Tibet Kitchen

Okay, it really isn't called 'Tibet Kitchen' anymore, it's just "Tibet' with 'restaurant' written really small underneath. But, it is one of my favorite places to eat. They have this amazing vegetable dish with almonds that I have gotten every time. And really good "dangzhi' chicken. Yummy! Here are some of my fellow HSRers (Karen and Michael). I convinced them to take a picture (although not everyone was thrilled with the idea :) ).

Christina, Karen said she would take me to the cheap sandwich shop! I'm excited! Except she said the smoothies can be warm...that sounds kinda icky...

Houston Support Room

The Houston Support room is where NASA folks sit to support ISS. There are some people over here (HSG-Houston Support Group) who support on 3-6 month rotations, acting as liasions between US and Russia (and they do a lot of other stuff...they always seem really busy!).

Me at the designated ADCO console

Ops Planners (they are the scheduling gurus for shuttle and station), a Russian Systems Specialist, and the ever busy HSG

For those of you who have been in Mission Control, you'll recognize the plaques. They also hang one out here in the HSR.

Kolomenskoe or bust

The good thing about Moscow, is that you are never lost as long as you know where the nearest Metro (subway) station is.

Since today was my day off, I slept in way later than I planned and then headed out to Kolomenskoe, which is a massive park (it used to be the Imeperial estate) with a lot of old churches. I've never been there and it was the one place I really wanted to see this trip.

So I made it to Kolomenskaya metro stop. The directions said you walk up a hill for about ten minutes. I started going straight, then looked around and saw that to my right was a big hill. Score! So I walk, and walk, and walk...and about an hour later, I start thinking, maybe this is the wrong hill. So I stopped and asked this lady... I think I scared her. Another lady was very helpful. When I asked where Kolomenskoe was, she asked "Metro?". I said, "no, park". Then she nodded and said "jdkdncvnvioaowiaannglfgaojfodigah". Yeah, that's pretty much what I heard too. I caught "tramvay (trolley-bus" and "turn" (or what I thought was turn), and then she pointed, so I headed back to the last trolley bus stop and turned. I saw a couple that looked like they might be venturing to the park, so I decided to follow them. Turns out they weren't going to the park, but a household goods store. Although they led me on a wonderful tour of the hilltop mechanics garage mini-city. So now high on gasoline, oil, and paint fumes, somehow I logically decided to head back to the metro. Upon reaching the metro, lo and behold I see a sign for "Kolmenskoe". Yeah you guessed it. If I had just kept walking straight, I would have found it. So ten minutes later at the top of the hill, I found it...2.5 hours after I started looking for it. Oh well. It was worth it.

I think a large portion of the park is an old apple orchard because there a ton of apples on every tree and there were lots of people picking them...

After walking around for bit, promising myself to come back again, I headed to Red Square.

St. Basil's Cathedral

Lenin's Tomb

Red Square (Kremlin on the left, St. Basil's behind me)

Kremlin

Kremlin and part of a wall that is supposed to be the original, but I have heard that it isn't.

Nephew pictures

Here are some recent picutures my sis sent me. I can't wait to see the little guy in person at the end of the month!

From Russia, with Love

Well, my coworker, Kevin, and I arrived safely in Moscow. I have some stories.

Good: My new iPod nano (it's red, 4GB), complete with protective silicon case

Bad: Not finding your awesome travel pillow and running late
Good: Finding a cool one at Target on your way to the airport
Bad: Discovering after you've popped 2 tylenol PM that the little thing you blow air into won't close, so the pillow keeps deflating.
Good: MacGyvering a solution from a piece of paper and spit- creating a seal that works! Yay for inflated inflatable pillows (I'm still taking it back when I get home)

Bad: Getting really really really motion sick on the descent into Atlanta (it always gets me...stupid Dutch roll motion... but never this bad)
Good: Managing to get to the ladies room in the airport before uh...loosing your breakfast (although it meant leaving Kevin slighty baffled by my mad dash to the restroom)

Good: shashlik and hoichipuri (Lisa and Christina- I like the Tractor)
Good: Going to the biggest electronics store I have ever seen (something like Garbushnya- you know which store I mean). I bought a copy of 'Monsters Inc' in Russian!

It was Tremayne and Tony's (two guys from the Visiting Vehicle Group who were here for the Progress undock and dock) last day here, so we had lunch with them and then followed them aroudn for their last minute souvenir shopping.

Good: Finally being in a NASA room for the first time ever. The best things about it: the water cooler and the computer.

Tomorrow we will head to the TsUP (Moscow Mission Control Center) to set up everything. We plan to take Wednesday off, since we will be working the next 14 days. I think I sense a trip to the KGB museum...

Operation: Invitations

Did my last pictures look blurry? They look blurry to me...

Anyways, it's done...after several weeks of designing, and re-designing, comparing, finding the best ever on-line paper products store (www.paperandmore.com), I called in the troops (Lisa and Christina) and together we completed 80 wedding invitations for Jana's wedding. Here is the finished product (invitations and RSVP cards)

Okay so this picture IS blurry (operator issue :) )

Fusion 07!

This weekend, about 400 people from 4 Sovereign Grace Ministries churches, arrived at Baylor University in Waco, TX to Gather.Connect.Change.

The Van Essens let us borrow the mini van so we could all ride together. Thanks David and Desiree!

Chowing down at the Baylor cafeteria

Preparing to worship and learn!

We had two pastors give awesome God-inspired messages: Steve Shank from the Gilbert, AZ church spoke on really recognizing God's love for us, by understanding the sin that He saved us from: "If sin is not seen as great (meaning large), neither is His love" and "the seriousness of the judgement (ie Jesus's death on a cross) reveals the seriousness of the crime (our sin). Steve also spoke about love and the family of God, of how we are to express "agape" or foreign love to our brothers and sisters. I enjoyed the way he delved into the meanings behind the different Greek terms for love and what the Bible uses for love in different books. "We want to be a blessing more than we want to be blessed".

My buddy Victoria and I cheering at the men's 3-on-3 basketball tournament on Sat. afternoon.

Our team came in 2nd place! Very impressive considering that they members were slightly older than the other teams. :) Great job guys!

Craig Cabaniss, the pastor from the Dallas (Frisco) church spoke on "Change". He gave an amazing message with a masterful background on the Jewish Feast of Booths, the origins, and how shocking it would have been when Jesus cried out "...if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink" (John 7:37). The meat: "sin is seeking to quench our thirst from some place other than God". Craig then spoke of santification, which is the process of growing in our relationship with God after we have accepted Him as our savior. Change is santification. Sometimes we don't experience the change we desire because our repentance isn't for real- it is shallow. We have to deal with our hearts and not just say "Well, if I got to church X times, I'll do better" or "If a read this book that talks about God, I'll be more holy". Once you acknowledge and confess sin, you have to return to God, seek after Him.

My friend, sister, and mentor, Pam.

It was an awesome time and God certainly met His people. I met a lot of cool people from across Texas. I'm so grateful to have been able to attend and learn and was convicted in about 4 million ways. Keep me accountable and ask me how God is helping me to change and grow in Him.