3 for 1

You will be getting a special deal from me today... 3 posts for the price of sitting through and reading 1.  Quite a deal for both of us as I see it since I don't enjoy writing and less time taken up on your end.  

Matt had mentioned that we went to the Banya last Saturday.  It was my first experience and I would say it probably wasn't very traditional.  I didn't have to jump into any ice ponds... and the boys dropped the temperature down for us girls to a balmy 172 degrees F (compared to their 212 degrees F).  All that said, I LOVED it.  I wish I could do it every week... especially after days when I think plyometric training is a good idea.  Tanya, Rita (wife of Sergey dentist, lady who took care of Matt's foot, and good friend), and I sat in the smokin' hot sauna for about 10 min. at a time talking about makeup and other girl type stuff... then we'd step out, cool off and do it again for another 3 cycles.  I got a softer version of the beating Matt talked about with the birch tree branches... which actually felt great.  Since this Banya was at the house of Sergey and Rita's, the "jumping into the ice hole" was actually just stepping into a very modern shower... just my style.  Despite the picture, we did NOT have Campbell in there.  He had fun playing with the boys shooting everyone.

Post 2... I finally got some curtains put up in my bedroom.  My mom made these for me when I was in MI.  It makes such a difference in the mornings and even at night since we have a street light outside one of our windows.  It's hard to see in this picture, but for all you girls wondering the design is a wavy polk-a-dot pattern with greens/browns/blues.  

And finally... here are my favorite flowers I've seen here in Ukraine.  I'm not sure what they are called but they are some kind of "state" flower that is illegal to pick... whoops.   Nonetheless, I was very excited that Matty decided to bring them home for me. :)