Joe Ragan

I noticed some tress last evening which finally have green buds.  Hopefully, this means that spring is finally coming…
It still gets around freezing every night, however, this weekend promises temps in the 70’s!!!
Yippee!

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Little things can mean so much. I received a couple of boxes while I was gone. One full of dryer sheets and another full of Bear Creek soups. Wow! I am so blessed.
Some colleagues told me about something they bought in one of the grocery stores in Astana. On my [...]

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When I arrived home the kitchen cabinets were already installed. Wow, they look great. Here are a couple of photos…

I am so pleased with the way they look with the flooring.  In the first photo, the refrigerator [...]

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I had one evening free in Ukraine and spent it visiting some dear friends. Pasha and his sister, Olga attend Grace church in Kyiv where I attended. Both of them got married during the summer of 2006 and both couples had baby boys in the fall of 2007.
Here are a couple of photos:
      [...]

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I forgot some photos on my camera from the Naurez celebration I attended with some friends.  Naurez is the New Year celebration on March 22.
   
A Kazkak singing group; Eltai and Massagut
   
Ploff, an Uzbek rice dish; Girls serving free tea

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I have been having withdrawals… I don’t think that I truly have an addiction… but I may need to see a doctor
Last Friday was like any normal day. I went to the dentist to have some work done on a tooth. Afterwards, I did a little visiting in Budapest. I [...]

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All of our flights from Astana to Europe leave during the night.  I got on a very full flight from Astana to Frankfurt.  There were lots of parents with newly adopted children from Kyrgyzstan and Kstan. It was great to see their beaming faces!
Well, the trip wasn’t without some adventure.  Adventure (приключение in Russian) seems [...]

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I arrived in Budapest at 9 am on Thursday.  I took the mini-bus to the house where we stay during medical visits.  I met with my doctor later that evening (6 o’clock).  She gave me great news: the eardrum healed on its on.  She even showed me with a camera stuck in my ear where [...]

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I stayed up really late yesterday/today.  I got home at 7 pm from Almaty, washed some clothes, etc since I am doing a quick turn around.
But the real reason I stayed up was to see UT (as in University of Texas!!!) play/ lose to Memphis.  It seemed that Texas was never in the game from [...]

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Yesterday during a meeting I shared a little of my testimony of my very first trip to Kstan in 2005.  My supervisor joked that he was dropping me off in the desert.  I heard it so much that I began to believe it!
Well, after I knew that I would be moving to Karaganda in 2007, [...]

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