for boarding! Everyone just boards at once! I just laughed and Margo adapted as we found ourselves getting more and more up close and personal with our fellow travelers.

Another note on lines: You really do have to be aggressive to maintain your place. People will jump and bud in line like no other. My favorite was in Kyiv when an old man totally just stepped right in front of us at an ice-cream cone stand. I guess he really couldn't wait any longer for his ice cream cone. I'm thinking if it's this intense at an ice cream cone stand, what's it like at the DMV?..... I don't want to know.

There and Back Again: Our Russian Tale

Dear Family, Friends, and Strangers-

I hope you enjoy excerpts from our adventure.  I'll to share as much detail as possible while keeping it interesting and, despite how fun it would be to add scenes of mafia encounters or getting caught up in some foreign spy action, I'll keep it real.  Some times it might turn into more of a "picture book."  (We had to share the pictures somewhere! Seeing that I haven't scrap booked any of our marriage yet, it might be a while before these pictures make it!)

There and Back Again: Our Russian Tale

 PART ONE: GETTING THERE 

 

 I was just thinking where to even start with sharing our epic journey.. well...

Let's start at the very beginning

A very good place to start.

When you read you begin with 

 A B C

We'll begin with going to

NYC

 We double checked that the lights were off.  Tim took out the garbage and I said another prayer in my heart that no ants would make their uniform trails again.  We navigated our way to BART (yes, we were first timers...) We BARTed to SFO (note on the airport: can you say nice-  it was much nicer than we expected.)  There we took our red eye flight and eventually got to NYC.

Our 8 hour layover provided time for us to leave the airport and catch the best of the best- the NYC Temple.

New York Plan:
1. Go to the temple.
2. Enjoy a classic NYC dog- provided by Gray's Papya
    (The papya juice was rockin! I would skip the pineapple juice next time.)
3. Treat ourselves to some awesome cookies!  Levain's did not disappoint... 
     SO good, but milk is a must with these babies!
4. Stop by Central Park. A nap wasn't in the official plan, but it was definitely welcomed!
5. Just enjoy life.

It worked out flawlessly!

The how and where for our plan was perfected by a friend who recently lived in New York.  She told us the best way to get to and from JFK and where to grab the best bites. Thanks Ruth!

Good Eats

Here are some of the yummy things we've been enjoying lately.

Kid Food:

There's no fast food that says kid to me more than chicken nuggets.  I swear all kids have them until parents think they are old enough to finish off a full burger... and then some children never fully transition completely burgers because they like the crispy "chicken" filled bites.  I was that child, for a long time I preferred chicken nuggets over hamburgers.  Tim was that child too... Only thing is now we're smart enough to realize the chicken in those nuggets just doesn't look right and really they don't usually taste that great either.  This doesn't stop us from having some kid food cravings though so when Tim really wanted chicken nuggets he went on a hunt for a recipe and I was very happy when this was the result.  Grown-up chicken nuggets:

 

So good, really easy, and not too unhealthy either! 

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2/3 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• We ground up cereal similar to wheat Chex instead of bread crumbs and then added herbs and spices to the mix (Italian seasoning OR oregano, rosemary, pepper, etc.)
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
•  We added minced garlic to the butter.  I think it added great flavor!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Cut chicken breasts into 1 1/2-inch sized pieces. In a medium bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, cheese, salt, thyme and basil. Mix well. Put melted butter in a bowl or dish for dipping.
Dip chicken pieces into the melted butter first, then coat with the breadcrumb mixture. Place the well-coated chicken pieces on a lightly greased cookie sheet in a single layer, and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Makes 3-4 adult servings.

Soups:

I really like soups, especially soups like tomato soup.  On our first anniversary Tim took me to Chef's Table where our luncheon was held.  It was so good and one of the best dishes was a butternut squash soup Tim ordered. This turned me on to soups with a beautiful orange color and creamy texture.  I've tried to recreate the recipe before, but didn't work out the first time.  Then this year I had two successful soups.  One very close to the Chef's Table and one completely different.

First, was a carrot soup.  Orange and creamy! Nothing like the CT squash soup in terms of flavor, but oh so good! 

Go to recipe is here: Stone Soup

I use 5-6 large carrots instead of the mini carrots. I think the soy sauce is key to the great flavor so don't skip it!

The second was close to the butternut squash soup was actually had no squash in it either, but tasted so much like the CT soup.  It was a carrot yam soup.  Once again beyond easy, very satisfying, and delicious.  

• 2 medium yams
• 1-2 long carrots
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 4 cups warm water
• 1 boullion cube (chicken or vegetable) 
• Shredded parmesan cheese (fresh) (optional)

 Peeled and cube vegetables. Put in a 9x13 pan, drizzle with olive oil, salt & pepper to taste. Cover with aluminum foil Roast at 400 degrees for 45 minutes or until tender.

Mix the boullion with water.  Next, put half of the cooled, roasted veggies in a blender. Add 2 cups of water and "Liquify" the mixture. Pour this a large soup pan. Put the second half of the roasted yams in the blender with 2 cups of water and blend again. Pour it into the soup pot as well. Let the soup come to an initial boil, then reduce the heat to Medium-Low and let it simmer for 10-20 minutes before serving (for me this depends on what time dinner is or how hungry I am). Shredded parmesan cheese (fresh) is a great topping for this soup. Serves 4 as a main dish. 

Breads:

A friend and I have been working on making bread.  So far are 2/2 in successful attempts.. well I don't know if the first one really counts as completely ours because we had another friend (we use her recipe) basically make it for us and then we just shaped the loaves.  Still it turned out great!  In other good bread news.  I'm getting a Bosch! So excited about that... and I think once we have it Tim will be more excited than me because it should mean fresh bread more often.

Another "bread" we made recently was homemade tortillas.  Honestly not too hard.  I use this recipe from my friends' cooking blog (Better Than Burgers)! The only thing was for the life of me I couldn't make a round tortilla this time. I decided it would be okay and we'll just open a restaurant "La Funky Tortilla" and wala branding will turn my oddly shaped creations into a money machine.

Hello March

Well hello March.

Honestly, March 1st came and all I could think was- Hello March!  Are you seriously here already? 

Not that it's a bad thing, in fact I'm loving the idea of spring officially moving in, followed by the beautiful early summer in Alameda... some of my favorite times last year were the early summer months when I just couldn't get enough of the perfect temperatures and all the green! (You all really should come experience a bit of spring/ summer here... or any time of year, we'd be happy to see you.)  This year has another thing making me look forward to March's arrival...
To say it straight forward-
March leads to April.....
                  and at the end of April....
                                    We're going to put these to use:

GOING TO RUSSIA! wahoo!

I am so SO excited for this trip.  It's going to be incredible.
Why, you ask, is it going to be so great?  First, I have a passport and have to use it for this trip (already makes it super cool).  Second, it's going to be just us for two full weeks, backpacking and training across a place we've talked for years about going to.  We are going to a place my man loves and has wanted to go back to for a long time.  Mostly it's going to be wonderful because I'm going with the best guide and husband I could have ever asked for.

Now that I think about it, it seems like I'm getting the best end of the deal.  Let's face reality, I have no language skills or knowledge of the area to boost our experience... and Tim has both of those covered.  The only thing I offer is a 100% willingness to go anywhere and see anything.

February was Fickle

Most of you need no convincing when I say "February was fickle!"  For those of you who do see please see the remainder of the post:

February 5th we enjoyed a day at Stinson Beach. Incredible.  It was fun to be like a kid squishing sand in my toes, finding ladybugs (they were all over the beach, probably thousands of them so it wasn't hard), and treasures.  However, not actually being a kid has it's advantages... as an adult you are really just a kid who gets to decide what you want to do...  Like get ice cream and cheesecake in the same day!  Pretty sure parents don't let kids decide that.

Stinson Beach is such a beautiful place, it definitely makes our "places to frequent while we can" list. 

Yes February started off with days like this:

                Temperatures- high 60's low 70's.  Sun, blue skies, all around glorious days.

And then it went to days like this:

 and colder!  

We were FREEZING (especially because we had turned our heater off). And not only were we cold we spent a few weeks making piles of tissue by the bed and couch.  Glad that's over.

All With Love

We celebrated Valentine's Day with the classics:

Hearts, candle-lit dinner, chocolate, flowers, and for us Disney movies!

While we did have our traditional V-day breakfast, it didn't include any hearts this year.  Instead the hearts went into a surprise for my man.    

His favorite: cherry pie full of love!

I pulled the fast one this year and made Tim's pie three days early.

We had an early candle-lit dinner

and chilled watching a new Disney flick...

 (I love our movie tradition!)

The chocolates were reserved for Valentine's day.   

Burnt Caramel chocolates from Recchiuti- absolutely AMAZING!  Not only is the chocolate heavenly, they had these super cool designs for the holiday.  Love them!

These beauties were saved for Lover's Day too....

                                                                                       

One of the sweetest bouquets ever!  Tim skipped the lines and inflated prices at the regular stores for flowers from a local artist, Red Poppy, whose arrangements I've drooled over for a while.

To conclude the celebration we added a second Disney movie to our collection and enjoyed homemade chocolate souffles...

In my opinion Valentine's Day is what you make of it.   Yes, it is super commercialized (but what holiday isn't?) and we can choose to focus on that or we can choose to focus on the people we love the most and incorporating our own traditions to make this a special day.