Я не понимаю

When I was in 7th grade, I was in the girls’ chorus at school. One of the songs we learned and performed was “Love in Any Language”. The song begins with singing “I love you” in 5 different languages. As we were learning it, I remember that I struggled most with the Russian version.

That was nearly 19 years ago (wow, I feel old). It’s amazing to think back now, and realize that I was learning to say something very significant in my son’s native tongue!

Well I’ve been trying to learn a little more than just the one phrase in Russian. The first step was learning the alphabet –the Cyrillic alphabet is used in both Russian and Ukrainian. I think some of the letters look more like hieroglyphics! But I made it through that phase.

Now I’m listening to my Conversational Russian CDs on my way to and from work every day. I repeat the words over and over, hoping that at least a few of them will stick. It’s a challenging language, to say the least. But at this point I can introduce myself, ask directions, go shopping, check into a hotel, order at a restaurant, and talk about public transportation.

Yes, I can say all of these things, without too much effort. But understanding the responses I get will probably be a different story! At least I’ve learned to say, “I don’t understand” and “repeat, please”. Those will become common phrases, I’m sure.

Knowing some of the language will make things easier while we’re in Ukraine. There will be days when we will be without a translator. We’ll have to go to the orphanage alone, dine alone, and shop alone. Hopefully I’ll retain enough to keep us going!

I get frustrated and wonder if my mind has enough room for all of this. But I press on, knowing that it’s one more way I can ease the transition for our Little Guy. I’ll do whatever it takes for our boy!

So, until next time…

до свидания, (Good bye),
дженныфер (Jennifer)

The waiting continues...

No news is just that – no news. Sorry we haven’t posted much lately, but there’s not much to report. I know yesterday was Tuesday and I didn’t post a Ten, but I’ll get back to it eventually…

We’re still “waiting in line” to submit our dossier. In the meantime, we’ve been spending a lot of weekends at the lake with family, working on our golf games (that’s an uphill battle!), and just trying to stay busy. The time goes by a lot slower when you’re not running around trying to get paperwork, but we are enjoying a little peace because once we do get submitted and get our approval & travel date, life will never be the same again!!

We didn’t post anything on Father’s Day, but I want to send out a big thank you to both of our dads and tell them how great they are. We got to see my dad the weekend before Father’s Day, and we spent time with Zack’s dad this past weekend. By next year I should be able to tell Zack "Happy Father’s Day"!

More Family Stuff

This is a photo of me and the only grandparent that I have left. This is Mimi, she is my dad's mom. We went to see her Sunday for her 89th birthday. She came to live with us when I was in the 6th grade. She has seen many of the high and low points in my life. Although I am not sure she totally understands what it means that we are adopting internationally, she offered a very generous donation to the "Little Guy Fund". Mimi lives in Winder GA now with my Aunt Sue and Uncle Chess. Aunt Sue is my dad's sister. They are two of our most loyal blog followers.

This is a photo of Aunt Sue and Uncle Chess. Some of my most fond childhood memories revolve around going to their house for Thanksgiving and Christmas. They are both strong Christians and are excellent role models for children and adults alike. They have a large horse farm and I know little guy will probably want to go riding there all the time. I bought my first car from them when I was fifteen years old. They are the proud grandparents of Savannah, McKenzie, and Morgan pictured below.

These are the only 3 other grandchildren on my side of the family. They are very pretty and well behaved girls and I am sure that Little Guy will have his hands full on holidays and family gatherings keeping up with them.

I've Never...

Back when Zack & I worked in youth ministry we would play “I’ve Never”, sort of a musical chairs type game. A person would stand in the middle and say something like ‘I’ve never been sky diving’. Anyone that had been sky diving would have to stand up and find another seat. Whoever got left without a seat had to do the next ‘I’ve never’. It was a fun way to get to know interesting things about each other.

Well, no chairs here in cyberspace, but it’s still fun to learn about other people. Of course we could both say we’ve never been parents, we’ve never been to Ukraine, and we’ve never met our son. But you guys know all of those, so here’s something else…

• Jenn has never seen any of the Godfather movies (and doesn’t really care to…).
• Zack’s never been outside of the United States.

Okay, “I’ve Never” calls for YOUR participation. It won’t be fun unless a lot of you join in. So...

Click on the comments link below, and tell us something you’ve never done!

The Tuesday Ten

Here are 10 celebrity sightings that one or both of us have made while out and about…

1. Travis Hall ordering pizza
2. Paul Newman and Tom Cruise at Malibu Grand Prix
3. Emmanuel Lewis going to karate class
4. George H.W. Bush on a train
5. Jim Mora shopping at an outlet mall
6. George Michael at an amusement park
7. James Tolkan at the airport
8. Rich Mullins, sitting next to Jenn in Old Testament History class
9. Aerosmith, Third Day, & Steven Curtis Chapman, all at book/CD signings
10. Hillary Clinton at the White House

I asked this before, but didn’t get many responses, so I’ll try it again...

What famous person have you seen or met?