Our Kostanai Crib(s)

The inside of our fridge...by the way, I haven't bought any of my groceries for my gourmet homemade suppers yet...HA HA




Our "sun porch" off the bedroom.....aka, a place to hang laundry.







The bedroom...not as big as the first crib, but still plenty big for us!
The bed and the pillow also scored high on the comfy mark in our new digs.








The "safety dance" door. Remember that song...SAFETY DANCE? Everyone can do the safety dance for the Serra's, cuz no boogiemen can get thru steel!!




Still part of the "party bathroom", the washer, with the EXPRESS CYCLE!!




Check out the GINORMOUS tub, and Sean left the toilet seat up AGAIN!!
he has forgotten the "potty cheer" we sang when he was 2 and 3

GO POTTY
DROP THE LID
FLUSH THE POTTY
WASH YOUR HANDS!!




The latest and greatest gourmet kitchen..HOME OF THE NORMAL SIZED COFFEE MUG!
I look forward to hosting a house warming party for all our neighbors to show off my culinary talents of Russian and Kazakh cuisine. (I wonder if they will like Easy Mac??)




Oh my,this is the MODEl who came with the brochure of the new condo we are in...isn't she PRETTY? ha ha
THIS IS THE REASON WE MOVED...HIGH SPEED INTERNET BABY!!
Notice how happy the beautiful model is working on her laptop...






Our CURRENT digs....check out that big couch!! It's Joe's "comfy couch", perfect for watching the olympics, or even playing your dombra..



Kinda dark, it was dusk, but you can KINDA SEE Sean and I waving from our balcony, BYE APARTMENT NUMBER ONE! WE LOVED YOU, BUT WE LEFT YOU FOR FASTER INTERNET! SORRY!!!




Our fabulous foyer in apartment one....you can see the lovely steel door to the right...

I remember this shot from Sarah and Andy's blog last year because they had all their shoes lined up on the rug, including Zach and Addie's. It was so cute and such a memorable shot.


the sun porch in apt 1 (the clothesline wasn't hung yet)
Great breeze thru here!!




Our gourmet kitchen (and see my laptop!!??!!) where I have cooked COUNTLESS homemade Kazakh style dishes for my family. When I am not with Leeza, I am constantly whipping up new dishes. (LOL)



the decadent dining area....the bar on the LEFT is where I would blog!




Our cozy living room in the first apartment



Our cozy lil bathroom in apt number 1....we loved it...BUT WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE OUR NEW ONE...WE COULD HOST A DISCO PARTY!!



the luxurious bedroom in our first apartment...where Sean watched a lot of movies!!





Joe and Sean outside apt number 1, with that tricky ole door...




the most lovely apartment building in ALL OF KOSTANAI!!




Joe and Sean going into our first apartment building and up the dark scary stairwell....lions, and tigers, and bears...OH MY!



Our balcony...our first apt is the one on the right (in the middle, 2nd floor) and our new apt is to the left of it..
Old one has the white paint, on the bars, the new one has the black





No,this is not the slums of Harlem...tis our apartment building!!










This was the first place we stayed when we got here..."Hotel Tourist", where I had my first hot shower after traveling for 2 days. We got here, and got straight to business, visiting the Ministry of Education, the Inspector of Custody, dropped our luggage off, and off to the baby house. But,I asked, I thought we were suppposed to look nice? Tatiana assured us we looked "fine"....yeah, well, she lied. I have pictures and were SCARY. I'm glad that Leeza didn't turn around and run the other way..I'm sure she would have if she could have fun.

Joe and Sean conked out early...but I was blogging. Imagine that!!



Here are the pictures from our apartment(s) and our hotel!! They really are nice, they’re clean, and safe, and the “scrub woman” comes once a week. Yesterday, when we were coming back to move after lunch, I asked Tatiana when the landlord was meeting us. She said “the scrub woman” is there waiting for us now. I cracked up. Yes, that is another word for the cleaning lady, maid, housekeeper, whatever!! I love Tatiana, she is so sweet and really has a great attitude. When school starts in September, (she teaches English at the university), her boyfriend Ivan will be taking me to the baby house. He is also a cutie and speaks great English.

I like this new apartment better for a few reasons. After spending the night here, the bed is much more comfy, and the pillows are WAY more comfy. I feel even safer because of the 2 doors that lock, and the door is easier to look then the other one. The couch in the living room (that also pulls out into a bed) is way bigger and more comfy too. The sun porch is off our bedroom, instead of off the living room. In our first abode, it was easy to hang the clothes line cuz there were hooks, etc already there. In this one, NO hooks, and nothing to really hang it on. But, (I’m so glad Joe was still here) figured it out and used my bungy cords (the very ones Joe made fun of me for packing and asked WHY I had dollar store bungy cords) to hold the clothes line in place. I KNEW that the bungy cords would find a home. I am SO smart!
When we came home from dinner and the grocery store last night, it was dark, and there is ACTUALLY a light in the hallway and stairwell in our apartment!! THAT was really cool!! We are still on the 2nd floor, like before, but the stairwell was pitch black. Yes, we brought our flashlights since I was the blog stalker and learned, but still scary sometimes and especially when the door is hard to open. The lock was tricky and you had to get the key in just right, and in the dark you’d try to hurry and then of course, it was never right.
This door is much easier to unlock, and the inner door locks too. All these apartments hae 2 doors, a big steel door on the outside, then a wooden door on the inside. The wooden door in our other place was broken and didn’t lock. With Joe leaving, Sean (who sometimes gets scared) will feel even better with 2 locked doors!!
We did our first load of laundry and I had noticed a button on this washer with a watch…yup, express load I guess. It only took 30 minutes!!!
We also have a cable box in this apartment that gets a ton of channels, but of course, they’re all in Russian. Joe has really enjoyed watching the Olympics,but today is the last day of that. However, he is going home on Wednesday so he can get back to his routine. We’re gonna miss him though, but I know the time will fly by.

The outside of the apartment complex looks pretty scary, but, they are so nice and cozy on the inside. I like this building because of all the families that live here. There are always kids outside playing, and babushka’s outside too. Joe has befriend a babushka and he takes her trash out, and gives her our big water bottles. You don’t need a common language to be friendly!

So, all in all, both apartments get the big THUMBS UP from the Serra family, but the new digs get a higher score for all the above mentioned reasons: Increased comfort, light in the stairwell, double the security, economy washer, decadent bathroom large enough to host a party, and, NORMAL SIZE COFFEE MUGS! Woo hoo!! Life in Kostanai gets better every day. Leeza gets happier (unless you take away her milk and cookies, or don’t let her drink your Coke light), Sean connects more with not only his sister, but all the kids in her group, (and the caregivers), and we get closer to being able to “officially” call Leeza our daughter. Nary a complaint here, Life is good!!! I could design my own life is good shirt, but it would say….

Life is not good, LIFE IS GREAT!
Ever since we met Leeza Grace on the BEST blind date!!
With her sweet chubby cheeks and her gorgeous blue eyes
God gave the Serra’s the most amazing surprise!!!