It's the week of arrivals!! Cars, Lens, Packages!

 It's here!!! (And when I say "It" I guess I should say "They're" because i'm talking about more items then one haha!)

As you can probably already tell, you already know ONE thing i'm talking about...So let me make it easier for you all and make a list of what exactly is here!! (I know, I know, How sweet of me haha.)

1.) Our new car. (2010 Dodge Journey SE...with only 40 miles on it!!)

2.) My new lens for my Nikon (Now I have two!!!)

3.) Justin's Birthday Presents

4.) Tanya's birthday presents

 

So let's start with one topic at a time...How about the new lens? Why YES! I would simply LOVE to talk about it!!! It is amazing and I definitely love it! It helps with zooming it drastically and is pretty nice. Granted, it takes photos MUCH slower but that's okay! Sooo obviously you would like to see some photos with the new lens and such right? Here are two photos that I took with the Amazing zoom feature!! Love it!!!

So next on the list is the Car. We love it. It is SUCH an upgrade. We were really iffy about buying a BRAND SPANKING NEW car...but when it came down to it, due to us living in Korea we would either have a hoopty or a have a new car. For us there was no in-between (Just like most of the families here). I feel SO much better about it now, Tanya will be safer, heck we'll be safer and it's not that expensive. Putting down a fairly good amount down we don't owe nearly as much as I thought we would...

So yes, we love the car. Next on the list is Birthdays obviously. We almost had enough boxes in the living room to cover the entire room...It was ridiculous!! We have decided that the car will be part of Justin's birthday present haha! So he agreed, said he didn't want any presents but I went and ordered some anyway...They arrived and he opened it. He is worst then a kid when it comes to gifts...he will open any gifts just to see what they are...(Even if he has to re-wrap them!). So there was no point in hiding it from him!

Here was Justin's first birthday gift...It's a tool case (Obviously)...but has over 200 tools in it! (Cost a nice amount) but Justin LOOOVES it. The poor guy left all his tools back at the states (But they weren't as nice as this) so I figured I could be sweet and get him tools but ones that were even better! Plus he got a drill and this HUGE case of different...drill...thingys? Okay, obviously I know nothing about the last gift that I got him...But he chose that one out himself and nearly died when it got here...So I know he loved it! 

And yes...that's right...Tanya got herself a BARBIE 4 wheeler...now before I have all the moms on here have a stroke thinking "omg omg she's not even a year!!" It's for 12months-36months...and goes a whopping 2mph...so calm down ladies. She loves it! (We will not be putting the battery in it until her 1st birthday...so for now she just gets to sit and scoot. (Plus it was super cheap...I think maybe $50-60!) And honestly you can't beat that! It will be nice in a month when she's 1 year old or even older then that and wants to ride on it on our walks and such.

The little goober is getting so big it's sad. Honestly, I feel like I just had her a month or so ago...but at the same time I love how she's growing up...and exploring the world! It's an amazing  feeling!

I believe that all for now. Oh! Last but not least here are the rest of the photos of Korea I took today!

Belly Dancing, Shopping, Daegu & Russian

(I had a pretty fun weekend!!)

So a few friends and I went out on Sunday (Feb 13). Our original plan was to shop around Waegwan but about an hour in after Coffee in Waegwan we decided Daegu would be a much better place to shop obviously. So we all went back to our husbands, talked to them, then met up again and took the Train to Daegu/Taegu.

 On the left is photos of some valentines day gifts they were selling in Waegwan. On the Right is the Waegwan Train station. We waited here for our train to come and take us to Daegu!

And for once I did not forget to bring my camera to Daegu!! Yay for me!! This was Monic & Cindy waiting!

And then we arrived in Daegu! We checked out TONS of stores, stopped and rested at TGIF's for a little white, viewed more store and walked around....

That was just a few of the stores we went into! Then, we noticed a belly dancing store!! Monic takes Belly dancing classes and wants Cindy and I to join...I am still on the fence about it. Anyway, We tried on some belly dancing outfits and such and the Korean ladies that worked there all wanted to take photos with us. One even realized that I looked like Kirsten Dunst...*Sigh* I guess I'll always get that comment. I'm just shocked that i've been getting those comments since I was 15! I figured maybe by almost 21 they would stop...looks like I was wrong haha!

Monic in her Belly dancing costume looking amazing!! I was a bit jealous.

 

And so of course I had to try one on haha. Hopefully next time We will figure out how to put my outfit on right and have me a take a shower before the photo haha!!

We are planning on going back to the store one day and actually buying an outfit! However I don't know when that will be! Monic also got some Obama socks :p As for myself I bought Tanya some hairclips for her long bangs!

She didn't really like them thought. She tried to rip them out but I guess that is to be expected! Then, last but not least...I am currently learning Russian Colors! I've got Blue, Black, Oranage, Pink, White, Red, Yellow and so on memorized but am having issues with Purple, Green, Grey and brown!!! Auuugh.

On an ending note. I got to Day 4 of the Love Dare when some issues happened and I will be taking a break from it for a few days. However, I will continue it once I have the courage...(Which should be in a few days or so!)

Steroids, New Cars, Love Dares, Birthdays & Russian

(So I had quiet a busy weekend. which involves the following things...Getting Steroid injections, Relearning my Russian, Doing Day One of the Love dare...and last but not least purchasing a brand new car...yes...try to beat that...I dare you haha)

Let's start with my princess's Steroid injections. Yes,she is only 10 months...and yes, it for a medical reason and not for the unattractive, groudy,fake muscles haha. (Yes, I did just use the term groudy and I am almost turning 21 haha!) For those of you that do not know about Tanya's skin issue let me explain. 

Tanya has these things called hemangioma's. (abnormal buildup of blood vessels in the skin or internal organs.)  Usually doctors say they disappear by the age of 5-9 but Tanya keeps having them appear...which is NOT what they usually do. They usually appear during the first few months of birth and then get bigger and after that stage disappear . Tanya, even at the age of 10 months keeps getting more.

After they did some testing they found the one on her head could possibly do some damage IF it got the change to get bigger...(Which means since it JUST appear...in the past month it WILL get bigger)

So they gave us 2 options...

1.) Beta blockers (Which will stop the blood vessels from growing and interfering with anything) She will be in the hospital for 2-3 days overnight.) Should stop the growth immediately and another drug would be given to remove them quickly.
2.) Laser Surgery. It would be removed immediately and would be able to go home within a few hours.

So yesterday we went in and told them we didn't like any of the options...so he gave us a third. Amazing how that happens when they tell you things later! So they told us she could get a Steroid injection as well and that would help but not be as much of a quick fix. Obviously we were okay with that since A.) Putting her on a Beta blockers and slowing down a 10 month old's heart isn't the healthiest thing to do...and Laser Surgery was also kind of ridiculous for a 10 month old.

 As you can see, Tanya has a blast waiting in the office for her appointment. She loved it to put it simply. It had tables and chairs and colorful things. Not to mention all the Koreans there loved her...(Shocker). We waited about 40 minutes...even though we got there on time.

 As you can see, I had a bit of fun taking photos of her while we were waiting. Anyway, Then we got called in and they examined all her hemangioma's. Then put a cream on them to numb them and such. It had to stay on her for 20 minutes. They put bandages on it since Tanya made it obvious that she wanted to touch it!

After that, They removed the bandage and gave her injections in all the locations of the hemangioma's. It seemed to go well. We have to go back in a month to see how everything is going. Hopefully everything will be great and this will not be an issue. So that was just one stressful part of the week. 

The next news is, Tanya has learned how to point! She points at everything and screams in excitement. It's adorable but very loud. Also I have been practicing my Russian and almost have the entire alphabet memorized! I can speak basic phrases and such but had totally forgotten how to write it. Surprisingly, it was not that hard to relearn! The most interesting thing I find is that the Russian Alphabet does not have a 'J' sound. (They substitute it was a Dya sound)

And now comes the other interesting news. Living overseas in Korea, the posts do not sell used cars (Well they sell really used cars like hoopty and cars that are about $1000 or so that have many issues) but we are in need of a good family vehicle...maybe a 2000-2004 vehicle. Well, here on post that is not an option unless you have thousands and thousands of dollars to pay upfront...which obviously we do not. The Post sells new vehicles that are 2010 and 2011. So we figured, now is as good as any to get a vehicle since we are planning on being overseas for a while. So, we went on post to the car dealer and looked into options...we wanted a good car but not too expensive but also a good family vehicle. They had a car on sale for us with good deals. So what kind of car did we get? Here it is...

We bought a 2010 dodge journey SE. We got 5% interest rate, with $300 payments monthly and our full coverage insurance will only be $100 through USAA. So only $400/month total. We can MORE then afford that. I, am happy because it will be a safe vehicle for the family including my princess. Justin is happy because he is proud that we were able to purchase a vehicle without any help...this made him feel more "independent". Not only that, I also have a friend who is also stationed here who also bought this same vehicle in Korea (Being stationed overseas we don't have many options unless we had already bought a very good vehicle before we got stationed here that would last years...and we, as many people didn't have a car in the states that we could rely on overseas) and loves it. Simply adores it!  So least to say, i'm excited!! 

The car should be arriving here in a few days!! Probably somewhere between the 15-20th of this month! Also, Tanya's new Car seat will fit in it which is good since her new one that she will use when she hits a year old does not fit in our old car! After we pick it up and put down our deposit we will owe around $15,000 on it...not bad for a new car!  

I am also proud to say I am getting the hang of my camera little by little. Then to add to the craziness Justin's and Tanya's birthdays are both in March...mine is in May. Justin's birth is March 9th and Tanya's is March 30th...So I have about a month and a half to start shopping for the both of them...not to mention start planning Tanya's "First" Birthday at "Little Bear" in Daegu/Taegu. So in the next few weeks i'm about to get majorly stressed!

Last but not least, I did Day one of the Love Dare...and am now on Day two. Day one consisted of this dare...

"The first part of this dare is fairly
simple. Although love is communicated
in a number of ways, our words often
reflect the condition of our heart. For
the next day, resolve to demonstrate
patience and to say nothing negative
to your spouse at all. If the temptation
arises, choose not to say anything. It’s
better to hold your tongue than to say
something you’ll regret. "

It was not really too hard until it got later on (When we were about to go to bed in an hour or so...)
I didn't say anything negative but before I could stop myself I did say two things with a negative...voice. It made me realize that day just how negative alot of the words we say or the conversations we have are. Or how quickly good conversations can turn down hill and not to mention how hard it is to hold your tongue. It's like a bad habbit and it doesn't seem that bad until you start realizing how often you do it.

My dare for 'this' day is this...

"Today’s Dare
In addition to saying nothing
negative to your spouse again today,
do at least one unexpected gesture
as an act of kindness."

This one is seeming a bit hard today. I'm still thinking what I could do and it's getting late since it's almost 3pm already. I do dishes, I clean the house, I take care of Tanya, and I usually get whatever he asks for and such...so it's hard to find something that is actually an "Unexpected gesture" if you know what I mean. I will find something though...I promise! For now this is it since I have to go!!