Lot has happened

Ok, so a lot has happened since I last wrote. I don't have pictures right now, but once I get them off the camera I will put some new ones up. Lets see what has happened.

-I had my 26th birthday on Thursday the 11th of October!!! This was my 4th birthday somewhere in Russia or Kazakhstan!! Dawn bought me train tickets to go see my old host family that I lived with in Voronezh from 2002-2003! It was so much fun I had not seen them for nearly 5 years. The family is pretty much the same, but Voronezh (the city) has changed so so much. I could not even recognize certain areas of the city because so much new stuff has been built!! I was told that after Moscow Voronezh has the must construction of any Russian city. Things are change there so much. My host family there wants us to move there. I think Dawn and I both would be ok with that if we could keep our salaries as is (well hers =).... New apartments there are only $200 a month compared to almost 5 times that much here in Moscow. Overall it was a great trip we left on the 11th and returned on the 15th. It was fun. I'll post pictures soon.

-While we were gone in Voronezh Moscow had there first snow. When we arrived Monday morning we saw a little snow, but nothing big. While we lounged around the house Monday it snowed from about 10am until 6pm. It didn't stick to much, but Dawn said the next day out by here work 10-15 miles away it stuck a lot. They have had pretty mild winters here for the last few years I think we are in for a cold one this year.

-Nikita is out and being a good Kittie. Nikita our older cat has finally adjusted to our home and is coming out and being social. He still is really scared to jump up on the couch, but he does everything else. He is such a nice cat. Alenka is a pain in the A**, but you can't yell at her because she is so cute. She is in the Kittie phase and is always getting into things, but hopefully soon she will grow out of it.

-Overall things are going good. I'm still looking for a job but that is just the way it will be until I get lucky. Sorry I haven't written much, but I seem busy all the time even though I don't have a job =( Well I will try to write more, but if I don't send us an email and I will get back to you on those.

Talk to you soon, Jack

We got another one

One cat was just not enough so we got a little kitty so Nikita would have a friend! We named her Alenka (Al-yo-n-ka). Not much else has been going on. The weather here is pretty nice about 60-70 everyday. Dawn started Russian language lessons and I am still looking for a job. I posted a bunch of pictures on my flickr account so if you are interested you can see some pics of the cats and our new apartment. Will write more when something goes on.

We Have a New Member of the Family!!!

Sorry we have not updated more but we have been really busy. We moved into our new apartment so I will put our address in the side bar soon. Today we got a new cat from the shelter here in Moscow. The Vet was just over and he is healthy, and will be getting his balls cut off on the 3rd of Oct. ;) He is scared right now and won't come out from under the couch, but this is a picture from his previous home. I will try and write more soon. Ohhh yeah we named him Nikita!

Good News

Ok, so some good news today. Dawn went out with a co-worker yesterday and got us cell phones so not only can you guys call us on skype (not until we move into our apartment), but you can also use your land line if you want. The links on the sidebar will also take you to a page that you can send us a txt msg. It is in Russian, but it is very easy to figure out.

Now for the BIG NEWS!!!! We have a SUBWAY only a few blocks from our hotel/hostel!!!! It is so good we have eaten there two nights in a row already. It is pretty much just like home except they do not have meatball subs =( I'm sure I will survive though.....

Not much else going on just wanted to update you all on the cell phones and Subway =) talk to you all later

We Arrived

We made it to Moscow! We are staying in a hostel/hotel that Dawn's company is providing for us. It is nice, but a little ways outside of the city, and doesn't have any place for us to wash clothes (even by hand) so I don't know what we are going to do. Our apartment is not suppose to be ready until Sept. 9th so in reality that means between Sept. 15th and Oct. 1st =).

The flight over was pretty long. We flew British Airways from Los Angeles to London and then had a three hour layover. From London it was a 3 hour wait on the runway and then 3.5 hours in the air. The layover was fun though. We treated ourselves to some new sunglasses, dress shirts for me, and boots for Dawn.

We have already started our diets. We both gained a little on our splurge in the US! We don't have a kitchen here in the hotel so we get breakfast and dinner and that is all. It is not a lot, but it is tasty. Hopefully the menu changes every once in a while, but I have a feeling that is going to be wishful thinking.

Once we get new phones I will post the numbers in the side bar, and have a link so you can txt us if you want. We will also get some pictures up here some day once we get our camera battery charged back up.

Almost forgot we have our American Direct TV here which is awesome!!! We get LA based tv over the Internet, and it is great. I'm going to be able to keep up on college football and the NFL for the first time in 2 years!!! and of course Dawn can keep up with the food network!!! Well I need to go and look for a job so I will write again soon.

Long time No Blog

I haven't written in here for a while because things have been so hectic. Dawn and I arrived back in late February and since then have been on the move. A list of places we have been.

• Kansas (the entire state)



• San Francisco 3 times



• Napa Valley



• Orange County



• St. Louis twice



• Las Vegas



• Grand Canyon



• Denver



• Yellowstone National Park



• Boise Idaho



• Oregon (pretty but a horrible drive)



• Santa Fe, New Mexico



• Arizona



• Milan Italy



• San Diego

In the last 6 months we have driven through or visited every state West of Kansas except for Utah and Washington! The biggest event was of course our marriage in June! It was hot, but in the end it was a fantastic time and we think everyone really enjoyed it! You can see pictures on my flickr account found to the left.

Dawn received a job offer from a Russian based company so we are in the process of moving to Moscow! We are extremely excited and looking forward to starting our lives out there. We are leaving on the 22nd of August so only about a week left to go. We never knew how much planning went into to moving abroad. It is a huge pain!

Dawn and I will try and keep this blog updated so those of you that do read it can keep in touch. We are also on skype at jackanddawn....... And of course you can always get us at our emails. The next blog will probably be from Moscow so check back in a week or so. Jack and Dawn

So SAD

Well Dawn and I are now home. Most of you know already, but those of you that don't it might come as a surprise. Peace Corps did not like the fact that we traveled to see each other while we were on vacation, and we did not like the fact that Peace Corps would not work with us.

Since we have been home we have been to LA, Kansas, San Francisco, Napa Valley, and a few other non interesting places. It has been a unique experience. We went from being totally excited about being home to sad about being home. From that it went to the excitement of finding jobs to the low of not being contacted. We are now hopeful that one of our many applications will turn into something and we will soon be working and starting our lives together.

We are both angry and grateful to Peace Corps at the same time. It is always sad to end something that both of us really wanted for such a silly reason, but it will work out in the end. For all of our Kaz friends who read this I'm sure you will enjoy the pictures. We miss you all and hopefully will be able to visit once more before you all leave..... Best wishes to you all