tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31606384807513313482024-03-12T17:07:23.560-07:00A Moveable Feast in Zagrebtwo teachers. one dog.
the story of a family returning to croatia after a century in america.sam and katie mirkovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801768826702513987noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160638480751331348.post-11425400655095786702014-07-02T11:27:00.002-07:002014-07-02T11:43:04.242-07:00Doviđenja!This is our last morning in Zagreb. Sam is going down to get croissants (something that has become more of a habit than I like to admit) and in a couple of hours we're going to coffee to say a few last goodbyes. Sometimes when I look back on when we first moved here, it feels like it was just last week. But other times, life in Croatia has become so normal that I have a hard time imagining life any other way.<br />
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I feel like 2 years was a good amount of time to really be immersed in the culture here. The first year was all about adjustments. Getting used to the sound of the language, getting used to how things work, asking a lot of questions, and making a lot of mistakes. But by the second year, things didn't seem so new anymore, we had pretty much adjusted to feeling like the stupid Americans and we were actually okay with it. And life just become normal.<br />
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We have absolutely loved living in this country. But it hasn't always been easy. I thought a good way to wrap up our experience was to write a top ten list of things we will miss and things we won't. I hope I don't offend anyone by the things we won't miss. They are mostly things that I found hard to get used to. So here goes...<br />
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<u>Top 10 things we will NOT miss about living in Croatia:</u><br />
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10. Walking in on men in the ladies room- So Europeans seem to be a lot more okay with peeing in general. I was just talking to Kelly yesterday about how she sees men in their business suits and briefcases, peeing on garbage cans in the morning. But I also don't like walking into a public bathroom anywhere. There might be a men's/women's combo with a urinal outside of the ladies room, there might just a man in the ladies room because he couldn't wait...Sorry men, but you're messy and I don't want to pee where you pee.<br />
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9. Traveling a REALLY long way to get back home- My family lives in Ellensburg, Washington, a 2 hour drive from SeaTac airport. To get home, we have to take a 30 minute taxi ride to the airport, check in two hours early, fly to Frankfurt, have a layover in Frankfurt, then take a 10 hour and 45 minute flight to Seattle. It's a LONG way home. It's a scary feeling to be so far away sometimes. And don't even get me started on packing for the trip. I can tell you the size and weight limits of most major airlines that fly out of Zagreb because we've agonized over these numbers for hours, trying to be sure we won't be charged extra for our luggage.<br />
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8. Flying...a lot. I really don't like flying. There is nothing fun about it. First you have to pack (see #9), then you have to check in, go through security, get to your gate, then be trapped inside for hours on end. I really love traveling, but I really hate flying. It has gotten easier the more I've done it, but I'm happy to be done for awhile.<br />
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7. MUP- So if you're from our school, you know what I mean when I say MUP. It's a very sad building in the center of Zagreb where you have to go and wait in line for a really long time to get a stamp and a sticker on a piece of paper that says that it's okay for you to be in Croatia. Luckily we've had a lot of help with our visas and paperwork, but MUP is never a fun experience.<br />
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6. Cigarette smoke- This one is pretty self explanatory. A LOT of people smoke here. It's especially bad in the winter when you're stuck indoors in a smoke box.<br />
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5. Not having a dryer- While living here, we've gone back a few decades and have had to air dry our clothes. For the most part, I love having sun dried clothes. But there is really something amazing about a nice, fluffy, dryer dried towel.<br />
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4. Lack of variety in food- Don't get me wrong, the food here is amazing. You have seafood, pasta, gnocchi, <span class="st">ćevapčići</span>, the list goes on. But there is not as much variety of foods here. And if you want something that is not originally Croatian, you're going to pay for it. I miss a good Penang curry and I'm excited for some spicy food again.<br />
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3. Being far away from family and friends back home- This one is pretty obvious, but there have been several times over the past two years where I have missed very big things back home because I was so far away, and that's hard. I'm so excited that little baby Mirk will be close to family back home.<br />
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2. Driving in Croatia- the fact that we made it out of here with only 1 minor accident in a roundabout is a true miracle. For one thing, I will not miss getting honked at if I take 2 seconds to press the accelerator after a light has turned green. I will not miss having people swerve into my lane or cut me off in the freeway. I will not miss having 4 lanes of ferry traffic, all merging onto the ferry at one time (ONE LANE AT A TIME! That's how it's supposed to be! The people who got in line first, get to get on the ferry first!) No, I will NOT miss driving here.<br />
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1. Feeling like an idiot- This is not to say that I won't feel like an idiot ever again, because after all, we know that's bound to happen. But being a foreigner is hard. And I have learned that back home I need to exhibit more grace to people who are not originally from America. It is hard to learn a new way of life, all of the rules, and the language. Even things like going to the grocery store can be a long process because you don't know if you're buying corn starch or grits or bread crumbs. I've tried to learn enough Croatian to get by, but it's still so very frustrating to not be able to communicate with people.<br />
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<u>Top 10 things we WILL miss about living in Croatia:</u><br />
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10. Healthcare- Bottom line, we are having a baby because we lived in Croatia. The procedure that I had done here was ONE TENTH of the cost of what it would have been in the States. It would have been a huge financial stress for us to try this procedure, especially twice, back in Washington. But here, it was not even an issue.<br />
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9. Living in a city- I've never really lived in a city before. I'm definitely a country girl. But I've really enjoyed living in Zagreb for the past two years. I love the variety of things there are to do, the different restaurants and shops. I don't know if I want to always live in a city (hence the move to Langley) but I've really liked living here.<br />
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8. Dolac Market- We have been spoiled by eating such fresh, homegrown fruits and veggies over the past two years. All I can say is that I need to get planting when I get home!<br />
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7. Our balcony- I really loved where we lived. It was up on the 6th floor (7 floors up) and looked out over the city. I loved looking over to the green of Maksimir and the red of the tiled roofs. Sam and I loved to eat, drink, and just plain be out there. And Lucy will definitely miss her little perch.<br />
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6. Teaching at a school with 11 or 17 kids- So I've really been spoiled in class size these past two years. Last year I had 11 students, this year 17. I cannot tell you the difference it makes to have a smaller class size. Less paperwork, less wrangling, and more personal relationships with each of my students. I can't imagine going back to 26 or 27. Ajoj.<br />
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5. Location, location, location- Europe is so small compared to the U.S. and we have really taken advantage of living so close to so many different countries. Over the past 2 years, we've visited 13 countries: Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Bosnia, Germany, Russia, Estonia, England, Portugal, France, the Netherlands, Norway, and Hungary.<br />
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4. Living in a different culture- This is something that I will and won't miss. I didn't like feeling like an idiot, but I really did enjoy living as a foreigner for awhile. It's so interesting to learn how another country functions, how it does things. I've loved learning about the different customs of Croatia, about the different regions, costumes, foods, and dialects. I feel really lucky to have been able to live and experience life here.<br />
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3. The cafe culture- Croatians know how to s l o w d o w n. When you go to meet for coffee, it isn't a quick chat while both of you are checking your iPhones constantly. It's a 2 or 3 hour session of talking, talking, talking, and sipping coffee. I love how they are able to take their tiny little cups of espresso and sip them for hours on end. I really wish that America would learn something from the Europeans in this aspect.<br />
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2. The coast- There are no words for how beautiful the coast of Croatia is. It's breathtakingly beautiful and will always remain one of my favorite places on earth.<br />
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1. Friends- When you are thrown into a new country, a new culture, a new job, you tend to make friends in a different way than back home. For one thing, we were very fortunate to have a staff at school who welcomed us. I know it must be hard for the locals who stay at the school and see people come and go every 2 years. They didn't have to open up and let us in, but they did and I'm so very thankful for that. We were lucky enough to find an amazing group of people who quickly became our Croatian family. Thanksgiving in Budapest and Vienna, girls' nights, trips to the coast, Head Trauma and Oliver Twist, dinner at each other's houses, watching and rooting for various soccer teams on <span class="st">Tkalčićeva, crying together, and laughing so hard we're crying together. </span>It's hard to believe I've only known them for 2 years, but I know they will be lifelong friends. Even if we are going to be scattered across 4 continents next year. I'm so very thankful to have met them, gotten to know them, and shared this experience with them. It is definitely what I will miss the most.<br />
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Our last night</div>
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<br />sam and katie mirkovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801768826702513987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160638480751331348.post-52201369643995829992014-06-29T13:53:00.003-07:002014-06-29T13:53:35.758-07:00Tallinn with Middle SchoolersOnce again, Sam and I had the privilege of taking a group of middle schoolers to the CEESA Cultural Arts Festival this spring. Last year it was in Moscow, this year it was in Tallinn, Estonia. This trip also fell exactly 3 days after our trip to Paris. As you may have read in my previous post, I was still getting used to this whole pregnancy thing. So I was pretty nervous about how I would do at this point, taking 6 middle schoolers to another country. It's pretty nerve wracking to be in charge of other people's children, especially when you are taking them across borders, through airports, and in airplanes.<br />
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This year we had a group of 6 boys, 3 from 6th grade, 3 from 7th grade. And they were just lovely. I mean you really couldn't ask for a better group of kids to take. The festival involved taking a tour of the Estonian film museum, learning how to do stop motion films, and a tour of an air and sea museum.<br />
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The task this year was to make a stop motion film. The kids worked so hard, creating a script, making the backdrops, creating the characters. And the end product is just hilarious, at least if you understand "The Shining" references. For some reason, a few kids were really into that movie at the time, so there are a lot of references to it. Here's the link to watch the stop motion film. <a href="http://vimeo.com/93014121">http://vimeo.com/93014121</a><br />
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It's really a great experience, for the supervisors and the kids. The kids get to stay with host families and do all kinds of fun activities. We were able to go out to dinner a couple of times with the other supervisors from the other schools: Sofia, Budapest, Moscow, Helsinki, and Warsaw. The traditional Estonian meal included deep fried cheese balls as well as pig ears. And yes, even as a queasy pregnant lady, I tried a bite of pig ears. So now that I've tried them, I never have to do THAT again.<br />
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The trip turned out to be really fun. I didn't feel great, but was able to take some breaks throughout the day. It's another opportunity that I never would have expected, but am so grateful to have experienced.<br />
Here's another video that Sam created of our trip. <a href="http://vimeo.com/93363589">http://vimeo.com/93363589</a><br />
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Oh, the roasted cinnamon almonds. What will I do without them???</div>
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Middle School boys. They just can't help it. :)</div>
sam and katie mirkovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801768826702513987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160638480751331348.post-19775215121863139512014-06-29T13:27:00.001-07:002014-06-29T13:27:05.769-07:00always a good ideaI'm tempted to say that I just can't believe that I didn't write about spring break trip to Paris, but really I can believe it. This spring has been crazy. Between applying for jobs, interviewing for jobs, finishing my ProTeach, finishing the school year, making it through the first trimester...the blog just took the back seat. So before we leave Europe, I feel I must write a little post about Paris.<div>
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We knew that this would be our "last trip in Europe," so the pressure was on. The choice was Spain or Paris. I really wanted to visit Spain, but Sam has always had a dream of spending one whole week in Paris, just wandering the streets. In the end, Paris was it. We booked our tickets in February and settled on a cute little place in Montmartre. The only catch was that it was on the 6th floor (read: 7 flights of stairs.) But that was okay, we're young, we're spry, why not?</div>
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Well obviously that was before I found out I was pregnant. It turns out that walking up 7 flights of stairs after touring Paris all day by foot while in your first trimester is a very. bad. idea. The Paris trip that I had pictured in my mind was not really the Paris trip that came to be. During this time, I was very nauseous, very tired, and my superhero power was the power of smell. Every smell in Paris was completely magnified. Yes, the boulangeries and patisseries smelled wonderful, but there was also the smell of urine, the subway, and various other unidentifiable yet gag-worthy smells. Also while pregnant, there are a variety of foods and drinks that are off limits. All that delicious French cheese? Only if it's not soft and for sure pasteurized. You'd like to go to coffee for a second time in the day? I'll have to have a decaf (which is pretty much pointless when you're spending $5 on a macchiato). </div>
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So it wasn't exactly the trip I had imagined, but Paris is still Paris. We strolled along the Seine, went to the Louvre, the Musee D'Orsay, and the Musee de l'Orangerie. We tried a new baguette every day and scrutinized the differences between each. We walked and walked and then walked some more and enjoyed living the Parisian lifestyle for a week.</div>
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Stairs, stairs, and more stairs</div>
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Our view for the week</div>
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Montmartre-near where we stayed</div>
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Tuileries Garden</div>
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Prego lady</div>
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Sacre Couer</div>
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Notre Dame</div>
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View from the Louvre</div>
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Musee D'Orsay</div>
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I thought Paris would be a good place to make the big announcement. :)</div>
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11 weeks</div>
sam and katie mirkovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801768826702513987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160638480751331348.post-19409490748672206302014-06-26T05:29:00.003-07:002014-06-26T23:35:26.996-07:00Mrkvica; How Our Mali Mirkovich Came To Be<div>
When we decided to move to Croatia, the decision was made for a lot of reasons. We wanted to know more about where Sam's family had come from, we wanted the experience of living in another culture, we wanted the opportunity to travel. But for me, I wanted a break. I was teaching at a school that had kind of sucked the love of teaching out of me. I went through a year of heartbreaking fertility treatments and came out feeling like having our own biological child was not a possibility for us. I just wanted a break. </div>
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So our first year here was a break from that reality. We didn't really talk about what we were going to do: fertility treatments, adoption, etc. We just traveled and ate and played and worked. But after that year was up, I was also getting closer to that big 3-0 birthday, the time where you reflect on your life and think about what's next. I can't say I really WANTED to go back to a fertility clinic because my previous experience was so awful, but I knew that if I really wanted a baby, I had to just get over it. So I began my research. I was fortunate enough to have someone here who had gone through the process of fertility treatments and who was willing to open up to me about her experiences. It's something that I've found can instantly draw people together. When you find someone else who has been in your shoes, who has had the exact same feelings and experienced the exact same things, it's extremely comforting. </div>
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I made an appointment and Sam and I went to meet the doctor. I was a little nervous because I've heard that Croatian doctors don't necessarily have the kindest bedside manner. I was even more nervous when we went in his office, he told us to have a seat, I handed him my paperwork from my previous clinic and he proceeded to read over the paperwork in silence for what felt like forever. I remember looking over at Sam and having to stifle my nervous laughter. But eventually, he looked up and started talking to us, wanting to know more about why these 2 Americans were sitting in his office. We explained Sam's history and the fact that we worked at the American International School. It turns out that his daughter had just started at our school. He also told us how both of his parents were professors and how he knew that teachers don't get paid a lot of money. So right away, he said he'd like to give us a 50% discount on our medical treatment. I was floored. This could not be more different than our previous experience! My last appointment at the clinic in Bellevue included going over a flier with a Dr. showing how they had a "Buy 2, get the 3rd treatment free" deal going on for their $28,000 IVF treatment. I had a good feeling about this doctor.</div>
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He did not agree with a lot of the findings of my previous clinic and wanted to run more tests. In the end, he thought that we should begin by trying an IUI procedure (for the sake of those not wanting the gory details, I'll let you Google that one yourself). I asked him how much the procedure would cost and he said (and I quote), "You'll have to ask the front desk. I really don't know what it costs." Again...this was not the Bellevue clinic. </div>
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So at the end of November, I had the procedure done. It was harmless and I was feeling overwhelmingly hopeful that it was going to work. On December 14th, I took a pregnancy test. It was negative. That day, we went to Graz, Austria to celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary. I remember going to work on Monday and barely keeping it together. I, of course, had told my friends that we were doing the procedure and they were all hoping for the best with me. I have a hard time deciding if it's better to tell people or not when you're going through something like that. The support is of course wonderful, but when it doesn't work, you feel like you've failed and now you have to go tell everyone that you failed. I know that's probably not rational, but that's honestly how I felt. </div>
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We went back to Washington for Christmas a week later. I remember standing in the bedroom in my parents' house, where they kept the crib for my brother and sister-in-law when they visit. My mom cried with me and prayed that when I came home in the summer that I would have a little baby belly.</div>
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At the beginning of February, I went back into the Dr. He wanted me to try another round, this time with fertility medicine and then an ITI procedure (again, feel free to Google.) So I started taking pills and giving myself injections everyday. On February 15th, I went in for the procedure. This one did hurt, but only shortly and probably because I just wasn't expecting it. Again, I was sent home to wait. I really must say at this point that I am where I am right now because I pray. I pray a lot. And during that time, I was no longer begging and pleading for a baby. I used to pray for just what I wanted. But now I know it's more about having a change of heart. Knowing that God's plan is perfect and my plan is not. I was honestly, finally at the point that I was saying, Lord if this is your will for this to happen now, I pray that it would happen. And if not, please help me to know what to do next. </div>
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On March 1st, I woke Sam up so he could come check the pregnancy test with me. When I first looked at it, all I saw was a big fat <b>- </b>. But Sam said he really thought there was a faint second line. We looked at that test from every possible angle, trying to decipher what it meant. So I called my Dr. and he sent me to Petrova Hospital to get a blood sample done. We went into the hospital and said we were here for a blood test. They told us that they don't do blood tests on Saturdays and that we'd have to come back. I started feeling a bit frantic. We asked someone else who was waiting if they spoke English, and they tried to talk to the nurse. She still said no. So then I said, "Dr. Simunic sent me." "Oh!" she exclaimed, "Come with me!" He's a pretty big deal (you can Google him, too if you'd like). One of the strange things that you need to do in Croatia is sometimes you have to take your blood sample with you to other buildings. So there I was with my vile of blood, walking over to the building next door. I dropped it off and they said it would be about an hour.<br />
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Sam and I walked down to Kvaternikov Trg, bought some daffodils and tulips and had a coffee. When we got home, I received a text message from my doctor. It said, "It is positive. 75 what is good. Hope it will be OK." Um, I really needed something a bit more concrete, so I wrote back, "What does 75 mean?" He wrote, "You are pregnant." Well, that's good enough for me!<br />
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I was excited, but also cautious. I had been in this place before, 4 times. I knew that a positive on a pregnancy test did not equal a baby. But nevertheless, I couldn't help but be hopeful. I called my parents (in the middle of the night) and my sister. I waited a little longer to call my brother, since they have 3 little kids and I knew I didn't want to be the reason to wake them in the middle of the night. That night, I made a mushroom risotto from Shauna Niequist's, "Bread and Wine," book. She also dealt with infertility and it seemed like the perfect dinner to celebrate the occasion.<br />
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I don't really know why it took us 5 years to get to this point. And it definitely didn't seem worth it, while I was in the midst of the muck of it all. But somehow, when you get to the other side and are able to look back, you see things that weren't clear at the time. When we first started trying to have kids, I really don't think that Sam was 100% ready. He still wanted to travel, he still wanted to have freedom, and it really wasn't the best time for both of us. I also know that if things would have happened according to my plan, we wouldn't have moved to Croatia, wouldn't have travelled so many places, and wouldn't have met the people who will now be life-long friends. Sam and I are lucky that we've had each other for the past 10 years. We have grown closer, know each other better, and have lived out an adventurous life together. And really, sometimes waiting makes it that much sweeter. I don't take any day for granted. I thank God every time I feel that little baby kick me and every time we go to the Dr. and he says everything looks good. I know that this is not a given. That not everyone gets to experience this. And for that, my heart overflows with joy.<br />
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Mali Mrkvica in front of the family Mirkovi<span class="st">ch</span> house in Veli Rat, Dugi Otok</div>
<br />sam and katie mirkovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801768826702513987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160638480751331348.post-37724244147688888702014-03-15T13:20:00.002-07:002014-03-16T00:52:58.406-07:00Adventures: Rovinj, Oslo, Sarajevo, Budapest, and AmsterdamI suppose 6 months is long enough. Somehow this year has just been flying by. And instead of everything feeling new and blog-worthy, we've developed a kind of rhythm that makes living in Croatia feel normal. We know enough of the language to get by, we've developed a tough skin, and we're (more or less) used to being the dumb Americans. But as I look at the calendar, I'm realizing what a short time we still have here. We'll be packing up and heading back to the States in July, not sure where exactly we'll land but I trust that God has that part figured out for us.<br />
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So now I think it's time to look back at some of the highlights of our year so far (and by year, I mean school year because my years are measured from August to July.)<br />
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<b><u>Rovinj</u></b><br />
For my birthday my friends Christie, Kelly, Nikki, Kate, and Andrea (also celebrating her 30th birthday) planned a weekend trip to one of my favorite coastal towns, Rovinj. The first night, Christie surprised both Andrea and I with Chinese lanterns to set off over the Adriatic. Later that night, Kate made a pumpkin pie (my favorite and also very difficult to make in Croatia since you can't find all the ingredients). We spent the rest of the weekend soaking up the September sun.<br />
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Kate, Kelly, and Christie</div>
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Nikki, me, and Andrea-about to enjoy some mussels!</div>
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Andrea setting off her magical 30th birthday lantern</div>
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Me setting off my lantern</div>
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Cheesy family portrait</div>
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Workin' it</div>
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I love this picture. :)</div>
<b><u>Oslo</u></b><br />
For my 30th birthday, Sam told me to pack my bags and my passport. I had no idea where I was going. We woke up, had coffee and croissants and got in the car. Instead of taking the exit to the Zagreb airport, we kept driving towards to coast. We drove to the island of Krk and arrived at the Rijeka airport. I boarded the plane, still not sure of exactly where I was going. Once we were airborne, the flight attendant informed us that we were headed to Oslo, Norway. Norway was never a place that I'd considered going to, which was why it was such a great choice.<br />
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Oslo Opera House</div>
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We stayed in a tiny apartment that Sam found on Airbnb. We wandered through the old parts of town, as well as the modern part, right along the water. I was surprised by how diverse Oslo was. Different types of architecture, different cultures. I guess I didn't really even have a picture in my head of what Oslo would look like. I kept looking around thinking, "So this is Norway."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOikaR07R4lMtpNc0TQNAaTOLpv9URi75zDZqZISjd4RE34ZyYDYZCzKHd5XHr0R5qGqLEWE6r96YMACmpPW1MQ-zXwg6MXUcli2BVSX1-mVV_iS9-IGWNW0nNEKdNBwEgQMd0VbWl4Lw/s1600/IMG_5241.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOikaR07R4lMtpNc0TQNAaTOLpv9URi75zDZqZISjd4RE34ZyYDYZCzKHd5XHr0R5qGqLEWE6r96YMACmpPW1MQ-zXwg6MXUcli2BVSX1-mVV_iS9-IGWNW0nNEKdNBwEgQMd0VbWl4Lw/s1600/IMG_5241.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a>The one thing that we were completely unaware of was how expensive everything would be. I guess it was named the most expensive city in the world for several years in a row. By expensive I mean it was $10 for a tall white chocolate mocha from Starbucks. $20 for a Whopper from Burger King. Needless to say, we bought a lot of Top Ramen at the shop around the corner and cooked it in our kitchen.<br />
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I love surprises and this one definitely takes the cake. I never imagined that I would be on a plane to an unknown destination on my 30th birthday. It's an amazing memory and I'm so thankful to Sam for making it happen.<br />
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<b><u>Sarajevo</u></b><br />
I remember watching stories about Sarajevo on the news when I was in elementary school. When we decided to move to Croatia, we learned more about the war and of course about the fighting in Sarajevo. We felt like it was something that we needed to see, to better understand what the people in the former Yugoslavia went through. When you are in the outskirts of the town, the damage is still widely visible. The buildings are covered in holes from mortar shells.<br />
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Sarajevo is a really interesting mix of Austro-Hungarian architecture as well as an influence from the Ottoman Empire. It's east meets west. </div>
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Memorial for the children killed in the war</div>
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Latin Bridge</div>
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The best ćevapčići is in Sarajevo. </div>
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I was surprised by how much I loved this city. The people there were so strong and kind. We had a conversation with a woman who worked at Čajdžinica Džirlo (a tea shop). She was talking about how the war affected everyone who lived in Sarajevo. She said that people are joyful and thankful here because they know what it used to be like and they're thankful for what they have today.<br />
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We also took a walking tour led by a graduate student. He was in elementary school during the war. As he walked us through the city, he stopped and told stories of how his mom had to run down the street to get to work everyday, scared of sniper bullets. He talked about how much he hated the food that was provided by the UN. He pointed out where the bombs went off and explained how many people were killed.<br />
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Sarajevo Rose-holes left behind by </div>
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mortar shells were filled in with red </div>
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resin as memorials throughout the city.</div>
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Sarajevo is beautiful, hopeful, with a past that can't be overlooked. That trip holds a very special place in my memory.<br />
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<b><u>Budapest</u></b><br />
Another year, another Croatian family Thanksgiving! Our friends Kelly, Kate, Ian, and Christie all took the 5 hour train ride to Budapest, Hungary. We rented a house and enjoyed our long weekend. We had ribs for Thanksgiving dinner and continued our tradition of going around the table and saying what we were thankful for. We walked through the flat side of Pest and the hilly side of Buda. We visited the Christmas markets and went on a couple of walking tours. On our final day, Sam and I took a bus to Szechenyi Baths. After the awkwardness of figuring out how the lockers worked and realizing we didn't have enough cash for towels, it was very enjoyable.<br />
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On the train</div>
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Just like last year!</div>
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Christmas Markets</div>
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<span style="text-align: start;">Szechenyi Baths</span></div>
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<b><u>Amsterdam</u></b><br />
Every year the Croatian schools have a break called "Ski Week" in February. Maybe it's just me, but by February, the last thing I want to do is spend a week in the snow! We decided to use some airline reward miles to book a trip to Amsterdam, a place that's been on Sam's list since I met him. We stayed in an apartment right on one of the canals. Once again, we trusted our walking tours app to guide us around the city. It feels a little like Venice with all of the canals, but the architecture is completely different.<br />
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I loved all the house boats on the canals</div>
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Everybody has a lock bridge now.</div>
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When in Holland...</div>
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For some reason, I just like this one better upside down.</div>
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A parking garage for bikes!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqD5EHd00czbZCQrBI9z2323yAxA81rEgJ9rvUG8rVoCh1gyR57NvpQz07qZGPA8lrBjPFd9dlB4JCybT-HHD3_jdxYgy3KqUhY7aP5kiC7OiFr0VxYa4m7nGrX_dkeYJ360-ijZObbY0/s1600/DSC_5834.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqD5EHd00czbZCQrBI9z2323yAxA81rEgJ9rvUG8rVoCh1gyR57NvpQz07qZGPA8lrBjPFd9dlB4JCybT-HHD3_jdxYgy3KqUhY7aP5kiC7OiFr0VxYa4m7nGrX_dkeYJ360-ijZObbY0/s1600/DSC_5834.jpg" height="400" width="263" /></a>On our third day, we went to the Van Gogh museum and the Rijksmuseum. The Van Gogh museum was amazing. It told the whole story of his life. Being that he is Sam's favorite artist, it was a place he has always wanted to visit.<br />
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We also visited the Anne Frank House. We walked through the hidden passageway behind the bookcase where they lived for over 2 years. We got to walk through each of their rooms and see the pictures that Anne had glued on the wall. Finally we saw their papers that admitted them to the concentration camp and heard stories of how Anne died of Typhus just weeks before the camp was liberated by British troops. Inside the house, you could hear the church bells that Anne talks about in her diary. What a surreal experience.<br />
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In between all of these trips, we have actually been working. :) I have a class of 17, 11 of them boys and they definitely keep me on my toes. And Sam continues to amaze as an art teacher. We've continued to make great memories with the people that we work with. I know that we'll always look back at this time on our lives and remember just how wonderful it was.sam and katie mirkovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801768826702513987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160638480751331348.post-51570920215290605322013-09-18T13:36:00.001-07:002013-11-06T02:55:28.674-08:00In My TwentiesIn my 20's<br />
<br />
I got married to a sweet boy named Sam.<br />
I graduated from college with a degree in Elementary Education.<br />
I bought my first house.<br />
<br />
I got my first teaching job at Adams Elementary<br />
and taught over 150 kids.<br />
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I lived in Colorado for about 3 weeks before abandoning the idea completely.<br />
I lived in Yakima for 6 years and got my first dog from the pound.<br />
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I traveled to Yellowstone, down the California coastline,<br />
to Maui, Kauai, and New York City.<br />
I went on a "once in a lifetime" trip to Europe.<br />
<br />
I moved to a country thousands of miles away from home.<br />
I visited 12 countries in one year.<br />
<br />
I lost my grandmother 2 months after marrying my best friend. <br />
I lost my grandfather 2 months after moving to Croatia.<br />
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I lost 4 babies<br />
and am starting the journey to find a way of having a family of my own.<br />
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I have learned to be more thankful,<br />
to not take things for granted,<br />
to look at my feet and enjoy where I'm at.<br />
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I feel blessed to have lived the life I've been given so far<br />
and can't wait to see what the next decade brings.<br />
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<br />sam and katie mirkovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801768826702513987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160638480751331348.post-12867128674871669132013-07-16T22:49:00.001-07:002013-07-16T22:49:29.567-07:00365 Photo ChallengeA year ago today, I started a photo challenge. I decided to take a picture every day to document our year. A little daunting, yes. But I'm happy to say that I was successful. Some days I really had to search for something to take a picture of. Those days I mostly ended up with pictures of food or pictures of Lucy. :) I love being able to look back and remember all the adventures we've had. Below are the screen shots of all the pictures I took. Now I'm in the middle of the overwhelming task of putting them all together into a book. Luckily I still have a few weeks left in the States to get it done!<br />
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sam and katie mirkovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801768826702513987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160638480751331348.post-3968277657033248802013-04-29T13:01:00.005-07:002013-04-29T13:01:48.526-07:00Moscow with Middle SchoolersI've gone on field trips before. I've been to the Capitol Theater in Yakima to see Junie B. Jones. I've been to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. I even flew on a JAL flight in Moses Lake in the 6th grade. But I never thought I'd take a field trip to Moscow. As in Russia. <br />
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But there I was, sitting in the terminal of the Zagreb airport with 7 squirrelly middle schoolers, getting ready to board a plane to Moscow. The traveling to and from was what worried me the most. I had one teacher say she took a group of kids on an overseas trip and was very careful about keeping tabs on their passports. She had given a student their passport while they were waiting in line at the baggage check and in that short span of about 3 minutes, she managed to misplace her passport. So of course, I was overly paranoid about the same thing happening to me. We weren't just traveling to any old country either. This is Russia. You need to be invited by the Embassy and get a visa just to visit for 4 days. I was constantly passing out passports right before they needed them and snatching them back up as soon as they were finished. <br />
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We flew first to Frankfurt and then on to Moscow. I hate going through Frankfurt because they make you go through security again, even when you're just transferring planes. I don't know what they think I could have done in between one airport and the next, but apparently they don't trust that bottle of water that I bought in the Zagreb airport. We landed in Moscow at about 10:45 at night and headed out to find the driver from the Anglo-American School who was going to drive us to the hotel. The first night, the kids had to stay in the same hotel with us since we were getting in so late. We had another hour in the mini bus before we arrived at a very, how shall I say, "Soviet?" looking hotel. We gave strict instructions to these middle schoolers to go straight to their rooms and not to venture out until the next morning. We headed to our room and realized that we didn't know if the water in Moscow was drinkable. Sam went down to the restaurant and asked for 2 bottles of water. It cost 590 Rubles. After walking away and doing the math, Sam realized that it was roughly 13 Euros for those 2 bottles of water. He went back and returned the bottles, got a little attitude from a grumpy waiter, and we drank the water from the tap, hoping for the best. We finally got to bed at about 1:30 in the morning.<br />
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The next morning, the bus picked us up at 7:30 in the morning. Moscow is 2 hours ahead of Zagreb. I try not to psyche myself out with time change, but that morning I was struggling with the lack of sleep. We took the mini bus to the school. When we got to the school, my first thought was that the school was huge. It has a theater, big classrooms, nicely decorated hallways, a cafeteria that serves a variety of food (including sushi!) and an espresso bar. We met with the other coaches and headed to the opening ceremony of the conference. The whole theme of the conference was "Mission to Moscow." They tied the whole "spy" thing into everything we did. From playing "Skyfall" as we walked in to James Bond themed t-shirts to having us create "surveillance" maps of our cities. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The map that Sam's kids made of Zagreb</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcOlabmK4EWLpZY5_5pKciuI1J-aOeSfq-xOLRBUm8RuR7Ta8e6eUjK3Nn-sP4CEEM_oXOZnmNelqeUCkk3AZeMNGYWDkkz7UaCQ4c0b9pvYccQnb36qSTlrCqCzNlXabopj7ho5naYiw/s1600/IMG_1880.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcOlabmK4EWLpZY5_5pKciuI1J-aOeSfq-xOLRBUm8RuR7Ta8e6eUjK3Nn-sP4CEEM_oXOZnmNelqeUCkk3AZeMNGYWDkkz7UaCQ4c0b9pvYccQnb36qSTlrCqCzNlXabopj7ho5naYiw/s400/IMG_1880.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Map made by the students in Moscow</td></tr>
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First we headed to Bunker 42 which is 18 floors underground and was built during the Cold War. We got a guided tour of the bunker and learned a lot of information about the Cold War. Very interesting to hear the information from Russia's standpoint. It was absolutely fascinating. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNvM2d2zVIQkDgmf9ie72jPUjJow95wKVIAadP21PNXKhK9sZnIF3uR1nZ_8-HK8KRGiKBe0MzxDue_pIgFA1dMzQbowwSOgD2sNFcI5M2EuHRGBt9yt3raPCLumAl5qOR3mp-nktHavM/s1600/DSC_3477.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNvM2d2zVIQkDgmf9ie72jPUjJow95wKVIAadP21PNXKhK9sZnIF3uR1nZ_8-HK8KRGiKBe0MzxDue_pIgFA1dMzQbowwSOgD2sNFcI5M2EuHRGBt9yt3raPCLumAl5qOR3mp-nktHavM/s400/DSC_3477.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The entrance to the bunker</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwizqgg3wa55OkkNPD_KKdNZICNip_OAcaTeGPRj6QxoOYJykkgWCv4aaIHH6Er0MevtpiIlGcB7L5u1iigij-qVgjaLxWV1D2rusKPBJC412IsovL-x3FBLZ547cN_6oj7bSrGYdmWfY/s1600/DSC_3505.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwizqgg3wa55OkkNPD_KKdNZICNip_OAcaTeGPRj6QxoOYJykkgWCv4aaIHH6Er0MevtpiIlGcB7L5u1iigij-qVgjaLxWV1D2rusKPBJC412IsovL-x3FBLZ547cN_6oj7bSrGYdmWfY/s400/DSC_3505.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii7mndualuaeORc7R0omS3d5bE0ZLeoIhubN2u605UPbGrqFCysz_O5JhKSj8ku40t2pJgyimBbo-5LJhqD4Zp1TCIrr-wUygxrbNdO_usjEnU8XynEMASP4eZssNiLWd_VdpRjwzK2q0/s1600/DSC_3496.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii7mndualuaeORc7R0omS3d5bE0ZLeoIhubN2u605UPbGrqFCysz_O5JhKSj8ku40t2pJgyimBbo-5LJhqD4Zp1TCIrr-wUygxrbNdO_usjEnU8XynEMASP4eZssNiLWd_VdpRjwzK2q0/s320/DSC_3496.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They let the kids simulate the activation of a nuclear weapon...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRYXmvhpl4XgyKkyszcLp-_rGfPjmPHSfHidAxSuhrlp6Yg2XO2TdXG0FoXx5dPy3T_oWxGHN0PxQIHdPwL9exKu_I5HAH7c2dVhj5ADa8QOaN17nERhYoLf9IZhImdKwQZYstJjUS7IY/s1600/DSC_3511.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRYXmvhpl4XgyKkyszcLp-_rGfPjmPHSfHidAxSuhrlp6Yg2XO2TdXG0FoXx5dPy3T_oWxGHN0PxQIHdPwL9exKu_I5HAH7c2dVhj5ADa8QOaN17nERhYoLf9IZhImdKwQZYstJjUS7IY/s320/DSC_3511.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And play with Soviet guns</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvRdiqo_H9uKYimvmtgainFHuVwnnf1o0kc2y5iiMl7GNUevcjSsLmyNVbz0keQdokFmefDjyomWuLvz_1-476z3VQnko9v1-Hvup4qEA3aJXHuObal03vYSnZndmxYPnBMjAEUe9ZrUo/s1600/DSC_3513.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvRdiqo_H9uKYimvmtgainFHuVwnnf1o0kc2y5iiMl7GNUevcjSsLmyNVbz0keQdokFmefDjyomWuLvz_1-476z3VQnko9v1-Hvup4qEA3aJXHuObal03vYSnZndmxYPnBMjAEUe9ZrUo/s320/DSC_3513.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And don gas masks</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEPOWi4aC1WTjZQBAHE8zL9gflLrXduuvekLyvcwI9R3IHQbGHpAewN1QiCZ5eimqHsePStfIf7ObVioUYP253EkdE4hcWTAfxsr2gqjF1U73btwy6TbHf3JT333jlro_YNus9kNShKWE/s1600/IMG_4600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEPOWi4aC1WTjZQBAHE8zL9gflLrXduuvekLyvcwI9R3IHQbGHpAewN1QiCZ5eimqHsePStfIf7ObVioUYP253EkdE4hcWTAfxsr2gqjF1U73btwy6TbHf3JT333jlro_YNus9kNShKWE/s320/IMG_4600.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lots of propaganda posters </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy-TDBg-ZJ3EiImjXCDhPT8O0Ts8RKqtgMHw3TZLWHrJU1yUXMAY0nty-4spOPMkmnaXwqWGvcpVQeXxqqNbE-ZidcrVJahSr6qCIJIxHPRvxihe_NX7ESMdT-fkxG4S6e3_E7kjM1nmk/s1600/IMG_4620.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy-TDBg-ZJ3EiImjXCDhPT8O0Ts8RKqtgMHw3TZLWHrJU1yUXMAY0nty-4spOPMkmnaXwqWGvcpVQeXxqqNbE-ZidcrVJahSr6qCIJIxHPRvxihe_NX7ESMdT-fkxG4S6e3_E7kjM1nmk/s640/IMG_4620.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The hallway in the bunker</td></tr>
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Next, we headed to Red Square. The kids from the Anglo American School of Moscow gave us a tour of some of the famous sites. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXyRokmUOe82jAdyktnCaWJx0tRuQwYiWDH7tpKd03s2w1S46eDdGIBouYjHJf_76fpWcK37-AJ_ndZoaWGWtlqOVUjXa7A8q4TNCIXhje0RPJV7tRfqxvLkUQafWgZpN0Zvq8r1oQjMY/s1600/DSC_3535.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXyRokmUOe82jAdyktnCaWJx0tRuQwYiWDH7tpKd03s2w1S46eDdGIBouYjHJf_76fpWcK37-AJ_ndZoaWGWtlqOVUjXa7A8q4TNCIXhje0RPJV7tRfqxvLkUQafWgZpN0Zvq8r1oQjMY/s640/DSC_3535.jpg" width="384" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTZ2XZN49YHP_-75tYy1kGNvF5KhGcCHTkw7ElC9GMQHGJ9JFkjB72T1sNmDlmzJHQJuc6R7kXKrHl91vkBIeWwjrgg8LBocgJ3yVamhC6KuvtpA4aDf4RZDyQ9suuWHuWdeYfqgrAnTs/s1600/DSC_3540.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTZ2XZN49YHP_-75tYy1kGNvF5KhGcCHTkw7ElC9GMQHGJ9JFkjB72T1sNmDlmzJHQJuc6R7kXKrHl91vkBIeWwjrgg8LBocgJ3yVamhC6KuvtpA4aDf4RZDyQ9suuWHuWdeYfqgrAnTs/s400/DSC_3540.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gum Mall</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheJJxRQ9kyo_K5lxS-U5SnqVgzeBBSWqPtDuI0oLp9GNEK4o7PIqUCPn4vj8yeOl7P-4gqtdjBfDsnapkmlKcHvAl5XtqoqyJYT2SIbLuf6OCNk4Ad4QW346JRJQodqPW55U4E53lhKn4/s1600/DSC_3568.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheJJxRQ9kyo_K5lxS-U5SnqVgzeBBSWqPtDuI0oLp9GNEK4o7PIqUCPn4vj8yeOl7P-4gqtdjBfDsnapkmlKcHvAl5XtqoqyJYT2SIbLuf6OCNk4Ad4QW346JRJQodqPW55U4E53lhKn4/s640/DSC_3568.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 7</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijAEa4e8YUFzTkuyOTdOR2uF0ozdD0-zLYciAoNjAym04hoNB-mRdRvCjZmue5C4fZN-v95-UA2RCSsJLi2xGydBHF1qli6Qqk_ac8kJJeyCW7amJNixyeQjBNTZHEtmYmN5VqFMaKM8A/s1600/DSC_3589.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijAEa4e8YUFzTkuyOTdOR2uF0ozdD0-zLYciAoNjAym04hoNB-mRdRvCjZmue5C4fZN-v95-UA2RCSsJLi2xGydBHF1qli6Qqk_ac8kJJeyCW7amJNixyeQjBNTZHEtmYmN5VqFMaKM8A/s640/DSC_3589.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St. Basil's</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwcD_cyRHDG3SYcZAozO1z2VFUzCkwuWnWDj5a-BOKY46NA98EcX1bU-PJivkiQfvyuU4799a9Z5K8L6Sk8xfNUIWDlMBcTIikoXHxaUum8A8bnfQEBe5AknAdMX2FgEX9voki1tZ_kT0/s1600/IMG_4605.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwcD_cyRHDG3SYcZAozO1z2VFUzCkwuWnWDj5a-BOKY46NA98EcX1bU-PJivkiQfvyuU4799a9Z5K8L6Sk8xfNUIWDlMBcTIikoXHxaUum8A8bnfQEBe5AknAdMX2FgEX9voki1tZ_kT0/s320/IMG_4605.jpg" width="242" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It looks like it should be in Disneyland. Or Candyland.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWMojZSScOyeDXDrdC3r-dCekiEVd3JqE3iHC2adFlGRms8roeNdCeedaTLo8bTo7XthkpupQ99d-JMOYjEUKOKXZB6V7DQTCbwOEUXgkI7aaSsZvMQpe_ibQEO53j-7VhlCz3NA2-1GA/s1600/IMG_4611.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWMojZSScOyeDXDrdC3r-dCekiEVd3JqE3iHC2adFlGRms8roeNdCeedaTLo8bTo7XthkpupQ99d-JMOYjEUKOKXZB6V7DQTCbwOEUXgkI7aaSsZvMQpe_ibQEO53j-7VhlCz3NA2-1GA/s320/IMG_4611.jpg" width="239" /></a><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrSb5eD5Imodpl34HA-VKC_5Q18xU4d0PeZNPLSA9hdDxEILXn0ZKyo8uY2H1SDpiJz6JQ8AkolEWYDnaxmRCH3B3oxPyg8775HVD8YPCMV2AM7QrCcrGcs2oQjyZvlEFA7HYbxBAkABM/s1600/IMG_4604.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="483" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrSb5eD5Imodpl34HA-VKC_5Q18xU4d0PeZNPLSA9hdDxEILXn0ZKyo8uY2H1SDpiJz6JQ8AkolEWYDnaxmRCH3B3oxPyg8775HVD8YPCMV2AM7QrCcrGcs2oQjyZvlEFA7HYbxBAkABM/s640/IMG_4604.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The changing of the guard outside the Tomb on the Unknown Soldier. <br />The guards' kicks seemed much higher here than in the U.S.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_1d2X3lOoDvhCYDt3SsmeqEcEaJgqe0qBUKlQpAjEqt_E-obhZt14h67T_F5-aH33sJ3qWO1uUZb6l6i810RezPJHU6rbpULAB0yTGuSu9PY-9Dwwc8C_tfonf5ocklBQ0cHe4DPjDGw/s1600/IMG_4628.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_1d2X3lOoDvhCYDt3SsmeqEcEaJgqe0qBUKlQpAjEqt_E-obhZt14h67T_F5-aH33sJ3qWO1uUZb6l6i810RezPJHU6rbpULAB0yTGuSu9PY-9Dwwc8C_tfonf5ocklBQ0cHe4DPjDGw/s400/IMG_4628.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Bolshoi Theater</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Kremlin</td></tr>
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That night, the kids got to go to a "social" that the PTO put together. Again they tied in the theme and called it, "Casino Royale." They had casino games, mocktails, dancing, and games. Luckily for us, we didn't have to stay. :) Instead we took the metro, navigated reading the Cyrillic alphabet and spent some time wandering around Moscow. I thought Croatian was hard to navigate but Russian made Croatian look like a piece of cake. There is not much translated (nothing in the Metro station) so you really needed to have an idea of what you were looking for. Thankfully the school had printed out a couple handouts to tell us which stops to look for. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Starbucks in Cyrillic</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sam and I snuck up to a bar on the top floor of the Ritz Carlton to see the view. Drinks here were about 800 Rubles (about $25 for a drink). That was just a bit out of our price range. <br /> We were told by a teacher at the school that a lot of restaurants in town have "face recognition." Meaning if they don't know you or you just don't look like you have the right kind of money, they won't even let you into their establishment. Sam obviously looked fancy enough in his backwards Mariners baseball hat. :)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red Square at night</td></tr>
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On Saturday morning, we went to Всероссийский выставочный центр, otherwise known as the All-Russian Exhibition Center. This park and exhibition center was basically built to glorify the ideology of communism and socialism. There are pavilions for each of the Republics of the Soviet Union. Now it's a little run down and is used mostly as a theme park and place to sell odds and ends. While we were there, we were split into various teams and had to complete a photo scavenger hunt. Sam and I ended up with a team of students from Vienna, Warsaw, Budapest, and Zagreb. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the photos from the scavenger hunt</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Statue of Lenin</td></tr>
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That night, the students went back with their host families and the coaches went out to dinner for authentic Georgian food. We had a great time talking to the teachers from the schools in Vienna, Warsaw, Budapest, Sophia, and Kiev. It's always interesting to swap stories about other international schools and what life is like in these various countries. <br />
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Sunday morning we were taken to a very odd market. It's an outdoor market, but it's outside of these Disneyland-ish buildings. It was super weird. There was a flea market upstairs and then other vendors downstairs selling everything from babushka hats to nesting dolls. I've definitely never been anywhere like it. It was no Disneyland, I'll just say that.<br />
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That afternoon, we maneuvered through the very crowded and chaotic airport in Moscow. I've never had so many people cut in line! It was terrible! Once we were settled in the plane, a woman came and told one of our kids that they were sitting in her seat. The woman could have been polite. She could have been patient. She could have listened when I said that I was sorry, that we were traveling in a group and that I must have made a mistake. But she didn't listen. She did however, try to take the tickets out of my hand to try to prove that I was wrong. I'm just not sure what happens to people in airports and airplanes, but they tend to go a little nuts. Are you going to die if you're in 28B instead of 29B? Aren't we all going to the same place? It reminds me of my fourth graders when they fight about where they are in line. Yes, I had made a mistake and my student needed to move back one row. But let me just say (to all my 10 blog readers) that if you are ever in the same situation, please have pity on the sleep deprived teacher who is trying to get a group of kids safely from one country to another. And settle down about your seat assignment.<br />
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We landed in Vienna and had about 15 minutes until our next plane was boarding. Once again, we had to go through security. Traveling with just Sam and me through security is stressful enough, with our iPad, computer, phones, camera, etc. But trying to get us and 7 middle schoolers to try and hustle through security is another story. Since we were in a hurry, I let the kids hold onto their passports and boarding passes from the security security check to the plane. In that time, one student dropped their boarding pass on the moving walkway and another dropped hers on the bus to the plane. Seriously?!? Luckily, Sam noticed one and I noticed the other.<br />
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Through lots of answered prayers, we arrived back in Zagreb and were greeted by 7 sets of parents. <br />
As we walked to the taxi, we high-fived the fact that we didn't lose any passports or any kids. :)<br />
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<br />sam and katie mirkovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801768826702513987noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160638480751331348.post-54402332990710351782013-04-21T12:28:00.001-07:002013-04-29T13:02:28.632-07:00Spring<span style="font-size: large;">Well, I guess we kind of hibernated on our blog this winter...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Winter has been looooooooooonng. Lots of grey skies, snow, cold, seemingly endless. How do I end up living in places with long winters when I prefer that winter lasts for about a month? I would prefer the first snowfall to be after Thanksgiving dinner, then snow on the ground until Christmas, snow all day on Christmas day, then spring to begin on New Years Day. Is that too much to ask?!? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Definitely seeing a tropical location for our next move. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Anyways, first let's rewind to "ski" week, or in our case, "search-for-the-sun" week. We decided to ditch the ski slopes for the sun of Lisbon, Portugal. Portugal has been on my list of places I wanted to see since my brother went there years ago. We found a place on Airbnb in the Alfama district. We flew in and caught a taxi to meet the owner of the apartment. We started off by having black pork-delicious! The neighborhood was amazing. Tiny, winding streets that meander up and down the countless hills. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Lisbon is beautiful. Not so much in the typical "European" beautiful sense. It's a little grittier than any other city I've been to in Europe. Sam was asked if he wanted to buy pot several times a day. Lots of graffiti (well that part is typical). But I absolutely loved the architecture and the feeling of Lisbon. The tiles (obsessed), the Fado music, the food, the views, the trolleys. It reminded me of San Francisco. And the best part? Sun. :) </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who's that guy??</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the gondola</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Celebrating being together for 10 years at Starbucks, where it all began.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Caisas</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Fast forward a month and a half to April. My parents joined us for 2 and a half weeks! We drove them through Slovenia, Italy, and Croatia. I love me a road trip! :) We started by going to Ljubljana, Slovenia and then on to Venice. We had one sunny day and one day of pouring rain. I love Venice, but it seems that every time Sam and I only have a day or two in a city, we end up traipsing around at least one of the days in the pouring rain. Sam and my dad got matching ponchos, so I guess it was worth it. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ljubljana</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Venice</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Then we traveled back through Trieste, Rovinj, and Motovun before stopping near Opatija for the night. My parents were as captivated by the Croatian coast as I knew they would be. </span><br />
<span style="text-align: left;">The next weekend we took them to the island of Krk and the island of Rab. We lucked out and had absolutely beautiful weather. Then we made our way through the countryside to Plitvice Lakes. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thirsty pup<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rovinj, Croatia</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAcaiUcbbu4edtlw3CPrSuKSNd9Uz2Jdqgd5vgCzjbleIKAzYzCgZ8IQvYLLpuvkwl8i6FAULAensAwAMMzoF3ommkq1YO9sEPeFx_4L4vpOdMDaQwo8PqBs9uBqSXHTH_yGfgHTlTH74/s1600/IMG_4495.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAcaiUcbbu4edtlw3CPrSuKSNd9Uz2Jdqgd5vgCzjbleIKAzYzCgZ8IQvYLLpuvkwl8i6FAULAensAwAMMzoF3ommkq1YO9sEPeFx_4L4vpOdMDaQwo8PqBs9uBqSXHTH_yGfgHTlTH74/s640/IMG_4495.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My parents in Rovinj</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Motovun</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Krk</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rab</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZGLyHwZRWTCfZVIfsRJe7iPH3KinuADCW0uzWq0slFMNffa_ZlsHyDnsfQERHuWBjdG9XDLPSdh-oEDt-4SVn2yt3FTiOnCvzhojGq7tCZe3QRvHNuejIkexzsEacolhaggTjPAZR7LA/s1600/DSC_3449.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZGLyHwZRWTCfZVIfsRJe7iPH3KinuADCW0uzWq0slFMNffa_ZlsHyDnsfQERHuWBjdG9XDLPSdh-oEDt-4SVn2yt3FTiOnCvzhojGq7tCZe3QRvHNuejIkexzsEacolhaggTjPAZR7LA/s640/DSC_3449.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Plitvice </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVW995rl15smygY-GZ8tr9wR30x45V_-RrHTamEndbJ_n3zWWADaN_gL_0NV3-gJ9KvPAhq5NOCcL5-hCRLlSH4QnM4SvR9vUbuofWpqKbtj_MMXRKJB-vMabMnoXG_ur-gOdofoy__vw/s1600/IMG_1749.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVW995rl15smygY-GZ8tr9wR30x45V_-RrHTamEndbJ_n3zWWADaN_gL_0NV3-gJ9KvPAhq5NOCcL5-hCRLlSH4QnM4SvR9vUbuofWpqKbtj_MMXRKJB-vMabMnoXG_ur-gOdofoy__vw/s400/IMG_1749.jpg" width="297" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dad and Lulu</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">This week we're off to Moscow, Russia with a group of 7 middle schoolers. I'm sure I'll get some good blogging material from that trip!</span></div>
sam and katie mirkovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801768826702513987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160638480751331348.post-11399816323547397212013-01-07T11:30:00.000-08:002013-01-07T11:40:09.230-08:00Home. Family. Friends.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Well the plan was to write a post before going home, writing
about the anticipation and all of the things I was looking forward to. But something about the last week of school
before Christmas plus packing and preparing for a 3 week trip across the world got
me sidetracked. So here I sit, back in
Zagreb, writing the after-the-fact post.
Oh well.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Here are some of the highlights:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Layovers in Paris-not nearly enough time to see everything that Paris has to offer, or even to really enjoy the Parisian life whatsoever.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">But we were able to hold hands and stroll along the Seine, enjoy a cheese plate and get some good pictures.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Sam even played the Midnight in Paris soundtrack on his phone as we walked along the river.</span></li>
</ol>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: -0.25in;">2. Ellensburg-Most relaxing part of the trip.</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: -0.25in;">Actually got to sleep in (after several days of waking up at 4:30 in the morning due to jet lag) and get ridiculously pampered by my mom.</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: -0.25in;">*Thanks Mom!* I put up and decorated the tree with my mom, had a tea party with my mom and sister, watched lots of Christmas movies, and ate a lot of really good food.</span></div>
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My nieces</div>
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Mom</div>
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Dad</div>
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Waffles</div>
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My parents' house</div>
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D&M</div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">3. Yakima-Hooray
for reuniting with dear friends!</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">We were
so excited to see some of our friends for a quick overnight trip to the
Yak.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">It was weird to be back.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Just like we had never left.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">I love having friends where it feels like you
can just pick up where you left off.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Another opportunity to eat lots of tasty food.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span></div>
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Me, Beritt and Em</div>
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Isaac, me, Sharon, and Judy</div>
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John, Lindsey, us and Christian</div>
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Paul, Norma, and us</div>
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Jodi, Carly, Me</div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Stumptown Coffee</span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">4. Seattle-The
best Seahawks game of the season!</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Thanks
to Sam’s brother, Nick for giving us tickets.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">We have the best luck when it comes to Seahawks games.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">It was so much fun to see the Mirkovich boys
again.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span></div>
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The Mirk Brothers</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif8D7Fa4SVGBkdv2gFLVL8BlOIGsUIIVKB3soJXf_YeSFFBVatrMIargNDFwzB8gmEuGMQHASd3ljcoGo3acnNLnAX1XdQ3nzchl7dmymI1y2hYWzlSiNsqeaIM2RX-2fOjrFJLX3OTL0/s1600/IMG_3120.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif8D7Fa4SVGBkdv2gFLVL8BlOIGsUIIVKB3soJXf_YeSFFBVatrMIargNDFwzB8gmEuGMQHASd3ljcoGo3acnNLnAX1XdQ3nzchl7dmymI1y2hYWzlSiNsqeaIM2RX-2fOjrFJLX3OTL0/s640/IMG_3120.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">GO SEAHAWKS!</span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">5. Bainbridge
Island-A very Merry Mirkovich Christmas!</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">So fun to actually understand some of the Croatian being spoken!</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">We had another year of the lively gift
exchange and got to show everyone our video of some of the places we’ve visited
so far in Croatia.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Living in Croatia has
made me feel even more like a Mirkovich.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Mirkovich Family Gift Exchange</span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">6. Olympia-More
time with the Mirkoviches.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">It was so
nice to see Sam’s parents and spend time with them.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">We also got to visit our favorite- McMenamins
and eat the famous Cajun tots.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Yes, more
yummy food!</span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">McMenamins</span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Left-last tot before we left </span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> Right-first tot in 5 months</span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">7. SeaTac-Surprise
visit with the Staubs!</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">As luck would
have it, we flew out the same day as my cousin, Jess, which meant we got to
meet up with (almost) the whole Staub fam!</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Nothing cheers me more than spending time with my family and I’m so
happy it worked out to see them.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNkhgMhh9GGUK3fq7xzRSt_LX8TIj0-jXTKgdeGMNdGQwJEH32E4YpHCH2UG24Xso8KN5sKdZNeLL1867tiz-00UiI7Qo3EioR98374byHlHjG-v2U4WpZXZ5pnmT0WAInVaEq9M6cqr0/s1600/IMG_0061.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNkhgMhh9GGUK3fq7xzRSt_LX8TIj0-jXTKgdeGMNdGQwJEH32E4YpHCH2UG24Xso8KN5sKdZNeLL1867tiz-00UiI7Qo3EioR98374byHlHjG-v2U4WpZXZ5pnmT0WAInVaEq9M6cqr0/s320/IMG_0061.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The Cuzzies</span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">8. Ottawa-First
visit to the Martins’ new homestead.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">COLD!</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">So very cold.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">But oh so wonderful to see my brother,
sister-in-law, nephew and niece.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">It’s
been a long 6 months without them!</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">I’m
just like my mom in that I like to see where my people have settled.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Now I can picture where they are and somehow
it makes me feel better.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Can’t wait to
meet Baby #3 this summer!</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Sammy teaching Finn to make snow angels</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivYbbrWEoJeF1PYbYazV2VE3KgHkV3SuXYqvhfcc-Sl5E31Gr-7uMUZgJg4H3OvIUbh24-OfE9-h7nNb3D_InuWvbuEwy8cU447Q406MfgN9p_p6d45hDtp3LqqaytipEy3HYE4JoKmVQ/s1600/DSC_1756.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivYbbrWEoJeF1PYbYazV2VE3KgHkV3SuXYqvhfcc-Sl5E31Gr-7uMUZgJg4H3OvIUbh24-OfE9-h7nNb3D_InuWvbuEwy8cU447Q406MfgN9p_p6d45hDtp3LqqaytipEy3HYE4JoKmVQ/s320/DSC_1756.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Rowan on the blanket I made her!</div>
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The Martins</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Jen and Rowan</div>
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Finny and Rowan</div>
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Sammy and Rowan</div>
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View of Ottawa from across the river in Quebec</div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">9. 8
flights- Never again, I tell you.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Never
again.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOHsN4Q6vspCs-7oalB5-VmZkM0SgVqJEi3vuJYzADqBmwJetnwQj3YkhDCvmY53O-MT7maQjAJ_d0C44U433LD-I-HfBRB3dyDowwzhgwUhWhMMRZWZ298NZuYs2o69a_9y8IC67rgFY/s1600/IMG_3460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOHsN4Q6vspCs-7oalB5-VmZkM0SgVqJEi3vuJYzADqBmwJetnwQj3YkhDCvmY53O-MT7maQjAJ_d0C44U433LD-I-HfBRB3dyDowwzhgwUhWhMMRZWZ298NZuYs2o69a_9y8IC67rgFY/s320/IMG_3460.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Flying over Zagreb</div>
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Flying over Greenland</div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Flying over Switzerland</span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">10. Lucy-
She was so spoiled over the last 3 weeks, I didn’t think she’d want to come
back with us.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">But I think she’s okay
with it.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">I brought her a new squeaker
toy and I think all has been forgiven.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqcdo7NVUIqtfHLuFxRynoXIz6aqRo2U2L_ucnTHBAuvW2saMDbrRnFmIYad7iL5ySk26uL0a-as3AxD3fqG7ixUjD-7qcb0zfIwD2vfkeNbl1rmXVdqhsuRMXkQtJM1sQHhOgYnTm-o8/s1600/IMG_2121.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqcdo7NVUIqtfHLuFxRynoXIz6aqRo2U2L_ucnTHBAuvW2saMDbrRnFmIYad7iL5ySk26uL0a-as3AxD3fqG7ixUjD-7qcb0zfIwD2vfkeNbl1rmXVdqhsuRMXkQtJM1sQHhOgYnTm-o8/s320/IMG_2121.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The Lulu</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<o:p> </o:p>Although I didn’t get to see everyone that I wanted to, I’m
so thankful for this time I had with people I love. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now it’s your turn people.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One bedroom, one shared bath, amazing views of the city of
Zagreb, and a warm puppy to sleep on your bed if you so desire. Just tell us when and it’s yours.<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->sam and katie mirkovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801768826702513987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160638480751331348.post-48676347873092914272012-11-29T13:45:00.001-08:002012-11-29T13:49:13.970-08:00Jolly Ol’ England<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have a confession to make.
I’ve never had a strong desire to go to England. I love Jane Austen. I love British accents. I love a good spot o' tea and a crumpet. But for whatever reason, it’s never been high
on my list of places to travel. Perhaps
because I thought it would be too much like home. Luckily for me, I got to go to England when
all I wanted was a place that feels like home. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sam got the opportunity to go to an IB conference in
Oxford. The backstory to that is that he
was originally going to go to a conference in the middle of Arizona during the
last week that we were supposed to be in Yakima. My always-optimistic hubby thought it would
be perfectly feasible for me to finish work, pack up the house in 2 days,
finish painting our garage, and have us all moved out before he took off for a
week, returning a day before we needed to be out of our house. Somehow I was able to talk him out of this
idea, gently reminding him that he is not always the best judge of how long things
will take. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So when we got to AISZ, he got signed up for a conference in
Oxford for four days. And as luck would
have it, it was during a four-day weekend so I got to go, too! By this point in October, I was feeling
pretty homesick. I missed family and
friends. I missed the simplicity of
being able to speak the language. And I
wanted to have a pumpkin spice latte and some spicy food (not necessarily
together, but hey, I’m not picky!)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So on Halloween (after dressing up like Mary Poppins for school
that morning) we headed to the Zagreb airport.
I am usually a terrified flier, dreading it for days, sometimes weeks in
advance. But for whatever reason, I was not
terrified. It was only a 2 hour trip and we had rented Blue Like Jazz for the journey. Any plane ride that lasts the length of a
movie is pretty much perfect in my opinion.
<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
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</div>
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We landed at Heathrow and read the wonderful signs in ENGLISH
to find our way to the bus. We picked up
our first English newspaper in four months.
We chatted with the bus driver.
We felt like we were eavesdropping on everyone around us because we
could actually understand what they were saying! <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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That night, Sam had to go immediately to his welcome dinner
for his training. So I decided to wander
down the street in search of spice. I
found a little Chinese restaurant and located “Mouthwatering Chicken” on the
menu. Yes, please. It had chili oil, peanuts, cilantro, coriander
and sesame sauce. So. Good.
I love the food in Croatia, but there’s not a lot of variety. So having something so different than what
I’d been having for the last four months was a real treat.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">The next day I got to just wander around Oxford.</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">It’s a fairytale city. You feel like it can’t be real.</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">It’s that amazing.</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">It’s small enough that you can do everything on foot, but yet there’s plenty to see and do.</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Churches, all the colleges, shops, pubs, coffee and tea houses.</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">It was the first time in my whole life that I'd wandered around an unfamiliar city by myself.</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Thankfully I got to spend some of the time with my traveling buddy.</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Sam had a little time after his trainings for me to drag him around to some of the sights.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
I love traveling in fall.</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
First Starbucks in four months!</div>
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After three blissful days in Oxford, we took the bus back to London. The first night, we took the tube into the city to see the Tower Bridge and Big Ben lit up at night. The next morning, we had about 6 hours in London before we had to leave. In typical London fashion, it poured. I mean umbrella-getting-turned-inside-out-Sam’s-pants-soaked-up-to-his-knees kind of pouring. We got about a half an hour of sun break. We kept saying, “This is romantic…Right?” It was a fast and furious tour, but I think we saw a lot of the important sights.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Just a little puddle.</div>
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What I loved about this trip (among other things) was that
it was the perfect time for a break from Zagreb. I mean, I love it here. But things are just a little harder and take
a little longer and it gets tiring sometimes.
We’d been having car trouble (meaning our AMERICAN car wasn’t
working. We had to buy parts in the
U.S., have them shipped here, and had to pay ridiculous taxes on them.) We were feeling a little overwhelmed by
having so many things out of our control.
It’s also about the time where the “honeymoon” faze of living overseas
is over. Instead of feeling like it’s an
adventure, you start to just feel frustrated by the fact that simple things are
complicated. But then you get an
opportunity to take a weekend trip to England and suddenly, it’s an adventure
again!<o:p></o:p></div>
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If I would have come to England at any other time I would
not have appreciated it in the same way.
I would not have noticed how friendly the people were, how wonderful the food was, how speaking in English to strangers can be a
delight, or just how good cheddar cheese can be. </div>
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And for that, I am thankful for jolly ol’
England. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->sam and katie mirkovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801768826702513987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160638480751331348.post-7007499300428522862012-11-20T08:36:00.001-08:002012-11-21T11:21:34.082-08:00Sime From the States…(Sime [she-may] is My Croatian Name) <br />
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After I
found out that I got the job teaching in Croatia, I searched the Internet (to
the point of obsession) to find all the information I could about the new city
I was about to move to. One thing that I wanted to do was to expand outside my
American School community and American home life and force myself into Croatian
culture. I wanted to hear the language in context with real people so that I
could learn more of it. So when I came
across the <a href="http://www.bk-zagreb.hr/">Zagreb Baseball Klub</a> on the Internet, I translated the page through
a Google app. I jumped at the chance to
know more. I started a correspondence with the president of the Klub through
email. We sent many emails back and forth and I gave him the date of our
arrival in Zagreb. </div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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So the day after
our extremely long flight, I got an email saying that we should meet so that he
could show me the field. I struggled
through trying to pronounce the street names and he eventually picked me up
close to our hotel. I got into the car
with a man I had only communicated with on the Internet, driving through a town
that was completely foreign and unfamiliar. I thought to myself, how did I get here? We made very short small talk, with his
limited English and my limited Croatian. 15 minutes later we were at the field.
I didn’t have cleats, a hat, or baseball pants with me. So I showed up with only
a glove. I was thinking to myself that I
was far from being the lean college athlete that I was ten years ago. Now I’m balding
and a bit overweight wondering if I had something worth giving. There were about 4 players on the field
warming up for practice, if you can call that enough for a practice. The players were coach Mario Manojlov and
Dino Kondic and two high school aged players, whose names I can’t remember. Croatian
names are generally tough to pronounce and are not commonly used in America. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgllzEcfq34CC9O9WyOSSQmDdsOex3SgKd4cexMMvQ3jfVin3546VQpIDBAxujWa__VQbSvQV3LDGbFN3Fe_Y1TbAENDw4kMPekXSIbXWKor8LgtFA3D3WK-3_kxO8RyEib0oy6i2_U3vk/s1600/mario.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgllzEcfq34CC9O9WyOSSQmDdsOex3SgKd4cexMMvQ3jfVin3546VQpIDBAxujWa__VQbSvQV3LDGbFN3Fe_Y1TbAENDw4kMPekXSIbXWKor8LgtFA3D3WK-3_kxO8RyEib0oy6i2_U3vk/s320/mario.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mario Monjlov (player coach)<span style="text-align: left;"> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBmu0FdK9oyrGJlpAVzpBnuBzkRMoOQJSyJZ06zBmL18rvxSpNo6-mBoMdXO5UB4KYypQaOOvKIWH1CLr5ES-x0-TTBQ9XT_5XSFvOn0Xx3VPiq6ByVcU8gy1acaU9SkcbXDB_91Hqp7U/s1600/Dino.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBmu0FdK9oyrGJlpAVzpBnuBzkRMoOQJSyJZ06zBmL18rvxSpNo6-mBoMdXO5UB4KYypQaOOvKIWH1CLr5ES-x0-TTBQ9XT_5XSFvOn0Xx3VPiq6ByVcU8gy1acaU9SkcbXDB_91Hqp7U/s320/Dino.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dino Kondic (catcher)</td></tr>
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<br />
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So there I was, throwing some pitches to Dino, the
21-year-old catcher, in their over-grown grassy bullpen. It felt like an abandoned
sandbox. The bullpen grass was up to my
knees in some spots. There was a large
hole in front of the rubber about 5 inches deep. The dirt hole looked like it
hadn’t been replaced for years. Imagine a small baseball stadium being built in
the mid 90’s and then fast-forward to the present day with literally no
maintenance being done by the city or anything.
The only ones that actually taking care of it are the players who also
have full time jobs. <o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Besides my
surroundings, I felt okay with my pitching. My location was a little off, but I
was close to the plate with most of my pitches. I thought it would just take a
little fine-tuning and a couple more bullpens to find my placement. I asked Dino how I did and he said “good” with
no real emotion on his face. Croatians
in general are very hard to read. So with no measuring stick to compare myself
to, I left the field with a lot questions still unanswered. Were they going to accept
me as an American? Would I have enough talent to compete with these guys? Would somebody be upset if I took their
position? All these questions had to wait because I left on a three-week vacation
to the Dalmatian coast.<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>
<!--EndFragment-->sam and katie mirkovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801768826702513987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160638480751331348.post-70531129808655927972012-10-15T11:58:00.001-07:002012-10-15T11:58:05.986-07:00Lost in Translation<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sometimes you have crazy ideas like, “I’m going to try this
new recipe! In Croatia! Even though I don’t own a measurement utensil
or know what most things mean when I’m walking through the grocery store!” But you try it anyway. So you go to the store feeling optimistic. Bread, penne pasta, garlic, you’ve got
this! But then you get to things like
shallots. Nope, not going to find those
at Konzum. So you substitute white onions. Basil?
Heavens no! Good thing you bought
a tiny little plant a month ago that’s barely surviving on your balcony! The recipe calls for 20 leaves, but you know
that 6 will do just fine. Heavy
cream…probably not the one that looks like whipping cream. Butter…it kind of looks familiar, although
it’s not sectioned into tablespoons like you’re used to. Canned tomatoes…look for a can with the
corresponding picture. Easy! Then comes chicken stock. Hmmm…Find something on the bottom of the
shelf with a picture of a chicken and picture of soup! This looks promising! </div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You get home, unpack your loot, turn on some music, pour
some wine and you’re off! Olive oil in
the pan, PLUS a tablespoon of butter. This
recipe must be good! Do your best
estimate of a tablespoon, since it’s just a block of butter. Mince garlic and white onions (which should
have been shallots). It smells delicious
already! Next, pour in some vodka. Again, no measuring utensils, so just pour
and count for 3 seconds. Next, open the
tomatoes. Not exactly diced, more like
stewed, but pour that baby in anyways because you’re too far in it to turn
back! Open up what you thought was
chicken stock and instead find persin-kokosja kocka…translation “parsley-hen
cook.” Close enough! Let simmer.
Cook penne pasta (this is the first step that is not in any way
complicated.) Next, pour in a “half a
cup” (or several good glugs) of what you hope is cooking cream. Drain pasta, pour in the sauce, sprinkle your
6 chopped basil leaves on top, and there you have it! Your adventurous self has just tried a brand
new, pretty tasty meal! <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is what it’s like to live in Croatia. Not always easy, but almost always a good
story to go with everything you try.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0hK1EUbMzZpvJIp1HD1KB34k9GXhbVvqHm_vAs_euM9LQJwgFz8l68vXWHYSAfgTDQ-kS2pY6tJCRFioYc2qHncKfFlbsAlX3Ky6VO-24Zaofs9GfeDGa-dWSYlVBy4L7IgTr8tKYIzM/s1600/lost+in+trans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0hK1EUbMzZpvJIp1HD1KB34k9GXhbVvqHm_vAs_euM9LQJwgFz8l68vXWHYSAfgTDQ-kS2pY6tJCRFioYc2qHncKfFlbsAlX3Ky6VO-24Zaofs9GfeDGa-dWSYlVBy4L7IgTr8tKYIzM/s320/lost+in+trans.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->sam and katie mirkovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801768826702513987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160638480751331348.post-59761120219990813812012-10-09T09:57:00.001-07:002012-10-09T12:04:39.406-07:00A Day in the (Working Life) -Katie's Post<style>
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<u>7:30-7:50</u>-Walk up to the gate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Press buzzer so Tomislav can let us in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Walk by; “Bok,”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Bok.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Straight to my room to get my AISZ coffee mug and AISZ water bottle (I
represent).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Head to the conference room
for coffee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pay attention to the level of the coffee in the pot (our director is a little...particular about the coffee.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Music is
playing from the intercom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Could be
musicals or the Glee soundtrack or the Beatles or Joni Mitchell.</div>
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<u>7:50-8:00</u>-Bell rings and children slowly trickle in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Check planners, say good morning, tell
students to put backpacks away, etc.</div>
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<u>8:00-8:15</u>-Morning meeting-each student gets to share
something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It ranges from “I’m tired
because I had to ride my bike up the big hill this morning,” to “Yesterday I
got chased by a dog and almost got eaten alive,” to “None of the clothes that
I’m wearing are mine.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have a pretty
quirky group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot gets brought up at
these meetings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u>8:15- 9:00-</u>Quick reading mini lesson, then I put on the
classical music, students find a quiet place to read and I pull small groups or
individuals to work on specific skills or strategies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Probably my favorite part of the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">:)</span></span></div>
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<u>9:00-9:45</u>-Quick writing mini lesson, followed by time for
students to write, write, write.</div>
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<u>9:45-10:00</u>-Recess</div>
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<u>10:00-10:30</u>-Students go to foreign language while I correct
homework.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can actually check each
problem since there are only ten of them!</div>
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<u>10:30-11:40</u>- Math.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s Everyday Math, so it’s pretty set up for me.</div>
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<u>11:40-12:00</u>-Word Work-students work on activities depending
on what skill they need to work on for spelling.</div>
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<u>12:00-12:50</u>- Lunch and recess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I get to share lunch with Sam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><3<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<u>12:50-1:35</u>- Specialists: either music, P.E. or library.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I actually get time to plan for the next day!</div>
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<u>1:35-2:00</u>- Science or Social Studies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Never taught social studies before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s pretty amazing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I get to alternate between social studies and
science.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What a treat!</div>
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<u>2:00-2:25</u>-<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Read
Aloud.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My second favorite part of the
day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We get to read a chapter book and I
get to use the ideas that I learned from Sarah Collinge back home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love it!</div>
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<u>2:25-3:00</u>- Croatian Language or Culture:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More planning time for me! Maybe clean out my
coffee mug so I’m ready for tomorrow.</div>
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<u>3:00</u>- Dismiss!</div>
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On Mondays I get to leave at 3:45.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tuesdays we leave at 4:30 after
meetings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wednesdays I do Gymstick with
Christie-kind of a mix of pilates, aerobics and zumba.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s pretty interesting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thursdays we have our own Croatian language
class which has been so, so helpful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fridays I do yoga.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrifyz0PoFd36pdSHrLT6Ue4qBC3mMiBTkKC9dSl1fgPKgVuGbc_Tyim7PJ465yCnPkHblrZjDr9lMHDt6BRc6rxEpAbg9FnPUYFox2-9ypuJy_vPokaKA9LojHxIOR3jbN3xdgASxzWk/s1600/IMG_2338.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrifyz0PoFd36pdSHrLT6Ue4qBC3mMiBTkKC9dSl1fgPKgVuGbc_Tyim7PJ465yCnPkHblrZjDr9lMHDt6BRc6rxEpAbg9FnPUYFox2-9ypuJy_vPokaKA9LojHxIOR3jbN3xdgASxzWk/s320/IMG_2338.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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My Pinteresting project that took 3 tries.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4f3fexibx99o170lkf0TwfXnNL2-y7g5tJNLwZgs5RTevj-CuJUTfEu0dfGoPDOl0Q5UC5oHUlUAVNHsK3TmRaBQEpSBv5RZIHdsdqmroNPI-o1wC_8lw5KRSoyUYOesZGLvfs8C4g84/s1600/IMG_2339.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4f3fexibx99o170lkf0TwfXnNL2-y7g5tJNLwZgs5RTevj-CuJUTfEu0dfGoPDOl0Q5UC5oHUlUAVNHsK3TmRaBQEpSBv5RZIHdsdqmroNPI-o1wC_8lw5KRSoyUYOesZGLvfs8C4g84/s320/IMG_2339.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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My bunting that was inspired by my dear cousin, Amy.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaKCKwOIpUQmvdjVmvnOuSKhyphenhyphenEQnGCQ3r3horZP__xvD6nOyKwSeG0J-g2-xHxCFJWZhH01yMbxYsHsrqfIwpuzvHv0e-XAaRbTb35xUdnvoEw3h3jRK4Ne-05eSwJzVBwf0bQgjHazg4/s1600/IMG_2425.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaKCKwOIpUQmvdjVmvnOuSKhyphenhyphenEQnGCQ3r3horZP__xvD6nOyKwSeG0J-g2-xHxCFJWZhH01yMbxYsHsrqfIwpuzvHv0e-XAaRbTb35xUdnvoEw3h3jRK4Ne-05eSwJzVBwf0bQgjHazg4/s320/IMG_2425.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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My little troublemakers-They're inside of a polygon that they built with straws. </div>
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And that’s a little look at my week!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of you won’t care, but my mother will be
very happy I wrote this post.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">:) </span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></div>
sam and katie mirkovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801768826702513987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160638480751331348.post-81074194048793448252012-09-18T12:40:00.001-07:002012-09-18T12:40:36.300-07:00Thoughts on My Final Night of Being 28 (Katie's post)<br />
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Well saying that I'm not where I thought I would be would be an understatement. Never would I have thought that I'd be spending my last night of being 28 in a 6th floor apartment in Zagreb, Croatia. But here I am. </div>
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These last few weeks have been difficult for many reasons. School has been great in a lot of ways. Smaller class sizes, more freedom, quirky kids, being able to have lunch with Sam every day, free coffee in the lounge. But it's also been a struggle. I came from a school with such strict restrictions on how I could teach, when I would teach it, etc. Whereas here, it's the complete opposite. Almost too much. I feel like I've been given freedom in my classroom and I'm not quite sure what to do with it. It's an adjustment to start brand new in every subject area. And just like any teaching job, no matter where you're at, you're still going to have kids who say, "I don't know anything about rocks," when you're trying to have them activate prior knowledge before launching a new science kit. You'll still have kids who say they never got their homework until you look into the depths of their locker and find it crumpled up at the bottom. You'll still have people telling you that you're not doing things right. </div>
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It just is what it is...</div>
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But the biggest struggle came on September 6th. I had just had a meeting with a parent when I got a message from my mom asking to call right away. When I called she told my that my grandpa had passed away in his sleep. His death came as a shock. His wife (my grandmother) died seven years ago. But by the time she died, Alzheimer's had already taken the woman I knew and loved. But my grandpa was still so "with it." Thankfully, I saw him last July in Colorado Springs. He was frail and weak, but he was still very much <i>him</i>. I don't know how to put him into words other than to say that he was just simply lovely, one of the best people I knew. Losing him was hard, but losing him and being thousands of miles away was harder. I wanted to be there for my mom during this time. I wanted to cry and laugh with my family as we recalled memories that we shared of him. Through Skype I was able to do some of this, but it wasn't the same. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcsA2fDIRsEpDfANX5yLNU2GU4sZ-wgdXud9s78j8KpbDa4Fk_21roO9ZHTqbZiucv1CZAPT0a0Oy0k6z43Rx81Kt-TPJ5n_ogUsK1Kv1Z1ek3mSXMqT3hcnHFuJ8GPr_6jnRRByKJL3s/s1600/photopage3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcsA2fDIRsEpDfANX5yLNU2GU4sZ-wgdXud9s78j8KpbDa4Fk_21roO9ZHTqbZiucv1CZAPT0a0Oy0k6z43Rx81Kt-TPJ5n_ogUsK1Kv1Z1ek3mSXMqT3hcnHFuJ8GPr_6jnRRByKJL3s/s320/photopage3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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What has helped me stay together is the fact that I do feel at peace with our decision to be here. I honestly feel like I am where I'm supposed to be, however hard it is at this moment. </div>
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So on this last night of being 28, I'm reflecting on where I am right now. I'm thankful for the many blessings God has given me. A rich heritage of people that loved Him and loved each other. The opportunity to experience a new culture and a new life overseas with my very best friend. The distance to miss the life I had. The realization that I need to fully live in the moment I'm in and not constantly wish for the past or the future. </div>
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For this is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.</div>
sam and katie mirkovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801768826702513987noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160638480751331348.post-55518766001688413582012-09-02T14:01:00.000-07:002012-09-02T14:30:34.297-07:00Meeting the Village (Veli Rat - Dugi Otok, Croatia) Part 1<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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The name “Kuzma”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Over the
years in my family I kept on hearing this random name of Kuzma. I never really
looked into the name, like who the man was or what his story was. I just kept on hearing the name in family
conversations and never tried to place the connection of the name to my
family. After I married my wife and she became
a part of those same circles, she noticed the name, too. Kuzma…It has a unique
ring to it, doesn’t it?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdXSHaEghcG0FumAMaGQFmjIYehOdmXfRuC7CBm9o4w1f7P93lIE_Nbiva8yY6KYDh5xQdJf36rnEzlLZs-rtefcbeC5VesjQM2JniWC7Dl83TpWT2ITCeLMA0xz19KLYlHnWHjil5Kgc/s1600/kuzma.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdXSHaEghcG0FumAMaGQFmjIYehOdmXfRuC7CBm9o4w1f7P93lIE_Nbiva8yY6KYDh5xQdJf36rnEzlLZs-rtefcbeC5VesjQM2JniWC7Dl83TpWT2ITCeLMA0xz19KLYlHnWHjil5Kgc/s320/kuzma.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Facebook is
an amazing tool in connecting family together. I have been connecting with
distant relatives recently and it’s been fun connecting the pieces
together. One of these puzzle pieces is
Sanja Valjin from Zadar, Croatia. We
started messaging one another back in February. We started putting the puzzle
pieces together over emails. I made a family tree online while talking with my
dad over the phone. I sent Sanja the
link, she talked to her mother and we found how our trees touched branches. We were connected through “Kuzma” Mirkovich.
Sanja’s Grandfather’s brother is Kuzma, who married my Grandfather’s
sister, Mary. Her Grandfather’s other
brother married my Grandfather’s other sister.
You need a family tree picture now, don’t you? They are all from the village
of Veli Rat on the island of Dugi Otok in Croatia. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjul_l8u-Slx9LD3Cn8ZG6wVC-kpCRg2nO-Jom8E_7YoExTKSmJg0xXL_8g4cP5HfTIb57nx4NWcR3vGLsgxhsiclQ6eNMfdodZm8BXSWH4wTN-e8k8dCSNnmGH0HhKmOjOqcPVNiR6SAs/s1600/veliratweb2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="107" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjul_l8u-Slx9LD3Cn8ZG6wVC-kpCRg2nO-Jom8E_7YoExTKSmJg0xXL_8g4cP5HfTIb57nx4NWcR3vGLsgxhsiclQ6eNMfdodZm8BXSWH4wTN-e8k8dCSNnmGH0HhKmOjOqcPVNiR6SAs/s400/veliratweb2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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So Sanja
and I stayed in contact over the next couple of months leading up to our
departure to Croatia. We decided that we should make an effort to connect our
vacations together in Veli Rat. She has
a family house there and we rented an apartment across the bay. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKrKHyjvqnpNRj5u-LVhYWX_3Qhpk2VNxnac9HU-1C39H3vu2y_2BSSjeNPHPdvSwVMKp2IXAl_AV2dlG2Po4wNVhXFd5fgbdYYhl-fcIbDE8OBDsL_weDMkapxzO6D0Z7XKZJZyzpwF0/s1600/IMG_2004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKrKHyjvqnpNRj5u-LVhYWX_3Qhpk2VNxnac9HU-1C39H3vu2y_2BSSjeNPHPdvSwVMKp2IXAl_AV2dlG2Po4wNVhXFd5fgbdYYhl-fcIbDE8OBDsL_weDMkapxzO6D0Z7XKZJZyzpwF0/s320/IMG_2004.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Before we met
I was practicing introductions in my Croatian language lesson. So I was prepping what I would say when we
finally met in person. As her and her family came up to Katie and I at the Café,
my mind went blank and English came out my mouth. I was disappointed in myself but Sanja and
her husband Davor spoke perfect English and made us feel at ease. We talked about our blog, how we are related,
when her family left the island, my families house on the island, our jobs, their
jobs, and Apple products. It was great
fun getting to know our new friends. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMWD3p7La3vVHxegyiPqpTaUmYNYhoYFGAvHucFzfCD79HaPwat2F4DWi1s_WytuY5K8AFVNsCeoHNbpUQLIBqgjIFjCJ1KHFBVqsLGh2092ViQ07fg_8eEr4kY7UQEZ3wX8voysqRx18/s1600/DSC_6085.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMWD3p7La3vVHxegyiPqpTaUmYNYhoYFGAvHucFzfCD79HaPwat2F4DWi1s_WytuY5K8AFVNsCeoHNbpUQLIBqgjIFjCJ1KHFBVqsLGh2092ViQ07fg_8eEr4kY7UQEZ3wX8voysqRx18/s320/DSC_6085.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Later we walked
to their family’s house, which was about 50 meters away and met Sanja’s mother
and grandmother. They welcomed us into their house. We saw pictures of their
family on their wall and noticed a familiar face. It was a picture of Phyllis, another mutual
family member who lives in the bay area. Phyllis is actually related to me by
blood. That was a highlight of my day and made the connection with our two
families very real. I just kept on saying “No way… No way… that’s Phyllis!”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg84wKfaTL2ZlWLzpAJF2lCgGikBu8J_UE9fHgqqTtYYyiHasOwVjLqkqzp6X_-MINl_4NuRB8ujXjxTyqqThy2tQmt0_Zwyd9bReFhgFJW0UTc_E5BB_8uM5nmbhZyQ4RP6fA9dkWyWAc/s1600/DSC_6087.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg84wKfaTL2ZlWLzpAJF2lCgGikBu8J_UE9fHgqqTtYYyiHasOwVjLqkqzp6X_-MINl_4NuRB8ujXjxTyqqThy2tQmt0_Zwyd9bReFhgFJW0UTc_E5BB_8uM5nmbhZyQ4RP6fA9dkWyWAc/s320/DSC_6087.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We later took
a walk to the family/community well,<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwv4ei1DXS143teDPpyNjTH6R1e6oewbl4lMFXfpyKINHgdVIBAs0ISkukb3dUEKA-1UnePTv2_PrmwzsEzH1QtciY9MC8PCLi-MDl7qK-OLzJVGXQG_MHZE6l5ZSsVNOz8TJcMMzX7Xg/s1600/the+well.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwv4ei1DXS143teDPpyNjTH6R1e6oewbl4lMFXfpyKINHgdVIBAs0ISkukb3dUEKA-1UnePTv2_PrmwzsEzH1QtciY9MC8PCLi-MDl7qK-OLzJVGXQG_MHZE6l5ZSsVNOz8TJcMMzX7Xg/s320/the+well.tiff" width="278" /></a></div>
<br />
my great grandfather’s house,<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUuJbU9RHLEfvNFTwHj1tOcV-KelrvstxxRWohVvHgfWrlmvFe7I88cinNbleLr3KQIB14DGOCvKmM4HlWMvzaZmMgWsUWVrZ-yrHKivYeSjLIyJY9Wf1MZPhhLOgTUYNDuLQ9WK89cx0/s1600/families+house.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUuJbU9RHLEfvNFTwHj1tOcV-KelrvstxxRWohVvHgfWrlmvFe7I88cinNbleLr3KQIB14DGOCvKmM4HlWMvzaZmMgWsUWVrZ-yrHKivYeSjLIyJY9Wf1MZPhhLOgTUYNDuLQ9WK89cx0/s320/families+house.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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the village
gardens on the hill, and my family’s individual garden. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4xqNONh2QThFsPLhGmKHvfudGMDtWWv9F3LHmByiVGp3uoLAvOJ6KRBiqdeR8huTwiVxvSd3GW42xNyB0x_JFE_9sfLXAZ9QLEPtH1SFXmt8hc80hp7w-ATFkwwigYu7_Jahr-RoTVFY/s1600/DSC_6168.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4xqNONh2QThFsPLhGmKHvfudGMDtWWv9F3LHmByiVGp3uoLAvOJ6KRBiqdeR8huTwiVxvSd3GW42xNyB0x_JFE_9sfLXAZ9QLEPtH1SFXmt8hc80hp7w-ATFkwwigYu7_Jahr-RoTVFY/s320/DSC_6168.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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All of it was just amazing to me. I tried to picture this village the way it
once was. With no electricity, no running water, and 16 people packed into one
house. What it took to provide for your
own family: fishing, gathering, farming, and harvesting. What did they trade
for goods? What did they do in droughts?
When was it just too difficult to bare? When did they want to leave?
What was it like when they heard about America for the first time? Who told
them about America? What was that
thought process like… Was it spontaneous? Was it rushed? Did they save every dime for the trip? Had they planned it out for years?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT2927TUSjALORfQU6WR3SFi545I73Flw0yTREQN9vLQOrXSagUY9rOJqmjXjHqOOQV9fnJgbJ8FongasASa_lkqcOZW-6s35NeDXUsCe6tKF8mpt2pyRNTZpt-mIAnphsgusOTyrewTE/s1600/1942_55083536531_5732_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT2927TUSjALORfQU6WR3SFi545I73Flw0yTREQN9vLQOrXSagUY9rOJqmjXjHqOOQV9fnJgbJ8FongasASa_lkqcOZW-6s35NeDXUsCe6tKF8mpt2pyRNTZpt-mIAnphsgusOTyrewTE/s320/1942_55083536531_5732_n.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
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I
correlated it to our decision to move to Zagreb. All the thoughts I had to work through to take
that jump. I think we were in two different shoes. Their story made my shoes
look smaller and my jump shorter. I’m a 20 minute cab ride and a swipe of a
credit card to fly back home to America.
They didn’t have the same luxury. Their decision was so much greater
then mine. Honestly I needed that
comparison. It humbled me and moved me to a stronger place and peace of
mind. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->sam and katie mirkovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801768826702513987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160638480751331348.post-11045283398674412562012-08-23T11:34:00.002-07:002012-08-23T11:34:52.007-07:00Remembering August (Katie's Post)To be honest, I've gone back and forth on whether or not I should even write this blog post. But what I've decided is that this blog is really a place to record our memories, our feelings at this particular point in our lives. All of that to say, this topic is pretty personal but it's a part of who I am. So, fair warning. <br />
<br />
August is a hard month for me. Three years ago, Sam and I went on an incredible trip to Italy, Croatia, and Ireland. The idea was that it was going to be a time to explore our roots and to see where our families came from before we started a family of our own. We officially started "trying" that August. After a year of trying, I finally got a positive on a home pregnancy test. I immediately called the doctor and went in for a blood test. The nurse came back and told me that it must have been a false positive. I was not pregnant.<br />
<br />
After that, we started looking into fertility clinics. We came across a clinic in Bellevue, about a 2 hour and 15 minute drive away. I went to the initial meeting with the doctor by myself. I really had a good feeling about the place. They seemed so nice and supportive. I remember the doctor saying, "I should have you throwing up by Thanksgiving!" Isn't that funny? No.<br />
<br />
Next came tests, blood work, all sorts of fun things. The day after that visit, I was getting in my car to go home after work. I checked my voicemail and had a message from one of the doctors at the clinic. She said that my bloodwork showed that I was in fact, pregnant. Let me tell you, not the way I pictured finding out that I was pregnant, but there it was. Listening to a voicemail in my car, in the Adam's parking lot. But something was off in my hormone levels, so there was concern that it might not "take." I drove home, told Sam and started praying that everything would be fine. <br />
<br />
The next day on my lunch break, I went to get another blood test. I was in a team meeting when I got the call from the doctor. She said that the levels had gone down, which means it must have been a miscarriage. I was crushed. But I will never forget walking back into my team meeting; the way my team came alongside me and comforted me. <br />
<br />
Again, Sam and I drove back to Bellevue for more tests. I really love Sufjan Stevens' album, "All Delighted People," but it will forever remind me of those drives back and forth from Bellevue. <br />
<br />
A couple months later, we drove to Seattle to take engagement pictures of Sam's cousin Tony and his fiance Amanda. Once again, I got a call from the doctor. I was pregnant. I got off the phone, told Sam, called my parents, called my sister, called my brother, called friends. I know you shouldn't tell people right away, but I didn't care. I was so excited. I would be due right before Tony and Amanda's wedding. The next day we went to the Seahawks game and told Sam's brothers. Everyone was so happy for us.<br />
<br />
They wanted me to come back in for more tests. This time my mom went to Bellevue with me. I got more bloodwork done, but they wanted me to wait to drive home until they had the results. They thought there was a possibility that it was a tubal pregnancy. I remember going across the street to World Trade Market, trying to occupy my mind while I waited. Wandering aimlessly, wondering if everything was alright. Then I got the call. Apparently they figured out that I have a rare protein that looks like the pregnancy hormone on a blood test, when really I may not be pregnant at all. In short, I was not, after all, pregnant. They assured me that this only affects blood tests. If I took a home pregnancy test, it would still be accurate.<br />
<br />
So the next month, I kid you not, I got a positive on a home pregnancy test. Are you seeing the pattern yet? Again, I went in to get a blood test done, only to find out that I was not pregnant. <br />
<br />
I tried several months of fertility drugs with no success. They said that my only option was IVF, which costs about $30,000 with no guarantee that it would work. Yes, you read that correctly. My salary for a year with no guarantee of a baby by the end of it. But if you think that's bad, wait 'til you hear this! They handed me a pamphlet that said "Buy 2 procedures, get the 3rd one free!" What? Am I buying candy bars? Maybe they would get me throwing up by Thanksgiving. I was disgusted. And I was done. I couldn't do it anymore. <br />
<br />
So we quit. We tried to move on. We tried to process the fact that we would most likely not be having a biological child. It took me another year to even start thinking of any other options.<br />
<br />
For some reason, I could not get excited about having a child through foster care or adoption. I always thought that I would like to adopt. But now that it might be my only option, I just couldn't accept it. I didn't feel ready. It didn't feel right. <br />
<br />
Two and half years after we started this whole process, we got offered jobs to teach in Croatia. Now here's the thing. Being 28, married for 7 years, I didn't picture myself childless, living overseas. And yet, this is the door that was opened to me. What I've come to realize is that you can't be so set in your own plans, that you don't see God's plan for your life. <br />
<br />
I don't know why we went through all of this. Having this experience in Zagreb in no way makes everything better. It's not running away from the problem. It doesn't "fix" anything. But it does allow me to realize that if I would have had a baby 3 years ago, I would not be here. And for that reason, I have to believe that I am in <i>this</i> very spot right now for a reason. <br />
<br />
It might not be the life I imagined, but it might just be better. <br />
<br />
"Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick, but a sudden good break can turn life around." Proverbs 13:12sam and katie mirkovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801768826702513987noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160638480751331348.post-75554083184128945512012-08-13T07:47:00.002-07:002012-08-13T07:51:05.000-07:00Moving In-Katie's Post<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">August 6, 2012<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We drive up to our apartment, in a beautiful neighborhood
with lots of trees and nice houses. But
our building is a little lacking in love, with some graffiti and some grass
that could use some water and a little fertilizer. We park in front which requires us to pay for
parking. Sam goes over to pay while I
wait in the car. He comes back and asks
for 10 Kuna which should cover us for the time being. He walks back to pay, comes back and says the
machine won’t print us a parking receipt.
So we furiously unload our car and take it up the front steps. I wait with the luggage while Sam finds a
spot behind our apartment. He comes back
and we load our things into the elevator (which smells like it could use a
little Lysol and Febreze.) Up we go to
the sixth floor of our new building. We
turn the lock and open up to our new home.
It looks like an Ikea store, with lots of built in shelves and simple,
modern furniture. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since Sam complimented our landlords on their taste in art, they’ve
left us some lovely paintings of horses (those come down almost
immediately.) We survey the place, the
view, the space that we’ll be filling with memories. And immediately start unpacking. Things start coming out of suitcases. Why did I pack so many coats? I only brought 1 nightshirt?? Where is Lucy’s furminator and nail clippers? I really wish I would have packed my memory
foam mattress topper. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next four hours are spent unloading and finding new
homes for the oddities that were packed.
Based on a recommendation from an expat that moved to Zagreb, I’ve
filled an entire suitcase with shampoo, conditioner, face wash, contact
solution and makeup. Apparently that sort of thing is cheaper in the states and contact solution proved to be an impossible thing to find. I begin setting up
my own personal drug store in one of my Ikea cabinets. We survey the kitchen. They’ve left silverware, plates, cups and
pots and pans. But no small appliances;
coffee maker, toaster, etc. The shopping
list begins. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The thing about shopping in Europe is that everyone only
buys what they need for the day. So when we come in and fill 2 grocery carts with hangers, soap dishes, bowls, and laundry
baskets, we get a few of those Croatian
stares. Apparently they aren’t
starting from scratch like we are. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">We
spend the next several days settling in.
We sleep in. Make coffee. Eat breakfast on our balcony. Take a walk to Maksimir Park or the café down the street. We get our bearings and figure out where things are. Also, we watch some American television
to help us feel not so far from home. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">After 4 days of settling in, we finally start exploring our new
city. We decide to try taking the tram. This is initially a source of
anxiety to me as I always feel anxious when trying something new. We head down towards the tram line, not
knowing how to buy a ticket. Eventually
we find someone who speaks English, and we buy our tickets for the tram. We take route 12 to downtown. The tram takes us to </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Ban Jelačić Square (the main square in
Zagreb.) The next several hours are
spent wandering the street, going nowhere in particular. It’s so wonderful to be in a new place, with
no time constraints, allowed to just wander with no end point in mind. We stumble upon the Zagreb Cathedral, Dolac
Market, and St. Mark’s square. We go to
the Croatian Museum of Naïve Art. We have some delicious pasta with zucchini and
truffle oil at the Dubrovnik Café. On
the way home, we buy a loaf of bread from the Pekarna (bakery). </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">It feels so foreign and yet exactly what I
have anticipated over the last several months.
I feel so very lucky to be having this experience. Though I miss my home and my family and
friends, I know that this is only a chapter of my life. One that I will look back on and cherish as
an amazing experience. I hope I’m able
to soak it all in.</span></span><br />
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sam and katie mirkovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801768826702513987noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160638480751331348.post-25729008553725785742012-07-25T08:39:00.003-07:002012-07-25T08:39:30.063-07:00Journal Entry July 20 from Rtina, Croatia (Sam's post)<br />
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I woke up early with a dry throat because I didn’t have much
water the night before and I’m not used to the new hot climate. I walked to see the fresh light on the
water. There were dry hills in the
distance, which reminded me of the Columbia Gorge. Thoughts in my mind forced me to realize that
I’m here, the land of my great grandfather.
I keep telling myself that I need to slow down. Ever since I’ve been here, I’ve been running from
place to place, stopping only to eat.
Not the way I desire this journey.
Then when I do stop, it forces me to try to slow down time. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Zagreb was an amazing place at a glance. We left after a very quick two days with not
much rest. We were feeling overwhelmed
by our new culture. It was great to see
our new apartment. It was much smaller
than we expected because the pictures didn’t really show the scale of the place. We are still very happy with it. The view is just amazing from the balcony and
I can see the stadium from there. I’ll
be able to hear games even when I’m not there.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Back to the present…I’m sitting here at the café with a
waterfront view. It’s 7:20 am and I’m
the only one here. I like it that
way. The water here is so beautiful and
clear. The color is turquoise. The sound of the breeze and the current is
small to none. Not a single whitecap in
sight. I’m having a small breakfast by
myself, while letting Katie sleep in. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Most summer days back home I wake up before Katie. I usually fetch her an Americano and a pastry
at Northtown and Essencia Bakery back in Yakima. It makes me wonder how that’s going to work
in Zagreb. That’s the fun part. That’s the mystery. What stones will I look under to find such
little pleasures? <o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s been nice having Lucy here in so many ways. Most noticeably because of the “Croatian
Stare.” Our last time here in 2009, we
got a lot of looks by the locals, mainly because we look different. I was in the main part of Zagreb and we sat
by some Americans. We started a
conversation and they said how we look like Americans due to the fact that I
was a wearing a backwards baseball hat. To
my amazement, I looked around the plaza filled with hundreds of people and I
was the only one wearing a hat. It makes
me wonder how to respond to this, with conformity or originality or a little
bit of both? I think the latter because
I’m simply a reflection of my culture and environment. But that will change
now. Thus bringing up the question, how
is this experience going to change me?
And how much am I going to let it change me? Will I be hardened or open to the
change? <o:p></o:p></div>
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But having Lucy breaks the tension with the locals. They look at Lucy and just smile. They don’t size us up with quick
judgment. Don’t get me wrong here; the
Croatians have every right to be a little leery of strangers. They were in a war just 20 years ago. During that time, I’m sure it was tough to
trust any outsider. Before I arrived, I
made it a major point to study the history of Croatia. So when I encounter a stare or
misinterpretation I can at least come to the understanding of their past. It
will help me be less defensive and more adaptive. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Well I think it’s time to see how Katie is sleeping and give
her a nudge to enjoy the nice morning weather and have some breakfast. <o:p></o:p></div>
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sam and katie mirkovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801768826702513987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160638480751331348.post-84303118680957498062012-07-21T08:52:00.002-07:002013-05-07T10:53:10.711-07:00Zagreb Bound (Katie's Post)<style>
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Dread. That’s honestly mostly what I was feeling the
days leading up to us leaving. Dreading
saying goodbye to family and friends.
Dreading putting Lucy on the plane.
Dreading putting myself on the plane.
The night before leaving, I asked my dad to give me a mini-sermon to
help me feel better. He helped me to put
things in perspective. Like for instance
when I said, “What if the plane crashes and Lucy is stuck inside the plane and
we all die.” </div>
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“Well first
of all, that just won’t happen because planes are the safest way to
travel. And even if you did die, it
would be okay because you’d get to see Grandma.” And then my mom threw in a sermon of her own
by saying, “You have to remember the peace you felt when you first decided to
move to Croatia. You knew it was the
right decision then. And it’s still the
right decision now.” Sometimes I really
need two preachers in my life.</div>
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The next
morning, we woke up bright and early and climbed into the van with our 8
suitcases, 2 backpacks, dog crate, and puppy.
Once we reached the SeaTac exit, I was feeling sick and anxious all
over. But here’s the thing. I know that God went before me and took care
of several things that He knew would throw me into a tailspin. For example, when we arrived at the airport
there was absolutely no one in the Lufthansa line. Therefore, we could put our ridiculous amount
of luggage on several carts and wheel them right up to the counter without
having to wait in line with them. You
know the paperwork that we were sure they would check as we left the
country? They didn’t need it. I could have a nice long rant about the
absurdity of spending $60 each way to FedEx the state USDA department so that
someone in a cubicle can charge me $37 to stamp a piece of paper to make it
look really important and cause us to lose sleep and panic that we can’t take
Lucy with us. But I don’t want to bore
my readers. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlBw1MHpBgU8v6mk22wgmxWbo_Kil-H1soeuPl5KYKCmgJl8J38OLz2m8PX6M5MVKALAUv7queqIB55f7CqOYbLJjdGgSNlTcWg3ZrWzsZhXOZKQpEraIqsKEL33K6YmfmxKC-sW5bKc/s1600/luggage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlBw1MHpBgU8v6mk22wgmxWbo_Kil-H1soeuPl5KYKCmgJl8J38OLz2m8PX6M5MVKALAUv7queqIB55f7CqOYbLJjdGgSNlTcWg3ZrWzsZhXOZKQpEraIqsKEL33K6YmfmxKC-sW5bKc/s320/luggage.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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So we
dressed Lucy in her Thundershirt, fastened her water bowl to the crate, put a
ridiculous amount of stickers on her crate giving every address that she could
be sent to in the event that she got lost, and said goodbye. She honestly stared at me through the tiny
holes of her crate until the elevator door closed. It was really scary, but I honestly felt
relief that it was out of my hands and I didn’t have to dread it anymore. But then we had to say goodbye to my parents,
which was a whole different kind of sadness.
I consider myself very lucky to have such a close relationship to my mom
and dad. I go to both of them for advice
and direction and encouragement. It’s
been a rough couple of years in my family and I know that leaving them behind
means putting all of my trust that they will still be taken care of. I was dreading this most of all. But knowing that I had their prayers and
support and the fact that we’ll be seeing them at Christmas gave me the
strength to say goodbye. I know we’ll still
be able to Skype, call, Facebook and email whenever we want to. Plus I’m excited to scout out Croatia so that
we know all the places to take them when they come in April.</div>
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After
sending Lucy off and giving my parents a hug goodbye, I felt ready to leave the
dread behind and start getting excited about the adventure that is ahead of
us. The flights were uneventful, which
is always wonderful for a person who’s more than a little afraid of
flying. Plus we had individual
television screens, so in typical American fashion, I watched TV for ten
hours. We flew so far north that we
skipped nighttime altogether, even though we left Seattle at 1:15pm and got to
Frankfurt at 8:30 am. </div>
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As we flew
into Zagreb, I could feel the excitement building for both Sam and me. We were here.
We had made it. The hours of
packing, cleaning, moving, planning, emailing, traveling, and worrying were
over. It felt amazing. </div>
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We scurried
through customs very quickly and headed straight towards the baggage claim. The
first thing we saw was our little Lucy, coming down the conveyer belt. She made it.
We let her out and I could tell that she was just as relieved as
us. The thing about Croatians is that
they have a certain “look” towards people.
I call it the Croatian stare.
When we were here last time, it made me feel really uncomfortable and
out of place, like everyone hated me.
But now I realize that they’re just a little slow to trust newcomers and
that they do it to everyone. That is,
unless you have a Lucy. The airport was
full of people just smiling, knowing how happy the three of us were to be
together again. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLXGj_IufFaFBfE8mFHC61gsQdITUIFL9sQiAANIGZJfzDlq9S8xuwdueG_txRlGK8rp0uBVBio6yqn4hCfsXfDIxVl097cPb4da3x9THam9SySuCDbmugoC0VY1dkFi0-4YuTmXQ4TUk/s1600/IMG_1916.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLXGj_IufFaFBfE8mFHC61gsQdITUIFL9sQiAANIGZJfzDlq9S8xuwdueG_txRlGK8rp0uBVBio6yqn4hCfsXfDIxVl097cPb4da3x9THam9SySuCDbmugoC0VY1dkFi0-4YuTmXQ4TUk/s320/IMG_1916.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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From there
we had 2 people from our school pick us up.
Lidija is the main HR person and Robert does some random jobs for the
school including taxiing people around.
We had emailed Lidija back and forth so many times with so many silly
questions that we felt we were old friends.
First, they drove us to our new apartment. My first thoughts of Zagreb were: wow, they must really like corn (it’s planted
everywhere) and graffiti. It wasn’t exactly what I had expected at first. The truth about Zagreb (now that I’m not
sleep deprived and have seen more of the city and have had a pep talk from my
mother) is that just like any other city, it has pretty parts and ugly parts.
You just have to focus on the pretty parts.
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A lot of
the city still has communist architecture from the 70’s and 80’s. It also has a lot of graffiti. But lucky for me, I came from Yakima. Our apartment is even better than the
pictures. I will be spending the next
year of my life out on that terrace because it is that amazing. Our landlords are so nice and also just love
Lucy. They’re even going to paint over
their son’s blue and yellow room, which is one less thing that we need to take
care of. Just so you know, we are
expecting visitors. </div>
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After that
we went to our school. What a contrast
from the neighborhood of Adams. I am
definitely going to be teaching a different set of kids, that’s for sure. We also picked up our new car, a Chrysler
Sebring. Isn’t it everyone’s dream to
own a Chrysler in Europe?? It is
actually more out of necessity. We
bought this car from the previous principal because otherwise we would have had
to wait until we got our residency permit in October to buy a car. It’s really not that bad. </div>
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Next,
Lidija took us to our hotel for the night (we don’t actually get to move into
our apartment until August, but we were able to leave 6 out of the 8 suitcases
there.) You really just need to jump right in to driving in Croatia. Otherwise you will see how crazy and awful
the other drivers are and you will be too scared to ever get in a car as long
as you are here. After a quick detour,
(initially we couldn’t get into the parking garage) we got to our hotel. At which point we realized that we had left
our computer charger, cameras, and Lucy’s dog food in one of the suitcases at
our apartment. But by this time, it was
7:00 at night and it was time for food.
My first meal in Zagreb was not what I expected it to be. I thought I’d be wearing a cute little dress,
have my hair recently washed, and be ready to enjoy the café culture. Instead, I sat down at the café near the main
square, having been awake for 30 hours, wearing yoga pants and TOMS, and with
shampoo, conditioner and dog food on the table (I had to make a quick trip to
the Konzum to get some necessities). Oh
well.</div>
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Finally we
were able to get some sleep, going to bed at 8:00, waking up from 1-3 with
sheer panic of all things we may have forgotten and all the things we needed to
get done. Why does anxiety strike the
most at night? By morning, we were
feeling much better and ready to explore our new city. Zagreb is unlike any other city I’ve ever
seen. It is spectacular. If you enjoy sitting outside with your puppy,
enjoying a Schweppes Bitter Lemon and some great food, then Zagreb is the place
for you. I am so excited to get back there
and spend hours outside under an umbrella.
We were also able to register with the police (not a fun experience, but
something that had to be done) and have lunch with some new coworkers. Even though we had been out of the country
for about 48 hours, it was nice to speak with people in English and know that
they were feeling the same things that we were feeling. And again, the food…wow. I want to have that focaccia bread with 4
types of olive oil every day for the rest of my life. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAMCraXk7NPgv4qCRu-45ezZHT_iYoTai2hcmJd0kehsiTC8u6GVGwR-UYYQ7-u-yr40drp12mNgesMy_ajeGu3W5YsELsYAQjjDbnMphG0Ix-jB7nuaEzOWodvwfiq2ZCCQoMw1Ped1Q/s1600/IMG_1981.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> Right now,
we’ve moved down to the coast to escape the heat. On the way down, we stopped at Plitvice Lakes,
which are some of the most amazing lakes I’ve ever seen. </div>
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And today, we’ve spent the day at the
beach. We are now sitting seaside,
waiting for our Cevapcici and enjoying the fact that we can finally enjoy our
summer. I’m focusing on one day at a
time and not thinking too far in the future.
For now, all I have in my future is sun, relaxation, food, and my Sammy
and Lucy to keep me company. </div>
sam and katie mirkovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801768826702513987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160638480751331348.post-23618357143326912462012-07-13T22:42:00.001-07:002013-05-07T10:52:52.154-07:00Moving across the world (Katie's post)If you were to look at my Facebook profile from the last month, you might think that we successfully moved out of our house, enjoyed a leisurely vacation in Colorado Springs, visited family, and packed our bags neatly and efficiently. That's the thing about Facebook. It's deceiving. Yes, we did move out of our house in Yakima. But a lot of our stuff ended up in garbage bags thrown into the back of our Fit. It was not neat or efficient.<br />
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<br />
I finished school on Wednesday, June 20th. On Thursday, we packed up our garage, took a load to the dump, took a load to Goodwill, and took a load to my parents' house. Friday through Monday was spent saying goodbye to my brother and his family as they packed up and moved to Ottawa. Then back to Yakima from Monday through Friday to pack, clean and move out of the house we've lived in for six years. It's pretty tricky to pack for 1 week in Colorado Springs for a wedding, 3 weeks traveling to the beach in Croatia, then packing the clothes you want to take to Croatia, clothes you want to leave back home, and clothes you want to just get rid of. Needless to say, our house was just piles of stuff for a week. How many shoes ARE really necessary? Does this shirt look "Zagreb-ish"? How hard is it to find a memory foam mattress topper? I was amazed at how many strange things I was tempted to pack, not knowing if it was necessary or not.<br />
<br />
On Friday, we took our last load of things to Ellensburg and Olympia. It was a mix of pure relief that it was packed and sadness that we may never live at 414 S. 14th Ave. ever again. Off we went with furniture sticking out of the truck in every direction. Of course as we started to drive to Cle Elum, it started to rain. This meant that we had to park under cover, find a tarp, redo all of the bungees, recover all of our stuff and drive on. Well of course, it then stopped raining, which was good because I'm pretty sure that tarp would have taken off on it's own eventually. But finally we made it to Olympia without a single thing flying out of the back of our truck. I'm so thankful that we have family members that are willing to house our stuff while we're gone. Our entire bedroom set is actually set up in Sam's brother's house in Olympia. All the rest of our earthly belongings are stacked high in my parent's garage.<br />
<br />
So after we got moved out, Sam, my parents and I piled into their Honda to drive down to Colorado Springs for my cousin's wedding. If you had watched the news, you'd know that wildfires were inching dangerously close to the downtown of Colorado Springs the week before my cousin, Amy's wedding. On top of that, my grandfather (who also lives in Colorado Springs) went into the hospital at about the same time. A wedding alone is enough to stress a family out, but to have wildfires and family in the hospital...well, you can imagine. There were a lot of highs and lows in that week. The wedding was beautiful and wonderful and full of emotion for all of us. I was a bridesmaid and a photographer. We were so excited to head home from the church and reminisce about the day. But when we arrived home, we realized that Amy's (the bride) dog had escaped from the backyard. So off we went in our slickers (because it was raining of course) to look for little Zoey. Even though she wasn't found that night, she was found several days later.<br />
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On our way back to Ellensburg, we decided to make a quick detour through the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. A "quick detour" in Martin language means a 17 and a half hour trip in the car in one day. Sam only lost it once. He's a trooper. :) I loved the time spent with my parents as I never do see my dad quite as happy as when he's in a National Park. And my mom can always make me laugh so hard I cry.<br />
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After getting home, we took our last trip to Yakima to say goodbye to dear friends. We also had to take Lucy to the vet for an appointment. We had given our vet the paperwork for Lucy to travel to Croatia back in March. We assumed (shame on us) that he would read the paperwork and have everything done by the time we came in on Wednesday. The paperwork had to be signed by a USDA accredited vet, sent into the USDA state office and be stamped, then sent back to us within 10 days of us traveling. Well, if you've caught on to the theme of this post, you'll know that this did not happen. Our vet was not even a USDA accredited vet which means nothing had been sent in. On top of that, the paperwork for Croatia changed last week. LAST WEEK!! So as panic set in, Sam was left to drive about 20 minutes out of Yakima on Wednesday evening to get the paperwork signed. I, in the meantime, had a very pleasant, productive, helpful conversation with a lady at the state USDA office (they really need to find a way to write things in a sarcastic tone). She was actually an angry, unhappy government employee that found no use in trying to be helpful to the crazy lady (me) on the other end of the phone. She actually told me that I could not bring in the paperwork to her in Tumwater (since we were planning on coming to Olympia the next day anyway), but that I could FedEx the documents and possibly get it back before our flight on Monday. In what world does it make sense to FedEx something to a person when you can just hand the paper to them??? But then I remembered that the USDA office, just like the public education system, is a government run program. Common sense is not so common when it comes to government run programs. Bright and early the next morning, we sent out our documents through FedEx using the fastest shipping option possible.<br />
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So here we are on Friday night, still uncertain as to whether our little Lucy will be on the plane with us when we leave on Monday. It's the first of (I'm sure) many obstacles we'll have to deal with as we move to a foreign country. I know that this experience will stretch me. It will force me to trust. It will make me work through the anxiety that I feel when things are out of my control. So even though I may look like everything is wonderful on Facebook doesn't mean that it's the reality of my life. It's so tempting to look at other people and assume that because they look like they have their life together that they actually do. We all have struggles and we all need grace. In this time, I especially need prayer as I'm about to jump into the scariest thing I've ever done. Just as I'm sure that this will be an amazing adventure, I also know that it will not be easy. But I hope that I will continue to trust that God's hand of protection will be carrying us through.sam and katie mirkovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801768826702513987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160638480751331348.post-67243990781735304932012-07-06T15:22:00.002-07:002012-07-06T15:27:10.385-07:00The Move (Sam’s post)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-5Yak6Z7x3EEcjlL0IfJgVIhqOws6IPsYJzc1sfnk6nfo8NvFb8pxW_ZInJeaGRDrikU16b_xSsSp599w61jO_QCidwrTtXQJz_aHpHhWI-ahsUCC7jOmKSNZ39RycZ8s7gisP9yFYhM/s1600/picture+of+Garage.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-5Yak6Z7x3EEcjlL0IfJgVIhqOws6IPsYJzc1sfnk6nfo8NvFb8pxW_ZInJeaGRDrikU16b_xSsSp599w61jO_QCidwrTtXQJz_aHpHhWI-ahsUCC7jOmKSNZ39RycZ8s7gisP9yFYhM/s400/picture+of+Garage.tiff" width="257" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> Boy did I
underestimate the process of moving out our house, putting things in storage,
and getting the house ready for new our tenants. Let’s just say I’m hiring movers next time we
move out of a house. Basically it feels
like we haven’t had a day off since our last days of school in mid June. However
we borrowed my dad’s truck and started packing and moving our stuff to Katie’s
parents’ house in early May. They let us use their extra space in their garage.
That was so very generous of them and it’s saving us a great deal of money
during our big move. We would pack and take a load pretty much every weekend. This helped out a lot and we spread out the
workload over 2 months. This in return also gave us more time to spend with
Katie’s family. Here is a video clip of our stuff packed to the gills in the
garage at Katie’s parents’ house. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://vimeo.com/45253080"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">https://vimeo.com/45253080</span></a></div>sam and katie mirkovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801768826702513987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160638480751331348.post-88792507145973124072012-07-02T18:29:00.002-07:002012-07-02T18:35:29.829-07:00Inspiration from Chris McCandless (Sam's Post)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvpEocJuRZEaIR69Fm5MIj-9CbfFK9gaHu8CdxrMKF9MklOcqd-1gFxf_n3WXLXA2G8tqSWbHBBXppELK5jj97VhEVpDP5pDLFithE2k7vyuHWCbZJty8G7tHJzax2ocG-1jwvrohU4Ow/s1600/slideshow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvpEocJuRZEaIR69Fm5MIj-9CbfFK9gaHu8CdxrMKF9MklOcqd-1gFxf_n3WXLXA2G8tqSWbHBBXppELK5jj97VhEVpDP5pDLFithE2k7vyuHWCbZJty8G7tHJzax2ocG-1jwvrohU4Ow/s400/slideshow.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Sometimes I wake up in the middle of night with a jolt of
fright about moving to Zagreb. Then
after about 15 seconds, my faith calms me down a bit while my heart still
races. I think to myself, how can I be so sure about this direction that we are
about to take? In truth it’s hard to
find the answers, but I came across something that aligned my tracks
again. It comes from the book, “Into the
Wild” by John Krakauer. It’s a letter that Christopher McCandless in his mid
20’s wrote to his older friend Ron before Chris’s big adventure into Alaska. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Times;">Ron, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Times;">I really enjoy all the help you have
given me and the times we spent together. I hope that you will not be too
depressed by our parting. It may be a very long time before we see each other
again. But providing that I get through this Alaskan Deal in one piece you will
be hearing from me again in the future. I'd like to repeat the advice I gave
you before, in that I think you really should make a radical change in your lifestyle
and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of
doing or been to hesitant to attempt. So many people live within unhappy
circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation
because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and
conservatism, all of which may appear to give one piece of mind, but in reality
nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure
future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for
adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and
hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for
each day to have a new and different sun. If you want to get more out of life,
Ron, you must lose your inclination for monotonous security and adopt a
helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy. But
once you become accustomed to this scheme of life you will see its full meaning
and its incredible beauty. And so, Ron, in short, get out of Salton City and
hit the Road. I guarantee you will be very glad you did. But I fear that you
will ignore my advice. You think I am stubborn, but you are even more stubborn
than me. You had a wonderful chance on your drive back to see one of the
greatest sights on earth, the Grand Canyon, something every American should see
at least once in his life. But for some reason incomprehensible to me you
wanted nothing but to bolt for home as quickly as possible, right back to the
same situation which you see day after day after day. I fear you will follow
this same inclination in the future and thus fail to discover all the wonderful
things that God has placed around us to discover. Don't settle down and sit in
one place. Move around, be nomadic, make each day a new horizon. You are still
going to live a long time, Ron, and it would be a shame if you did not take the
opportunity to revolutionize your life and move into an entirely new realm of
experience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Times;">You are wrong if you think Joy emanates
only or principally from human relationships. God has placed it all around us.
It is in everything and anything we might experience. We just have to have the
courage to turn against our habitual lifestyle and engage in unconventional living.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Times;">My point is that you do not need me or
anyone else around to bring this kind of light in your life. It is simply
waiting out there for you to grasp it, and all you have to do is reach for it.
The only person you are fighting is yourself and your stubbornness to engage in
new circumstances.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Times;">Ron, I really hope that as soon as you
can you will get out of Salton City, put a little camper on the back of your
pickup, and start seeing some of the great work that God has done here in the
American West. You will see things and meet people and there is much to learn
from them. And you must do it economy style, no motels, do your own cooking, as
a general rule spend as little as possible and you will enjoy it much more
immensely. I hope that the next time I see you, you will be a new man with a
vast array of new adventures and experiences behind you. Don't hesitate or
allow yourself to make excuses. Just get out and do it. Just get out and do it.
You will be very, very glad that you did.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Times;">Take care Ron, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Times;">Alex (a new name the Chris he gave
himself)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Times;">(end of Chris letter)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Times;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"> I
know this sounds a little preachy, but for some I hope it does move them. I
believe there is so much more to see in the world than one freeway
corridor. However I know it might be
tough for people to leave situations such as jobs, family, and home life. But I think it’s healthy to leave these
securities to grow independently or as a family to challenge one’s contentment and
to seek adventure. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1a1a1a;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>sam and katie mirkovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801768826702513987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160638480751331348.post-57654357867486654562012-05-27T09:47:00.001-07:002012-05-27T09:47:54.742-07:00A travel video on Croatia<a href="http://youtu.be/Uig_y7Laows">http://youtu.be/Uig_y7Laows</a><br />
I can't believe we will be here in a month and a half from now.sam and katie mirkovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801768826702513987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3160638480751331348.post-85190245386898797392012-05-24T18:16:00.004-07:002012-05-27T09:52:30.744-07:00Our Departure Date is Rapidly Approaching<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The end of the school year and our departure date is rapidly
approaching. My school year ends June 13<sup>th</sup>
while Katie’s ends June 20<sup>th</sup>.
Her school is under a school improvement grant, which means they have
longer school days and an extended school year.
During that week, I will be at home getting the rest of the house packed
up. We’ll be putting our stuff in
storage or selling it at a yard sale. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> The bad
news is we didn’t get a buyer for our house. However the good news is that we
did find a renter, which is a big load off our shoulders. Our renter is a
teacher/friend of Katie’s at her school. She will be moving in July 1<sup>st</sup>.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> So during the
last couple weeks of June, we are hoping to get a couple of house projects done
before we leave the country like: paint the inside and outside of the garage,
our front porch, redo the floor in the laundry room, cleanout the sprinkler
filters, shampoo the carpets, and on and on.
If we end up staying in Zagreb, each summer we are hoping to come back
to Yakima to do a couple of week long projects on the house such as repainting
or roofing. Some projects we might contract out but some we might do ourselves.
However it will be nice to oversee the process and make sure the job gets done
correctly while visiting friends in Yakima. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Enough about logistics and boring stuff…we bought a CAR.
We purchased the car from the principal that was moving back to the
states. This works out best for the both
of us. We would have had to rent a car for almost 2 months, and that would have
been close to $2,000 with no long-term investment. We couldn’t buy a car right
away because we need to establish residency and that can take up to 2 months.
Importing our car from the USA would have cost $3,000 and an additional tax of
40% of the value of our car. We bought the car for $5,000 interest free because
the school is giving us the loan. The car has only has 50,000 miles on it. We got a great deal and it works out because
we get to use the car right when we get there. The car will still be in our principal’s
name until we establish residency. We plan on putting a lot of miles onto that
car </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">J</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">. </span></span>sam and katie mirkovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801768826702513987noreply@blogger.com0