Welcome 2008! The Countdown begins!

Happy New Year Everyone! I hope you had a wonderful holiday season. We sure did! Our first Xmas in Syracuse was very nice! Isabella and I did the traditional baking and we had a great time decorating our new house. We participated in the local tradition of driving thru the Onondoga Lake light display. It was beautiful. Isabella also visited with Santa at the mall for the first time and had a great time at her preschool holiday party. The day of her holiday party we had some visitors thru our yard (some local deer). I, of course, took that opportunity to reinforce the whole Santa is watching you story. Isabella was of course thrilled to see "the reindeer tracks" and quickly pledged to be on her best behavior. Most of the time she was successful and Santa fulfilled her wishes by bringing her a stick unicorn and a toy horse and lots of other goodies.




Santa was particularly good to Teddy. He must have ranked high on the Nice list. He was extremely surprised to find a 46" LCD Flatscreen TV under the tree. But no one was more surprised than I was that I actually decided to get it and then managed to pick it up and hide it in our basement (with the help of Isabelle, my neighbor and partner in crime). Most of you who know the tight wad that I am know it is very out of character for me to make that kind of purchase. Teddy has always managed to really surprise me each year even in little ways and I really wanted to shock him. I did!! I have now officially won the Best Wife Ever award! To top it off I don't have to buy him anymore gifts for the rest of the year, don't ya think?!






We also had our first Bulgarian Xmas this year.
We were invited to spend Xmas day with Gabriella, Nick, Nadia, Stoycho and many of our other Bulgarian friends. We had a great time and ate till we were sick. I had never seen so much food in my life. They really have made us feel welcome in our new community and we are very grateful.

After Xmas we went home to St. Louis for New Year's. Isabella could hardly wait to get there to see Grandma and Grandpa and of course, Libby (their dog). I have to admit it was very strange for me. It felt so good to be in a familiar place, but at the same time I felt strangely out of place. It felt like home but I don't have a home there. I have never experienced this, but Teddy has many times and he understood. This was also the longest I have ever been away from my hometown and that added to the weirdness. We had a great time and were so glad to see so many of our family and friends. We even got to meet our new cousin from China, Mahlia. My cousin Julie and her husband Vance recently adopted a beautiful little girl from China. Isabella was so excited to see her and dress her up in Grandma's jewels.

We rang in the New Year with The Petev's. Toni and Stoyan served up a great dinner filled with lots of drink and wonderful conversation. While we were there we also tried to taste the St. Louis Cuisine we miss; toasted ravioli, pizza made the way you would expect and mom's home cooking. We would have hit Spiro's for some Saganaki but unfortunately they were closed (Teddy and I almost cried, we really miss Spiro's). Isabella had a wonderful time with Grandma and Grandpa and I'm sure she completely wore them out. They took her to McDonald's for breakfast, Cracker Barrel, Pizza Street, (all are traditions for them when she used to spend the night). They even managed to brave the cold and take her to her favorite place in whole world, the St. Louis Zoo. We were sad to leave but it also felt good to get home and back to our life here.

January has been busy so far. Not much snow and actually we've have some unseasonably warm weather. Bella and I even got to go to our Zoo one warm day two weeks ago. Isabella has been very busy making us laugh. She has been spending a lot of time with her friend Kyra, whose mom is expecting a little girl. So Bella has become obsessed with becoming a big sister, herself. She keeps talking about how she wants us to have a baby so she can play with HER and talk to HER and teach HER things. I told her what if we had a boy, a brother? She said no absolutely not! We could not have a boy! I told her that we don't get to choose. She exclaimed we must have a girl because she wants to be a big sister! I told her you will still be a big sister and she said, No, I wouldn't! I would be a big brother! That little mind never stops. I have also noticed over the past year that she has become very interested in the commercials for restless legs syndrome. No matter what she is doing, whenever one of those commercials comes on she stops whatever she is doing and become transfixed. The other night as we were watching the news a RLS commercial came on and Isabella fell silent (if only I could run those commercials on a loop!) and afterward states, "I wish I had problems with my legs in bed at night. "What?!" I exclaimed. She then repeated, "I wish I had problems with my legs at night." "Why?" Teddy and I asked. She promptly replied "So that I could get some Requip." "Requip, why do you want Requip? Do you know what Requip is?" We asked, laughing. "Yes," she tells us. "It a special bed for people who have problems with their legs at night. Can I get some Requip for my birthday? Please?!!" Through laughter and tears Teddy tells her that she might no like the side effects. We have decided that Isabella's not going to grow up to be a doctor or nurse, she'll be a hypochondriac. By the way she "does not appreciate it when we laugh at her". Good Lord help us!! Yes, that is a saddle on Seamus. All we need is a monkey to ride him!

Some big news for the the Morris family this month! I am an Aunt or would Isabella say Uncle?! My brother Kirk and his wife Carmin gave birth to a boy! Connor Ethan! He is definately a cutie and a keeper! You can check him out at http://www.growingfamily.com/ under 1/12/08, Connor M.. Congrats Kirk and Carmin and Welcome Connor! We can't wait to see you and spoil you!

This month has been very exciting for me! It is Primary Season!!! God I love it, every minute of it. This has to be the most exciting election I have ever seen! Most of you know what a news junkie I am and know that I LOVE politics. I love everything about politics and I especially love to bitch about it! I have been passionate about politics since I was 7 and had my first argument about Presidential Candidates with my second grade best friend Brandi Rutledge. Mrs. Schoonover had to separate us. I would give my right arm to be Tim Russert's assistant. I look forward to every Sunday and watching Meet the Press (yesterday's was particularly interesting). I can't wait to watch the news every morning and evening and I really love the day after a state primary. I enjoy how the media thinks it knows everything but the voters keep proving them wrong. Even as strange and complicated as our system is, it is thrilling to see democracy in action!

Have a Great January. Keep warm. Get out and vote! Show Washington who is really in power. See you after Super Tuesday!

The Countdown begins: 365 days til a Bush Free White House!

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Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! and other Holiday Favorites

Season's Greetings everyone! We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! We sure did! As I look back over the year I can find so many reasons to be thankful. Most of all I am grateful for all our friends and family, everywhere! This Thanksgiving we were able to add to that list. The Knippelmeyer's; Jana, Reiner, Nikolas, Emma and Maxim, drove in from Boston to spend their first Thanksgiving with us and we were thrilled to have them (Jana is Teddy's cousin). A great time was had by all.

Teddy and I made our first whole turkey and it came out great and was a lot easier than I expected (especially since I made Teddy stick HIS hand in the turkey to take out the neck and gizzards, YUCK!). Dinner was great and our house was full, just the way it should be. The kids played really well and enjoyed being together. Even Seamus had a great time, I think he slept for two days after they left. He had so many "sheep" to gather and they never stayed still! Isabella is still missing her cousins and told me she wants to live in Boston near Emma and Maxim. Nikolas aquainted himself with Teddy's playstation and Teddy could not have been happier to have him and Reiner to play with. It was wonderful getting to know Jana and Reiner. We look forward to seeing them again very soon!

December has come to Central New York in full force! It has snowed here everyday for the past six days (this is our third snowstrom of the season and the most significant). After this morning's dusting the sun has appeared and WOW it is beautiful here. We have about 10-12 inches of snow! I haven't seen this much snow since I lived in Kirksville. The street departments here are amazing. Unlike St. Louis, where a dusting causes traffic tie ups and accidents everywhere, I have to say that there has been very little travel trouble here. It is actually no problem to get around. I think that I have shoveled more snow in the last month already than I did the past 3 years in St. Louis combined. By the end of winter my arms will look amazing. Madonna look out! The bad part is 10 minutes after you shovel it is covered again. Kind of like sweeping a dirt floor. (And again I say amazing arms.) Teddy and Isabella are in their glory and I am enjoying the beauty of the season. As you can see they have already built a snowman and we don't even have to leave our yard for some great sledding. Teddy also has a new toy, a snowblower and it is a godsend! Although we still have to shovel the walk, the porch, a path for Seamus and the occasional snow drift.

All of this snow has put everyone in the holiday mood and last week we joined our neighbors in putting up our decorations indoors and out. Teddy did a great job outside! It is a shame we don't have landscaping yet. Look out next year! You might be able to spot us wherever you are! So as you can imagine we have been keeping very busy. We have been shopping, wrapping, decorating and planning our visit to St. Louis. I love this time of year! I don't know who is more excited. I can't wait to start baking (and increasing my treadmill mileage accordingly). Isabella wrote her letter to Santa yesterday and Teddy and I are now using Santa as a threat on a daily basis. Aaah, the signs that Christmas is upon us.

We hope to hear from you or see some of you over this holiday season! We hope that Santa brings you all your heart's desires and that the New Year brings peace and health and happiness to us all! Our love to you and yours! See you here after the holiday's!

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Invasion of the Grandparents and other Tales from the Northeast

Well, let's see where were we?! It has been awhile. Sorry about that! September and October were hopping for the Avramov's. The last time I updated we were preparing for the arrival of the "Grandparents". Everyone made here alright. Mom and Dad Avramov arrived September 12 and were greeted by lots of hugs and kisses. We really missed them. They, of course, came bearing gifts and pictures and tales from Bulgaria.

We had a great time together! The five of us went to Niagara Falls (the Canadian side). I must admit that while everyone else was extremely impressed, I was. . . not so much. Not that I didn't find the Falls to be beautiful and awesome in their sheer power and size, I guess I was expecting a little more nature and a little less Vegas. The neon lights, casinos and tourist traps distracted a bit from nature in all its glory. We had a great time, the trip was particularly special for Maria because she had always dreamed of seeing the Falls and never imagined that she would actually get to. Isabella is still taking about that "huge, giant waterfall" and how we got to ride in a boat under it. After Niagara Falls we spent some time showing Mom and Dad around our new city and taking them shopping. After all, Mike had lots of "positions" on his list. Isabella and I took Baba and Diado apple picking and they went to see Bella's school and swimming lessons. Teddy took them to New Yok City to see the Statue of Liberty. We also got to introduce them to our neighbors and some of our new Bulgarian friends. The last week of their visit my parents drove up. Isabella was in her glory. She really was missing Grandma and Grandpa and had a great time getting spoiled by everyone. All the Grandparents even went to observe Isabella's first dance class. It was really great to have everyone together. We even had a special early Thanksgiving dinner. After Mom and Dad A. left, my parents stayed an extra night and gave Teddy and I a night out alone. We finally got to see the newest Harry Potter film at the $2 show, (we are BIG spenders, Ha! ha!) and we had a great, quiet dinner at a fantastic Middle Eastern Restuarant. Mom and Dad Morris then did a a little tour around New York. They drove through the Adirondacks and Mom got to see the Baseball Hall of Fame which is just about an hour and a half from Syracuse. They then stopped back in and visited with us a little more before heading back to St. Louis. All in all September was a great month.

As I mentioned before Isabella started dance classes at the local elementary school (where she'll go). Its one night a week for a half an hour. She absolutely loves it! I wonder if she's really my child?! Her favorite part is to put on her dance outfit. She also started swim lessons. She just finished her 1st session this week. Teddy had to go in with her. It was special class for kids ages 1-4 and their parents. She loved that too and was promoted by her teacher to the next parent free level, next session in February. We switched her preschool days so that she could go on the same day as her friend Amelia. I'm really glad we did because all our neighbors go on those days and its given us both the chance to get to know everyone better. It also gives us moms a chance to help each other out if necessary. Bella absolutely loves school and can't wait to go. She also talks about how she can't wait to go to Kindergarten like her friends Luke and Tracy. Isabella's social calendar has kept us hopping and so have the doctor's appointments. Don't worry we are all in good health. We've just had those new patient meet and greets and even though we all have the same doctor we all had to meet with her separately (otherwise it would be too easy!). About the same time I began to have some trouble (AGAIN) with shin splints. So since I was there I finally asked a doctor about it. She sent me for xrays and told me to keep running but no streets, no inclines and to take it easy until I could see a podiatrist. So I had to postpone my 8 mile goal once again. I saw the podiatrist and she told me what I already knew, I have flat feet and need orthodics. So while I am waiting to be fitted for them I have to stay with the treadmill and work on my speed instead of hill work. She did say that the orthodics will most likely help my occasional low back pain and will definately help with my bunion and "will change my running life". I should be back in form in a month or so! So the moral is, see a doctor when a problem first arises don't wait years(16 years off and on I've had shin splints with my running)! Did I learn from this. . . . we will see! I hate going to the doctor!

Besides the doctor the month of October also took me to Chicago! I went to see Mandi, Brian

and Charlotte for Charlotte's 1st Birthday. Can

you believe she's 1!! She is so adorable! I really

had a great time and I really enjoyed my

beautiful niece. She truly is an amazing little

miracle! Charlotte smiled and laughed and made us smile and laugh, she has never met a stranger. It was so great to see Mandi and Brian. it felt so good to be with people who really know me and share a history with me! God, I missed that!! I also got to see our friend Vivian from Truman and Mom and Dad Vittoe (Mandi's parents.) Mandi had a busy schedule planned for us, we went to a used toy sale, another 1 st birthday party (for Mandi's friend Patty's daughter, Olive) and Mandi and Brian and I had a pumpkin carving contest. The contest was judged by guests at Charlotte's party, Brian won! As as a prize Mandi, Brian and I made a donation to the NICU. (We did it for the kids!) It was a great weekend and I really needed it. (Thanks Mandi and Brian for everything, I love you guys!! Hopefully we'll see you in Syracuse in the spring!) If you want to catch up more with our little Charlotte, check out the link to Mandi's blog.

After my Chicago trip we began to prepare for Halloween. Isabella was a dragon. We went to the pumpkin farm with preschool and then again as

a family. One pumpkin farm is right down the

road from us. We also went to the Zoo Boo. It was always one of our favorite activites in St. Louis and we were thrilled to find that our zoo here also has it. There was a puppet show children's singers, costumes, treats, storytellers and the Bubbleman. We all had a great time and are now looking forward to the zoo's Xmas light display. Isabella also had a small Halloween party at school where they had a costume parade and then sang songs for the parents. It was so cute.

We had been warned that Halloween is a little crazy in our neighborhood, there are tons of children. We bought more candy than we ever had (eight big bags). They were not kidding, we must have had 150+ kids, compared to past years of 50 to 80. We would have had more but we ran out of candy at 7:30! We had a lot of fun. From what I understand we had very unusual weather for Halloweeen (59 degrees), it is not uncommon to go trick or treating in the snow here.

Now we are preparing for Thanksgiving and Xmas. Most of you who know me, know, I'm usually done with my Xmas shopping by now, I am a little behind. I am sure to be done before Black friday. We are hoping to host Teddy's cousin Jana and her husband Reiner and their three children, Max, Emma and Nikolas, for Thanksgiving. Jana and Reiner moved to Boston from Germany in August, so we are very excited to have them and to get to visit! Isabella also has her first birthday party invite for Amelia's 4th b'day this month. We are also planning for winter, preparing our Emergency car kits, looking at snow blowers and stocking up on essentials. None to soon either for we had our first snowfall yesterday. Although it didn't last to long because the ground isn't quite cold enough.

We have had a great Autumn, it was absolutely

gorgeous in Central New York. The trees were

stunning and the weather was great. The apple

trees were so full the top branches were

straining to reached the ground and there were

pumpkins everywhere. We are looking forward to the holidays, as Isabella prepares her list for Santa, and we hope to hear from all of you at some point. We are hoping to get home to St. Louis for New Year's or the week after! Happy November! Happy Thanksgiving!

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Kari & Ted's Excellent Adventures (Bella Too!)

Well its been a very busy month for us here in Central NY, but we 've had lots of fun! At the beginning of August, Teddy went to Vegas for his Walgreens conference. Bella and I were left to man the fort and birthday shop. He had a great time seeing all his DM classmates and catching up with all his friends from St. Louis. When he got home we celebrated his 31st birthday with dinner out and some drinks on the deck with our neighbors. Isabella was very distraught that her Daddy did not want a cake for his birthday, so Wegman's (our grocery store) provided her and her friends, cupcakes to celebrate with. We also set out on lots of little adventures each weeekend to check out all the fun things to see and do around us. New York has tons of lakes and State parks with beautiful scenery and hiking. As you can see by our little bathing beauty, one weekend we went to Jamesville Beach which is just down the road. It was Isabella's first trip to a beach of any kind and she could not understand why there weren't any waves. She had a great time and so did we. Teddy had the sunburn of all sunburns to prove it (MEN! haven't they ever heard of sunblock?!)

Another weekend we went to Chittenago Falls
State Park. It is in the town of Chittenango where Frank L. Baum was from (The author of The Wizard of OZ). It's a really cute town about 25 minutes from us. The restaurants and shops had the cutest names, Like Aunt Em's Diner, The
Ruby Slippers and Emerald city Antiques. The park has a beautiful waterfall and great hiking trails.

Isabella's favorite adventure was our trip to Fort Rickey. It is a family owned petting zoo that is all about learning about and appreciating animals. They had a lot of farm animals, of course, but they also had deer you could feed, buffalo, a raccoon, bunnies, wolves, peacocks and even a cabybara. Each hour a different talk was given about an animal at the park and in most cases the children were then invited to touch and see the animal up close. Bella got to feed cows, goats, deer and chickens. She got to ride a pony and pet a snake and we heard the most interesting talk on wolves (you can't pet them but you get to see them up close and watch someone interact with them).

The best part of our summer was by far our Labor day weekend trip to Lake Placid which is in Adirondack State Park. Wow!! I have always loved the mountains. Whether in Colorado, Ireland, Bulgaria or Tennesee they never cease to awe and amaze me. The Adirondacks definately lived up to all my expectations and then some! Over half of our three and a half hour drive was through Adirondack State Park and
around every curve were examples of some of nature's best work. The small rivers and lakes were crystal clear and the Mountains are very thickly forested. Some of the trees had even begun to change color and I have NEVER seen such bright brillant color. Some looked like they had been set a blaze.
The oranges and reds were so crisp and intense,
they were like flames.

The temperature didn't get above 70 and the days already felt and smelled of Autumn. At night it got down to about 32 degrees. We stayed at a "Green" hotel on Mirror Lake right in the center of Lake Placid which was where the Olympic village was located. There were great little shops and restaurants and we heard all different languages. There were tourists from everywhere. We saw several Olympic sites. We saw the ski jumps and we even got to watch freestyle skiers practice in a pool. We also saw the Luge and bobsled tracks and well as the Olympic torch.


















On Saturday we went to Santa's Village, an amusement park for kids Isabella's age and a little older. Bella got to ride on lots of rides and meet some of Santa's elves as well as his reindeer and even the big man himself. For the first time she sat on his lap and talked to him and even had her picture taken (previously she would only wave as we walked by in the mall). She had a great time and we really enjoyed sharing it with her.

We drove around the area quite a bit, just to take in the scenery and admire the little cabins hidden back in the forest. We went to the summit of White Face Mt. and saw High Falls Gorge where Teddy and Isabella had a good time minig for gemstones.

All in all it was one of the best vacations we've had and for the first time I didn't want to go home. As much as I love to travel, I am always ready to get home at the end of a trip, but not this time. I truly did not want to leave and we are seriously thinking of getting property there someday and building a little log cabin.

I could live there right now!

So as you can see we've had a very exciting

month, not to mention all the normal day to

day stuff. Isabella has really been enjoying her

new friends. She loves to play with

Luke and Amelia and Tracy and Thomas. We

went to another Bulgarian gathering and met even more really nice families and we all had a great time. This past weekend we met with Gabriella, Nick, Stephen and Nadine and went to

the Syracuse Irish Festival. It was huge compared to the St. Louis Irish Festival with great music, food and drink. We've been working around the house and working on becoming a better "Green" family.

Today Isabella started her new Preschool and tonight she starts swim lessons. She finished up Lil' kickers on Saturday. Teddy's been working hard setting up new stores a putting lots of miles on the car visiting all his stores. I have been trying to keep track of everything and reading and running a lot. I really miss my book club, I think of you girls often! I've looked for a new book club but the only one at our library is for mystery lovers and I need more variety. I'll have to start working on getting some of my neighbors to start one with me. Right now, I'm reading a very interesting book that I just gave Mandi for her birthday, Pope Joan by Syracuse author, Donna Woolfolk Cross. I finally got out on those hills for a run and my shins hurt for two days, but I'm not gonna let that stop me. I ran 7 miles this past Sunday (67:40!). I am so close to that eight mile mark I can taste it! On Wednesday, Mom and Dad Avramov arrive and we are very excited. We are planning on taking them to Niagara Falls, the Canadian side, next weekend. Mom and Dad Morris will be arriving 4 days before the they leave so that they can all see each other and overdose Isabella on Grandparents. Mom and Dad Morris will then vacation around the Northeast and use us as hub. So I will let you know all about our upcoming adventures in a few weeks! In the mean time please keep in touch. Despite the fact that we are having a great time here, we miss you all very much. I am really enjoying seeing the pictures from Leslie and on Mandi's blog! The little ones are growing so fast! Keep the pictures coming. And to everyone who has sent us cards, notes and email Thank you, Thank You, Thank you! They are very much appreciated! Have a great September! Come up and see us!

Since I don't have his email address, Congrats to my cousin John on his engagement!! (Pass it on for me Aunt Helen) And also to Jana, Reiner and the Crew, Welcome to America! We hope you love it here and We can't wait to see you!!

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Leprechauns in Syracuse

It began back in St. Louis this past St. Patrick's Day when I hung some cardboard leprechaun decorations. After Isabella admired them and asked a million questions about the history and habits of Leprechauns I happened to change my mind about the location of a leprechaun and I moved it while she was out of the room. So of course she thought the leprechaun moved on its own. All day long, when she wasn't looking, Teddy and I were moving leprechauns and by the end of the day we had convinced her that St. Patrick's Day was the only time leprechauns would reveal themselves to people, thus beginning the Avramov/ Morris leprechaun legends. After our St. Pat's day fun we packed up the leprechauns and put them out of our mind or so we thought.

Upon arriving in our new home Isabella found a small door in our walk-in closet and asked what it was (its the access to our bathtub plumbing). My mom, knowing our leprechaun history tells her its the leprechaun door and since then we have been living with leprechauns. Isabella is obsessed. The leprechaus are always up to something. They've eaten all her cheetos so she has to have more. They pulled her animals and blankets off her bed, disrupting her nap. They move her things all the time. When Grandma and Grandpa were here they kept leaving her money! (I wish they'd leave me some I have to keep buying all these cheetos for them!) She even knocks on the leprechaun door in our closet and on the decorative panels in our dining room(more leprechaun doors), and talks to them. They usually tell her to go away, they are very busy making fairy shoes or so she tells us. She sees them everywhere. Today she saw one in a tree, after all, "they are very good climbers, Mom". It seems Isabella isn't the only one in Central New York to see leprechauns. A very popular local Irish pub, Coleman's, has a special entrance for its leprechaun patrons as well as a special phone booth and taxi stand. All built according to size. So as I'm sure you can imagine Isabella loves to go to Coleman's to see where her leprechaun friends hang out and to eat leprechaun fries cooked up by the leprechaun chefs. For the first time in 2 years my child will now eat fries. Big fat ones with the skin on them at that! Thank you leprechauns!

All my college pals will appreciate this, Coleman's has a 9,000 gallon subterreaen tank of Green beer that they fill up with a tanker truck every St. Pat's Day!. Only in America! This would have been our dream come true!


This past month we've been very busy buying furniture, as you could probably tell from the previous pics. Our house in St. Louis almost seemed crowded, but when we got here it looked like we had nothing! Finally all those years of saving have paid off and we've been able to buy things we've always wanted and never had room for. We even turned our formal living room (a waste of space if you ask me) into a room I've always dreamed of having, a library. Next winter or spring we hope to add a couple of comfy chairs to curl up and read in. Right now it only has my favorite comfy chair and its a bit worn.


We have had quite an exciting summer so far. Isabella has been playing with the kids in the neighborhood and going to Storytime at the library and Lil' Kickers soccer camp (one hour every Saturday morning). She has also seen the Puppet Lady, the Bubbleman and a special Zoo presentation (her favorite) at the mall library. They put on great shows for kids in the summer. We've been constantly running around, shopping, sight-seeing, visiting with our neighbors and establishing ourselves as New Yorkers (licenses and such). At first I was having a hard time establishing a routine, you all know what a routine freak I am, but things have calmed. I finally have my rhythm back and I feel so much more settled in and at home. Best of all, I'm back to my running. I forgot how hard it is to start over, especially at a new altitude. Damn it was hard that first week, but the body has a great memory and I was back before I knew it. Six miles this past Sunday!!! Now I have to get out and work those hills and prepare to set my eight mile goal!



How about that Harry Potter fever?! Has everyone gotten their copy of the final Harry Potter?! We have, of course. Teddy and I picked up our reserve copy Saturday afternoon. He's already more than half way thru. I, on the other hand, have this tradition (you kow how I am about my traditions) of rereading the book before I see the current movie. I just finished rereading Order of The Phoenix (now to find a babysitter!). Being the compulsive freak I am I also feel the need to reread the sixth before I read the seventh and final book. Which means it will probably be at least another week and a half before I get to it. If my husband even hints at what's happened I'll kill him! I keep hoping no one on the news mentions anything and I'm recording the JK Rowling interview to watch after I finish the book, so nothing will be given away. God, I am such a nerd! Maybe I am procrastinating a little too. I'm kind of sad its over, I'll miss Harry and the gang. Thanks to all the kids at Bristol for turning me on to Harry Potter!

So that's it for now, I've rambled for long enough. We are preparing for a busy August. Teddy goes to Vegas for a Walgreens conference and we have practically every birthday coming up, as well as trying to get Isabella enrolled in preschool (hopefully someone will call me back!!!!). We are also hoping to take a weekend trip to Lake Placid, its about 3 hours away. The best part is we will be preparing for Mom and Dad Avramov's first visit to Syracuse in September. So I will try to post in a few of weeks and keep you up to date. Our love to all!!http://www.facebook.com/facebook-widgets/share.php

We've Arrived!

Greetings from Jamesville, New York! It has now been almost 2 months and we are pretty much settled in and loving Central New York! It is absolutely beautiful here. Very New England! Isabella and I arrived May 23 with Mom to help. Teddy and my Dad were soon to follow with the dog, cat and my car. We were so grateful to have Mom and Dad with us to help out. Moving in went pretty smoothly and thanks to the help unpacking wasn't to bad either. The hardest part about the whole move was selling our house in St. Louis. We sure learned a lot.


We live in the village of Jamesville in the Town of Dewitt, a suburb of Syracuse. The gods were definately smiling upon us when we were looking for a home. As most of you know, prior to moving here, I only spent one weekend in Syracuse and about 45 minutes in our new home, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. The house is great! The neighborhood is fantastic, full of families with young children, and everyone is so nice. The location could not be better. We have the best of both worlds living the country lifestyle without leaving the city. Talk about good luck or Karma or both!

When leaving our neighborhood, if you go west on the main road about 5 miles you run right into downtown Syracuse. And if you go east about 5 miles you'll find beautiful downtown Jamesville, which consists of one street light. It looks like the quintesstial New England town with gorgeous old homes and churches and great views. The elementary school Isabella will attend is only about 3 miles from us. About a mile down the road from our neighborhood is a State park with a glacial lake and awesome hiking. We sit in the foothills of the Catskills and to the south of us there is nothing but rugged terrain and farmland with breath taking views. In the winter we only will have to travel 20 minutes to do some decent skiing (I think I might have to give it a try). The summer has been so mild (ave. temp. about 80 degrees) ,I feel like I am in heaven and I've hardly had to take any Claritin. Talk about a change of lifestlye.

All of us seem to be adjusting pretty well. Isabella has gone through some rebellion but things are definately getting back to normal. She has made lots of new friends in the neighborhood and can't wait to get out and play everyday. Teddy loves his new position and all its challenges, and is looking forward to getting back to skiing after all these years. Seamus is still having some problems adjusting to the hardwood floors and seeks any rug oasis he can find no matter how small. Picasso has been the biggest surprise. I swear Teddy picked up a new cat while driving up here. She acts happier than I have ever seen her. She hardly ever hides and she hasn't been this active since she was a kitten. She even seems to love Isabella, her main tormentor. I guess this fresh air has been good for all of us (by the way did I mention how clean and fresh smelling the air is here).

I am really enjoying setting up our new home and exploring the area. Isabella and I have already found our new library, it's in the mall of all places. We have also been to the Zoo and the carousel in the Carousel Center Mall. We have also explored some of the lakeside towns in the area.

We love our new house (as you can see I've added pics). We literally doubled our square footage and that has taken some getting used to. Isabella is not longer in ear shot and the first couple of weeks I felt like I was always looking for her or afriad she would sneek out to play. And while some of you might say, "Oh Kari, now you'll have so much more to clean!" I say, I love a challenge!! After all, I couldn't organize our old house anymore than I already had. Now I get to start fresh!! I can't tell you how that makes me tingle!

We have had one Minor problem here, we just got our refridgerator. I think I really pissed someone off (surprise!) and they put a refrigerator curse on us! As some of you may remember, when we bought our first house and our first fridge I spent about 6 months fighting with Best Buy over damage done to our house and to our fridge by their delivery people. That finally resulted in us getting a $700.00 fridge for $350.00. Well you'd think we would learn, but noooooo. On May 5th Teddy ordered a new fridgerator from, yes you guessed it, Best Buy. He was told the fridge would arrive the day after we moved in . Well, it never showed up! So Teddy and my Dad went to Best Buy on the 24th and was told it was on back order. So to compensate us they "loaned" us (we had to pay for it but we can bring it back for a full refund), a dorm size fridge. So I tried patiently (and we all know how hard that can be for me) to feed my family out of this shoe box. After 3 weeks I said no more and I called Best Buy. Well they were very sympathetic and their solution was to have us come pick out any fridge we wanted and we could have it at the employee discount and they would "loan" us a regular size floor model. So that's what we did. And of course since they don't keep anything in stock we had to order the new fridge. All was well until July 5th (3 weeks later) when with no warning Best Buy shows up with my new fridge. Mind you I had the loaner full of food and was completely unprepared. So I emptied the loaner and they installed our new LG french door model (we had ordered a simple GE bottom fridge/top freezer). While I was uppacking the inside I found a broken drawer, no big deal in the grand scheme, or so I thought. So I called and they agreed to send a replacment drawer. About 6 hours later the new fridge was literally hotter than my house. We lost pretty much all our food. And boy was I pissed off! Actually there aren't words to describe my level of anger. I called LG and was told the store would have to exchange it out. So I had Teddy call Best Buy as I was too angry. He was told that they would contact the service department which was closed for the day and they would call us in the morning. Oh, and ironically our orginal fridge had arrived that same day in their warehouse. So by 10am the next I had heard nothing so I called Best Buy. I demanded the situation be resolved with 24hrs or they would be removing this piece of junk from my home and giving us the small fridge so that I could keep our food cold while I ordered a new fridge from Sears or Lowes. I also suggested that they exchange it for the less expensive original fridge we ordered and they would then give the original to us at cost. Well after 10 minutes deliberation, that's what they decided to do. Sometimes it just takes a bitch's touch. So that is now resolved 2 months later and we are completely moved in! The moral is don't buy anything from Best Buy and learn from your mistakes the first time.

My husband did a really cool thng for me for my birthday. He arranged with my parents and brother for them to fly up for a few days so I wouldn't have to be alone on my birthday (he had to be out of town for work). I was very surprised and we had a good time exploring the area a bit. I have such a great husband! Isabella was very glad to see her Grandma and Grandpa, although she was a little disappointed that they did not bring their puppy, Libby.

We have also begun to meet lots of new people. Besides our neighbors, we've even managed to connect with some Bulgarian families. Our realtor coincidentally met a Bulgarian, Nick, the
day after I left from my first visit. She told him about Teddy and I and he gave her hnumber. So Teddy called while he was in Syracuse working and met up with Nick, his wife Gabriella and their children Stephen (5) and Nadine (1). They are wonderful people and have introduced us to several other Bulgarian families. And to think we thought we wouldn't find many Bulgarians in Syracuse.
That's it for now! I'll be posting pretty often this next week or so to update everyone, then I will only update once a month unless we have news. Enjoy the pictures! We love and miss you all and send our best wishes to everyone!

Our guest room awaits visitors!

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