Bites

 So this last week has been a rough on me physically, spiritually, emotionally, and anything else ending in "ly"
 I tend to be the one to bottle up my emotions until I explode. It's really a terrible trait I have, and honestly the Father and I are talking daily about how that can be changed.
 This weeks events:
 It all began on Sunday. I was walking home from working out. There were men working on the sidewalk, so Joe and I were gracefully balancing between the sidewalk, and the heavy flow of traffic coming towards us. That's when it bit me! No it wasn't a roaming dog (even though we have plenty of those) it was a metal post. Thankfully, it didn't rip my pants. Sadly, it did rip my leg! (bite #1 of the week, just incase you are taking notes.)
 Yesterday, I went for a run. It was one of those runs where you feel like you put ankle weights on instead of socks. My legs felt so heavy. I was struggling. Looked down at my ipod, and found that I had only gone a little over a mile. Then I got bit, in the eyeball! Not just, "oh a bug got in my eye" no more like "a bee just stung my eyeball and I can't see a thing!" *over 24 hours later, the eye is red, puffy, and oozing green stuff. (bite #2)

 Today, I decided to wear my super cute Indian shoes that my hubby got me for my birthday. I really thought I planned it out well, because I knew I was going to be sitting in meetings all day long. Got blisters anyway. After applying band-aids to both heels, I made it through the rest of the day. Tonight while doing a devotional with some of my friends, my friend Sun says "Oh what happened to your leg?" I thought she was asking about the first bite of the week. She said, "No, not that. Your shoe bites!"
 Doesn't the Father know just the perfect timing in our "rough" weeks to provide laughter?! Who knew that blisters on your heels from new shoes are called "shoe bites"

Cooking Class Goodies

We not only taught our friends how to make "no-bake" cookies, but we feasted on an assortment of American goodies. It was so funny watching our friends try the treats for the first time. They looked a little skeptical at first, but they were begging for us to let them take the leftovers home.

In fact, the party went so well that we've already lined up another cooking class featuring Mel's cheese ball.

Cooking Class 101

 We are always picking our brains for fun and creative ways to hang out with girls. When Shannon called and proposed the idea of a cooking show, I thought it would be really fun. So, we decided on the date and began letting all our friends now through text messages. (these girls are the queen's of texting!)
 You never really know if girls are going to come to events, so we were really excited with the turn out. They ate it up! (haha) Most of them had never met any of the other girls there, but you would have never known it. They acted like they were all best friends. In fact, some of them may now be the best of friends!

We played an "ice-breaker" game where the girls had to guess the name of the person on their index card  without looking at the card. They had to go around asking yes/no questions to other people to figure it out. The winners took home Bath and Body Works lotions. (one winner said that her bottle of "warm vanilla sugar" smelt like chocolate. too funny!)

Every time we played I would end up with a Bollywood star on my head. Why could I not have gotten this one?

This picture makes me laugh so hard. D was loving the show, if you can't tell. She didn't seem to mind that she was blocking the view of everyone behind her.

Look for D's video of Angela (aka Paula Deen for the day) on youtube. I'm sure she's already got it posted!

 We laughed. We played. We cooked. We ate. All in all, I would stamp the day with success.

Shop Till You Drop

There is a really great market here that has all the export goods that never made it to the states. You'll find anything from BCBG girl to Faded Glory. The best part is that you never pay over $2 for an item. This is a picture from last week when I got to spend some of my birthday money, thanks to my family!

Shannon's Sauce

So, I don't think many would believe me when I say that I've really loved cooking from scratch. Before coming to South Asia, I couldn't even make a frozen pizza turn out right. (note: take cardboard off before baking. If not properly removed pizza with take on a taco shape and just burn!)

But really, I've loved cooking! I've mastered homemade chicken pot pie, any kind of muffin, granola, hummus, and now I'm adding apple sauce to that list.

Thought you might enjoy the recipe. It's passed on from my friend Shannon.

Shannon's Sauce

3-4 lg apples; peeled, cored, chopped

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup white sugar (used splenda instead)

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a saucepan, combine all ingredients. Cover and cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes, or until apples are soft. Allow to cool, then mash with a fork.

Hope you enjoy it!

All in a days work... Russian style

Joe and I were presented a "unique" opportunity this week, starring in Russian commercials. We had no idea really what we were getting ourselves into. After a four hour car ride, which should have been 20 minutes had it not been raining, we made it to the shoot. 

Turned out, it was a drug rep commercial for hair fall and allergies. (Hoping it's different drugs. Surely you wouldn't take the same pill for losing your hair and a sneeze!)

I played the part of a girl who loves brushing her hair now that she's taken the medicine. Joe was a waiter, who slips his customer a pill after sneezing at dinner. Can we say cheezy?!

We laughed a lot! (especially at my make-up)

We were told that we are getting copies of the finished product. I'm seeing a future blog post already!

Jyoti's Journey

Names are a big deal. They are super important and meaningful. When meeting someone for the first time, I always enjoy asking them what their name means. Here in South Asia, everyone knows what their name means. Maybe they are a big deal back in the states too, but I thought you only knew the meaning of your name if you found it framed in a Hallmark store. Or if you paid attention when your parents told you what it meant. Me... I missed out on both of those! Never once have I found my name in a Hallmark store, and I'm pretty sure I got caught telling this huge fabricated story of how I got my name. Oops! Sounded good to me.


Anyway, I was given the name Jyoti (pronounced Joe-T) after arriving here in the Big D. It means light. I like it! It fits. Daily I'm hoping that my life is shining a light in this place. Hence the name of the blog. I'm just hoping that this blog will serve as a flashlight into our everyday lives here.

Plus, I need a way to document this crazy adventure that we are on, and thought it would be fun for you to see it from my perspective. Hope "we" enjoy it as much as I think "we" will!