Enter to win personalized stationary!

I caught your interested, didn't I? I knew I would!

Here's the deal-e-o:

I'm giving away a set of 12 personalized note cards created by "yours truly" (an $18.00 value)! The prize goes to one lucky contestant who comments on one of my blog entries I've chosen for this contest.

All you have to do is comment (according to my instructions) on a post and I'll put your name in a drawing to win the prize. At random I will pick one of your names from a hat (or box, shoe, or any bowl-like object) and announce the winner right here on my blog.

All entries must be sent in by next Tuesday, September 7th

by 12:00pm central time.

The Rules:

Comment on this post (click on it to read) and tell me why your husband/wife is the greatest of all time. Don't be shy, give your spouse the credit they deserve :) Then email me a pic of your dreamy love-bird at javamammacasey@gmail.com

OR

Comment on this post and tell me about your experience trying this hairstyle. Email me a picture of the finished product at javamammacasey@gmail.com (you can try this hair-do on yourself, your friend, daughter, or anyone else you choose!)

I want to post all the pictures emailed to me so you can all enjoy them as much as I will :)

If the winner is from:

America: After sending me your address, the prize will be shipped directly to your door!

Baku: I will meet you personally to discuss the prize. My photo options are different here than on my photography website.

Any other country: You can have the prize shipped to any address in America (maybe a gift idea?)

To check out the personalized stationary info, check out my website at:

http://javamammaphotography.yolasite.com/

You might be the winner, so you might as well start dreaming up your prize while you browse the stationary section :)

Sounds easy, doesn't it? Ready, set, POST! :)

Husband

My husband.

Let me just tell you a bit about him here.

As if one blog entry could really capture all that he is.

He cares about people. He really really does. He loves making people feel welcomed, loved, cared about, and befriended.

The minute a guest enters our home, he always beats me to the first line, "Can I get you something to drink?"

He can't wait to cut up watermelon for guests, make fresh ice tea, and serve dinner without even knowing people were coming over. He is the one who pushes me to have more friends over to our place. He's always thinking of someone we should get to know better and invite to come over. He can't wait to play a game afterwards, and share a laugh or two.

Just a few weeks ago he volunteered to fix our friend's computer... it was dropped and completely fried. He figured out a way to get all the pictures/music/videos off even though the computer was completely dead. He's a genius.

He fixed someone's car this week and is scheduled to head over to another friend's house tomorrow to fix their car as well.

He gets up with our daughter many mornings so I can get a few more moments of shut eye. He makes her forts with pillows and blankets, tickles her, reads her books, kisses her, tells her he loves her, offers to put her to bed, changes her diaper, feeds her, and everything else in between.

He cares about every single youth group student we teach. He thinks about them all throughout the week and wonders how we can encourage them even more. He's willing to talk about what you want to talk about just so that you feel special. He will ask you about your life, your work, your hobbies, what you did today, and what you will do tomorrow. And he honestly cares about your answers.

He surprises me while I'm cooking dinner just to wrap his arms around me, give a soft kiss, and whisper in my ear that he loves me.

He's willing to learn new things in the hopes that he can serve others better. And he doesn't want you to pay him for it. Unless you are ridiculously good at making baked goods...

He is always striving to know Father more deeply. He has a favorite speaker and watches his podcasts regularly, yearning to learn more. He reads the Word with me many nights, and oftentimes reminds me "it's not about us, its about Him" whenever I am a bit on the selfish side. His favorite quote is, "It's not about being comfortable. It's about serving Him."

He's willing to say he's sorry. He admits when he messes up. He wants to be a better man every day and doesn't think he's "arrived".

When I tell him I'm excited to get fit and work out, he comments that he thinks I've always looked beautiful.

Here's to our husbands who love us and serve with all their heart. Now it's your turn. Comment below all about your amazing hubby, and tell us what makes him so special :)

Secret

Secrets.

I have them.

And wouldn't you like to know! :)

Soooo... I have some secret dream jobs I'd love to do. And I'm dead serious for all of them. Here they are, listed in no particular order.

1. Wedding planner. Everything. Every single thing. I want to decorate, do everyone's hair, play the music, and take all the pictures. And I wouldn't mind being the DJ either :) Oh how I love weddings!

2. Cheerleading or dance team coach. I. love. to. dance.

3. Travelling musician on tour. I have many songs I've written.... I hope someday I can record them. I have a heart to share how Father has brought me through tough times, in the hopes that someone else can be encouraged.

4. Natural birth and/or lactation consultant. I love babies. I love mommies.

5. Flutist in the symphony. I so miss playing my flute in a band. It is the most amazing feeling to hear all the different instruments come together to make a magnificent production.

6. Professional photographer. I'd like to take some classes and learn more. And maybe someday upgrade to one of those ridiculously humongous cameras.

There you have it. My secret's out!

Quotes of the week

"You are who you want, but if you never know what you want,
you won't know who you are."

-Nita Steiner

"Father is SO after you and your heart, that He will shut doors and say "no" to what we think we need in order to make us desperate for Him."

- Nita Steiner

Nita was on staff at the college I graduated from. She was an inspiration to me... one of those people who impacts others in ways they could never know.

So I am passing on her wisdom to you.

What do you want? Are you desperate for Him, and Him alone?

He is the Well of Life. Drink from Him, and you will never go thirsty again.

Dancing

I felt really down today.

The weather wasn't helping. It was dripping rain, not even real rain. And it was cloudy.

Then my sweet daughter came running up to me, grabbed my hand, pulled me into her room, had me turn on the music, grabbed her dance ribbons, asked me to put on her dress-up clothes, then we danced for Father.

Then I felt better.

Funny how our children help us more than we realize.

Photos of the week

Ready, set, shoot!

After a lovely, sunny afternoon with my dear friend taking photos around the city today, I am anxious to share some with you! All these shots have been birthed inside my head for months now. Every time I would walk past artistically-potential areas thinking, "Oo what a great shot! Wish I had my camera..." Well not this time! This time I came prepared. Camera in hand, ideas swimming in my brain, adrenaline rushing through my veins, well, alright you get the picture.


Here you see a picturesque view of the Old City contrasted by a modern fountain in front. Old castle walls meet cutting-edge architecture. I love it. I bet the Prince or Queen or whoever ruled the land would have KILLED for their own personal fountain like this. Too bad they lived in the wrong generation! ;)


Next we have the "slide of death" as I have so creatively named it. This piece of rusty junk is conveniently located right outside my apartment complex doors. Does Sitora want to slide down it? Yes. Does Mommy let her? No. Why? Um... let's just say attempting to slide down would automatically land you a spot in line for an updated tetanus shot.



And there you have it folks! Tune in next time for this blog's "Photo of the week"... even though technically I cheated this week with two photos...

HairPhotoMusicQuote of the week

Hair
Photos
Music
Quotes

These are some of my loves.

That's why I decided I am going to post my "favorites" of these categories every week. That way you get a taste of what I like and maybe, just maybe you will get some ideas!


This week's hair-do idea.



Need a quick summer up-do? Don't have time to curl your hair and you just hopped out of the shower? Here's your answer!


Part your hair far to the side (even farther than normal). Part a small section of hair all along your hair line. Pull the rest of your hair up in a temporary pony-tail and let the front part hang down. Divide the hair into three parts and start french-braiding across your forehead. Continue braiding that hair section all the way to the ends. Undo your pony-tail, then re-pull up all your hair together with the french braid. Instead of pulling your hair to the back of your neck, pull it to the side slightly behind your ear. Secure with 2 pony-tails for those with longer/thicker hair. Take the ends of the pony tail and pull them through the pony-tail holder to make a messy bun. Secure any loose ends with bobby-pins, then spritz with hair-spray. You are good to go!

O what a day

Do you ever have one of those days where it seems everything goes wrong?

Today I woke up feeling like a train hit me. Actually it started last night. I had an incredibly busy weekend with hardly any breaks. I just kept drinking more and more coffee convincing myself it would all be over soon. One of those weekends where you schedule everything back to back, literally.

So as soon as my last commitment ended, I rushed home, got Sitora ready for bed, and hoped it would be my turn soon. Fat chance. It took Sitora over 2 hours to finally fall asleep on her own, then she woke up about every 3 hours asking for water.

Finally (well, the first time she finally fell asleep) I collapsed in my bed and waited for sleep to arrive. Have you ever been so overtired that you couldn't fall asleep? It's a horrible curse! Your body is dead tired, but for some reason your mind is racing around spinning circles over and over. I was so exhausted that I started crying. I couldn't take it. It was just too much. Finally after Danny massaged my back I was able to fall asleep after 2am.

I realized right before I fell asleep that Sitora was in her last diaper. I'd forgotten to pick up diapers before coming home. It wasn't enough that I'd forgotten my guitar at our meeting place and had to take a taxi and rush back making sure it wasn't stolen. My brain was too fried by that point to remember diapers.

Sitora woke up this morning around 7am. Her diaper was as huge as all get-out and I realized, once again, that we had no more diapers. Our little store downstairs wouldn't be open for another hour or two. Danny got a small towel and wrapped it around like a make-shift diaper, then safety pinned it on. She wore that for a while then went down for a nap. When she woke up from her nap her bed was soaked in pee. I guess our version of "cloth diapers" wasn't so genius after all...

So I got ready for the day, left Sitora with Daddy, then headed out into the public world... despite still feeling dead tired and brain-less. I hopped on the number 177 bus and headed towards the grocery store. My stop arrived so I stood up to cue the bus driver it was time to stop. He didn't get the clue. So I walked up closer to the front of the bus and said, "stop please" in Azeri. He looked a bit annoyed with me (go figure, a bus driver stopping a bus at a bus stop, how horrible!) then slammed on the breaks. I lost my balance and stumbled, almost falling to the floor but caught myself just in time. A man on the bus snickered at me and I felt mortified. I calmly waited for other people to board, then I proceeded to walk down the steps off the bus. Right as I was exiting, the bus driver shut the doors on me! The same man on the bus laughed at me again, and I looked back at the driver like, "why did you do that?" He yelled something I didn't understand then opened the door. I have no clue what he was doing or why. Strange, strange man.

Later on today, I was taking my laundry out of the washing machine. Immediately my eyes were drawn to one of Sitora's outfits that is my favorite. It is orange and white striped on the top with orange and white circles on the skirt. It's from Children's Place in America and she wore it for our family photos this summer. All the white parts had turned a yucky muddy grey color. I focused my eyes on the machine trying to figure out what went wrong, and I saw Sitora turned the temperature dial to 90 degrees CELSIUS when I wasn't watching. ugh.

The night ended much better than the day... we walked along the Boulevard with our friends and their son and then went to our city's newest mall. We got yelled at by a security officer for letting our kids play on the grass. Apparently here, grass is only to look at. None of this "enjoying nature stuff"...

I'm assuming tomorrow will go better than today. Let's hope for it :)

Ask me

Sometimes I feel lonely even when surrounded by a crowd.

Do you ever feel that way?

Like, do people really know me?

I'd rather ask you a million questions than talk about myself.

But I'm hoping, deep down inside, that you'll ask me questions too.

A taste of life

As I was walking down my busy street today I thought to myself, "My life here is pretty crazy. I don't even have enough words to explain all the different, odd things I go through just to maintain a normal life routine here."

So I thought I would jot them down (well really, type) for your enjoyment!

1. We don't have a car. In order to get from A to B, we walk down to the bus stop, take a certain bus according to where we are going, then get off at another bus stop, walk down the stairs into the metro terminal, scan our metro card, go down an escalator, wait for the metro to come, get in, find a seat or stand and hold on, then make sure we stop at the right place. Sometimes we have to get out at a certain stop then transfer to a different metro. Then we get out at the desired metro stop location, go up the escalator, and walk some more until we reach our destination. Sometimes I am doing this alone with Sitora... sometimes it's our whole family. We are always bombarded with hundreds of people at these metro stops... its really crowded. Did I mention that it can really stink when you are crammed inside a metro car next to some people who possibly don't use deodorant in the heat of summer? But actually I don't mind taking public transportation, for the most part I quite enjoy it... it is very efficient. Like my sister-in-law Annah says in her blog about South Korea, there just isn't enough room on the roads for everyone to have a car so, public transportation is the way to go!

2. Since we don't have a car, I have to walk to the nearest grocery store, then carry my groceries home. I bring two huge bags so that I can stuff all my groceries inside. When you have to carry your food home, you end up not getting much... so I usually end up only getting the healthy necessities like fruits, veggies, bread, juice, milk, eggs, etc. Not much room for junk food. Thankfully we have a little mini store in the courtyard of our apartment complex and we can run down there for last minute cravings such as... snickers.... or chips :) So basically this is why we lose so much weight living here.

3. I am stared at every single place I go, no matter what. I am blonde, there's no hiding it. Sometimes I get used to it, sometimes I can't stand it. I forgot what it's like to be invisible in public. Therefore I usually try to dress nicely everywhere... since in this culture everyone dresses WAY UP. I'm talking a dress, high heels, hair curled, cute sparkly purse, makeup, the whole sha-bang. Even if you're just going grocery shopping...

4. Every time I go shopping I am asked the same questions over and over, "Why are you here? Where are you learning the language? What does your husband do? Do you like it here? Where are you from?" It guess its ok that I have this conversation at least twice a week... but sometimes it gets a bit old.

5. We have an elevator and live on the 6th floor. At first I thought we'd only take the stairs because the elevator was so scary... but after living here for almost a year with a toddler, you start taking the elevator instead. This elevator is SCA.RY. I mean... really scary. Anyone who's been to our place knows about this elevator. The lights kind of blink while you ride, and you can hear the wheels and chains grinding the whole way up (or down). It's really small with trash and yucky things on the ground. Danny doesn't let Sitora touch the walls because someone told him that boys pee in there. Otherwise I am really thankful for our elevator, I don't even think about the gross-ness anymore!

6. We have none of the typical "parks" you would imagine in this city. The "parks" they do have are mostly concrete walking areas with small patches of grass but you're not allowed to walk on the grass (sometimes we do but I'm always afraid of getting in trouble). There are lots of benches and little fountains and people sit on the benches staring and people watching. There are not many nature-y areas to just go and relax.

7. We have so many deep relationships here. In America we had lots of things to rely on for fun and recreation... a big yard to take care of... parks to go play in... stores to go shopping in... restaurants to try... but here we don't have much. So we rely on each other. We go to people's houses for game nights, invite friends over for tea and coffee, schedule play-dates with other mom's and hang out in our apartment, have youth group events, volunteer at orphanages, and make friends with neighbors and people we meet who live here.

8. We hardly have any earthly possessions anymore. We live in a small apartment and can't store much... so we give a lot away. When Sitora is done with toys or clothes, I pass them on. We don't take more than we need, because we just can't fit it in! We've sold most of our possessions in America and have stored a few precious items in our parents' attic. It's actually very freeing to feel that nothing is holding us back. If Father called us to anything, we could just go and do it.

9. We spend a zillion more hours together as a family here. Like I mentioned in point 7, we just don't have as many options for recreation here, so we rely on our family for fun. We are constantly playing with Sitora, reading her books, snuggling, dancing, cleaning the house, going for walks, things like this. Of course I would love to have a house with a bigger yard and a dog to play with, but in the meantime, I'm trying to "make do" with what little we do have.

10. We are so dependent on Father here. Not having family and old friends around leaves a big deep hole in our hearts. We are desperate for Him to fill us and give us our daily bread. He blesses us in wonderful and different ways here.

Well, that's about it for now. I could probably write a book about all this, but I've got a bazillion other things to do. In the meantime, I'll just leave you with these 10 points :)

Here's to purity

Well, this post is going to offend a lot of people, I already know it.

But it's my blog and I get to say whatever I want, right :) One of my great American freedoms.... speech. Gotta love it :)

Ok here goes.

Our generation has totally lost any concept of purity. We've thrown it out the window with the bathwater and changed the rules. We've written our own agenda and rationalized our sins. We've crossed the line and called it normal. We've also shown the whole wide world how disgusting our morals are and have given America one big bad image. Thanks Hollywood.

Let's back up, reverse, and revisit.

The Bible. The inspired word of Father. Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. Our life manual. Our guide. The commandments were given to us by Father not just so He could throw harsh rules upon us ... but rather to give us life to the fullest. Father specifically commands us as believers to save ourselves for marriage, to give ourselves physically only to the one we marry.

Here's my personal example. When you speed while driving, you are constantly watching for cops, and hoping you won't get caught. You drive anxiously and probably won't even arrive to your destination all that quicker. But when you don't speed, you don't fear driving past a cop, you aren't anxious, you're relaxed and enjoy the drive. Why? Because you have nothing to hide. You're following the rules.

When I was dating my husband, we were crazy in love. Seriously. We knew we had found the love of our lives in each other and couldn't wait to spend the rest of our lives together. Setting physical boundaries was hard. Really hard. Why? Because we as humans desire physical intimacy... it was His design. A few times during our engagement we had to sit down and talk about our physical relationship and change some things. We wanted to obey Father and save ourselves physically for marriage, and we didn't want to give in to temptation along the way. We knew it was going to be hard. Sometimes we had to evaluate our relationship and be honest if something was tempting us. We made sure that we hung out with friends as much as we hung out alone to help us guard ourselves from temptation. We also were extremely involved in our meeting place helping out with the youth group. We wanted to be together, but we made sure to be busy and active doing positive healthy things that would keep our minds off temptation lane.

I don't regret that decision and am extremely thankful for a husband (or at the time, fiancé) who valued our purity. I think it came down to one thing: wanting to please the heart of Father. He knows what's best for us.... like a parent... and sometimes we may get angry or impatient feeling like He's holding back something from us, when in reality He's actually giving us the best gift we could possibly imagine.

I want to encourage every young person out there, please don't let the world dictate your morals. His word has amazing truths for us today, and it's not just an old rusty book with old fashioned ideas and suggestions. Saving yourself physically for marriage is the most amazing gift you can give your future spouse (and yourself!) What's the fun in unwrapping your presents before Christmas? Saving the presents for Christmas day is something children look forward to all year long.... why? The excitement, the mystery, the wonder. You are a present wrapped up and carefully packaged by your Father and Creator. He took so much time in preparing you for your future spouse... why would you want someone else to unwrap you before your time has come? Saving this gift for your special day is one of the most amazing things you could ever do.

I once had a conversation with a young man on a plane. I was young, in high school I believe, trying to share about my love for Father with this stranger I just met. I was explaining to this young man my beliefs and morals, and he just couldn't believe that I was still a virgin. He laughed at me. He asked if I planned staying that way until marriage, and why. When I told him I was saving myself for my future husband, he looked at me with disgust in his eyes and remarked, "How in the world will you know for sure if you are physically compatible? It could turn out horrible if you wait. You're crazy." I was completely shocked and horrified at his thinking. Basically he was telling me that I should "try out" any potential husbands before saying the final "I do". I felt mocked, but I didn't let it get me down. A few years later after college I was working in a professional advertising agency and quickly my coworkers learned that my fiancé and I were both saving ourselves for marriage. They found out about it by asking what my ring was.... (it was my purity ring... which symbolized my obedience to Father in my purity). They didn't mock me. They didn't laugh. They contemplated for while, then commented, "Wow. That is amazing. I wish I would have waited...."

I once asked someone I looked up to if it was hard for them looking back in their past concerning this issue. They replied, "My first time giving up my purity was horrible. I hated it and felt guilty."

You see... the world wants us to think its normal. That everyone is doing it, so why aren't you? The world wants us to feel like the outcasts, the weirdo's. The world wants us to feel uncool and traditional and boring. The world tells us that we'll be happier this way, living to please our physical desires whenever they surface. But what they don't tell you is the hurt, the shame, the disappointment, the pain, and the guilt that comes with it.

This is why Father is so amazing and wonderful... He is merciful and full of compassion. He doesn't kick us out and slam the door the minute we make a mistake. If anyone messes up in this area He gives them a second chance. He wipes away they tears, and says, "My child I love you. I forgive you. I will heal your broken heart if you give me the pieces. Now, go and sin no more."

You see.... if we want to live under the umbrella of his love and protection, then we need to abide by His loving commands. If we walk away from His laws and commands, we experience hurt and pain that He never intended for us to experience. But if we love Him and desire to please Him by following His guidelines as set before us in His word, not only do we save ourselves from hurt and pain and shame, but we open the doors for joy and pleasure we could never have imagined otherwise! (and I'm not just talking physical pleasure). In all my short years on this earth, I can testify that when I was living for myself selfishly wandering away from His commands, I was depressed, lonely, angry, and bitter. But when I fell down on my knees in obedience and walked in faith, love, and purity, I experience more joy and excitement than ever before.

So I urge you, every one of you, don't loose hope, don't give up. Hold fast to the commands Father has set before us. Trust that He knows what is good, what is best for you. Please, please, save yourself for that special day when you can offer your gift to the love of your life. And if you've made mistakes, its not too late to start with a clean slate... to ask forgiveness and start anew! His mercies are new every morning, and none of us are perfect..... every single one of us needs His grace and forgiveness.

Save yourself. Keep your purity locked up tight and ask Him to help you. Guard your heart. Guard what you watch, listen to, and expose yourself to. What we surround ourselves with affects us more than we know...

I promise you, my friends, you won't regret it.

Life lessons from scrap-booking...

Today I went to a scrap-booking party.

Yes. I know. I am old.

Because, of course only old people do that "kind of stuff", right?

:) Well, after having a baby, one's mindset is completely changed and the world is seen through completely different eyes.

The idea of scrap-booking my baby girl's life seemed quite daunting at first about this time last year, but once I dove in, I loved it! I had absolutely no stickers, special paper, or any training whatsoever. So I used all the baby cards I'd received at my baby shower, cut them up, used the words and pics, and glued them on the pages to help decorate. Simple... a bit corny... but actually quite sentimental. Every time I look at the pages I am reminded that someone who loved me gave me a card which was used in the book.

The reason I bring this up is because now that I sort of actually know what I'm doing in the scrap-booking field... I feel a bit sheepish looking at my first amateur pages. I feel like I should just re-do them all and start all over to make them look as nice as my more recent pages. But... after thinking it through... I decided not to based on the sentimental reasons listed above.

And you know, it's a bit like life really. We have a lot of regrets about the past, a lot of "what if's", and we wish we could go back in time and "re-do".... but... its part of our story. It makes us who we are. It's a reminder of how much we need Father in our lives to make the story complete. Like my scrapbook had potential at first, but needed something to make it the amazing book it could be.... we too are uniquely gifted as individuals... but if we don't have Father in our lives leading and directing us, we aren't going to be as effective and definitely not complete.

Which leads me to my next point. Oftentimes I feel like I'm trying to be someone I'm not... I wear a lot of "hats" in life and many of them aren't necessarily my passion. True, many things in life we don't want to do, but have to... but I think there are many things in life we weren't necessarily called to do or gifted in... and we just said "yes" because there was a need and we felt like we needed to be busy. Am I making any sense here?

I want to live my life to the fullest, and use my giftings and passions to glorify Father. I don't want to spend my days being busy doing endless work that I usually end up dreading and then feeling guilty for dreading. I want to be passionate about my life.

I'm thinking this year is going to look a bit different than last year. Last year, for me, was one of those, "yes I'll do it because there's a need and I don't see anyone else up to bat...." type of years. But not this year. This year, I'm going to focus on a few areas to dive into, and do it well. I don't want to stretch myself thin running around in a million different directions. I want to be focused, passionate, and inspired.

So today I scrap-booked my daughter's life (while my a.ma.zing husband watched her back at home), then I came home and fed her dinner, read her books, kissed her face a bazillion times, prayed over her and with her, sang songs together, and put her to sleep. This is a passionate, focused, inspired life in my book. I love being a stay at home mom. Why should I feel pressured to have someone else watch my child while I go out and "do something" with my life? I want to stay home and "do something" with my life there. Yes I have talents and giftings the world could use, and yes I plan on helping others, and yes I want to contribute to society. Yes yes yes. But I really feel called that my first job is to raise my daughter, love her, pour into her, and be the mommy Father created me to be.

So, I need a little time and grace as I carefully think this next year through. But in the meantime, please excuse me while I happily pour milk into my toddler's cup, read the 100th story, and wipe tears away in the meantime.

I must be crazy, right?

Alright. I've been dying to write about my overseas travels. It's taken me a few days to recover from jet-lag and I finally feel like I have my head screwed-on straight. On second thought... naw!

It all started out with my wonderful sister and brother in law and their oldest daughter driving me to the airport. It was a 3 hour drive that only took 2. Don't ask me how that is possible. Either we are used to way more traffic, or somehow a divine intervention took place. No joke.

When we arrived at the check-in counter, we were told that we were at the wrong terminal and were advised to take the tram to get there. Good news, the tram is free. Bad news, carts to push bags aren't allowed on the tram. So 3 adults, a child and toddler, a stroller, a backpack, a huge purse, and four 50 pound bags made their journey on and off a tram via no cart. Once we arrived at the correct terminal, we decided to split up between the elevator and escalator. Needless to say, those of us on the elevator arrived at the wrong level, but we didn't realize it until we'd walked around for a while and never met up with my brother in law down the escalator. We didn't even see an escalator anyways, that should have been a big enough sign to us that we were lost! We meandered our way back into the elevator and found the correct level. The doors opened and there he stood, giving us the most peculiar look. Poor guy!

So we took my bags to be weighed and to my dismay, two of the bags were slightly overweight. This caused me much frustration due to the fact that I spent hours upon hours packing, weighing, re-packing, weighing, over and over again just to get the bags at the right weight. So I took some items out that were the least important and gave them to my family to send to me some other time or put in storage. (At least I didn't have to throw them away. And for those interested, the items I had to take out were a framed newborn baby pic of Sitora, 2 bottles of Garnier Fructis leave-in conditioner, a bag of bath salts, and something else I can't remember.)

The lady at the counter was frazzled to say the least. I'm pretty sure the airline was way under-staffed and I'm guessing the lady was a bit new to the job. I have a philosophy in life, however, that no matter how unpleasant the customer service, I will never yell, be rude, show an angry face, or treat them unkindly. I myself have worked numerous customer service jobs in my days and know what its like to be treated badly in the name of, "the customer is always right!"

So I smiled at the airline worker as often as possible, waited patiently,and told her it was alright. Numerous times she apologized and thanked me for my patience, and said I was the nicest customer ever. We had a lot of kinks to work out, which aren't important to name at the moment, and were finally finished after about 45 minutes or so. Thankfully we had arrived to the airport 4 hours early instead of 3!

So here I am, waving goodbye to my family whom I won't see in a year, trying not to cry, walking towards security with 2 bags, a stroller, and a toddler. How in the world am I going to get through this trip? I wondered.

I can't even attempt to describe with words how awkward, helpless, and odd I must have looked trying to get everything through security by myself. Anyone who has traveled internationally knows all the steps you have to take- its totally understandable, but totally stressful. I have to take off both sets of our shoes, fold up the stroller and hand it to a security worker, take out my zip-lock bags filled with 3 oz. or less liquids, take out my camera separately, take off my backpack and purse, and put everything on the conveyor belt. I pass through the security point with no problems (*relief*) then I have to wait for all our stuff to come out to us on the other end of the conveyor belt. I have to put on our shoes, open up the stroller, put Sitora in it, put my camera back in my bag, put the backpack on my back, hang my purse on the stroller, and try to find my gate.

I'm not sure anyone without children would understand this, but life is much harder when you go places that aren't children/stroller friendly. I was able to find elevators instead of escalators, but most of the time the signs that point you to where you need to go are by the escalators, not the elevators. So I would have to go look where I needed to be, then hope the elevator would get me there. I guess it helps that I'm a seasoned traveler and can usually figure stuff out.

On the plane, to my dismay, we sat by a lady who was grumpy and not child-friendly. This broke my heart and worried me sick. How was I going to survive an 8 hour plane right with my toddler next to someone like this? I prayed like crazy after she took one look at Sitora, then commented, "Is she going to sit on your lap the WHOLE time?" She then proceeded to cover her face with her hood and put her headphones on.

Thankfully Sitora watched part a movie with me (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) then fell asleep for the entire flight. I'm not kidding you. It was a miracle.

As we were landing in London 8 hours later the lady turned to me with a smile and said, "Wow, she did really good. I can't believe she slept the whole way!"

We talked for a while and come to find out, her husband had died and she was bringing his ashes to sprinkle over his home country. I was totally floored and heartbroken for her. I was so thankful her flight was peaceful since she was dealing with such pain. It just goes to show you never really know what people are going through or feeling. We can never judge unless we take the time to find out what's really going on inside.

We had a 5 hour layover in London, WOO HOO! I love love love that airport. Could spend days upon days there. We went to a cute little café, visited a toy store, and bought some accessories for my new camera. That airport is soooo baby friendly with specialty baby changing rooms... so wonderful.

We go to our gate and waited to board the plane. No one was kind to me, no one parted the way for me, actually everyone butted in front of me and tried to get ahead. Don't mind me, I'm just a mom traveling alone with my toddler thank you.

Luckily once on the plane I sat by the nicest people in the whole wide world. Well, at least some of the nicest anyways :) They were totally baby friendly and loved Sitora to death. Sitora proceeded to sleep the majority of that flight as well. *smile* The only bad part of the flight was Sitora slept so long she filled up her diaper completely, then it leaked all over my pants. All I can say is I'm grateful it wasn't #2!

Once off the plane I had to find my baggage. I found my 4 bags and couldn't find a cart. I was stuck. Seriously stuck. No airport personal helped or even cared. All of a sudden my baby-friendly neighbor from the plane magically appeared to help me. He was swearing like a sailor with anger because there were no carts for me, and no airport workers wanted to help us find one.

All of a sudden a sweet airport cleaning lady rushed up to me telling me in Azeri that I left my backpack in the bathroom. My mouth dropped open in shock as I realized how dumb of me that was, and my heart melted as she handed it to me kindly. Nothing was stolen.

So we recruited a fellow traveler guy to help us carry my bags. Here we are, 3 adults pushing a toddler in a stroller, my 4 bags, their bags, my backpack and purse. No cart. I'm sure we were a sight! Finally after we were all the way to the end of the walkway an airport worker had pity on the silly westerners and brought us a cart!

Once we got through the doors and found the pick-up spot, I looked with excitement for Danny. My nice baby-friendly neighbor kindly waited for me so I wasn't alone. I looked, wondered, and waited where in the world he could be. Was he lost? Was he late?

Then I saw him. He was poking his head out among the crowd looking for me to come out the doors. He'd missed me! He had the cutest look on his face with a huge expectant smile. Poor guy, I thought. He didn't see me.

So what do I do? I can't leave my bags there alone, I can't push the stroller through that crowd. So I jumped, over and over and over, yelling, "Daaaa-nnnyyyy!" He doesn't see me. Are. you. kidding. Everyone else in the whole universe is staring at me in this airport but him. Hey everyone, look at the silly white girl jumping up and down yelling like a maniac! Ha ha, everybody stare!

Finally he sees me, but still doesn't recognize me. I'm thinking, how does he not recognize me? Have I changed that much in 3 weeks?" He comes up to me, then finally recognizes me, and exclaims, "I didn't recognize you in that hat!" Oh, brother :) He said he knew he probably wouldn't see me anyways because I'm so short.

So there you have it my friends. Definitely way too much information, but fun to write about nonetheless. I hope you enjoyed my travels and I'm sure you will never attempt flying overseas with a toddler alone after reading my story- haha!

Don't be sorry though, I'd do it again :)