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I was born in Kiev, Ukraine. (All our photos were in black & white back then.) All of my family speaks Russian at home.
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I was super thirsty! So I climbed out of my crib. I never got that drink of water as we had to head to the E.R.
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My mom and I left my grandma's house and had to take the train home. Near the train station was a small market where chicks were being sold. So my mom bought me TWO!
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I do not recall this time of my life. I wore earrings as pictured. I don't believe the nurses pierced with studs back then. I got my second piercing in my ear in middle school. The irony is that I don't wear earrings anymore at all.
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At the age of seven, my family moved across the ocean to America. It was me, my parents, and grandparents. We couldn't wait to be reunited with Helen's family. I wore a matching yellow track suit.
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This camp was up in the Poconos. Many of the campers were Jewish. I thought that I was gone the whole summer, but my mom said it was only 21 days! Jane was my best friend for years.
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It was either by a girl group called TLC or it may of been Janet Jackson. I remember putting on my headphones and taking the cassette player to bed with me at night. Once the songs ran out on one side, I had to flip it over to the other side for more songs.
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Stubby, a guinea pig, was my first pet in America. He got his name because his tail was a "stub". He loved to eat celery and carrots. I also later learned that I was deathly allergic to him.
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This is my mom's mom. She taught English back in Russia. My fondest memory was of her reading English books to me when we immigrated to America.
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Lokie was a Smooth Fox Terrier whom we adopted. He was found on the streets by a shelter and no one wanted him. He was a mischievously awesome dog.
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I remember them being uncomfortable at first. I don't even think they helped for a while. I used to have a gap between my two front teeth- big enough to fit several straws.
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I went with my uncle, (aunt taking the photo), cousins Helen and Neil. We look this miserable because we were hangry.
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Our next door neighbors. Madeline (on the right) & John (not pictured). I also babysat Abria (on the right) and her brother Cody (not pictured). I loved it and them!
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Cheerleading was my life. I cheered at Holland Middle and at both CRHS-N and South. I was captain my senior year. Dreams do come true.
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My fondest memory with my grandfather aside from playing cards and him buying me ice cream when the ice cream truck came to the pool, was collect chestnuts. In Ukraine there were rows and rows of chestnut trees. We would gather pillowcases upon pillowcases of chestnuts, come home, and make figurines out of them.
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Since I was going away to teach in Italy, my mom needed a companion. Lenny came all the way from Iowa, from a Wired Fox Terrier rescue.
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I moved to north eastern, Italy. The city is called Trieste. I taught Trieste International School for two years. My fifth graders were bilingual, they sailed in the warmer months and skied in the winter months. My Italian friend and teacher, Giorgia still lives there. Her daughter, is in the background.
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Singapore is a city, country, and island. I lived in this tropical place for four years. I taught at two different schools, one American and the other Canadian. Singaporeans speak English, Mandarin, Tamil, and Malay. I first discovered CrossFit in Singapore.
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I had come home from Singapore for the winter holidays and went to take a CrossFit class. One of the coaches was in the middle of a workout, had chalk on his hands, yet still gave me a fist-bump.
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This was not a sad time for me. I was so happy that my mom was going to live the life the way she wanted to.
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We were supposed to watch the CrossFit games, but Rob wanted to go to Tyler Park. It was 100% humidity and 100*, and I was 100% sure that I wanted to marry this guy.
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I <3 Rob. We got married in Philly at the Racquet Club near Rittenhouse Square. We had 180 guests. My sixth grade girls choreographed our wedding dance. We were surrounded with our closest family and friends from near and far. It was M.A.G.I.C.A.L!
