We're having the cutest baby girl!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, it's about time for some updates from the Johansens. Life's been stressful and good all of the same time. Stressful because David is still looking for a job that would provide for us. He still works his two jobs but as more loan payments, doctors appointments and ultrasounds keep piling up, our money keeps disappearing. I know that money tends to do that but in our case it just comes and goes and we don't even get to look at it and feel better about all the long hours David puts into earning this hard worked for money. And I don't know if it's pregnancy or what but I keep thinking that I'd love to be able to buy diapers, a crib, bedding, clothes and bottles for our little baby but there's no money for it. I've been trying to find some work online but wasn't very successful there and it just kills me to bring this baby into our family and not be able to provide for her.

Speaking of HER... Yes, we are now 99% sure that our baby is a little girl! he 20 weeks ultrasound confirmed, more or less the fact and we'd like to believe that it was right. Why aren't we 100 % sure? It seems that our little girl is pretty stubborn. Every time we tried to look at her she would keep her legs really tight. We only got a couple sneak peeks, which was apparently enough for the tech and doctor to declare that they're very positive that this is a girl. We do have a picture to prove it but what do we know? She would not show us a profile either so we got pictures of her bum, feet, legs and back of her head but no cute little face. Shy little thing! LOL Anyway, as far as we could tell she looked great and she seems to be strong and healthy... and moving a lot! She moved all the time, which made us laugh but got the ultrasound tech a bit frustrated. :) So, no reason for me to be worried that baby is not moving, even though I still can't seem to feel her a whole lot. After going to the doctor, a few days before the ultrasound I was still a little concerned. We did hear her heartbeat again but the doctor kept asking me "So, would you say you feel her move three times a day? Or how many?" And I was like "Well, can't really say that I ever felt her move..." And then she finds the heartbeat and the baby moves as we were listening and the doctor was like "Did you feel that?" and I was like "Ummm... noooo?". Anyway, it turns out that all those ticklings, like gas bubbles that I feel sometimes in my tummy are actually the baby and I swear that a couple of times she went all the way at the lowest part of my tummy and was just laying there, cause I felt this heaviness and when I touched it it was like a little bump that moved away after a second or so. So, I know that she's fine even though I only feel her every once in a while and not even every day.

So, now that we got used to the idea that it's a girl and not a boy, as almost everyone I know predicted, including ourselves, we are really excited and talk to her and about her all the time. We just love her so much! We don't have a name picked yet but hopefully that will happen soon.

Here are a few pictures of our little girl, the best that we can come up with as of right now. My most favorite is the one of her foot. :) I really hope that we'll get to see her one more time before she's born and that we'll actually get a clearer view of her gender and of her cute little face just so that there won't be any gender-related surprises. LOL Enjoy!

We're not shopping at Smith's... At least for a while...

The title might sound weird but we have a pretty good reason to make that statement.

Last Saturday evening, after spending a few hours enjoying our evening, we decided that we wanted to buy a few things from Smith's before going home. We went to the store, got the stuff we needed and went to the checkout. We were a little frustrated that all the registers were pretty full and we had to wait in line but eventually chose one of the registers and started waiting. You know how when you stand in line all the other lines seem to move faster than yours? That's what happened this time and to make things worse, our cashier leaves the register unattended and disappears in a room behind the Customer Service desk. It's an understatement to say that we got even more frustrated but soon the cashier's place was taken by another cashier. She checked out the two people in front of me and starts scanning my stuff but stops in the middle of the job to make a phone call! I looked at her not believing my eyes and without trying too hard I got to listen in the conversation. She was calling 911 to report a robbery that apparently just happened in the store. She looked pretty shaken up when she asked the dispatcher to send the police immediately because they believed that the suspect was carrying a gun. This definitely got my attention. I looked at David, who was on the other side of the cart, on my left but didn't really think too much about what she said. As she scanned a couple more of my things, we see two police officers walk into the store and go to the room behind the Customer Service desk. After some seconds we hear someone shout a few times "Put your gun down!" At that point we kind of freaked out and as all the cashiers instructed everyone to get down, we crouched down and hid behind the checkout stands. As everyone in the store got to the ground we heard several gun shots followed by a few more. The cashier behind me started crying and screaming which, to tell you the truth didn't help the situation. I was already scared but hearing her panic brought me to tears. All I could think about was that I was right in front of the Customer Service desk and the very first person in line and if the guy with the gun decided to come out and shoot anything or anyone I would be a pretty easy target. That didn't happen, fortunately, and after a few more minutes we were all safely evacuated from the store. Outside there were about 10 police cars, a couple ambulances and a fire truck and lots of people. As I said before, the store was pretty busy so there were lots of people in the parking lot as we exited. We didn't really know what the outcome of the situation was but after a few more minutes police blocked all the entrances to the parking lot and the area in front of the entrance. We waited around for about an hour and eventually decided that there was no reason to wait for our groceries since the store wasn't going to open any time soon.

The next day at church we met another person who happened to be in the store at the same time we were and he told us that he found out that the robber was killed by the police. We had my WIC documents to pick up from Smith's so we needed to return there to get them but it was such an eerie feeling walking back there and going through the check out again. The room where the whole thing happened was still blocked off and it looked like all the stuff inside had been taken out.

It's such a weird experience to be in a situation where your life could be threatened. Everything happens so fast. I'm guessing that people who loose their lives in such situations don't even realize what just happened to them immediately after they die. I don't know... But I can tell you that I now know that I don't like the sound of gun shots.

Here's a link to the story as it was published on ksl 5. You can even see David and myself in the video.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=10707188

12 weeks? Not so sure... Let's check it out!

* Enjoy our baby's first picture!

So, everything is been going well since we found out that we were expecting. A month ago we had the first prenatal exam and the doctor said that both the baby and myself are doing great. A couple of weeks ago David's parents came to visit from Japan and we had tons of fun maternity shopping. We even looked for baby car seats and strollers but decided that it's a little too early to buy one now.
David's been working his two jobs and enjoys the Simply Mac position the best because it keeps him connected and updated on everything in the computer world. He also enjoys taking care of us which is great since I haven't really been able to be serious enough about getting another job. I just don't feel up for it right now. I was just thinking this morning how I'd have a very hard time committing to a job because I wouldn't feel strong enough to do it. Most of the days I'm either nauseous or tired and when I feel good I do too much around the house and then I get nauseous again. I know that my nausea is a lot milder than what many of my friends have experienced, especially since I haven't really thrown up once since my pregnancy started, but just the feeling of not really being myself is kind of discouraging when it comes to being serious about a job. So, anyway, David's been really supportive and I love him so much for that.
Yesterday we had our second Doctor's appointment and the doctor said once again that everything looks great and the results of the lab work we did last time were all good. We were also very excited to hear our baby's heartbeat for the first time yesterday! I wanted to cry when I heard it. We were both amazed that such a tiny baby can have such a strong heartbeat. The doctor confirmed that the heartbeat was good and regular. However, when he checked my uterus he wasn't so sure that I was only 12 weeks along so he ordered an ultrasound which I had right after the appointment. Unfortunately, David couldn't stay for it because he was already late for work but we talked as soon as I was done and I told him about the experience. It was such a miracle to see our little baby moving inside my tummy. It moved its arms a few times and liked to keep them in front of the face while it kept its legs crossed. I could see its knees and little legs! I was so nervous that I was a little shaky, which was also probably because my bladder was really full and I was feeling a little cold. :) So, we don't have twins but our baby is one week older than we thought before.
Seeing the baby and hearing its heartbeat made the whole pregnancy a lot more real. I now know for a fact that there is a little baby growing steadily inside me. I'm starting to feel more like a mom and I'm already imagining what it will be like to have the baby here with us.
We are very happy and excited and can't wait for the 20 weeks ultrasound when we'll hopefully be able to find out if our little baby is a boy or a girl. No matter what it is, we already love our baby with all our hearts and can't wait for it to get here on November 3rd, one week earlier than we first expected!

Good news! Finally...

Hello dear friends! We finally have some good news to share with you. It's about time, you might say and I totally agree with you! :) It's not fun when life is hard and to tell you the truth I'm really tired of it. As some might say, "I've had it!"But back to the story. In January we decided that it was time for our family to grow a little so we started trying for a little Johansen Jr. I read books, such as "What to expect before you're expecting" which proved very interesting but didn't give me much of hope that I will become pregnant any time soon. Apparently, after being on birth control for a while, some women take between 6 months and a year to get pregnant while others conceive very soon. I didn't feel like I was the fast type, even though my mom assured me that if I inherited any of her genes it won't be long. :) Sometime at the end of February I wasn't feeling very well so I thought I'd try a pregnancy test. The result was almost positive. Why almost? Because it was negative but there was a second feint line that showed a possibility of being pregnant. I was pretty disappointed but continued to read books on what to do to be healthy and ready for a baby. Things went better than we expected and on March 9th we found out through the miracle of home-testing that we are going to have a baby! Being as skeptical as I was, David bought me a new test, as the one I had at home was about to expire. Not knowing that he will buy a new test, I myself bought one just to be sure. Well, I ended up trying 5 more different tests, all of them showing a positive result!!!! Crazy, I know. After about a week of feeling nauseous we went to a clinic in Salt Lake and their test confirmed what we already knew. We are gong to have a baby and he/she will apparently be born at the beginning of November! We are very excited and nervous at the same time.
The other good news is that David had a second interview with Simply Mac, a computers and accessories store, and they offered him a part time position! We really hope that it will become full time soon but for now David is trying to find a second job so that we could move in our own apartment and get ready for the little one that is growing and making me tired and not so fun to be around. :) You women out there surely know what I'm talking about. Even though the pregnancy's been pretty easy on me so far I'm still not my best and I can tell that something is happening in my body. I can't wait to have the first ultrasound at the beginning of April, just to be sure that everything is ok. Did any of you, moms out there ever fee; uncertain and scared that maybe the baby isn't ok? Especially when you can't see any changes in your appearance at the beginning of your pregnancy? I sometimes feel that way but David tries to calm me down and assure me that everything is fine.

Anyway, this is our news so far. We hope that all of you are happy and doing well and we love you and wish you only great things!

Life in Utah

Happy New Year everyone! We're still here and still surviving! :) We've been pretty busy during the holidays. As I might have mentioned in my previous posting, both David and I got seasonal jobs and we were really happy about it. I worked for Western Nut Co. selling nuts and different nut-related gifts at University Mall in Orem and David worked for Borders Bookstore in Provo. My employment was terminated at the beginning of January after we sold pretty much everything at the kiosk. I am proud to mention that I sold more than any other employee, my total being about 20 thousand dollars in the few weeks I worked there! It's not like I was rewarded in any way for it or anything but it gave me a pretty good feeling. The other good news is that David was hired as a full-time employee by Borders. He never really gets 40 hours/week (it's more like 30 or less) but at least he has a job. He also interviewed with Simply Mac, a store that sells Mac computers and we really hope that he'll get that job even though is in Salt Lake because the pay is better than at Borders, there are some benefits that come with the job and he'll most likely be able to work 40 hours/week which will ensure a steady income.
Other than that, there isn't really much else happening with us. My sister Irina, who lives in Spain is visiting my family in Bucharest, my grandma from Iam moved to live with my family in Bucharest and my grandpa from Victoria seems to be doing allright dealing with the limitations that come with old age.
David's family is still living and working in Okinawa, Japan, a place we'd really love to visit someday, especially since it has nice weather even during winter-time. :) Ben, David's brother came and spent Christmas with us in Midway and Charity, the youngest sister is still studying music in Cedar City and came to visit us for a weekend, just last week. It was fun to have her and to spend some time with her.
I mentioned before a little bit about our Christmas. Well, this year we had a really fun Christmas. David's family got us tickets to go snow-tubing at Soldier Hollow, which was a lot of fun and the first time for me to enjoy, and Ben took us to see the movie Avatar in Park City at a nice theater. This movie is one of the most expensive movies ever made and as far as I'm concerned, it was pretty much one of the coolest movies I've seen in a long time. We all enjoyed it very much.
We hope that you all had a great time this holiday season and that we will keep in touch through 2010 as well!

2009 Family Letter that got lost among other documents

I misplaced this letter earlier but I still wanted to post it here since I love using this blog as a kind of journal. So, don't feel like you have to read it. :) It's all old stuff. :))

2009 - Life unveiled

Working for Western Nut Co.

At the Manheim Steamroller Concert

Limerick, Ireland

David's Graduation

Dahlee's Graduation

It's December, a time when many find themselves looking back at what the year had in store for them. With Christmas just around the corner and a new year waiting at the door, we realize that another year of our life has passed. With many events woven throughout the year, David and I don't need much time to remember the good and the unexpected that our little family experienced over the past 12 months.

After a fairly uneventful winter semester and two easy spring and summer terms spent mostly working and finishing up our degrees, both David and I graduated from Brigham Young University in August. David received a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science and I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics.

The years spent at BYU finally came to an end and with them the chance for a new life. The beginning of this new life, we decided, was going to be spent in Ireland, as David learned with much excitement and anticipation that he was accepted into the Master of Ethnochoreology offered at the University of Limerick. Ethnochoreology is the study of folk dance as it developed in each country throughout the world. David's desire to choreograph and teach has developed during the last few years at BYU, while David took many folk dance classes, taught some of them himself and choreographed for SPAC, the team we toured with the year before. We left for Ireland during the last week of August. We stayed in Limerick for two months, spent making phone calls to the US, using up most of our savings and being frustrated with a system that didn't work. After experiencing many things that went wrong, we felt strongly that the best thing to do was to return to Utah and start over. It was during this hard time that we strengthened each other. We were content to return to our friends in the States but we also knew that a part of us was going to break off and be scattered somewhere between Europe and America.

Back in Utah, we started looking for work and eventually found some seasonal jobs. I work for Western Nut Co. at University Mall and David works at the Borders bookstore helping with pretty much everything that goes on in the store. They are fun jobs that we enjoy and are happy to have but we continue looking for full-time work to be able to take care of ourselves when these jobs will be over.

At this time we're looking forward to celebrating Christmas and even if there won't be many gifts under our tree, we are happy to have each other, with our love and our hopes together, ready to accomplish many great things. We are hopeful for the New Year, to make more plans, be better and learn more, and most of all to spend many more great times together as a family. We hope to hear from all of you about what your 2009 brought to you and hope that it turned out to be an excellent year for you and your families.

Love, Dahlee and David Thomas

2009 Highlights

- February: Celine Dion awesome concert in Salt Lake

- May: trip to California for aunt Sherry's funeral

- August: graduation and Ireland

- October: returned to Utah

- December: work with Western Nut Co. and Borders, visit to the Hogle Zoo, beautiful Manheim Steamroller concert in Salt Lake City

Back to Utah

So, we've been back for almost a month now. It almost feels like we've never been gone. Everything is the same... or almost... Almost because the weather is colder and wetter, our friends' kids are bigger, the trees have little to no leaves and we don't have our own place to live in. We've been staying at David's parents' condo in Midway and have been commuting to Provo but are really hoping to find stable work so that we could commit to paying rent every month.

Speaking of work, I'm doing some babysitting in Midway and I just started a new job selling nuts at the University Mall. I was nervous about the nuts job because I don't like dealing with money, but I enjoyed my first day and I think I'll do just fine. The babysitting is not that bad either. I care for a 1.5 year old little girl who is very nice and pretty easy and once a week I send the older sister off to school in the morning. The family I work for is nice and they are happy to have me work for them.

David has been looking for work too and he filled out tons of applications. So far he got a couple of interviews but we're hoping that he'll get more and hopefully a full time job. He will be working for the Borders bookstore for the holidays but we don't know if that will become a full time position or not... We're happy that he found some work though...

Being back it's been a good experience for us. We are happy to be back and to see our friends that we love. It's also nice to just go see familiar places. It somehow makes us feel safe and happy even though our life is still tough and we don't have much enjoyment going on right now. Being back in Utah feels good and we are happy to be here and to continue building our life together.

On our way

We left Ireland at 6:30 this morning and are currently on the last plane on our way to Salt Lake. The trip was good, with few incidents. We left from Limerick to Shannon last night after a full day of packing, cleaning and checking out of our apartment. We were very happy that for the first time ever the checkout process was quick and simple and the agent was impressed with our cleaning job. We were also very lucky to get our deposit back, which we used to pay part of the loan one of our friends gave us to pay our rent last month. We are glad that we paid most of it back. One less debt and worry is always welcome, right? So, we stayed at a much too nice hotel right next to the Shannon airport and showed up at the airport around 5:00am. The lady at the counter didn't have her glasses and also wasn't familiar with Permanent Resident procedures but we were able to sort things out fairly quickly. We were very pleased that we didn't have to pay to bring the computer with us so we should have it when we get off the plane. We saw it in JFK and it looked ok. We hope that it's in one piece and it'll still work :) The flight to Paris was short and nice. I love flying small planes! They are so smooth! I never thought that that would be the cas. We arrived a little late in Paris but we had over 3 hours between flights so it went ok. We had some peas soup, quiche and croissants and played some Playstation 3 games for a while until we boarded the plane that took us to New York. You know? It's a little sad going through cool cities such as Paris and NYC and not have time to go visit them. It's a dream of mine to see Paris, especially because I love the French language, and NYC is my most favorite city I've been to thus far. So, both of these cities are on my list to go visit sometime soon. Anyway, the flight to NYC was long and we were about one hour late but we made it safely. I enjoyed listening to the French language on the way - we flew on Air France. Oh, I remembered a cool thing that happened in Paris. I was taking a picture of our plane when a family approaches me asking me in French to take a picture of them. I took the picture but didn't do a good job including some background in it so I asked if they wanted me to take a better one from a different angle. The lady was impressed with my French and she complimented me on how well I spoke French. The truth is that I did a horrible job mumbling my words and thinking really hard of what to say but it made me really happy that she said that. Back to getting to NY... We arrived late to JFK as well and had to wait in a long line outside the terminal to only find out that we could have walked right at the front because we are American residents. The lady asked if we didn't hear her asking if there were any Americans in line and we thought that we might have heard something as we were stepping out of the plane but we were some of the last people in line so we didn't know what she was talking about. She never repeated her question and we were in line for about 20 mins until David asked her and she directed us to a desk. We breezed right through. It was the easiest and fastest entry in America I've ever had and it made me happy and made me forget all about the line real fast. In NY we are some Burger King because we knew that we weren't going to be fed on this plane and I was feeling nauseous and had a headache, and we then prepared to board the plane. As we walked to the gate we noticed that my name was posted on the screen above the gate so we asked about it. The lady said that I didn't have a seat and I needed to wait a few more minutes. Now, we only had 10 minutes until the plane left but were lucky to see my name dissapear off the list. We asked about it and she, very confused said: I'm taking care of the flight to Denver and you're going to SLC! Get on the plane! We didn't have time to ask what all that was about and didn't really care. We got on the plane and about an hour later flew out of JFK. I felt lucky that I got to see the City both at arrival and at departure, first time in daylight and second time at night when all the lights were on and the view was gorgeous. We're still on the plane waiting as patiently as we can to arrive in Salt Lake, get our car and drive to Midway. I'm glad that David is getting a little rest so that he can drive us to Midway. I feel tired and a little nervous but am excited to get back and see our friends and places we know and love. See you all soon!

Leaving Ireland

Some of you already know that David and I are returning to Utah. Yes, it is true... Things didn't work out and we both feel that going back will help us put our lives back together. I'm personally allright with the idea of going back because so far every experience here turned out to be a desaster and I just can't take it any longer. In my last entry I was being more optimistic that the checks were on the way and we were going to receive the money. The checks did arrive and we were happy. What else could go wrong??? Well, it turns out that the two of the three checks weren't filled out right so David couldn't cash them. He turned the good check in at the university and found out that the other two checks will take up to six weeks to be re-issued and cleared. This was the drop to fill our glass. We decided that we cannot wait any longer just hoping that things will work out and getting in more debt. So, today we went and talked to the landlord to get out of the apartment contract and David also turned in his withdraw letter. Just to make things even better, the school won't return all the money to us because David went to school here for a month. He didn't have an ID card until a couple weeks ago, didn't benefit from anything and didn't receive any help from anyone and yet he ows the school money! Of course there is nothing we can do about it, as always, so we'll have to suck it up and pay the government whatever the school won't refund us. And, as if we weren't in enough debt already... the company we rented the apartment through isn't sure if the landlord will get our deposit or at least part of the rent for this month back to us either so we're pretty much screwd and there is nothing we can do. As you can easily tell I'm really upset but this too shall pass. Just as a heads up to everyone... Please think twice if you're thinking to do any kind of business in Ireland. The bureaucracy is terrible, there is cigarrs smoke everywhere, the most important part of people's jobs is when they go out for a smoke and drink their coffee during the two hour lunch break and of course being careless and insensitive. There are some very nice people but too bad that the overall feeling is of carelessness... So, I guess this is all for now. I'll let you all know if anything else comes up but I really hope that if I will have any other news it will be good news.

Life goes on...

Well, I'm back. Not much has happened since I last wrote but I wanted to keep the blog up to date. So, I remember last time being frustrated with everything and everyone. I've gotten better at learning and accepting things as they are and as they come our way. Even though it's not easy it makes life a little more bearable. So, our situation right now...
David's money for school is still not here and we still have no idea when it'll come. David still likes his classes but he does think that what he wants to do is not what they teach him here. The degree will open doors for him but it doesn't seem to teach him much about teaching folk dance. It's more about researching and living with the people that he should study and understand. His desire is to teach and instill a love of folk dance into his students and I feel that he will be very successful at that. He has the personality and a great desire for it and he loves folk dance and dancing.

Our apartment is still nice even though we found quite a bit of broken pieces of furniture, including the main bed. One evening, as I was getting into bed the frame underneath broke and hurt my leg in the process. I still have a nice bruise on my right leg from that experience. We reported the problem but no one has taken any action yet even though it's been over two weeks. I also wish that the microwave was working because I'd love to have some popcorn. :) Otherwise the apartment is nice and comfortable. We are experiencing some difficulties with our neighbours underneath. They like to listen to their music very loudly. I have no doubt that they have a nice stereo that has a great base that resonates through the walls and keeps us awake until late at night. The longest it went was up until 1:00AM which might not seem that late if it wasn't for David having to get up early for school the next day. Well, I wrote a polite note to them which didn't have the desired effect so we might have to start looking for a different apartment. We really don't want this because at least we are comfortable and would like not to have to worry about an apartment right now. I don't know what we'll do yet...

Limerick has nice weather still. I'm still able to wear my flipflops and short sleaved t-shirts, which is nice. It's gotten a little bit colder but not a whole lot. The leaves are starting to turn yellow at places and the sky is more cloudy most of the time but the weather is still nice. Speaking of nature, one thing that really amazes me is our river... the Shannon river. It changes every hour and every day. In the morning it's full almost bursting, a few hours later is half full, to the point where the rocks on the bottom create waves and crazy waters, to only find it to its fullest in the evening. Sometimes it is so shallow that one could walk right through it, while other times is is so high that we worry that it might flow over. I'm not kidding that this river fluctuates more than any river I've ever seen. I know it's the tide, since we're so close to the ocean but it still seems pretty weird.

One thing that I'm very greatful about is the help of some people from church. It takes us about 50 minutes to walk to church on Sunday so it doesn't make it very easy and pleasurable, especially when it rains outside and it's cold and windy. But there are a few very nice and friendly people there. One family lended us money so that we could pay our rent, another man built us a small desk for our computer and another family helped us with some money for food. It's been a trying and humbling experience so far being here and we really hope not to have to receive help from others but it was very nice to have this help. My sister, Irina also helped us with some money, David's family from Japan and his boss, Sharon back in Utah also sent some money our way, for wich we are very greatful. We really hope that we'll be able to show our gratitude and thanks to all these people without whom we'd be homeless and starving.

What else has happened... One other good thing was that we finally were able to pick up our MAC computer. We left it in Utah with Carl and Karina and they mailed it to us a while back but when it got here the customs said that we had to pay almost 200 Euro to pick it up. We called them and they had us send it back to customs and when it returned there was no charge attached to it so we were able to get it. We are so happy to have it here safely and to be able to watch our favorite movies and TV shows that we missed all this time.

Well... I think that I covered pretty much most of it... I can't think of anything else. I like the food here, I like the green grass and trees and the Shannon river. I love being here with David. We might have to leave this country if our situation will not improve soon but we will remember these hard times that strenghtened us and drew us closer together.

To Limerick, Ireland...

Well, it's been a while since I last wrote something here... The truth is that I had little to no time to write and that our life's been pretty stressful lately (or for the past few months). In July David found out that he got accepted to the University of Limerick, Ireland (Master Program in Ethnochoreology). If you don't know what that means, don't worry. I didn't either. It's a program that focuses on folk dance. David would love to teach folk dance at a university and this program is apparently the best of its kind in the world and will help him achieve his dream. So, ever since we found out that he got accepted we've been trying to get money to go. We went to all the banks in Provo to ask for student loans only to find out that there were very little to no options for us. We applied for government loans and got approved. So we thought, at least... Next we tried to find a buyer for our Kia and were unsuccessful there too. Our dear friends, Eve and Shawn were so kind to take the car and try to sell it for us while we will be in Ireland. We are very thankful and really hope that Shawn will be succesful. So, after much negotiations and help from David's family and from Brother and Sister Smart we were able to scrap up enough money for the plane tickets and finally left. How thankful we are that they were so kind to lend us money for the tickets. The Smarts made it possible for us to fly to Ireland and that is something that we will not easily forget.
The trip to Ireland wasn't too bad, nor too long. We flew through New York City and it was so cool to see the beautiful Manhattan from the place in the gorgeous sunset. The Paris, Charles DeGaulle airport was a modern looking airport. We enjoyed some tasty chocolate croissants there, just because we were in France! :) Eventually we got to the very tiny plane that took us from Paris to Shannon, an small airport a few kilometers from Limerick. I watched out the window as we flew over Ireland. It is a green country but I thought that it looked pretty empty :0 at least from up above. Limerick is the third biggest town in Ireland and is well populated. Now, don't think it's that big. Salt Lake is bigger and more modern looking than Limerick, by a lot. Limerick is a classic European city. Many small buildings, old houses and churches, castles or castle walls at every corner, small roads, caffees everywhere, good food and people walking everywhere. Smoking and coffee breaks seem to be the favorite past times around here. People drink loads of coffee and smoke everywhere you go. I guess I kind of forgot that part of European life... For the first four days we stayed in a hotel and walked around like crazy trying to find an apartment and to figure out what else was there to be done for David's financial aid to be finalized and for the funds to be dispursed. Well, it turns out that even now, almost a month since we arrived the funds have not been given to us and we still live off the little Euro that we were able to put together back in Utah. Why all this trouble? We don't know. The school tells David to call some American institutions who tell him to tell the school to send papers. The school then tells him to send other papers and when we thinkg that everything is over there are more papers to sign and send, more very expensive phone calls to be made and more people to yell at. It' been quite the adventure. The bureaucracy is something else and no one seems to know what to do, what the process is and how to handle things. The ladies in the International office drink their coffees peacefully, smoke their cigars and yell at us from feet away, from their office that there is nothing else they can do. Very frustrating! I find it very hard at times not to stress out. And we have been very stressed out, both of us, almost every single day since we arrived. Back to finding an apartment, we did find a very nice one, 800 Euro/month plus utilities. Yeah! Expensive. One of the best deals though. How we'll pay for it we don't know yet but we're hanging in here. After arriving here, we quickly learned that the concept of time is different here and that everything costs almost double than what it costs in America. Also, we learned that this county is been hit very hard by the recession and that people loose their jobs every day and that there aren't many jobs available. I've been trying to find some work ever since we got here but didn't find anything yet... Hard life for the Irish even though as you walk down the streets it doesn't look like it. People buy lots from the closing out stores and eat and drink out a lot. I said earlier that the concept of time is different here... What I meant is that if one says we meet at 3 o'cloclk, be sure that it's going to be at least 15 minutes until they arrive. When one of David's manuals arrived, the UPS guy told us that our over-night packet had to be delivered in three days after it arrived because he already finished work for the day (it was around noon on Friday) and that packets are not to be delivered until next Monday. So much for paying double the price of the book to get it here on time... Yeah, so life is been crazy and still is. We try hard to stay happy but when there isn't much to do and no money to spend life can get pretty boring and bland. There is one movie theater here but we didn't go there yet because it costs like $15/person and they only have one or two showings of each show every week. We did eat out at KFC once and spent almost 20 Euro. I'm not even joking! I wish I was. But there are some cool things about being here. We have a nice apartment, David is getting his masters, hopefully and he's enjoying his classes. If everything works out he should have a master degree by next December. It was going to be by next April but the school decided that the students should have a few months after they finish their course work to do field research. That is really cool and we're hoping to go to Romania for Christmas to do some of that research but no one will pay for it, not even the financial aid from the States because David won't be taking classes during that time. Well, we hope to find jobs and set some money aside to go to Romania and to at least visit Ireland's beautiful countryside if no other European countries. We really want to see the castle that is here in Limerick, the famous cliffs of Moher and hopefully get to see some other places as well. I'll try to write here more and hopefully have better news next time. I really miss everyone and being in the States but I'll try to make the best of my time here in Europe. I think that we have a wonderful opportunity and am happy to be here with David and stand by him through everything. Until next time, farewell!

4th of July

So, life is been interesting since we graduated. I'm working for a company called Western Standard, doing Romanian<>English translation and David still works at BYU because they let him work on campus. It's pretty complicated but it worked out for him and we're not complaining. Not too long ago we found out that David got accepted into the Ethnochoreology Graduate Program at the University of Limerick, Ireland and we've been getting ready to go there at the end of August. Keep your fingers crossed that we'll be able to go. Why I say that? Well, it's been quite an adventure trying to get student loans. Not only is it hard to obtain loans if one goes to school in the States but it's even harder if one wants to study abroad. So, right now we're in the process of applying to Stafford Loans and other loans to help pay for out plane tickets and at least the first month's rent. I will be looking for a job once we get there but for now we have to rely on loans.

What else happened since the end of April... Well, we graduated and walked on the 24th of April, went to California at the end of May for Aunt Sheri's funeral, celebrated my birthday in California, worked a lot, got some dental work done and my wisdom teeth out (which cost almost $2,000 - yeah, that's where my salary went!) and had fun at the Highland Games at Thanksgiving Point and celebrating 4th of July in Provo watching the Stadium of Fire and in Midway having hamburgers and corn on the cob. So... a pretty busy summer so far. I only got to go to the pool twice this summer and I really want to go, but I went to the gym more and actually lost 10 lbs. since February. I'm pretty proud of this particular accomplishment. A couple other things we did were spending time with our friends Carl and Karina, going to baby Adam's blessing in Payson (Eni and Aric's baby boy), celebrating Romanian and Catholic Easter with Romanian friends and having a cool Romanian barbecue in the Rock Canyon Park in Provo. Oh, one other thing I'm happy about is my green bell pepper plants that I've been taking care since they were little babies and who are now all grown and are producing very tasty green peppers. :)

I'll give you a little more details on some of the stuff that we did. I told you that we went to aunt Sheri's funeral. Aunt Sheri is David's aunt and his mom's sister. She was very young and has three kids. She was engaged to be married and died in a car crash in California. Charity, David's sister was in the car when it happened but she was very lucky to only break her arm and get some scratches and bruises. Of course that is not lucky but it's better than dying... So, we went to the funeral and it was really sad but it was good to meet and see family that we only get to see once every couple of years.

The Barbecue with the Romanian and friends was really cool though. We had a wonderful time with Cristina and Brandon, Amy and Jeanene, Viorica, familia Geambasu, Maria-Taylor and bebe Luca, Eni-Aric-baby Adam and Aren, Eni's parents si Gaby creata. Fratele Geambasu cooked mici and sora Viorica brought branza si rosii, while Eni and het family brought some very tasty chicken drumsticks and cake. It was real fun especially watching the boys playing Bocci and enjoying each others company.

This is our summer so far. I'll try to post more in the future, once we get to Ireland. I'll also post a few pictures of the events I talked about above. Love and hugs to everyone!

Life...

Dahlee and David's Graduation Ceremony

Dahlee and David are finally graduating from Brigham Young University! Dahlee is graduating with a BA in Linguistics and David with a BS in Exercise Science.

If you'd like to come to the Graduation Ceremony, you'll find below the information you need.

The ceremonies will take place at the following times and locations, on the 24th
of April 2009:

- Dahlee's ceremony is at 8:00AM
- David's ceremony is at 2:00PM

- Dahlee's is at the Marriott Center, Provo, UT
- David's is in the Smith Fieldhouse, BYU Campus, Provo, UT

We hope that many will be there to celebrate with us.

Christmas Newsletter - 2008

Happy Holidays!

It was the day before Christmas. My family traveled, like every year, to the small village where my grandparents were spending their holidays. After five long hours the train finally stopped in Arpash, where my grandpa was waiting for us with a carriage pulled by his brown horse. It was getting dark and we decided that we needed to hurry. Poienita [Poyeneetza], the village of our destination, was 8 km away and because of the thick snow that kept falling throughout the week, we knew that it was going to take us longer than usual to get there. The carriage started to move slowly in the snow and our excitement grew with every step that the horse made. We were almost there and were going to have so much fun playing in the snow with our old friends! After about 20 minutes we arrived at a small hill. From far away the hill didn’t look like much of a challenge, but close up we noticed that the hill was icy and maybe a little too steep for the one horse that we had. When the horse started to struggle up the hill, we decided to get off the carriage to lighten its weight. Grandpa tried everything he knew to get the horse climb the hill but with no success. By now it was dark outside and we were still about half way to the village. After a while, a gypsy man who saw us struggling came to offer his help. My dad and the man pushed the carriage and grandpa helped the horse up the hill and they eventually succeeded in getting to the top. We kids got back on the carriage and grandpa walked in front leading the horse by its bridle. The horse was visibly cold very tired so my parents chose to walk behind the carriage. We were in the middle of some fields now and getting close to the village. Because my sisters and I weren’t moving much, we became very cold. I was holding Mira and I can still remember that my hands got so cold that I wasn’t able to feel them much anymore. I was crying and wishing we were home, back in Bucharest, in our warm apartment. We didn’t even have a Christmas tree here, in the village and probably Santa didn’t even know that we were here. The night was still and cold. The snow was glittering in the light of the moon and it was quiet. Only the wheels of the carriage sounded in the night. My parents were left behind and I was worried now that they might get lost and maybe eaten by some animal! The forest wasn’t too far away and I remembered stories that my mom and grandpa told us about wolves and bears that lived around here. And we kept going. After a long drive we got to the house. Grandma, who had been worried sick, hugged us and helped us in. She soon put some food on the table and we had a few goodies that she had prepared for the occasion. The house was nice and warm and smelled like cake and cabbage rolls. I love cabbage rolls, I thought. I was safe now. After we ate a little bit, grandma said that it’s time for us to go carol our next door neighbor, Tantee Jenica. I was embarrassed to sing and didn’t want to go out in the cold again but we didn’t have much of a choice. When Tantee Jenica opened the door and we started singing, I felt warm inside and I was happy. I loved Christmas Carols! Tantee Jenica sang with us and then invited us in and served us with really good cake. Later that evening, when we got home, my mom told me something amazing. She said that when they were walking in the silent night, they heard something like a choir singing in the distance. They couldn’t tell what song it was but they said that it was beautiful. Grandpa said that it was some choir from a close by church but my mom knew that they were choirs of Angels singing praises from the skies. I didn’t hear them because I was too busy and concentrated on my own suffering but as my mom talked, somehow I knew that she was right and I really wished that I heard them too. Christmas is a time of remembrance, a time for love, a time for giving and a time for family… Let us all give a little bit more of ourselves this Christmas season and maybe, if we sit still and listen, we might hear the beautiful choirs of Angels this Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas!

________________________________________________________________

Our Love for Folk Dance

As part of the international folk dance program at BYU David and I both had the great chance to be on SPAC, the team that travels within Utah at the end of every winter semester. We learned many dances from America, Mexico, Israel, Ireland, Ukraine and Hungary. We danced for thousands of elementary school children and traveled all the way to the border with Idaho for some concerts. In June we were privileged to go to Nauvoo, IL for two weeks, where we got better acquainted with the local history and culture and performed every evening on an outdoor stage very close to the Mississippi River. We visited Carthage Jail, and other sites in Illinois and Iowa. In Missouri we visited the Saint Louis Arch which is an impressive piece of architecture. It was a great experience. We had a lot of fun spending time with great friends and sharing our talents and love for folk dance. David decided that he loves folk dance so much that he would love to combine this love with his love for teaching by becoming a folk dance college teacher. He is currently applying to graduate programs offered in several places around the US and Europe. We hope that he will be accepted in the best one that there is. Wish him luck!

__________________________________________________________________

Only One Semester Left!

Last fall semester was a challenging but good one for both of us. It was good because we learned many interesting things for our careers, but it was challenging also because we had difficult major classes. We succeeded however in passing all the exams and in getting good grades. Dahlee finished all her Linguistics major classes and has only one General Ed English class left, which she will be taking online next semester. David took some more classes for his Exercise Science major and is also getting very close to graduating. In fact., both of us are going to graduate in April 2009. What an exciting day that will be, when we will both receive our diplomas, the fruits of our long years of studying and sacrifices. We are happy to have gotten this far and anxious to graduate and move to a different stage in our lives. Dahlee, just like David, is applying to graduate programs in Applied Linguistics and is trying to get accepted into the online Academic Advisement Graduate Program at Kansas University . She would love to become a certified academic adviser and hopefully continue on to graduate school in the field.

____________________________________________________________________

Work is great at the Open Access Computer Lab

One activity that takes most of our time when we’re not in school or doing homework is our work. We still work on the BYU campus, as Lab Assistants for the computer labs. Dahlee works for the Open Access Computer Labs and David for the Humanities Computer Labs. We like our jobs very much. Dahlee’s job is to supervise lab assistants, take care of problems in the labs, answer lab assistants’ questions and help patrons in the lab. David is a lab attendant and he has to help students and faculty with their problems in using the computer. We’ve been working at these places for more than three years now and so we have a good hang of how to do our jobs. As a result, David is always the one asked to update the computers and make them work for both students and faculty, while Dahlee gets a chance twice a month to participate in full staff meetings where together with other supervisors and with the managers discusses ways to improve the organization. As a result for our efforts and dedication we put into our jobs, we received raises at the end of the semester and the appreciation of our colleagues and managers.

_________________________________________________________________

2008 Timeline

· From January until April we attended winter semester at BYU, which we finished successfully.

· In May we toured Utah and danced for elementary school kids.

· In June we went to Nauvoo, IL

· From mid-June until September, we worked full-time at the computer labs on the BYU campus.

· At the end of August we took a short vacation to Las Vegas, NV where we had a great time together.

· From September until December we attended fall semester at BYU and were successful in passing all our classes.

· At the beginning of November, Dahlee went to a Translators Association conference in Orlando, FL and learned a lot about how to be a better translator. She does translations from Spanish into English as a freelancer.

· We spent Thanksgiving with Patrick, Daniel and their family, and the day after, with our friends Carl and Karina.

· We are now getting ready for Christmas by decorating our house and packing presents.

“Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger”

Last Semester!

School has started about 7 weeks ago and we are now almost half way through. It feels good knowing that I'll be finishing all my major classes this semester. It's been a long journey at BYU but its almost over and I'm looking with much anticipation to the graduation day in April. David will be graduating at the same time so it will be fun to do that together. The experience at BYU was great. I had a wonderful time learning a lot of new and interesting things. I discovered more about myself and about life in general. My major in Linguistics made me really happy and learning how to teach English as a second language was a very rewarding experience. My work as a lab assistant in the Open Access Computer Labs has been a great experience and I enjoyed every minute of it. I loved working with other students, learning about computers and just helping students in the labs. It was the best job I've ever had and it taught me humility but also to be happy with who I am and to always strive to be better. As much as I want school to be over, I know that I'll miss being a student and I'll look for every opportunity I'll have to learn more in the future.

SPAC Tour - Utah and Nauvoo, Illinois

We're back from our tour with the BYU Folkdance Ensemble. We had a great time both visiting Elementary Schools in Utah and dancing in Nauvoo, IL and the surroundings. Here are some pictures from our tour.

School is out and tour is at the door!

My dear friends, celebrate with me. I finished one more year at BYU, having only one more semester to go! On Wednesday, the 23 of April, I had my last final exam of the semester and now I'm FREE! :) Well, not quite actually but it feels good not having to worry about readings and homework. My SPAC tour will start on Monday, the 28th of April and I'm really excited and nervous at the same time. I had a lot of shopping to do and now I'm waiting with anticipation to start the tour. David is on the team as well but being a second year SPAC-er he doesn't feel as nervous as I am. That helps me relax a little bit. Because of being nervous and wanting to have the time pass faster, why I've been meeting with friends to keep me busy and help me forget. Yesterday, Gabi Creata and I went shopping and had a good time. I drove all over Provo in intense traffic and it felt great. Today the two of us and Eve will make cozonac and at midnight we'll go to Salt Lake to the Orthodox Church to celebrate the Orthodox Easter. I'm excited to be outside of the church tonight, carrying lit candles and singing "Hristos a inviat". Tomorrow we'll have a potluck dinner with our SPAC friends and we may even spend some time with Gabi again. Hopefully all this won't wear us out and we'll be ready at 7:30 AM on Monday for our first tour day! We've worked hard this semester and learned many dances that we're all excited to share with the kids around Utah and with the visitors that will be in Navoo in June this year. I'll keep you posted on how the tour is going and I'll share pictures as I'll have some. So, stay tuned!

2007 - A year of joy!

December 2007

Dear family and friends,

2007 is been a full year for us. We’ve been going to school full time at BYU and we also worked on campus while also being on a folk dance team. Here is a short review of our year. We hope that you’ll enjoy hearing from us.

In March David and Daliana decided to unite their lives and got married in Manti, Utah. They were happy to see so many family and friends who came to celebrate with them and they would like to thank everyone who sent presents for being so nice and thoughtful.

Daliana is a senior in College. She just decided to change her major to Humanities with a French language emphasis. Besides her major, Dali is working on a World Dance minor and a TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) minor. As a result, she still has a few more semesters to go until she graduates. Dali still works at the Open Access Computer Lab on campus and starting January she became a Shift Supervisor. She enjoys her job very much.

David is a senior in college as well, majoring in Exercise Science and planning to go to Medical School afterwards. He is working on a World Dance minor as well. David works as a Lab Attendant in the MAC/PC Humanities Computer Lab and as a web programmer in the Humanities Department. In May 2007 David went on a one-month folk dance tour to all the Elementary Schools in the Utah Valley. He enjoyed his experience very much and is excited to be doing it again next year. He thinks that this time it will be an even better experience because he will get to do it with Daliana.

Together, Dali and David went on a trip to California where they had a wonderful time with their grandparents and other family members, and before that they went to the Arches National Park and other National Parks in Southern Utah.

As you can see, we had a great year. We hope that you and your family had a prosperous year as well.

Marry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love,

David and Daliana Johansen

I made it!!!!!

On Wednesday David and I found out that we were selected to be part of the Spring Performing Arts Company at BYU, or SPAC. SPAC is the back-up touring folk dance team at BYU. David was on it last year but for me is the first time. I've been folk dancing for almost two years now and this is a great achievement for me. We will go on tour in the month of May 2008 and will dance for all the elementary schools in the Utah Valley and around. it's going to be tons of fun. The picture is from a concert that we had a few weeks ago in Salt lake City with my current team, 9 RB. I love folk dance and I'm so excited to dance with David next semester.