Some updates for you

Here are 10 random updates on our lives in Turkey:

1. As of late Kawika and I have been taking advantage of whatever sunshine we have left and taking some long walks around the neighborhood. There's a relatively steep hill beside us with ramps so I try to get a little workout in by pushing him up it. I am loving the weather and hoping the cold holds off for a few more weeks.

2. We took our Elders out for lunch to Shake Shack and they loved it! We went with Elder Clark (from Alberta) and Elder Richards (from Arizona). Small world! We had a great time but unfortunately I forgot to take any pictures...sorry.

3. After we put Kawika down for the night, Jordan and I have been playing a lot of Rummy, Backgammon, and Checkers. A side note, we shouldn't be allowed to play games. It is SO much fun but we get way too competitive. Luckily our "fights" have been playful but sometimes I really just want to punch him in the face...

4. Jordan and I are currently watching Blacklist and Arrow together. We can't wait for more episodes of White Collar, Big Bang Theory, and Suits to come out. On the side I catch up on old lame tv shows that I should have watched 10 years ago...like One Tree Hill and The O.C. I think I'm going to start Smallville soon. Any other suggestions...?

5. Lately Kawika hasn't been sleeping through the night. I'm not sure what's going on but I think I'm more cranky about it than he is. Maybe he's getting his teeth in?

6. Yesterday was "cookie Sunday" and Jordan graciously shared his favorite no bake cookies with the Branch. Since we can't just buy our cookie ingredients here (my mom sent them in a care package), it was a big deal for us to share them haha it was worth it though because the Elders thanked us and said it tasted just like their moms cooking and it reminded them of home. There was also one Turkish man in the ward that told me it was the most delicious thing he had ever tasted. So that felt good :) thanks mom for the ingredients, the recipe, and teaching me how to make these.

7. While we mention my mom...its her BIRTHDAY tomorrow! So wish her a happy birthday because she is awesome. My mom is coming into town soon and I'm so thrilled. We are going to go sight seeing, go on long walks, swim laps in the pool downstairs, shop, bake and cook together. Oh and while she's here I intend on dating my husband. This is going to be legend...wait for it...dary.

8. I've been asked to teach Gospel Doctrine at church and I feel unqualified to be doing so BUT so far I have really enjoyed it. Besides just reading the scriptures to Kawika in the evenings, its nice to almost be forced to set aside time to really study them. I've learned so much more about the gospel and my testimony has only strengthened.

9. The team had us return our VW rental and exchange it for a brand new car called a "Skoda". Apparently its great on gas mileage because the engine turns off whenever you're not moving. But there's two things I really love about the car...1: Jordan fits in it and 2: its an automatic transmission

10. We've been ordering a lot of delivery lately. I'm not sure if I love or hate this fact more but I do know I'm disappointed with myself for not cooking dinner lately. There's a great website here called "YemekSepeti" and it allows you to order all kinds of foods and have it delivered to your door. Its extremely convenient for us because the website is in English which means we know what we're getting and we don't have to struggle communicating it to someone else. And obviously...its delicious prepared food that's instantly delivered to our door so it's convenient.

Overall, if I may say so myself, I think we're adjusting pretty well to life with a babe in a foreign country. At first I felt like it was more about survival than anything else (and some days that's still true) but now its more about enjoying our life and this crazy adventure we are living.

As always, we miss you all.

Lizard neck

Jordan was goofing around on the elevator and I learned that he has this unique talent of making his neck look like a lizards...

Honestly this picture is weak. This looks like something anyone can do. Jordan was too shy to do the real thing as big as he actually can.  Anyways, I wanted to do it too so I spent some time that evening trying...

I'm not even close to the range Jordan has but I'm dying because the next morning I woke up with an incredibly sore neck. And now its two days later and my neck is still sore...what a joke! I dare you to try. Your neck will be killing you the next day. Or maybe I'm just THAT out of shape!

The day has come

I can't believe it. Does anyone know what day it is? Yeah yeah its the first day of November. But guess what, today is also the official day that Kawika has spent more of his life in Turkey than in the US. I don't know if its just me but I think its crazy to think about!

Kawika is so happy and content. He loves to laugh. He pays attention when we read to him. He wakes up from naps making little squawking sounds. He rolls over. He loves to stand. He gets mad that he can't crawl but keeps trying. If Jordan is in the house he constantly looks for him. He is so curious about the world around him. And I love to just sit and watch him take it all in. Oh and of course, he is so tall. I'm terrible but I love how he looks like a complete dweeb in this picture with his pants too short. haha. some day Kawika will not be so happy with me about this. I can't wait.

                                          

Driving in Istanbul 101

For the longest time I've been meaning to write about my driving experiences in Turkey. I think its absolutely insane and I'm always met with shock when I tell people that I drive so I guess I'm not alone in that thought. But how else am I supposed to get anything done? So I've decided to compile a helpful list of tips while driving in Istanbul...

1. The traffic here sucks. That's just a given. You just have to plan on it and accept it because there's really no way around it.

2. I'm not sure that there are ANY driving laws here. And if there are, I don't think they're enforced. (except one law...refer to tip #3)So keep your cool and go with the flow. Even if the speed limit is 80 and everyone is flying past you while you're going 120. But keep in mind this will rarely happen (refer to tip 1). 

3. When there is traffic, you will without fail see several drivers zoom past you on the shoulder. I recommend staying out of their way and not joining them. This is the only thing I have seen people get tickets for. But regardless, it happens A LOT. 

4. If you have claustrophobia beware. A two lane road is more often than not converted to four lanes. So don't be alarmed when you're packed tight like sardines. Completely normal.

Now that we mention packed tightly....once on our way to church, Jordan and I looked over and saw this little tiny car jammed full of people. I tried to snap a picture of it but couldn't really get a good shot on the sly. Try to guess how many people are in this 5 passenger car....

If you guessed NINE than you are right! Three in the front. Three in the back. And three on the laps of those in the back! Now back to the tips..

5. If by some chance there isn't traffic, you will eventually hit it. When that happens, the person in front of you will turn their hazards on signaling that they are about to slam on their brakes. Apply your brakes and turn on your hazards if necessary. 

6. We learned the hard way that if you miss your exit or take a wrong turn it will take you at least half an hour to correct your error. Several times we've witnessed people just suddenly move over, turn on their hazards, and slowly reverse to their desired turn off. We used to be perplexed (and sometimes even a little annoyed) by this but now we TOTALLY get it. And a couple days ago on our way to Ikea, Jordan did the most Turkish thing he has ever done before. We had just missed our exit and didn't know where to turn around so he pulled over to the shoulder and started to reverse.... on the highway.

Now remember when I said that people sometimes like to use the shoulder as a lane??? Well that whole reversing to our exit stunt that he pulled was probably one of the most terrifying driving experiences we've had here. But I'm so proud of my husband for adapting to a new environment and driving like a local. Way to go babe! 

7. Invest in a GPS system. I've relied solely on my cell phone for directions and boy have I paid the price for that. 

8. Be assertive AND defensive. We live on a pretty busy hill. When we drive home from the market we have to make an unprotected left hand turn to our building. If you wait for the oncoming traffic to clear up, everyone behind you will blare their horns and you'll be waiting a very very long time. So what do you do? Turn on your blinker and slowly but assertively inch your way forward. If you are assertive enough, the oncoming traffic yields to you (but only inches away from hitting you). In my short experience here I've learned to:
        8a. Yield to taxis (because those drivers are crazy)
        8b. Yield to cars that are either bigger or more banged up than yours -they have less to lose
        8c. An expensive luxury vehicle will yield to you - they have more to lose (duh) 

9. Avoid looking at the gypsies (or at least don't get caught looking!) I'm just curious and a complete people watcher. So at first I always got caught looking at the gypsies who are standing in the middle of the road selling food, water, flowers, baked goods, or whatever it might be. I learned that if you are looking they think you want to buy. And some of them can get extremely aggressive about it. So to avoid a long painful red light with them...just don't look. 

10. And lastly, beware of window washers. Several times we've had people walk up and wash our windows when we were vehemently saying no. The trick here is to avoid eye contact (refer to tip #9) and if they still try to wash your windows, turn on your windshield wipers. At least thats done the trick for us! Unless of course you want your windows washed. Then in that case, go for it! 

Lastly, this entire post was typed with one hand while holding Kawika with the other. So I hope you enjoyed it haha.

Happy driving in Istanbul! 

Jumperoo!

We got Kawika a jumper! I have anxiously been awaiting for this day. Of course I want Kawika to stay my little baby but watching him grow up, get stronger, and learn is so fun and fulfilling for me. At first he wasn't so happy in it (and truthfully I worried we had another chair fail story) but once he learned how to push off and jump he was thrilled! The smiles and laughs are worth every cent. 

We went on a walk!

So about the title... I'm just making fun of an inside joke the Bachynski's have about going on a hike...and to be honest I'm not really sure that I'm on the inside of that joke but everyone says it to me like I am so I'll just laugh and pretend I get it...anyways...

Kawika and I met up with our friends Ceren and Aras and went out to lunch along the sea. We went to the European side to change things up and ate lunch at a cute little cafe. We had this yummy stuff called "Manti". I absolutely love it! They're like dumplings with mincemeat in the middle and yogurt on top. So good!

You can order them fried or boiled. I like them both!

After lunch we went for a 5 mile walk. It was a beautiful day. Lots of boats, fisherman, and beautiful buildings. I don't know what it is but I love water in every form....except frozen hahaha. I like to visit snow but I'm not sure I love living in it. I guess I get to find out soon! But ocean, lake, sea, pool, shower, or drink. Love it!

This is one of the bridges connecting the European and Asian Sides. We live off to the right (Asian side) and Ceren lives on the left. Our church building is on the left side as well.

On our walk we even found a castle!

Turkey has some really cool history and I love seeing the sights. Being a mom is so awesome. Watching Kawika take in the world is so much fun. I look forward to all the fun things I get to do with K when he's a little bit older and can appreciate it. Jordan and I love doing things that are meant for children (like pixar movies, legos, playing in the sand, etc) now we have a good excuse to do it all!

Bouncer

Back home we had an awesome bouncer for Kawika but he didn't really care for it too much because he was too little for it. Unfortunately we had minimal room when traveling here so we left it in storage. I hadn't thought much about it until we went over to a friend's place here and they had a rocking bouncer. We put Kawika in it and he loved it. He was happy there the whole evening and even fell asleep in it. So of course I decided I HAD TO HAVE ONE.

My sweet sweet husband was SO patient with me as he drove me around to a hundred different baby stores in the pursuit of the perfect rocking bouncer. He never pushed me to buy one that I didn't completely love and he even returned to multiple stores with me so that I could double and triple check the options. I either wasn't pleased with the accessories/functions, it was out of stock, or it only came in pink (and we don't do pink in this house...yet). It took some time and some serious hunting but I finally found the "perfect one". I couldn't wait to put Kawika in it!

Other than this ONE day several weeks ago. he really doesn't care for the stupid chair at all. I've tried to lie to myself that he loves it and every day I give it another shot but who am I kidding? Jordan finally said it yesterday and I had to concede. Kawika hates it. In Jordan's sarcastic words, "I am SO happy we got this chair for him. He uses it all the time." hahaha can you say first time mom?? 

Parent Fail. 

Shake Shack

Yes! This burger joint does deserve a post of its own. For those of you who are not familiar with this restaurant...its like the East coast version of In-n-out and we absolutely love it. We had heard of this really great mall called Istinye Park on the European side so we went over there to check it out and we were so excited when we saw this...

I don't know if its just been awhile but that was the best burger I have ever had. We even learned that there is a Shake Shack on the Asian side really close to where we live at a mall called Akasya. So when we're in need of a little American food we know where to get it! We plan on taking the Elders there for lunch next week as a special treat for them! Did I say THEM..? haha lets be honest, I really just want another burger and root beer!

Shoes

He doesn't walk yet so I never thought to put shoes on him. Until I realized that his feet are HUGE and if I ever want to see these bad boys on him, I had to do it now! So here he is. 

Love. Love. Love them.

volleyball!

Last week my dear friend and old teammate, Carli, was in Istanbul for some preseason friendly volleyball matches. So Kawika and I went on a little date to go watch her play.

Carli is truly an inspiring athlete and I love watching her play. She pushed me to be better in every aspect when we played together and still inspires me today to be my best. She is absolutely beautiful inside and out and I feel blessed to call her a friend. 

After her game we met up for some (root) beers at Shack Shack and just sat around catching up late into the night. We had such a great time! We love you Carli and hope you have more games in Istanbul in the future! 

Lost in Istanbul

I saw this on insta and thought it was hilarious...

I try really hard to keep things light and positive but I'm not going to lie to any of you. This is hard. Thankfully though, thorns have roses. That means that the harder its get, the more I appreciate what I used to take for granted, the more my testimony is strengthened, and lastly, the more mine and Jordan's relationship is strengthened. It's hard but I am truly grateful for those silver linings. 

I typically avoid sharing religious experiences on social media so this will be a first for me. I am not ashamed at all. I just don't want people to feel like I'm shoving my religion down their throats so please don't take offense...

Jordan was out of town and I was feeling pretty unmotivated to do anything. I felt very alone actually. So as usual I was having a conversation with Kawika. He's a good listener. Anyways, I started to cry and new I needed to get out of the house. So we hopped in the car and off we went. I wasn't sure where I wanted to go so I just started driving. I decided to hit the mall and hopped on the highway to cross the bridge over to the European side. Traffic here is insane so once I was parked on the highway I decided to pull up directions because I have no idea where to go once I cross the bridge. Well, turns out I had used up all of my data on my phone and my map wouldn't work. Which also meant that my imessage and whatsapp wouldn't work either. So there I was. crying. lost. with no way to call for help. 

So I quickly said a prayer. I then felt inspired to drive to our church building. Every time we've been to church we've had to use our map to get us there but I was fairly certain that I could do it. I won't lie, I was nervous and I was scared but I went anyways (not like I had an option!) Without even making one wrong turn and being inspired with each one, I was able to find the building. The missionaries were there and since they speak Turkish they were able to help me out! They called the cell phone company and had my data turned back on. And with that, I went back on my way and got home safely. 

I realize this probably doesn't sound like a big deal but it really was for me. I'm a first time mom in a new country. At the time I was by myself and even though I found my way, I was lost and I was scared. I'm grateful for the power of prayer. I'm grateful for the Spirit to comfort and guide me. 

Ultimately I paralleled this to our Earthly experience. We've been sent to Earth (a new place) and so often we feel spiritually lost and although we may not realize it, we yearn to return home to our Heavenly Father. Now I won't leave my apartment in Turkey without directions to help me find my way. And there is no chance that our loving Heavenly Father would send us away without guidance so that we too can find our way back to him. So for that I am grateful for my scriptures and for prayer. I am grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for the Holy Ghost. I'm grateful that I have a family to help me along the way. And I'm grateful to my mom and dad for teaching me about the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

If you would like to learn more about my faith click here.

Istanbul Museum of Modern Art

A couple of weeks ago we were invited to the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art. We put the address in our phone but it sent us completely to the wrong place so we were pretty late and pretty flustered upon arrival but it turned out to be a beautiful evening full of food, fun, and of course art! I definitely had the hottest date there. 

After our tour of the museum we went to the restaurant upstairs and enjoyed a delicious meal with Jordan's team. After dinner everyone moved outside to a deck that overlooked the water. It was such a beautiful view but unfortunately I couldn't get a picture with my iphone that did justice but I was able to snap one of the team...

It was a lot of fun to get to know the guys a little bit better. Thank you to the owners for hosting the event. We loved it and look forward to more.

Go Eskisehir Basket!

4 month check up!

Our sweet babe is 4 months old. I can't believe it. He had a check-up today and some vaccinations. I HATE needles but as always, he handled it like a champ. And then he passed out in his daddy's arms. 

Weight: 17 lbs 

Height: 27 in

He loves to roll and tries really hard to crawl and when he doesn't move he gets pretty ticked about it. But he never stops trying. He is a happy baby and loves to giggle and laugh. Especially with his dad. He stares at Jordan whenever he's around. He tries REALLY hard to watch tv and I do what I can to make sure he doesn't. He also really loves to stand. (I mean pump the breaks kid. You're 4 months. Stay my little baby for at least a little longer!) He finally fits into his shoes and that just about melts me.

 

Tavuk

I apologize for not writing in lately. I warned you all from the start though that I wouldn't be that reliable with my posts so....you were warned. Don't hold your breathe.

Anyways, something funny happened to us. We can't find any pork here so we've been eating a lot of chicken lately...or so we thought. The Turkish word for chicken is "Tavuk". At our local grocery store there's a huge sign labeled Tavuk hanging over a fridge so we just assumed everything in it was chicken. Except when we got home and started cooking we were always SHOCKED with the size of the chicken breast. These suckers are huge. We talked about it briefly but never really gave it much thought. Well last night I finally typed the label into google translator...we've been eating turkey this whole time.

The irony...eating turkey in Turkey. Hopefully we can find a whole Turkey to eat for Thanksgiving day instead of just the fillets! Its not a celebrated holiday over here but maybe we'll get lucky enough to eat turkey in Turkey on Turkey Day.

But even if we don't find a Turkey, the best part about Thanksgiving is that my mom will be here to celebrate it with us! I am so excited to have her here!!! Speaking of my mom, I just received the greatest care package ever from her! We had a friend from our branch go to Utah this last week so when she came back to Turkey she brought back an extra suitcase with her. My mom packed it full of goodies. It was such a treat. I meant to take pictures BUT cocoa had spilled all over the suitcase so instead of documenting the greatness, I was cleaning everything off and then I was enjoying my yummy salty Rold Gold pretzels. And we now have sheets that fit our bed so that's very exciting for me. I was going nuts! Thank you so much mom for sending us everything. I'm sure it wasn't easy running around picking up the random requests we had but we are so grateful for it and for you!


We miss you all. Sending our love from Turkey!

Macaroons

These things look heavenly, right?

I've never had one but have always wanted to try one. And this past weekend, I finally did! This shouldn't come as a shock to anyone who knows me but I probably would never spend money on another one again. It's not like they weren't delicious. They were. I absolutely love how colorful they are too! It's just for me, nothing beats ice cream. So if I'm going to stuff my face with a dessert, you can bet it will be ice cream (unless I can somehow get the EXACT same cake from my brother Daniel's wedding. That was quite literally a slice of heaven)

Anyways, one flavor I tried was rose. Like the flower. Has anyone had something rose flavored before? I haven't! And let me tell you, it was a cool experience. My brain couldn't figure out how my tongue was tasting a smell. I tried to explain it to Jordan and he just laughed at me because I kept saying, "I've smelt this taste". Now that I'm actually writing this down I realize that its probably not as funny to you (the reader) as it is to us. I suppose its one of those "you-had-to-be-there" type of things but its a good memory for us and its one I never want to forget.

Jordan and I make each other laugh. We truly enjoy being together and I absolutely love that about us. The other day I was thinking about how I should seriously be sick of him and vice versa. And then it dawned on me that I could spend eternity with him and never get tired of having him around. And then I realized how that idea is ridiculously sappy. And then it hit me. I truly do have eternity to spend with him.

So, thank you Turkey. Thank you for teaching me that even when I'm annoyed that I can't find the groceries I want, even when I want to punch the other drivers on the road in the face, even when I miss my family, even when I'm completely fed up, annoyed, and walk out of the mall crying because I can't find what I want, I am the luckiest.

And thank you Jordan for making that true.

Running

I always joke that one of the reasons I picked volleyball over basketball was that basketball involved way too much running for me. I can take on short sprints any day. No problem. In fact, I like those. But any distance running and I'm like fat Amy from Pitch Perfect... COUNT. ME. OUT.

Well despite that fact, I've been having this bizarre feeling lately that I WANT to run. Since this feeling comes as often as unicorn sightings I decided to capitalize and actually do it. So I went for my first run in...well....a long time. And I decided, I'm allergic. It was terrible.

In all seriousness though (now that my "allergic" reaction has cleared up) I guess I am, kind of, sort of, glad I did it. I feel good. I actually do want to run more. But more than anything, I want to play some high level competitive volleyball. If only I was good enough to keep up with the Turkish teams out here. I miss playing. I miss lifting. I miss conditioning. Wait, what? No. Not that part. (Well shoot, maybe I do). But definitely everything else. I miss it. Can you imagine though. Getting paid to play the sport you love? You never have to work a day in your life. Oh yeah. Jordan gets to do that every day!! 

We are LOVING his new job. Truly a dream come true. And I honestly believe that Jordan works with the best management in Europe. This team takes care of their players (and their families). We are spoiled here and we love it. Great coach. Great teammates. Great management. We couldn't ask for more.

Oh and guess what, I got a dryer this week!! So helllllooooo to warm, cozy, soft towels fresh out of the dryer. I am SO SO happy. 

Cookie Sunday

Yesterday was another beautiful Sabbath day. It appears that our branch has some sort of theme each Sunday and yesterday was cookie Sunday! Probably one of the best themes yet. Its definitely motivation to stay for all three hours and then to mingle afterwards too. Not that I need ANY motivation to mingle (anymore). Back home in the states I would probably grab a cookie and leave without talking to a soul if I could help it. But here, I talk to anyone who will listen and come to think of it...I didn't even have a cookie! What the heck has happened to me?

*I'm turning into my mom. Socializing after church when the rest of the family is OVER it. Oh crap. Sorry Kawika....I know waiting for mommy sucks lol

After church we were invited over to a senior missionary couple's house for dinner. Brother and Sister Schmidt are awesome! Sister Schmidt, or Sue, is the best. She was the very first person I met at church. She is a grandma herself and is missing her kids like crazy so I let her borrow Kawika during church. She is such a bomb babysitter and K loves her.

They live on a really cool street that would probably be considered "ghetto" but I like it. Kids literally play in the middle of the street over there and people just hang out together outside at all hours of the day. They live on the top floor of their building (no elevator) and have a gorgeous view....

This is looking North...notice the contrast in buildings...old apartment homes, a mosque, and a brand new office building...

This is the view to the South...

I wish I would have caught pictures but I didn't think of it at the time so I'll just have to write about it... vendors walk along the streets just yelling out what they have for sale. For example, one man came through with watermelons. If you want one, all you have to do is lower your bucket down by rope with money inside. He will then grab the money and replace it with a watermelon. Then you just pull it back up to your balcony! Brother Schmidt was telling me that for awhile he paid his rent in this manner. He walked over to the landlords house (which is just down the street) and called out for him. He came out to his balcony, lowered a bucket, and Brother Schmidt placed the rent ($1400 TL) in the bucket, and the landlord pulled it back up! No receipts, no confirmations, nothing. How crazy and cool is that? I'm just relieved his money didn't blow away before it got up to the landlord! Brother Schmidt said that since then they have a new secure way of paying their rent (since they have a bank account over here now). I love learning new fun things about Turkish life. Thank you Kevin and Sue for cooking us dinner and welcoming us into your home. We loved it!

I'll have fries with that...

Turkish people don't do fast food here. Eating is a social event. And I really like that. I like that when you gather together you sit down and you enjoy your food and your company. There's no rush to get to the next place. You just enjoy yourself. 

BUT on this particular day we were on the go running errands on one of Jordan's days off and since we see Burger King EVERYWHERE we thought we would give it a try...maybe have a quick taste of home..? Well it was a hot day and all I wanted was a vanilla ice cream cone. Nobody spoke English and my google translate wasn't making sense to them soooo I was hooped. That was until one of the workers there sheepishly made a gesture of him pretending to lick ice cream. I got excited because I knew he finally understood what I wanted! We paid what we thought was an absurd amount of money for a cone and waited. He then passed us a cone along with two trays of three of everything...three strange tasting sprites, three whoppers, and three fries. I'm not sure how he decided that we wanted food. Or why he thought we needed three of everything. But I got my cone! And I was happy about it. 

25!

This past Saturday was Jordan's birthday! I thought I would be sweet and bake him a cake, get him a card and a gift, and make his day special. HAHAHA. I should have prepared in advance. Much much more in advance. But come on, when have I really had time in between having a baby, the NBA Summer League, and packing or selling everything we own. So I tried to make it happen in Turkey. But I failed. Quite terribly actually.

This is the cake box I bought at the store. The directions are in Turkish (duh!) so even though I bought every ingredient (as well as a baking pan and candles) I still had to figure this out. And then that's when I realized I didn't have any measuring cups or spoons. So I put the cake idea off to the side and eventually I ran out of time and it never happened. Oops.

*As a side note, I have since purchased measuring cups. In ignorance, I didn't realize they're not the same measurements I have used my whole life. Instead of cups and tablespoons, I'm working with grams and milliliters. So when I've attempted to cook or bake my recipes over here, I've had to convert each and every ingredient. And in case you were wondering, there is no easy conversion. It's a pain. And at best, I just roughly guestimate it and so far nothing has come out quite the same as it does at home. Not just because of the measurements but also because of the ingredients (or lack thereof) and the strange substitutions we've tried to make work....but don't.*

Then I searched high and low for a birthday card in English. The best thing I could come up with was this BLANK and MINIATURE card. Totally works. Right?? Ya, I Suck. But don't worry, it gets worse...

As for Jordan's gift, we had agreed to a shopping spree. But anyone who knows Jordan knows he loves to open up gifts. So I REALLY wanted to get him something anyways. Because anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE  Jordan and I love seeing him smile. And I love giving him unexpected gifts. BUT despite the argument in my head, I decided not to get him anything and hold off for the shopping spree. This decision had more to do with the fact that I didn't have cash on me, they don't accept my American debit card, and the one gift I wanted to get him he had already bought for himself...

Well his big day finally arrived. Kawika had had a rough night before and had woken me several times so I completely FORGOT which day it was. Jordan quietly woke up, brought Kawika to me so that I could nurse him and then slipped into the kitchen and brought me breakfast in bed. After I ate, I thanked him and started to get comfy in the blankets again. He just looked at me and smiled. I thought nothing of it. FINALLY he gently told me what day is was. CRAP. Are you kidding me? I thought and thought about this day for so long and what I could do to make it special and then boom. I failed. I landed on my a$$ and fell in a pile of Christmas. No gift. No cake. No birthday wishes. And I didn't even write in the card. But at the end of the day, I'm still married to him and I got breakfast in bed! 

So we jumped in the car, headed to the mall, and bought him a PS Vita. Normally I would never get him a gift that involves video games but come on..at that point I literally had no choice. Then we drove over to the Euro side for a friendly game. I gave a heads up to the team that it was Jordan's birthday and they were much more on top of it then I was so they got him a cake and sang to him in the locker room after the game. Even they did a better job than me! Jeesh. 

Afterwards we went out to dinner at Hard Rock with one of his teammates (Matt), his wife (Jessica), and their kids (Michael 3 and Mia 2 months). Everything about that night was perfect. We loved the overcrowded, busy, but beautiful streets. We loved the familiarity of the American food they served there. We loved the underground garage that never ended. We loved the company. We loved it all! 

This is me with Mia. I can't believe how small she is. She is all girl and I love it! K's first gf?? I think so! 

The bday boy blowing out his candles!

Our little family...

And the whole gang....

I am so grateful for my sweet sweet husband. He is patient (with me) and kind. He is outspoken and opinionated. He works his butt off. He is loyal. He loves the Lord. He is a great daddy. And sometimes I'm not sure why but he loves me. I am the luckiest. Happy birthday Jordan! 

Caddesi

I like to think that Jordan and I are pretty adventurous. We just go and figure things out along the way. Well we went out for a drive to see what we could see and we loved it. We got lost as we always do in Turkey but we've discovered that if you just keep going, eventually you get to where you need to go.

During our drive we were discussing how whenever we use our google maps app, every street she tells us to turn on sounds EXACTLY the same...we were joking about it and then we decided to listen closer to her directions. Sure enough, almost every street ended exactly the same! Well no wonder why everyone gets lost here! Practically all the streets have the same name! We were laughing hysterically about this with every direction she provided until Jordan finally told me to google translate what we were hearing..which was "caddesi"....yep, it means STREET. We are such tards.

Anyways, there is and will always be traffic along the bridges so that's the first thing you just need to accept while driving in Turkey. We took advantage of it and enjoyed the view.

I love driving across the bridge. The traffic can be annoying and its strange that people are literally standing in the middle of the HIGHWAY selling all sorts of things from water bottles to bread to flowers...but the view is breathtaking. Oh and back to people selling things in the street, it ranges from old men to small children. And sometimes they get pretty aggressive. One boy was trying to sell lottery tickets and kept claiming that he had the winning ticket (translation provided by Ceren). He just leaned on the car and insisted over and over again that we hand him money and he would hand us the winning ticket! Another time this little girl just came and pressed her face against our car window. I don't have the slightest idea what she was selling but talk about awkward as Jordan and I tried to pretend she wasn't there. Longest red light ever!!

This is an example of the craziness of the street vendors...literally LAYING on a car!!

This is a popular street on the Asian side along the coast. There are tons of stores and restaurants and its just fun to walk along the street.

Turkey is such a beautiful place. We are really enjoying our time here and can't wait to see more! 

Breast Infection...this post is boring. Sorry!

Hi everyone!

I am ALIVE! Sorry mom, grandma/grandpa, and Uncle Don for not writing lately (because let's be honest, who else cares?) As I'm sure you all know though, I have been sick. And it sucks. 

Last week I woke up early to drop off Jordan for his trip and I felt a lump in my breast. When I got home, the pain was much worse and I felt a slight fever so I started doing some google research. I diagnosed myself with a breast infection. Despite the pain, I did hot compresses, massaged it, nursed on it, and pumped it (every tip I had read online to do). I kept feeling worse and without Jordan around things quickly went downhill from there. Fortunately Ceren came to my rescue. She picked K and me up and took me to the hospital for an ultrasound. They confirmed what I already knew... it was a breast infection. Later that evening my fever spiked to 104 so we went to the Emergency Room. This was an experience. Apparently they don't get many foreigners around there so they were excited to have me. I'm pretty sure my nurse was fairly new to the job so that only added to his anxiety. Also from what I could gather by his body language, he seemed to be in some sort of competition with another nurse (as if trying to prove himself). If I wasn't sick, it probably would have been more amusing but at this point I was ready to punch him. Anyways, it took THREE attempts but he finally got my IV right. (I think) they gave me two medications. One to reduce the fever and another for the infection. By the end of it all, I felt way better and was ready to sleep for a few days. Ceren had me stay at her house so that she could take care of me. I am so lucky that God sends earthly angels. Literally, I don't know how I could have survived everything without her help. 

I have no idea where the hospitals or pharmacies are located, which hospitals are the better ones, what type of insurance I have, who accepts it, and nobody at the hospital spoke English so that would have been especially challenging without Ceren. I am a strong capable woman so I'm absolutely certain that eventually I would have figured it all out but I'm really grateful that I didn't have to. So that's it for now. I'll write in soon with more interesting, fun things about Turkey!

Love and miss you all

xoxo

Waking up Kawika

If only everyone woke up like this (or woke up to this) the world would be such a happier place. I can't believe I get to enjoy this every day so I thought I should share it with my friends and family to see..

So somehow K slipped his arms out from my swaddle. And I thought it was tight! haha I am not as much of a pro at it as I had hoped...

All I do is say his name and he starts to smile with his eyes shut.

Then he opens his eyes and looks right into mine. I love it.

Since he has recently discovered his cute little tongue he decided to show it off.

He is so happy and loves life!

And then this photo. In my head, I think its him realizing what's about to happen. He's stoked and starts to cheer because its finally time to eat!

I never knew that I have always wanted to be this little man's mommy. I love him so much and I feel so lucky because I truly have the best job in the world!