I am thankful for....

The Man downstairs that fixed our gas problem (and yes I mean the gas for the oven) so that I did not have to carry a turkey to the other apartment to cook it.

This holiday that brings us all together to remember why we are thankful and to remember the Creator that gave us life and everything around us. What a good looking group (or part of the group).

Old school gas oven to cook delicious Turkey's in for my very first time. And for Mothers who make you take the gizzards out in the years before so when the time came for you to do it on your own it wouldn't gross you out anymore...not true, still gross.

Taxis so I do not have to walk 1/2 a mile carrying a 9 lb. Turkey. The Romanians already stare at me I did not need to carry a dead bird to get any more attention.

Men who carve the turkey because I am weak sauce and not that patient.

The Angel that was watching over me and making sure my Turkey was almost Perfect:)

The Villa where we hold church meetings and long tables so we can have awesome gathering like this.

Rhett and the fake wishbone to keep us entertained during the break between dinner and dessert!

Wonderful Friends and for the service that brought all of us to Romania...whether it be the mission or the work in the orphanage these are incredible people and I love them!

Awesome desserts and HOMEMADE PUMPKIN PIE...Alicia Pureed it herself and everything!
I have a quote that I shared at thanksgiving Dinner and I would like to share it with everyone:

Elder Richard L. Evans once said, “Gratefully we acknowledge the infinite mind of our Maker, and gratefully ought to offer our tithes and offerings, and earnestly consistent service, in thanks for all that God has given, and keep his commandments in remembrance of the love and providence and purpose of the Creator, the God and Father of us all, the organizer and operator of heaven and earth, without whom all these things would not be so. Thank God for all this: for life and what sustains it, for loved ones that make it meaningful, for faith and purpose and continuance, always and forever. Thank God for all of this—and much, much more.”

I am not just grateful for this holiday to remind us of our God and to give thanks to him for our lives and everything that makes it but to remember him daily and in our prayers give gratitude for all the blessings and tender mercies we experience. I am grateful for my faith, my family, my friends, my health, my adventures and learning experiences in traveling (past and present), for my education and for the love that I feel from the kids that I work with everyday here, and right now especially I am grateful to all my family members and friends who donated money to help bring Christmas to the Kids here in Romania. Thank you!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Cute Pic

This is baby Stefan!!! So CUTE! I could write more and update everyone on life in Romania but I am too dang tired! So, maybe another day:)

Crazy Eights!

Once again I have been tagged but for another game....thanks Katie:) Well, here it goes:

8 Favorite Movies (really how can you choose favorites for this, these are just the first 8 that came to my mind)
1. Once
2. Les Choristes
3. Dumb and Dumber
4. Sleepless in Seattle
5. Preacher's Wife
6. Beauty and the Beast
7. Hot Rod
8. It's a Wonderful Life

8 Things I Did Yesterday
1. Woke up and thought I was going to be late for church and then realized my clock got set ahead an hour by accident....no idea how.
2. Went to church
3. Read and finished the book Eclipse
4. Ate dinner with my group out here in Romania
5. Had a group meeting
6. Tried to talk to my family on skype with little success.
7. Updated my blog and emailed friends
8. Went to bed early!!!

8 Things I Look Forward To Doing
1. Holding Stefan at the hospital
2. Playing with my kids at Dancu
3. Thanksgiving Dinner
4. Reading the last book of the Twilight series
5. Giving gifts to the people and kids out here that I just love!
6. Spending the Holidays with my family
7. Watching Christmas movies with my family
8. Going on a no sugar diet with my Mom after the holidays and being able to run outside again!!

8 Favorite Restaurants (again is it really possible to choose only 8)
1. Medina's (mexican food in Franktown, Co and I am not sure if I spelled it right)
2. In-n-Out
3. Guru's
4. Spud's
5. Bombay House
6. Thai place in San Marcos, Ca (the name has slippe my mind)
7. Veranda inn
8. Red Robin (unlimited fries...yay)/Nielsen's Frozen Custard..so what I have 9

8 Things On My Wish List
1. For all my kids in Romania to grow up healthy and strong and be able to go to school!!
2. To be able to come back to Romania someday
3. Visit my Sister and the Baby for a couple of weeks
4. Have the best Christmas ever with my family
5. Get a scholarship
6. Get accepted into Grad School somewhere cool
7. Spend a New Year's Eve in New York
8. For Katie's blood clot to go away!

Well, that's all Folks!! I tag Grandma and Grandpa Davis, Aunt Kristy, Mom, and Liz, Good luck and again thanks Katie, I miss you tons! Get better soon!!!

4 More Weeks!

Time really does fly by so fast! I only have a month left in Romania to do as much good as I can. I am not even sure what to write about right now. All I can think about is how bittersweet leaving this wonderful place will be. I am so excited to see my family and spend the Holiday's in the states but at the same time I wish I could be with the kids for the holidays too....why can't I just have the best of both worlds? The only thing that I can really find hope in is that BYU has this program every semester so as soon as I leave in two weeks there will be someone else here to take my place and to love these kids just as much as I do....and that will hopefully continue for a long time.

There is something that I feel the need to confess, I am reading the Twilight series. I know, I always made fun of these books, I made fun of my roommates who love these books and here I am reading them. Now, I am not sure if it is because I am in the land of vampires that this book is more appealing to me now or just the fact that I have a lot of extra time on my hands lately so I need something to fill them with and there is always the last option that I still have schoolwork to do before I get home and I was born with the procrastination gene and if I had to I would read this series twice in order to postpone actually having to do schoolwork.

Since this is my blog I am going to give you my opinion of these books and at anytime if I offend you with my opinion that is just too bad but you can always choose to leave my blog page and go find comfort in facebook. Twilight is an entertaining book, the story is fun and I love going back to the days of my childhood of imagining vampires and werewolves but the writing is so amateur. I feel like I am reading a book that someone from high school wrote. Then there are the characters. Bella, oh where do I start? Could you have a worse role model for teenage girls. She is desperate, needy, insecure, and obsessive and has no sense of her own independence or personality. Some heroine. Then there is the suave Edward, the "good" vampire. Can you say controlling?? My word, he has all the power in the relationship and knows it. I mean, there whole relationship is so unhealthy, coming from the hopefully soon to be marriage therapist. But Jacob, now there is a character I love! He may be a werewolf but he knows how to have a healthy relationship and his personality is so fun loving. His character keeps me sane throughout the book. Now, after reading all this criticism you may wonder why I keep reading the series if it drives me so nuts, well I am still wondering myself, but entertainment is entertainment.

To end on a good note with the twilight fans who may be reading this post Edward really is dreamy....I mean I have always wanted a vampire as a boyfriend:)

Tag..You're IT!

My sister Rachel Tagged me and I had to put up the 4th picture in my 4th folder on my computer. The ironic thing is when she had to do this her pic was one from her wedding and well so is mine! Crazy! They are just so happy! I remember their wedding and as beautiful and fun as it was the best part is always watching the newly married couple and how they look at each other all day....especially during their first dance. Oh, love, so splendid:)

Well, now that I have been tagged I must past the torch on and I choose Parker, Erin and Emily!!! I cannot wait to see the pics that they get!!

PS if you do not get the whole tagged thing look under Rachel's it has a brief explanation.

Budapest...no U-Da-Best! I heard that and thought it was clever..

So, I am not even sure where to start with my trip to Budapest because the whole thing was just incredible! We can always start from the beginning..Now, we all know any trip a Davis takes cannot just go smoothly, at least not for me. To follow tradition of dysfunctionality (if that is even a word) I missed the train, along with a few of the other girls in the group. At first this seemed very frustrating and I felt like I was getting gyped a day of fun in Budapest but it turned out to be a blessing in Disguise. First off, we got lucky that when we went back to try and change our tickets there was a lady working who spoke English and we also got lucky that one of the girls that missed the train was Alicia, she is pretty fluent in Romanian. With their forces combined we were able to change our tickets and only have to spend $5. The next blessing was that we got to spend a day in the City of Cluj. This may seem weird as a blessing but I got to see and experience a lot of things that I would not have otherwise and it was an amazing experience.

Then we made it to budapest and I never knew it was such a beautiful city and so I was pleasantly surprised. To tell the rest of the story I will just talk through my pictures, it is just easier for me that way!

And yes I do have food pictures and there are only two this time...first off, I love gyros and someone should start up a gyros stand in Provo somewhere, it would be a hit! Second off, this is the man that sang and danced for me and gave me extra meat since Obama won...he was very entertaining!
You can never go wrong with Pastries!

This is the room we were staying in at the Hostel...it was called the Bob Marley room!! RAD!

I saw the Opera, Elektra, and so this is me in the Opera House...pretty awesome! It is too bad the Opera was in German and then the subtitles were in Hungarian, it was a little more difficult to follow.

On a ferry ride on the Danube where we learned about the history of Budapest.

See why I like it so much

Another one of the Opera House

Chain Bridge

Buda Castle

St. Stephen's Church, so beautiful! I love castles...they never get old:)

I was just proud of my picture taking skills on this one

Hereo's Square

Parliament Building

Cool View and a ncie Hike

Gardens in Cluj

The train ride was so much fun..I wish we traveled on trains more through the US, and they are way cheap!

I just like this one

Ttthhattssss ALL FOLKS!

Politics

I am not one that particularly likes to voice my political thoughts or opinions for the world to see but in recent events with the election and witnessing it all from Eastern Europe there is something I do feel inclined to share. I have been in Hungary for the past couple of days and in the Hostel that I am at there are quite a few guys from the UK and other parts of Europe. The last couple of days we have talked a lot about the election and what was going on. All of them have the same opinion that Barack should be President. And yes I am a Democrat and agree with them but what I found interesting is how they expressed the feelings that if McCain won how pretty much all of Europe would not be happy with the U.S. They put it this way, 3 strikes and you are out, and I am glad that we are not out.

Even though a lot of Republicans, and most of my family, are not happy about Barack winning I must say that I have seen a lot of positive feedback from people internationally and I think that it will gain us a lot more respect and build up some good rapport internationally, which we could very well use.

Oh, and tonight when I went to get Gyros at a stand nearby our hostel and the Vendor asked if I was American and when I replied yes he started to dance and sing "Barack, Barack" over and over and then he gave me extra meat on my gyros just for being American!!! If that is not a plus already from Barack being the new President then I just don't know what else would be..I mean all that other stuff we vote for doesn't really matter as long as Europeans like us again and give us extra meat in our food right?! I know, Deep Thoughts of Kinsey Davis, it really should be a book.

Christian I Hope You See This...

If you check out Rachel's blog (randrrailroad.blogspot.com) you will see a pic of Her and Ryan's Halloween costume and in talking to her I discovered that the shorts Ryan is wearing are hers and it reminded me of a time when I went to Utah to visit Christian and we went Hottubbing.....well Christian did not have shorts on him so he borrowed some of Emily's. Ryan's shorts are far shorter but I think that Pink is Christian's color:)