Let Them Eat Cake...

... and lasagna.  

There's never too small a celebration for us in Ming.  Any excuse to have cake or a dance party is good enough for us.  So, when we have a legit reason for it, we go all out.  Tonight we celebrated Andrea's birthday (a few days early)!  And, in tow, was a special birthday cake and made from absolute scratch lasagna, per her request.

My feat of the day was making the lasagna.  We don't have lasagna noodles here, so I had to make them... from scratch.  Since I was being all fancy and putting in the work, I decided to make them with spinach, too.  It took hours.  Prepping, mixing, kneading, resting, rolling, drying, boiling, cooling, draining... whoa.  But, in the end, they were awesome.  I also made 2 sauces for it and, of course, used lots of cheese.

Making things from scratch isn't abnormal for me anymore, but this seemed a bit intimidating to me.  I doubt I'll get to spend 5-6 hours on one dish once I get back to the States or wherever, so I'll enjoy it while I can.  

Last year on Andrea's birthday, we found out Laura was going to be our sitemate.  This year, I found out making a lasagna is worth all the work because good food goes far for our mental health.  Then, add a cake (of which we may or may not have had a giant slice each) and we're good to go.

Happy Birthday, Andrea!  Here's to another year of knowing you.

Be Yourself... Pretend Sometimes.

Let's start off this entry with a quick apology to those who read as I have not been good at blogging lately.  As previously mentioned, I go through writing phases.  Sometimes, I'm on and full speed ahead.  Sadly, though, most times I am not, especially lately as I've been eagerly awaiting my move to my very own apartment!  Host family living, that last part in particular, was something insanely difficult.  Alas, it is done now and I am happily hanging out in my awesome kitchen, listening to music, and staying warm during this cold spurt by sitting next to my lit gas stove's open fire... amazing heater, I know.  So, friends, please accept my apology.  If you're on facebook, you may know by now that I've uploaded my Georgia pictures, so, hopefully you enjoyed those.  A whole-hearted apology goes out to Ms. Larson, who I've heard through the grapevine told a cluster-mate of mine that I need to write more.

Anyways, now that that business is taken care of... let me wish you all a happy Wrigley Field Opening Day!!!  I wore my Cubs shirt, played softball, and made a bet with a fellow volunteer (who's a Cardnals' fan).  I think that chalks up to be a good celebration of the season's home start.  Not to mention, Johnson's catch against the Brewers!  Wowsers!

I've been thinking a lot today about my past year.  Probably because my birthday is in just under an hour (my time)... I've thought of all the steps forward I've taken, the steps I've skipped, and the ones that pulled me back quite a ways.  Overall, I think this has been a good year.  

One year ago, I was waiting for an impending graduation day, finishing all my school, internship, organization, and PAR work, worrying about my upcoming Peace Corps life, trying to manage and strengthen relationships I feared would be lost, and attempting to figure out where it was I was going to live over the summer before my departure.  Though all those thoughts and things were my reality, I found a bit of time to celebrate my birthday.  It's strange to think of how busy I used to be all the time being an over-extended student, worker, young adult, person... Luckily, I found that chunk of time to celebrate and kick off an amazingly unique new year of life.  

I was getting ready and I put on my favorite earrings, one read "Be Yourself," the other "Pretend Sometimes."  I'm happy to say I believe this past year was one that I was truly myself.  At the nights' end, I lost the "Pretend Sometimes" and I just recently started using the "Be Yourself" as a charm alongside my tree on my necklace.  I think this year has been the one where I grew the most, the one where I can withdraw some of the best memories I'll ever be able to, the one where experience outweighed ideas and contributed to them something ineffable... this past year was the one where not only I was myself, but the one where I've been the closest of knowing who I am so that I could be myself.  Knowing that I'm in a causal strain of life where one thing will inevitably effect another, I'm always changing, but this year, I was onto something...

So, here's to another year of life.  This one upcoming year will be my full birth year cycle in Azerbaijan... I can only hope I will be able to learn as much not being busy as I did this past one. 

P.S, I tried to post a picture, but my internet is too slow...  sorry.