Our wonderful blessing!

Two years ago we were blessed with our first son and he's just wonderful.  He's one of our biggest blessings and we love him more than we ever thought we could love anyone.

For his 2nd birthday and for our 3rd year anniversary we went to Maui.

We've been teaching Emanuel Romanian and he's doing great.  He says so many things and also repeats new words every day.  He can count, say his name, say how old he is, knows everyone's name and how to ask for things.  He loves cars, trains, and dinosaurs.  Since Christmas he's started playing with Lego Duplos and he is becoming more and more creative with them.  

We go on many hikes with Hike it Baby and have almost completed our third challenge (30 min 3x/week or 30 miles in a month).  

He amazes us every day with his knowledge and his beauty.  God has created a masterpiece and He entitled us with his care.  I love spending every minute with him and want to teach him to be respectful, loving, carrying, and a man of God.  We do our best to teach him what he needs to learn.  

I pray that God gives us strength and wisdom to teach him the best.  

A new beginning...

2014 was a year of adventures.  Camping, dating, traveling, getting engaged, and preparing for a wedding.  Wow so many things have happened.  In January 2013 I met an amazing man.  He's been loving, caring, funny, and adventurous with me.  After a up and down relationship, we fell more and more in love with each other.  In November 2014 we went to Maui to visit our friends, and on my favorite beach he asked me to marry him.  And of course I said YES.

We decided to get married quickly, since I'm no spring chicken anymore :)  The wedding happened 3 months later.  We were so blessed.  We found the perfect place to have the wedding,  we were able to make the invitations and take them to all our families and friends, and I found my perfect dress the first time I tried the dresses on.  After many preparations the day was up on us.  God blessed us with the most beautiful, joyous, and amazing day.  Who would have expected a beautiful, sunny day in the middle of January.  Surrounded by family and friends our adventure began.  It couldn't have been a better day.  

Switzerland

One of the countries I've always wanted to visit. And I'm finally here. The beautiful green hills and the gorgeous Alps in the background driving to Bern. You couldn't ask for more.  

 

I'm so glad I finally was able to come visit Heather and Tim. 

DUTCH WALTZ!

Today was a great day. No work, just fun. Shopping, ice skating, hanging out, watching TV, chatting, and eating.
Today I had my ice skating lesson where I got to do the Dutch Waltz ice dance... you can look it upon You Tube and get an idea of what it looks like. Of course my didn't look at all as graceful. Luckily I didn't trip my coach or we could have both go down. It's so much better when I practice on my own, and my lessons go so much more smoother. I still got a few days free this week so I can practice.

On another note. My best friend from high school found me on facebook. Love internet right now. I've been looking for her for the past almost 12 years and I guess she's been looking for me too. We chatted on facebook today and it was so nice to catch up with her and learn about her life in the past 12 years. She would tell me things I did or said and I of course didn't believe I said or did those things, but this shows me how much we can change after high school. Looking forward to talk to her more and learn more about her family.

I need to finalize my vacation to New Zealand soon before tickets get outrageously expensive. Hopefully I can go in April. I'll find out soon.

Most advanced student of the week!

I felt just like a kid today. Over the past couple of months I've been taking ice skating lessons from a private coach. I've been trying hard to do what he's been telling me and practicing when I have time but I've been down about my slow progress on the ice. No, I'm not doing any jumps or spins but learning the basics and how to properly skate. But today I was able to do something I never thought I could and with my fear (of an adult) he said it might take me a while. Well today I tried it without him having to hold my hand and I DID it. I was proud of my self but my coach was smiling from ear to ear and was hugging me like a little kid. I've never seen him so proud and happy. Really made me feel like a kid and so good inside. He told me I was the most advance student of the week... but it's only Tuesday night...
Ice skating is hard work but I'm not going to give up and I'll keep trying.
On another note: is there something wrong with me or do I just always scare guys away...

Work, Work, Work...

That's all I seem to be doing lately. Last week was my week off but they called me to work a couple of days and I agreed to a few hours on Thurs and Friday. Now it's my week to work 10 hours per day which of course turn into 11 hours per day and it will not end till Sunday. It's nice to have a week off but by the time you recover from the work week it's time to start work again.
Today I have such a headache from work, stinky therapy pool at work, and thinking about an important matter. Sometimes I wish I could just run away and not have to work or think about anything. But where do I run? New Zealand? - I wish (of course now the earthquake happens and it makes me a little scared, but who cares, I get to see N and M and the beautiful country.
Maui? - still have to work since it's so expensive, Europe? - find myself a rich, old dude who can support my travels and shopping and don't have to work again. Ha ha that would never happen.
Well enough of my boring thoughts... oh and I have many thoughts no one wants to hear...
Praying for those in New Zealand...

SNOW!!!

Woke up to a beautiful snowy day. The flakes are are like tiny coasters coming down from the sky.
It's like a white wonderland...

Morning Glory Muffins

Dry ingredients
1 cup millet flour
3/4 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour or starch
1 cup brown sugar
3 T ground cinnamon
1/2 t baking powder
1 1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 t xanthan gum (can be left out)

Wet ingredients
3 large eggs
3/4 cups unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 t vanilla extract
2 cups grated carrots
1 medium apple (Granny Smith)
1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapple, drained
1/2 cup sweetened, flaked coconut
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F after you place muffins in turn it to 350 degrees F. Line two 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (except brown sugar, that could be added after the wet ingredients)
3. In a medium bowl, mix together the eggs (for 1 min), oil, and vanilla. (use medium-high speed with a handheld mixer or medium speed with a stand mixer). Add the dry ingredients and continue to blend for 1 minute. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the carrots, apple, pineapple, coconut, raisins, and walnuts.
4. Spoon batter into prepared muffins cups so they are two-thirds full.
5. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
6. Cool muffins in the pan for 5 min. Remove muffins from pans and cool completely on a wire rack. Store in a airtight container.
Makes 2 dozen muffins

FASTING & JUICING RECIPES

Master Cleanse Lemonade

2 Tbsp Lemon juice from organic lemons
2 Tbsp Maple syrup grade B (I use 1 Tbsp agave nectar instead is lower in sugar)
1/10 tsp cayenne pepper (uses a very small pinch and work up from there)
You can multiply 4 or 5 times and sip throughout the day

Vita Life Juice
1/2 beet
3 carrots
3 celery stalks
Thumbnail size organic red skin potato
Thumbnail size radish
½ thumbnail size ginger
2-3 leaves of Greens (beets and stems, parsley, kale, or spinach)
Opt. cilantro, basil, dill, peppermint
You can multiply 4 or 5 times, as is one serving

Green Veggie Juice
3-4 leaves Greens: kale, spinach, collard, Swiss chard
½ cucumber
2-3 stalks celery
1-2 green apples
½ clove garlic
Opt. cabbage, green pepper, cilantro, basil, peppermint, or anything else green
Is one serving size?

Live Creamy Carrot Soup

4 large organic carrots ½ sweet onion
2 large garlic cloves 2 stalks celery
1 cup spinach 1 tsp Celtic sea salt
1 Tbsp cumin 1 avocado
3 cups distilled or reverse osmosis H20
Blend all ingredients in Vita mix or may cut in very small pieces to blend in another blender.

Note: taken from Hallelujah Diet Recipes

Apple and Fennel Salad

2 heads fennel thinly sliced (include a few tops)
4 golden delicious apples thinly sliced
1 head celery thinly sliced
½ cup basil chopped
2-3 fennel fronds chopped

Dressing: Mayonnaise
1 cup young coconut meat or pine nuts
¼ cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 medjool dates or 1 tablespoon agave nectar
1 teaspoon turmeric

Slice fennel, apples, and celery thing with a mandolin, v slicer, or food processor slicing blade. Chop the basil and feathery fennel fronds.
Place young coconut meat, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, turmeric and dates in a blender and blend until smooth.
Toss dressing with fennel, apples, celery, basil, and fennel fronds mixing well.

Shelf life: Best eaten fresh but keeps well refrigerated for 1-2 days (after this the apples may turn brown). Note: taken from Hallelujah Diet Recipes

Time to update my blog

Wow I can't believe it has actually been almost two years since I've updated anything about my life. Let's see... Well I mostly work so that's nothing to update about... I have been to Romania in 2009 which you can read about on the Romania blog. It was an amazing trip traveling with some amazing women. We worked with boys and girls with disorders from special placement centers around Romania. God did amazing things at camp. We enjoyed working together with the Romanian team and enjoying God's beautiful creation.
I also went to Maui with my brother and friend and loved to get to show them around and enjoy the beautiful Maui from the beach to the top of Haleakala.
Christmas was amazing with my cousins visiting from Romania. We got to go to the Portland Zoo Lights, Multhnoma Falls, Solid Rock Christmas Eve service, downtown Portland, and lots of shopping.
End of January I went to Palm Springs, Florida to visit my aunt and cousins. Had a relaxing time just hanging out in the sun by the pool, playing with my little cousins, walking to the beach and seeing the turtles. I also go to spend one night and one day at Disney World where I could be a kid. We had great weather and enjoyed riding all the rides and seeing all the creative things at Disney.
Now I'm back to working lots of hours, 10 hour days for a week and one week off. Not to bad for now. Hopefully I get more time off and I can go to New Zealand.
Hope to update with more exciting news.

Romania

It was great going back again this year, but this year felt different then other years. It's hard to explain but it almost felt too familiar. I want to do something different then just walk around and visit family. Although I love my family, next year I want to do some hiking and camping and visit more of other cities too.
Here is a link to our Camp blog for this year so you can read some stories and see some pictures.
http://romaniamission2009.blogspot.com/
Camp was great. The kids were better then expected. I loved getting to work with the girls again this year. The boys were pretty good compared to the last couple of years. We had about 40 girls and 33 boys. We had good weather, not too hot not too cold and not that rainy. Thank God, because the weeks after the camp almost flooded and later it was too hot at least in the cities.
After two weeks at camp I went to my cousin's wedding in Sibiu. I went right from camp so I had to dress all nice and ride in a van with stinky boys and was dropped off at the wedding. Before I go on to tell you about the wedding I want to tell you about my stressful-luggage-almost-no-Cluj-free-ride incident. So I left my luggage at camp thinking D. will be coming to town before the wedding is over and I can get my luggage and ride with one of my relatives back to Cluj since I was going there anyways to visit family. Well the wedding went on for a few hours and the reception another many hours and when it was about 7pm (Cluj is about 3 hours away) some of my relatives were ready to go back and I planned to go with them. I called D. to see if she got back to town, no answer. I called F. to see if he had taken the new american team to camp yet, since I new she would leave soon after they arrived, but he was not at camp yet.
My other relatives wanted to leave by 8pm so they wouldn't arrive home too late, but still no answer from D. or F. now since he was at camp and there is no reception there.
I was stressing out. The wedding was going on till about 10pm. I didn't really plan to stay over night so I wasn't sure how I would get to the Home of Hope since I knew I could stay there any time. Home of Hope is a transition home for girls part of Heart of Hope Ministries.
I was real tired, getting bored because the bride and groom were busy, my aunt and uncle were busy and didn't really know anyone else. My relatives who wanted to leave at 8pm were for some reason still around at 9pm so I called D. again and she was 20 minutes away. I got my cousin to stay a little longer and wait for my luggage and we left Sibiu around 9:30pm. We did great timing and I got to Cluj later that night.
The wedding was beautiful and long. But not as long as most romanian weddings. They sure play weird games at the weddings. They stole the bride and her shoe. It was hard to hear when they explained things on the mike and I was pretty clueless. My cousin was a beautiful bride.








After this wedding I went to Cluj where I visited family and showed my brother the city. That next weekend we were going to another wedding, my uncle. We woke up at 4am to get ready, go pick up the bride (80 km away about 1 hour and 45 minutes) with the worse driver ever, at least at that time. We got there and it was soooo cold. I was there to take pictures, and it was my uncle. My brother was bored out of his mind. He said he would never go to a wedding again, especially Romanian. After the court house marriage we were off back to Cluj (another hour and 45 mintues in a small Dacia) and to the church. The wedding was during the Sunday service.
Took some pictures after and then off to the restaurant. Soooo long and boring. Got some good pictures but since we were related we had to stay till the end.












The rest of the week I sent with my brother and cousin visiting my grandma in the country and in the city with my cousin visiting family.
Sorry, not too exciting, that's why I want to do more fun stuff next time.

Not good at this blogging thing...

Well, I'm sure you noticed that I've been kind of slacking on updating my blog. I really have a boring life and many times I have nothing to write.
Like today for instance, it's Memorial day, I decide I'll work a few hours for those clients who said they would come. I drove to Portland this afternoon for an hour (cause I live in the middle of no where) and waited and waited and my first two kids never showed up. I called them and they forgot. Of course they're having fun enjoying the sun and the holiday, and I wait in the stinky office and they forget. Now I'm waiting for my last one, who I called to cancel but she didn't answer.

A couple of weeks ago I worked at a rehab center in Vancouver for my on-call job. They told me it would be for a month, but found out that they center only has me for the one week. I was thinking, oh well I made some good extra money and maybe they'll find me something else. Nope, I still only have my regular job, which is going well but it's still part time.

I leave for Romania in 25 days from today. We are packing soon and still have some crafts prep to finish. I still haven't found a church so I haven't gone in a while, except for yesterday when i went with my parents to Crossroads. They had a guest speaker who does pottery. It was pretty good.

I watched the entire season of Amazing Race 14 online. They went to Romania and Maui, and many other fun places. It was kind of fun to watch. I really would like to apply to be on it. Maybe I can win the one million dollars.

Well, I haven't been doing anything else fun. Started running (taking real slow since i'm not a runner). I might do a 5k in June for Crossroads.

Well sorry to bore you with my boring life. Hope you're doing well.

Jilda

Visiting Maui

Here are some pictures from my visit to Maui. I'll write about my trip later.
http://picasaweb.google.com/jildav

Coudy day in Washington!

As I looked outside, I saw a glimpse of the sun on the green grass and longed for the warmth of the sun. As I prepared to go and embrace the sun, the clouds took over and it was cloudy again. The breeze whispered in my ear and reminded me of the place I was in. Washington.
In 11 days I will feel the warmth of the sun on my skin and enjoy the humidity in the air. I will love the beautiful view as I will look around the island and remember where I once lived and try to forget the cloudy Washington which will be waiting for me after.

Yesterday was yet another rainy and cloudy day, but also a day of celebration. My friend Heather got married to Tim. It was an amazing day and I was glad to be there even though I did not feel well. My third time being sick. Not so fun. I have a pretty nasty cough which gives me a pain in my side every time I cough and feels like my lung will come out on the table in front of me. Well, after that great picture of my sickness lets go back to the wedding.

The wedding was beautiful. The church was real nice and the atmosphere was inviting. Heather looked so beautiful and full of love. Heather and Tim looked so in love and were so excited to share their blessed day with their friends and family. It rained outside as we drove a few miles to the reception. It was cold but it was a fun place to be. The Swiss (oh did I mention Tim is from Switzerland?) wedding traditions were so cute. One was the mother in law teaching her new daughter in law about some daily chores that she will have to do. She decided on ironing a man's shirt. So she said while you can't see much of the shirt why bother with ironing it just cut it off. So she cut up the groom's shirt (sleeves and back) leaving only the cuffs and collar. So to demonstrate that her daughters and her are practicing this, the men took off their jackets and they all had their shirts cut up. It was pretty funny.

Another was the time when Heather and Tim had to sit behind each other and lift up each of their shoes as they answered questions regarding each other. If they both got it right they would receive a present. (Ex. Who drives better, Tim or Heather?).

Anyways it was a great night and I ended up staying until 10pm. A long wedding for most wedding here in the states. I guess I'm preparing for the weddings I will go to in July in Romania. Now those will be long and I better there will be no dancing at those.

Well I will leave you with some pictures (click on http://picasaweb.google.com/jildav/HeatherAndTimSWedding# )from the wedding and try to get outside to see if I can catch some of this sun that keeps playing hide and seek.

Enjoy

One more boring post!

Well sorry I haven't updated lately but my life is pretty boring.
Now that I'm back in Washington, I don't do much. I've settled back into my parent's house. Bought some furniture form IKEA to complete my room.
I work about 20 hours a week, which is not what I thought it would be by now. I need more hours.
I work in Portland and in Vancouver. When I work in Portland it's about 45 minutes to the office if there is no traffic, which is most of the time since I work odd hours (10 to 6).
I have some interesting clients, but I like it. It's different from what I was doing in Maui, I sure miss the babies.
Here are a few of the things I've done since I moved back.
1. I've got to see a few of my friends and their kids. Everyone has changed over the past few years so it's a little different.
2. I've got together with friends to watch the Bachelor on Mondays.
3. Went shopping a few times. My brother's girlfriend and I had a great time at the mall.
4. Watched my first 3D movie.
5. Watched it snow, rain, get cloudy, and sunny in just 5 minutes.
6. Played in the snow, made a snow man and a snow angel.
7. Tried a few different churches, but I wasn't able to find one yet that I can attend regularly.
8. Got my car from Hawaii. Sunday it will have Washington license plates.
9. I've joined my old Romania team and will be going to Romania in June.
10. I've been sick most of the time.

Well that's my exciting life her in Washington. I will update more when I have more exciting news.

I'm back in Washington!

Well I'm back in Washington. Battle Ground to be more specific. It's cold and ... let's see... cold.
I'm still trying to get used to the fact that I'm so far away from my friends and from anyone... except from my brother and his girlfriend.
I meet my boss tomorrow and I start work on Friday. My first day will be in Portland (I will probably work in Portland on Mondays and Fridays and the rest of the days in Vancouver). I am also looking for work in other places for evenings and weekends.
Well I should get back to drinking my tea to stay warm. I'll keep you updated.

Maui is out of Santa beards...

As I write this blog many of you are getting ready to celebrate a very white Christmas with your family and friends. Sitting by the fireplace drinking a hot drink and enjoying each other's company. Celebrating the life of Christ the King coming to earth that we may live, opening presents and taking pictures.
I am sitting here at home on Maui where it's hot and sunny enjoying time with my friends before I leave the island. Celebrating also the birth of Christ.
We all celebrate in a different way but with the same purpose.
I hope everyone has an amazing Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
Craciun Fericit si La Multi Ani!
Hugs and love, Jilda

Time for an update!

I has been almost two months since I've come back from my cruise. I had an amazing time there and I loved seeing the beauty of each country (Italy, Greece and Turkey). My favorite was Ephesus in Turkey and Santorini in Greece. The cruise part was amazing too. So much food and never a moment to be bored. Not much time to rest either. I didn't want to miss anything.
The group I was part of, about 30 of us, was great also. We had Bible studies on the ship and off when we were visiting parts of Paul's journey. I met some great people from my church here in Maui and I'm glad I can spend some time with them now.

Lots of things have been going on since I got back home. One is that I've decided to move back to Washington for the time being. It's definitely been on my mind for a while but now feels like it's the right time. I've been looking for a job in Vancouver before making the decision to move and about a month ago I found a great job. I'll be working at a private Sensory clinic, working with children who have Autism, ADD, Learning difficulties, or other problems. It will be different from the job I have now, but I know I'll be learning a lot.

It was a long process (which is not yet complete) to get my Washington OT license and recently decided to also get my Oregon license. I'll be starting work once that license process is complete. Since it takes so long for the license process, I won't be moving back until January.

I gave my written notice to my current job two weeks ago. I'm very sad to leave my families and co-workers. At least my friend LK is also moving back, and we will be close enough where we could still do stuff together. It's been real sad for me to give my kids away to the other therapists. I've become part of the family to many of them and they all have a special place in my heart.

Until it's time to leave, I want to do as much as I can here in Maui. I will miss my friends, church, halau, and the beauty. I've been going hiking, taking ballet class, taking pictures, and spending time with friends as much as I can.

I still have to move out of my place by December 31st which will be a long progress since I've accumulated lots of stuff in my four years here. Since I fly out from Maui on January 12th I'll be staying with a friend until that day.

Well I leave you with some pictures from a few hikes I've done.
Hope everyone is doing well and you all had a great Thanksgiving.

Heading Home

Well it has been an exciting adventure and I would love to share more with you guys but right now I have a big headache and it's late and have to be up at 5 AM. I am all packed and ready to head home. I'll be in Washington Friday and we'll be heading back to Maui on Sunday.
When I get back I will write a little bit about each city that I saw and post more pictures.
Talk to you all later.