Russian Rendezvous

So I got a call from my mom about three weeks ago, saying that a new family had moved into the ward. The wife, Kristen, was talking telling my mom that her brother was just graduating from BYU with his MBA and was still not married. My mom, the matchmaker, piped in with, "Oh, well I have two single daughters--he doesn't speak Russian does he?" "Well, yes, actually he does," came the reply. That set everything in motion. It turns out her brother Rob served in Samara exactly 10 years before I did. Kristen and my mom were determined to set us up, and not long after this conversation I got a facebook request from Rob, saying his sister and my mom wanted to set us up, and wasn't family great?

We exchanged a few facebook messages, and when I got into town we decided we should meet up and go to lunch. This got pushed to dinner on Friday, when we went to my favorite little place in Orem Pizzeria 712--I didn't even have to recommend it, he showed up and had already made reservations. We had a lot of fun chatting about how much Russia had changed in the time since he went to the time that I was there. Turns out we even know some of the same people. We laughed about our families setting us up, and were half-serious when we joked about them possibly showing up at the restaraunt to spy on us. I also ran into my neighbor from when I was really little--Bryan, who owns the pizzeria. So fun to catch up with him! His family moved when I was in elementary school, so I seem all grown up to him. He asked if Rob was my boyfriend, to which he good-naturedly replied, "Yah, of about an hour." After an amazing meal of pita and hummus, a couple of gourmet salads, a baby artichoke pizza, cookie with ice cream, and a rhoubarb crisp, Rob took me home. On the way I found out he likes George Strait and has seen Pure Country. A mark of good character if you ask me!

I then went off to a party my friend Kelsy was throwing at her cabin up Hobble Creek Canyon. So fun to catch up with everyone! It was like no time had passed since we were all together last summer. Don was there, and we talked for hours--with him threatening to leave if seven minutes passed without him talking to anyone--my cue to keep him entertained. We swapped stories about dating and laughed a lot. Paul and Brendan came up with us. Amy, Wendy, and I were happy to be able to hang out for a while!

We finally decided we needed to head out around 2 am, and on the way down the canyon Don decided to follow us out so he wouldn't get lost. We passed a cop, and about 10 minutes later I noticed Don was no longer behind us. We all wondered if he'd been pulled over, and I said, "Of course it would be Don that would get pulled over. Sad!" Sure enough, I saw I had missed a call from him, and he had indeed been stopped by the cop. The cop informed him this was a 25 mph zone, and that he was going 40, but added that this wasn't why he pulled him over. Apparently someone had gotten away from them, and they wanted to make sure Don hadn't picked him up. They shined their flashlights in his back seat, and of course no one was there. Don was so flustered he ended up lost somewhere in Mapleton. I told him to head west til he hit the freeway. He did eventually get out.

Needless to say, we were all glad we had decided not to sleep over with everyone else. That is the beginning of every scary story--a cabin up in the woods where you don't get any reception, and someone has just escaped...But, we lived to see another day.

The next day I went to lunch with my mom and Amy to Magleby's, then out with Rob to get stuff I needed for Russia. We picked up a converter and a cord for my iPod. We then checked out 5 guys burgers--pretty good! Then back home to watch a movie with my sister and mom over orange julius--we decided to skip the BBQ in Provo for some girl time.

Today brought catching up with people from the home ward and meeting Kristen--she is getting her masters in public health from BYU and is going to Africa this summer! Apparently the Church is putting together a new hygeine kit for women, and she will be distributing them. The Church is partnering with some other non-profits in the area. Kristen is going to let me know of some local non-profits in Moscow, so I will maybe get involved with them while I am there. Got to say hello to old friends, and then the family (including cousins!!) came over for Sunday dinner. Not a bad last weekend in Utah!