And you thought I'd never come back...

Dear Stacey,

(in case anyone other than Stacey reads this...I'm trying to make my posts a bit more personal. She's my sister and wonders how I can take the time to post on my blog and then not send her a personal email...since I didn't send her a personal email today I'm hoping this helps!)

Up and out of the grave, I have returned! Actually, I have been everywhere but a grave and doing so many blog-worthy things that I haven’t had any time to even consider continuing my bloggy addiction. Right now I sit in a hotel room while Karis is taking her much needed and daily 3 hour nap. The mission is having our first conference away from a “base” where we are basically being spoiled and going to meetings all day. It’s great! I must admit after so much activity the past 6 weeks I wasn’t really looking forward to this week but now that we’re here I realize how rejuvenating this week will be for me (all of us!).

With too much to write about and too many pictures I’m going to condense what I could very easily make into 15 posts into one post and summarize the trip we took to the good ol’ U.S. of A. I came back so grateful for having such a generous brother...I never imagined how much this trip would mean to me. However, on the plane ride there I questioned my sanity, the value of my life, the value of my daughter’s life and wondered if I should fake some sort of breathing difficulty to get the plane to land somewhere in South America (and then of course figure out how to get back home after the fact). Yes, it was really that bad. I better not try to explain the amount of frustration I felt towards my child the first 6 hours of that 9 hour flight (just writing about it is making me feel all anxious) but I think this picture will describe perfectly how we both felt…

And please keep in mind that this picture was taken BEFORE takeoff. I was still enjoying thoughts about what we’d eat as soon as we landed in Orlando. 30 minutes after this picture was taken I promised God that I would fast the entire trip if only He would please put me in a temporary coma for the next 8 1/2 hours. Turns out that 6 1/2 hours would have been enough.

Skipping past the initial part of our trip (cutting Elve’s hair at night and our fun blog party) we made a surprise and quick trip up to TN to see Jonathan’s parents. I wasn’t sure if it was really going to be a surprise but it turned out that it was, which made it really fun! Mom stopped the van a few blocks in front of my in-laws house so that Karis and I could walk up to the porch discretely. I put Karis in front of the door, rang the door bell and let her say “surprise” as J’s mom opened the door. Her reaction was classic.

We had so much fun the next few days. Some of the activities included….

Tea Parties

After Dinner Bible Stories

Early Morning Cartoons

Hanging out (getting spoiled) by Vovô and Vovó

Reuniting with some great friends!

Back to Tallahassee, more family and the Good Cents store. We still continued to go twice a day for the next week (not the week of the wedding) and found lots of treasures! Makes me want to move back to Tally just for that :-) Here are a few highlights of our time before the wedding…

Hannah Montana PJ's

My brother Jon Jon is very philosophical. He is amazing and I am very proud of him for everything he has done and everything he is doing to serve the Lord. However his philosophical thinking can really stress me out sometimes. On the way home from TN we got into a discussion about clothing where my mom and I were trying desperately to convince him to dress a bit differently than he presently does (if you know him then I have no need to try and explain to you why this was our goal:-) His question is “What is the purpose of clothing?” It turned into a very lengthy and drawn out discussion where he made lots of good points that neither of us could argue with. My final conclusion...I have nothing to base my dislike for his choice of clothing on and unfortunately can’t find a spiritual reason to convince him to dress more according to my taste. Anywho, one thing he mentioned was some of the brands and slogans that we wear to express different ideas, etc. Even though there are some brands who cater much more according to my taste I don’t really think about advertising for certain brands since my clothes almost always come from a 2nd source (2nd hand stores vs. the stores themselves). He said something like “when you wear a shirt that says ‘Gap’ you are basically saying ‘I’m not really cool but Gap IS and so now I’m wearing this t-shirt to be cool like them.” or something like that. If he reads this he is probably going to die with my paraphrase. It really got me thinking though. Then it got me feeling stressed. I have always enjoyed not thinking about what I am or am not promoting by wearing my cheap clothing. However, now I can’t post this picture of Hannah Montana pajama pants without saying “I am not cool. Hannah Montana IS cool. Now I’m cool because I’m associating myself with Hannah Montana.” Not really. What I’m really saying is “wow, these pants are so soft and comfy and were on sale at wal-mart for $4! I’ve never watched Hannah Montana in my life so please don’t associate me with anything she does that I don’t agree with!”

Lots of fun with Grandma's dress-up clothes

Technology overload

Dumpster Diving

It was the weekend that the FSU students who graduate in the fall move out so Kimmy and I thought we’d scour the town for some treasures. We realized as we pulled out of the driveway it was lunch time...hey, no problemo! Little Caesar’s Hot-n-ready here we come. One large pizza later we returned with a nice area rug and this awesome (and I mean awesome) solid wood shelf thingy that I now hear my mom discarded immediately after my return to Brasil. Crazy woman...it was really cool. You would probably love it so if you live in Tally drop by their house and see if it’s still out there on the side of the road. Once mom sees it in one of your homes she’ll regret letting go of something so spectacular. For sure.

Perhaps our trip will be in two posts instead of one. I still have 243 pictures of the cutest flower girl in the world to show off!

It's good to be back into bloggy-world...or at least partway back. I probably won't have much time to catch up on all of the blogs I enjoy reading but that day will come in about 8 days!


Your loving sister,

A blog party, a big blog party...

Big blogs, little blogs, black and white blogs were all at a blog party. What a blog party!

If the introduction above doesn't make much sense to you then I guess the only thing that proves is you either don't have a 3 year old or you haven't read "Go Dog Go" in quite a while. If you feel slightly deprived by this just come on over and I know a little munchkin who will recite it to you:-)

I won't go into lengthy detail about our bloggy party since Meg already did a great job posting over a week ago (a trip to TN and the Good Cents store has limited my bloggy life lately!)

Here are a few pictures of our morning together...

I was so honored that the Princess hosted our party at her lovely (and I do mean lovely) home! Not only that but she didn't cancel the party after waking up that morning still under the influence of Nyquil (to me that is an amazing and very noteworthy feat).

Lots of hanging out in the hallway did take place. It was there that I discovered through conversation with these ladies the amazing store Ikea. And it was shortly after that discovery that I received an email from my husband verifying that a not-so-small-charge had gone through my debit card there. Oops.

Lots of yummo food! I was so glad everybody seemed content conversing and hopefully didn't notice that I spent a few minutes hanging out by the table by myself before sitting down with everyone else. It was really, really good food.

Group picture #1.

I had planned to put Group picture #2 up here as well but when I looked closer at the picture today I realized that our "silly" picture wasn't so willy with only one person making a silly face (that would be me.)

It was a fun morning!

There are a lot more pictures to post from our trip here but Sam's Club, TJ Max and Ross are calling!

Within me lies a spirit of non self-discipline...

I have to admit that self discipline is a mystery to me. I'm obsessed with the idea of self control and self discipline, yet when it comes to living my life in such a way....well, I'm certainly lacking.

Like, when I read about the 5:00 club. Oh, awesome (thought I). That is JUST what I need! However I haven't rolled out of bed before 7am these past few mornings. Partly because my self discipline really needs to take place the night before (go to bed before midnight) so that I can get up early the next morning.

I'm always inspired and challenged by 1 Cor. 9 when Paul talks about making his body his slave, for the sake of the gospel! Unfortunately the catalyst for my self discipline is usually rooted in selfishness (you think I nixed sugar out of my diet for the sake of self control?). It is interesting though, that I am more content with my life when I am practicing self discipline! Even though 2 months of hard work have only taken 4 lbs off this body I think I've been able to stay away from sugar (for the most part) because I feel better when I recognize that I am, in fact, able to deny myself in this one area. I feel somewhat in control. Hmmmm....go figure...self control makes me feel in control.

And that, my friends, is the end of my self discipline shpeal. If anyone has some suggestions or encouragement that could help one-not-so-disciplined (such as myself) please feel free to leave a comment (or two)...

This makes no sense to me but when I am getting close to traveling, and I'm really excited about traveling I tend to start procrastinating to keep myself from getting too excited. If you're totally confused, let me explain. Instead of working on tasks 2 weeks in advance in preparation for my trip (like I should) I put them off so as not to think about the trip and get too excited, which would leave me feeling disappointed since I still have to wait two whole weeks. Today was the day that I finally allowed myself to start thinking seriously about the trip and begin to plan. However, just like every other time I've done this to myself I realize there is too much to do and not enough time to do it! I'm leaving in 4 days for crying out loud!

One area I should have been working on is meals for my hubby. Now, he was a bachelor for 10 years prior to our wedding day so really he can take care of himself. He makes a mean omelet as well as stir-fry and a fancy version of ramen noodles. He will not lose weight while I'm gone, that's for sure. But it did dawn on me today that "gee, it sure would be halfway thoughtful to leave the man something to eat while I'm in the U.S. partying."

So today Karis and I made some tortillas for him (nothing to go with them yet, but this is a start).

As I watched Karis help me today I felt so much gratefulness for this indescribable blessing in my life. She brings so much joy to our lives!

She is always so excited to help (I must admit that part of my motivation for accepting her help is in the hopes that she will still want to help 10 years down the road when she really IS a help:-)

And can you tell which tortillas were rolled by her?

Even though the seasons are different down here and I miss certain aspects about the States (like fall!) I realized today that there is something very unique about the weather here. We get to experience spring, summer and winter all in the same day! This morning it was fresh and cool, this afternoon the sun was blazing and we were sweating and now we have a freezing wind from the south coming through. I am cold....I love being cold for short amounts of time! We sat on the porch and watched the wind all snuggled up in our blankets tonight.

I guess I better go to bed in order to get up early tomorrow in the hopes of getting a lot of things done that should have been done a long time ago....

A titleless post.

10 days 'til the big day! Karis and I made another chain of paper links for her to take one off every morning when she wakes up. She loves this and hasn't stopped talking about the "jumbo jet" that we'll be stepping onto a week from Monday. I can't wait either but there's a lot going on that is preoccupying my thoughts!

I keep thinking about how I'm going to step on to the plane wearing jeans, a short-sleeve shirt and flip flops but will step off into really, really cold weather (like, below 70 degrees!)

Anywho, here are some highlights of our week...

1. Terantulla #3 was retrieved from the pool.

2. Moof is a rat-killer. Anybody forget who Moof is? Check out this fearsome canine below...

So here's the rat story. I was watching my friend's girls and had just taken them home to give them showers to go to bed when Jonathan called. He said that Moof found a rat which ran under the washing machine. Mike goes to get Moof while Jonathan lifts up the washing machine. Rat runs out, rat runs up Jonathan's leg. Jonathan screams. Jonathan shakes rat off of leg. Rat runs, rat jumps. Moof runs. Moof catches rat in mid air. Moof gives the rat the shake of death. It's all over, rat is dead. I am thankfully not traumatized since I wasn' there and now Jonathan thinks we have the awesomest dog in the world (yes, judging by the red squiggle underneath it I take it that awesomest is not a word).

3. I had minor oral surgery on Tuesday. That front tooth that got knocked out playing basketball over 10 years ago had to come out for good! Everything went really well and afterwards the dentist was very, very glad we went ahead and had it taken out now. So much of the bone structure has degenerated that I only have a 50/50 chance of being able to have an implant without a bone graft! Yikes, we're praying. It wasn't painful but I can't describe how horrific it was to hear and feel (without pain) the dentist drilling/scraping out the tooth cavity. I couldn't stop thinking about how painful it was going to be afterward! Thankfully I only took pain meds that same night! They were even able to use my old tooth by grinding it down, whitening it and then bonding it to the two side teeth. My mouth will need at least 5 months to heal! It's actually kind of nice because as long as my top lip doesn't raise up too much I went from having crooked, semi-white teeth with one gray tooth to crooked, semi-white teeth. How's that for looking at the positive side of things? :-) No picture for this portion of the post...sorry folks.

To be honest I've been battling with some internal struggles the past few weeks. It has been a real challenge to try and choose joy. Doesn't joy come so much more naturally when everything is wonderful? I've had a few highlights that have encouraged my heart...

1. My friend Angie sent me a nice email with some great quotes knowing that I was feeling rather discouraged (praise the Lord for thoughtful friends!). Here are the two quotes she sent me!

"The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one's 'own,' or 'real' life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one's real life - the life God is sending one day by day; what one calls one's 'real life' is a phantom of one's own imagination. This at least is what I see at moments of insight: but it's hard to remember it all the time." -C.S. Lewis

"What I do you cannot do; But what you do, I cannot do. The needs are great, and none of us, including me, ever do great things. But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful."

-Mother Teresa

2. Although we don't always make it we were able to go to prayer meeting on Wednesday night. It was such a special time! What made it special (for me) is that when the man who was leading prayer meeting asked for song requests he then looked at Karis and asked if she knew Jesus Loves Me. She said yes so everybody sang it for her! Well that got her really excited so she began giving out her own requests...including Zacchaeus Was a Wee Little Man & Read Your Bible, Pray Every Day. She really enjoyed participating and everybody was so gracious to go along with her requests and even seemed to enjoy songs they hadn't sung in years. I was so thankful at that moment for the family that we do have here among our fellow missionaries, even though our immediate families are not nearby.

Ok, this has turned into a lengthy post! Here's a random picture of my silly girl in one of her birthday outfits...

Signing off for now...

Present Day Holocaust

Holocaust - "Any mass slaughter or reckless destruction of life."

Let's face it, all of us have become desensitized to some extent when it comes to abortion. We hear words like "pro-life" "pro-choice" "partial birth abortion" and although we may be dismayed when the subject arises we learn to block out the feelings deep down inside of us that grip our hearts; the part of us that recognizes how truly horrific abortion is.

I remember when I was a child and learned what an abortion was. I spent nights crying for the unfortunate babies labeled as "tissue" and honestly couldn't grasp how any human, let alone friends and family that I knew, believed there was nothing wrong with terminating a helpless life. My mind couldn't fathom it. There were some individuals who were a part of my life that I wanted to avoid because I didn't know how to relate to them anymore. As a child it didn't make sense to me that they proclaimed to love me (see value in my life) and at the same time believe that if my mom had terminated her pregnancy before I was born then that would have been ok. Hypocrisy is what I was witnessing but couldn't define in my own mind. Either human life has value, or it doesn't. Age, size, social status or the ability to defend one's own life doesn't change that value. All human life is valuable or no human life holds value. Who is willing to define human value? Who wants to be the one to say you have to be smarter than"this" or contribute at least "this much" to society before your life has any value? Who is willing to look a mother with a special needs child in the eye and tell her that her child is worthless because he/she hasn't earned value in society's eyes? We are a hypocritical nation.

I wasn't planning on posting about abortion but I had a link sent to me of a short video regarding abortion and Obama's stance on the issue. It is a reminder that my home country has become a slaughter house to millions of babies. Please take the time to watch the video below. It has very graphic images so I would advise any of you mothers to watch it before you let your children!

www.ObamaMustSee.com

It is our duty to fight for the life of the unborn. We can't sit by and live life in our comfy homes forgetting what is happening outside our front door. Let's not deceive ourselves into thinking there is nothing we can do about it!

The rest of this post is going to seem rather paltry in comparison to the beginning! Ah well, here we go anyway...

I am ecstatic to report that all of those mangoes that fell during the storm are ripening! As they ripen I am cutting and slicing...here is what's left of them.


I am probably sucking the life out of my already-20-year-old dehydrator! I LOVE dried mango. Part of the reason I begged my husband not to cut down the mango tree right away was so I could attempt to make a year's supply of dried mango! He is letting me have it for one season (what a cupcake)...


My decoupage has hardly been touched in weeks. I thought for sure it'd be finished by the time I left for good ol' Tally town. Not going to happen, folks! Every day has felt like a whirlwind for the past several weeks and there is no sign it is going to let up before December 1st. This is how it will sit 'til the new year arrives...


A few recent Karis funnies...

I told Karis to clean up her toys in the living room so that I could sweep and mop. She obeyed immediately and did a great job! I said "Thanks Karis. You did great!" she replied "you're welcome, sweetie" in the most grown up, motherly voice she could muster.

A few days ago Karis decided she would fix her hair by herself. She got out the squirt bottle, her brush and went to work. Usually her hair is already fixed (to keep it out of her eyes) so she doesn't get too many opportunities to play this way. The end result was very wet hair with a crooked part. You also need to know that there is a cafeteria at the school here that we've been eating lunches at rather frequently. When Karis was done she said "I'm going to go to lunch and everybody will say 'awe, how cute'!" I'm sure I've done nothing to contribute to her self-admiration.