Ju Falenderoj

It's Thanksgiving Eve and I am wide awake after the nap I took on the couch while Maggie played with my hair. I love my family. My parents, siblings, cousins, Aunts and Uncles are so close to one another which is a result of my amazing Grandparent's commitment and love they have given all of us throughout our lives. They created a unity that I am incredibly thankful for... every day of the year.

Any gathering with my family is a sweet combination of laughing, crying, hugging, playing, laughing some more, reminiscing, sharing, serving, laughing, singing, and worshipping.... oh and laughing. Watch "I Love Lucy" once, and you have met my Grandma.... and perhaps a little insight into the life of my family. Throw that together with any classic musical you can think of: Music Man, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Oklahoma, Sound of Music, Annie Get Your Gun, or Calamity Jane (my personal favorite).... and you'll be prepared to break out into song with us. (Is Calamity's horse a palomino or a paint!?)

This is all coming from a mixture of a great conversation with my sisters and just being around my Aunt Andrea all day as we cooked for the big day tomorrow. We spent all day sharing recipes, doing some shopping, and preparing some dishes for tomorrow. I was on the Butternut Squash Soup, Mom's famous layered goodness, and a new desert: Pumpkin Mousse Pie. My Aunt covered the mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and brining the turkey. We paused and ate crab for dinner.... I wanted to pinch myself! Maggie was helping me in the kitchen, we had music playing, accompanied by Spencer's occasional terrets from the Shark's game in the other room. We sang, danced, laughed, and had a great time in the kitchen. In the middle of pureeing all my roasted veggies for the soup I got a great text message from Ashley that brought me to tears. I love my family, my friends, my life. 2010 has not been the most amazing year to date, but it might be one of the most life-changing... and I am so thankful for that.

My second wind is starting to fade so I will wrap it up with this last bit of what I am thankful for. I am thankful for my parents and their love and continuous devotion to each other throughout some incredibly difficult times. For my siblings that will truly drop anything for me, as I witnessed earlier this year during my lowest time of my life thus far, they came together and lifted me up. For my Aunts and cousins that stepped into perfect formation surrounding me and carried the torch that my sisters had created, to light my way and keep my spirits up. I am thankful for laughter and how it can change everything. I am thankful for change. I am thankful for choice. I am thankful for Europe, especially Albania. I am thankful for being American. I am thankful for the ocean, my constant grounding companion. For my dear friends that listen and comfort me when I can't explain me. I am thankful for my talents, for my weaknesses and for my body. I am thankful for love, for hope and for the mere possibility of waking up with the potential of something good happening for me in my life. I am grateful for exercise, for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatuses.

Most of all, I am thankful for my faith. My relationship with the Lord and the way I feel as I study the scriptures. I love how my heart can't get enough and I'm thankful for that drive to want to know more, feel more, experience more. I am thankful for temples and congregations throughout the world. In other words, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.

Under da Sea

It has been over a month since my last post and I have all these different stories and experiences that I want to share and will be getting them out over the next couple weeks. Since my last post in Albania a lot has changed in my life: I helped Natalie remodel her house, had a Fairygod Mother shoot with Penelope and Harrison, explored the worlds of geocaching, DC Life and Xbox, turned 28, relocated and am trying my luck and talent as an artist. I will post more about all of that craziness later because as I was looking through photos on Ashley's computer, I found so many photos that I wanted to put on my blog! So, in the Spirit of "Diving In", here are some experiences that I've shared with my girls during our travels. (All of these photos were taken by one of us girls). This doesn't include our time out at sea so I will post Tahiti, Fiji and New Caledonia at a later time. Until then..... Dive on In!

Maui

Swimming in Maui

Free diving near our resort in Maui

Wreck Dive off Oahu

SCUBA Kisses

Me in Lanai

Cathedrals at Lanai, Kali & Ashley (We are very protective of our Kali)

Sea Turtle in Maui

Wreck Dive off Oahu, taking a group pic underwater is actually quite difficult!

Love this photo of Ashley and one of her dolphins at work. This was taken while I was on my mission. I know because on her left hand she is wearing my rings that she wore while I was gone.

Kali and I off Coral Street, Monterey Bay

Ashley performing the famous Jellyfish Dance in Lanai

Jenny and I went out surfing in Oahu, but there were no waves so we played underwater instead.

Cathedrals, Lanai

Wreck Dive (behind us)... Guess which one is Jenny!

oh... that's ME!

I am the shark on the left. Ashley to my left and Kali in the back. Where's Kali? Oh! Geez! Hi Kali!

Elkhorn Coral off Lanai

Free Diving in Maui

Zebra Moray Eel and Slate Pencil Sea Urchins, Maui

White Tip Reef Shark, Wreck Dive in Oahu

Metridium Fields, Monterey Bay at Breakwater (30 degree shot from pipe)

I love how clear this photo is. Slate Pencil Sea Urchins, Maui

There is a lot of feeling behind this photo.

Tirana

Tirana is a very unique place that is packed with people, noise, construction, roaming dogs, garbage, and no doubt the most colorful city I have ever visited. It is hard to get around, lots of traffic, obscene amounts of disorganization, loose street tiles that splash water all over you, and somehow has a way of completely captivating your heart in ways that you can't fully wrap your head around. This is Tirana.

I met up with Mira Xhaferaj, my lovely companion of 3 months. We met up and went out to the best crepe place in the city. While we were sitting there the Elders walked by and quickly waved before running off to their next appointment... that was weird. This is my Lopa and I am her Zogu.

The next day I met up with my dear Megi who I spent a lot of time with as a missionary. She is an amazing girl with a very strong desire to put her knowledge to work, it was so good to see her and just walk around like no time had passed at all. Mira met up with us and we sat and talked for a while before Mira had to head to work. Megi and I then went for a stroll down Myslym Shyri, my favorite street in Tirana. Myslym Shyri is not only the most beautiful street in Tirana, but it feels like home most to me because I lived off this street, talked to a lot of people on this street, and walked it back and forth numerous times as a missionary. Towards the end of my 6 months there, I knew just about everyone on that street and I loved that feeling because it was exactly like Monterey to me. I can't go anywhere in Monterey without running into someone. (Something that drives Miss Ashley bonkers!)
Megi and I walked through the open market to grab some hair clasps... they are so much stronger than anything you can find in the states.
A quick stop by our church and a nice visit with the Elders that were running off to a meeting. We then headed to see Megi's Mom at her work and as I walked up her Mom had the funniest look on her face trying to figure out who I was. When she realized she jumped up and said, "Motra Langford!" She didn't know I was in town and was very excited to see me. We hugged and laughed and hugged some more. We stayed and visited for a while and she introduced me to just about everyone that passed by. It made me smile.
This was such a wonderful surprise. After leaving her Mom's work walked towards the bus station and along the way we saw a group of missionaries! I couldn't help but run up and start talking. There were 4 sisters and 4 elders. Quite a few of them had only been there for a day and I felt for them greatly because I knew exactly what was going on in their heads, "What just happened? Where am I? What is this language that I don't understand? Now what?" We snapped this photo and I wished them luck as they made their way to Vlore.
Megi and I took the bus to meet up with a friend of hers at a cafe and sat for a while and just relaxed. I really needed this because to stay consistent with true Albanian fashion I had to get food poisoning during my stay, which of course fell on the last day when I had planned to eat a Sufflaqe with dhalle. For those that know what that is can feel my pain because I was unable to eat that while on my little visit "back home". Tragic, I know.

Megi and I eventually parted ways and I was able to have a lovely stroll by myself around the city. I was walking rather slowly because I wasn't feeling to wonderful, but it was still nice to just take my time and soak in all the craziness of Tirana. This first photo is of the Xhami (mosque) in the center of the city. I loved hearing the prayers throughout the day, something I had greatly missed over these past years. Following is the iconic statue of Skenderbeu, a famous Albanian historical figure that is recognized for saving the country, and the surrounding region, from the Ottoman Empire.
When I arrived back from my outing, the Lami family was incredibly worried that I was still sick. They wanted to know what was wrong, and soon my stomach became the main topic of conversation.... for the rest of the evening. Nena was convinced that I was simply experiencing the aftermath of a hang over and no matter how many times I tried to tell her that I don't drink and that wasn't a possibility... she continued to mumble under her breath "that's what you get for drinking!" I eventually gave up. They also kept insisting that I eat this "special cure all remedy" (albanians are full of them) which would make all my feelings of wanting to yack flee from me. I eventually gave in to this one as well.... Hard boiled egg with salt and oregano washed down with Coca-Cola.
This is Diana Lami, the daughter of the family I stayed with in Tirana. We went there every Friday on my mission and this was taken on one of those nights. Diana and I were very close. The next photo was from this trip... sporting one of my flowers of course!
Diana's Dad Andi who I have kept in very close contact with since my mission.
Upper right hand balcony, look closely. Nena is standing watch.

Leaving the airport and on my way to Hungary for a nice afternoon before heading back to Switzerland.

A view of Monte Negro and the Adriatic Sea outside my window. I want to go there someday... and Croatia. I must dive Croatia. What do you say girls?

Memorable Moments

Any Albanian followers? What is wrong with this picture? I couldn't help myself but snap this and laugh. If you want some more of pictures like this go to Cudira Shqiptare on Facebook and Enjoy!

I took the pleasure of sharing a little bit of Albania with you in this post and the next ones to follow. Each one of these photos has left an impact on me and may not seem so incredible to anyone, but I still wanted to include them because of what they mean to me.

First off, the road that leads to the chapel in Keneta, (Durres). When I first moved to this area, this was an open black water canal that absolutely wreaked of dead animals, garbage, sewer, and old discarded food. The creatures out here were always of the unusual and semi-mutant type. Mosquitoes as big as small hummingbirds and these swamp rats that were the size of a skunk. I remember walking in the dark and having one run across my feet, I wanted to die. This is also the area that, as God desired, we had the most work and were there every day of the week which is about a 45 min walk from were we lived. I would come home with mud up to my knees and soon found out that those European bidets worked wonders for scrubbing the mud off my boots... every night.

While I was there, so happens that the Albania government decided to purchase some land and wanted to build a major cut off to the city covering and paving the canal. This of course meant that it had to be dug up, pumped out, and eventually have an actual road be constructed. I saw this begin while I was still a missionary and as I walked out there for the first time after almost 3 years, I was shocked to see this beautiful road with a direct shot to the church. I love the conveniently inspired location.

I was absolutely surprised to see this guy still alive. He lives along the roadway, still searching for food. The magical road to the Osmanallaraj Family (Lefterie and Nesibe). The first time I went to their house, it was magical and felt like home in a way, like I had been there 1,000 times before. There are more houses, and the existing ones have grown, but it still felt the same.

This is a classic Albanian snapshot. An older man coming into town to try and sell some fresh produce, talking to his friend that just left the butcher with a fresh cut of veal. Albanian roads. There is something to be said for Albanian roads and I make this connection and realization from a rather sincere place in my heart. I didn't fully make the connection until I sat listening with my dear friends in Durres while we listened to the General Conference Broadcast over the internet. It was Elder Uchtdorf's talk on "Of Things That Matter Most" when he talked about slowing down and doing things right to not get overwhelmed. I thought a lot about how I try to always get over something quickly, especially when it will be for the improvement of who I am and the quality of my life. I want the fix now and I want it to be perfect. I know how to get there, but I like to skip important steps or cut corners to get there faster, and how easy it is to make it look like I got everything under control. I quickly paint over the rust, because if I don't see it and if other's don't see it than it must not be there. Over time, like always, the true colors of pain, anger, frustration, weakness, and disconnect from my Heavenly Father begin to show and I panic reaching for the coverup one more time.

This past year, more than any other time in my life, I am really trying to make the effort to get to the body of things, and relay a solid and balanced base or foundation so that I can build up from there. I can feel it happening, and even though I know it can't, and won't happen over night, it will eventually happen. With faith and the help of the Lord of course. So, as I walked around my beautiful Albania on there broken up roads, I was reminded of this very principle. The streets are so quickly done, that no foundation is ever fully constructed, if any at all. As a result, these roads only last for so long and then they crumble to pieces and the thought of beginning from the bottom up seems overwhelming and slightly impossible. So the roads that were once clean and inviting, slowly degrade overtime and become completely neglected. If only they put in the time and effort to do it right the first time. If I only put the time and effort to do it right the first time.
This last photo may be hard to see, but directly under the sun is a boy sitting contently and playing with some small game. No TV, no internet, no gameboy or cell phone. It just reminded me of Christmas morning on my mission when I passed these two small boys that had made kites out of a plastic bag and string. They were ecstatic. I thought of all the kids in America that were most likely pouting because they didn't get what they wanted, or they liked what their brother or sister got better. I love the simplicity and the gratitude of these people. Amazes me and humbles me over and over again.