All the pretty colors!

Every so often, Jesse and I venture into town on the weekends and enjoy the local parks and shopping. The first weekend of October was the fall festival in town where the locals bring all of their produce and live animals to sell.  After going for a run in a park up near the mountains, we ventured down the streets to buy some pumpkins (which I then made Jesse carry around all day long :-)).

Olympia compound in the fall--lots of gorgeous leaves changing colors!

The leaves are absolutely gorgeous. By now, all of the pine trees in our neighborhood have turned bright yellow.  I didn't even know that they changed colors! I know these are a lot of foliage pics, but I can't help myself. It is just too pretty. Makes me want to grab a pumpkin spice latte at Starbuck's, and then I realize that we don't have Starbuck's. Sad I know.

This is definitely my favorite time of year here--before the snow comes and I cannot see anything beyond the mounds of white for another 6 months.  Fire pits, football, pumpkin everything, and lattes with friends. Love it!

Fall grilling with friends!

A lotta love around here!

One thing that I love about living here is that we have such a giving community.  Many of you ask what the spouses do here while our husbands work all day.  Luckily, there are several volunteer opportunities to keep us busy.  We support local charities in town by devoting time and energy to fundraising efforts for various groups.

Every fall there is a charity gala to raise money for a local orphanage for kids and teenagers called House of Hope.  This organization was started by a family from Australia who has the most amazing story. Please go to these links and check out the kind of work that they do here in Yuzhno.  I cannot even tell you how many miraculous things God has done through this family--watch the videos and read more about it here:
http://www.houseofgraceandhope.org/
https://www.facebook.com/houseofgraceandhope

Thanks to the generous giving of expats here and through auctions and raffles, a record number of donations were raised that will go toward building a new home for House of Hope.  This means that the organization can continue to grow and expand and provide a home for even more kids and families! Honestly, I could tell you more about it and it wouldn't be near as effective as seeing it for yourself. Please watch the videos on Facebook and see how God is working in this part of the world. It is truly awesome!  While it may seem that expats live this glamorous, comfortable lifestyle, traveling the world, it is important to note that they are some of the most generous people I have ever encountered. 

The Gala chairwoman Sherry and her husband, Kartik

My friends and lovely ladies!

We clean up pretty good!

Makes me wanna buy school supplies!

I love the fall, and I love back to school time. I am not in school and do not have kids in school, but September usually means a new year has started. Time to start fresh.  And I cannot help but get excited seeing all of the school supplies at Target--newly sharpened pencils or Scotch tape anyone?

Okay, so I am not anywhere near a Target, but September here is the same.  Every one is back from summer vacations, and Olympia is no longer a ghost town.  Plans are in full swing for the many events that happen here every fall. Oh and did I mention that we actually have a FALL??? Yes, leaves changing, temperatures cooling, the whole package.

Jesse's drilling group came to Olympia for a BBQ.
These are most of his American and Russian co-workers.

We also get to watch college football games thanks to a fancy little device called the Slingbox (or "Slingo" as my in-laws call it) that we set up in Houston. This allows us to stream cable back home.  Between ESPN Watch, the Longhorn Network app, and Slingbox we are able to watch just about any game!  It has been really fun getting up early on Sunday mornings to watch the games with our friends and fellow Aggies/Longhorn fans!

We watched many many Aggie games also, but this was
my husband celebrating with our friend Matt after finally
getting access to the Longhorn Network online. It was a pretty
exciting morning for them!

Also, with September came the cooler temperatures--something that I am definitely not used to at this time of year. Once it got to be in the 40's and 50's my sweet husband broke down and made us the first fire of the season!  Do not be fooled: we don't have a magic switch that turns on a fancy gas fire. This is a homemade legit wood burning fire!

Meet My New BFF

Since last Christmas, my family has anxiously awaited the arrival of the first grandbaby!  Obviously we were so excited to meet this little bundle of joy, but I had absolutely NO idea just how stinking adorable she would be.  I mean seriously people--is this not the most perfect little nugget of cuteness you have ever seen in your life? Yeah, that's my niece (aka my new BFF even though she has no idea who I am yet).  

Emily Grace Newsome, born July 15th, 2013

Jesse had a conference in Houston a few weeks after she was born, so we made a trip to Houston to see my sister and brother-in-law and take in as much quality Emily time as possible.  It was a wonderful few weeks filled with friends, family, and eating out :-)  Needless to say we returned to Yuzhno with all sorts of goodies from the US--like Chex Mix and other holiday treats not sold in Russia. 

Okay enough about us. Let's get real--you would rather just see more pictures like this:

I love her too!

 And this:

Summer in Sakhalin...Yeah, Who Knew???

"Summer" here in Yuzhno exceeded my expectations.  I knew it would be warmer, but I did not know that the days would be so long. The sun comes up at 5am and sets at 10:30pm during June and July leaving us plenty of time to take advantage of the amazing scenery here. 

Jesse loves mountain biking, so we went on a few weekend rides (despite my hesitation and lack of navigating skills).  The mountains here are great for hiking and biking when ski season is over.  We also were able to take advantage of sunny afternoons in some of the parks downtown.  

Some of the ladies went hiking to Frog Mountain where there is an awesome view of the mountains and lush green foliage. Another day we took a train to the dachas--these are little cottages where Russians grow vegetables and flowers and all sorts of fun things. The grass is a bright shade of green this time of year, and we even had some strawberries in the front garden!  The fishing and crabbing are also popular during the summer months.

Spring, Summer, Fall...(yes, I am really 6 months behind on the blog)

The last six months have had their ups and downs, but seeing as it is already October, I figure I should fill you in on some of the highlights.  This way I will be caught up by the time it snows here (sooner than later I should add) and will have something to keep me busy inside.

One of the most exciting happenings last spring was when we finally got off this island! When Jesse and I moved here, I knew that it snowed 6 months out of the year, but that reality hit pretty hard in April as a thick layer of white remained on the ground.  After spending a few weeks in Houston, I returned to Yuzhno where Jesse and I embarked on a two week vacation--to the Maldives!

Not going to lie, this was definitely a dream vacation. It took about 4 planes to get us there, but totally worth the jetlag to arrive in one of the most beautiful destinations I have ever seen. We relaxed on the beach, snorkeled among the gorgeous reefs and took advantage of the very accommodating amenities. It is best described in pictures as I cannot do it justice with mere words :-)

Boxes of our home...

After size months of being in storage and floating in the middle of the ocean and sitting in customs, our shipment finally arrived a couple of weeks ago!

Our huge sofa pivoting up the stairs

To prepare for this special day (which thankfully came without complications of any kind), we had to move all of the furniture that came with our house.  Most people here coming from the US only bring small furniture and personal items because the house is furnished already, but since our belongings were shipped from the UAE, we were required to bring everything we own here--couch, bedroom set, tables, everything.

 Moving truck unloading in the snow!

This is only about half
the boxes unwrapped!

Some of the sweet workers here helped move most of our living room furniture up into one of the rooms we are now using as storage.  Then the moving truck arrived with 150 boxes that make up our traveling home--only a few minor casualties!  After a week of redecorating, the house is finally feeling like our own--pictures and all. While we have learned to be content without our things for long periods of time, it sure is nice to have our familiar comforts--even if we cannot use that patio furniture for a while.

Jesse taking apart the layers of cardboard to get to
 our media cabinet! The packers did too good
of a job this time.

Here are some before and after pictures of our home (still a work in progress, but you get the idea):

After the movers took out all of
the furniture!

Living room before

Living room after
minus the yellow walls!

Seating area before

Dining area before

The dining area after

The kitchen afterward