7 months in Moldova...and counting.

March 1st marked seven months in Moldova for me. I still have days where I cannot believe I am here(even though the signs are all around and obvious). There are still days where I miss the comforts of home. And everyday I am thankful for this once in a lifetime opportunity. Everyday I am aware that this time is part of God's plan for my life.

I wanted to jot down a list of things that I havent' experienced in 7 months. Some of these are obvious, but it's my list.

It's been seven months since I've:

sat foot on American soil

driven a car

held my neice

attended a church service where the entire service was in English

eaten any American fast food other than McDonalds

seen my Memphis/Millington/Missouri family and friends

picked up my cell phone to call my mom at anytime of the day

eaten my mom's cooking

been to Walmart

listened to K-love

used an American dollar to pay for anything

drank water out of the faucet

So, this is just a partial listing....I could go on, but I won't. This isn't supposed to be a sad, Shauna-is-homesick-today-kind-of-post, but I just wanted to share what I was thinking about. I think it's interesting to see the little things that we give up to experience something else. If I was still in Memphis, I wouldn't have experienced the richness of what God has wanted to show me and teach me in the last seven months...and counting.

In the last seven months I've:

flown overseas for the first time in my life

taken public transportation for the first time in my life

immersed myself in a culture and a language other than my own

used a foreign language in conversation outside of a class in school

made many new friends

lived in an apartment for the first time ever

learned to cook (something I didn't know I could do)

learned to appreciate all the comforts I've been afforded growing up in America

faced my fears on a daily basis

boiled water to drink for the first time ever

experienced God's faithfulness and mighty hand at work in my life and those around me

Thank you for reading and God bless!

Tator Tot Casserole

I did my mother proud(I made my mother proud!)!! I attempted to make her version of tator tot casserole last week. I had to tweak the recipe a little as it is hard to find some items here. I actually made homemade cream of mushroom soup since we don't have the canned soups here. I was so excited that I figured out how to make homemade soup! I cut up the mushrooms and everything. I was so excited to find something very similar to tator tots here! Up until recently I hadn't seen any tator tots here, but the week before last I saw them here. They're actually called Croquettes and they tasted more like mashed potatoes than tator tots, but they give the same look. I took it as I sign that I was suppose to make tator tot casserole. Anyway, it turned out great. My roommate and I were pretty excited about it. Here's a couple of yummy pictures. This experience moved my confidence level with my cooking skills up to an eight out of ten. Yay for cooking.

Cooking in Moldova

So, if you know me well at all, you know that I am not a cook. I have never had to cook for myself. I had my mother's wonderful cooking through high school, the school cafeteria(which I actually enjoyed)in college, and then the wonderful kitchen of Nancy here in Moldova. So, now that I am in an apartment, I am learning to cook. We do not have a microwave, so I am really learning to cook! So, last week I made chicken pot pie. It turned out pretty good. I think I shocked myself and my roommate. So, due to this exciting new development of learning to cook, I took a few pictures. Hope you enjoy....we sure did, well the taste that is. (oh, I made some 'K's' out of the dough for my roommate, Kelly). This cooking experience was especially interesting because at the time we did not have any measuring cups. It was all guess work, but everything turned out just fine. I won't even tell you how long it took me to prepare this dinner, but let's just say that I hope my cooking gets faster. Overall, this cooking experience was probably a 7 out of 10. It was definitely a confidence booster.