Just some thoughts about snow

Snow - you love or or you hate it. And sometimes it's both at the same time. (Ever been shoveling with your back hurting and your toes frozen and you take a break and notice how pretty and sparkly the snow is?)


Snow blankets everything in your yard and hides the dead plants, the bald spots in your yard, the neighbor's trash that somehow ends up in your back yard, and it makes it all beautiful.


At night when it's coming down and it catches just a bit of the light from a street light - it is just magical. Can this ever be captured by a photograph? I don't think so - unless you're looking at a photograph and remembering.

I have friends in Honduras who have never seen snow. They know what it is. Nieve. I couldn't remember the word for snow in Spanish and so I described it to them saying "lluvia" (rain) and "mucho frio" (very cold) and they knew what I was talking about. I demonstrated with shivering and doing twinkle fingers coming down. Do they understand? I'm not sure, but they smile and sometimes laugh. Are they laughing at me and my pantomine? (This is my main form of communication with them and there's a lot of laughing.) Or do they wonder and wish they could experience it just once.

(This is the family that was helping me with "nieve."
I was teasing them - "you think THIS is cold?" Love them.)

Sidenote - the pastor of the village in Honduras that we visit came up and visited us several Novembers ago. Amazingly it snowed the morning they were going to the airport to fly home. I was told that they were like kids brushing it off the car and the bushes and laughing. How do they describe it to the people back home? I wonder. :)

I've read that nearly half the world has never seen it snowing. (I guess parts of India can see snow capped mountains, but haven't experienced it.) Are we part of those blessed by snow or cursed by it? I guess it depends on your perspective. A little is wonderful, but too much is... too much.

(view of downtown Dayton from the
19th floor of the Key Bank building)

Last year Jason and I stayed at a cabin in Gatlinburg for our anniversary. The cabin was at a top of a steep hill and very private, we loved it! And then it started snowing. There was no snow in the forecast, but I guess these things happen in the mountains. We ended up getting snowed in and spent the day sitting in front of the wood burning fireplace and TV. It was wonderful! And then the electricity went out. It was out for just an hour, but that's just one of those examples of the snow being a blessing and a curse.

(Hawks Nest cabin in Gatlinburg)

So here it is, February 16th and Dayton has gotten 20 inches of snow in three different snow storms over the last two weeks. It hasn't gotten above 32 degrees, so it's all still there. We keep shoveling our sidewalks and the parking area in front of our house and we're starting to run out of places to put the snow. Last night I'd dump the snow on the top of the pile and it would fall back into the space I just shoveled. Funny, my back isn't hurting as much as it was after shoveling the first snow fall. I guess I'm getting conditioned to this. Well, there's something I guess.

(taken 2/6/10 - 1st round of snow -
check out how high the snow goes on the door)

(taken 2/10/10 - 2nd round of snow)

(no photo for 3rd round - I don't care anymore)

I miss my shoes. I have a great pair of leather ankle boots that has gotten me through 8 winters. I can wear them with dress pants and they look fine. I'm so sick of wearing them though. I have a pair of hiking boots that I like to wear, but for some reason I can't find them. (Honduras friends - did any of you perhaps end up with these?) So I'm stuck with the same pair of boots day after day after day. I swear it's torture to expect a woman to wear the same pair of shoes every day. I have actually worn some of my favorite shoes around the house because I miss wearing them. (Okay, not really, but I want to.)

(Lenny thinks he's a snow cat)

Seven years ago I considered moving to Florida where my mom and step-dad live. I also considered moving to Seattle where my brother and sis-in-law live. (Please note that both of these places have what I consider to be ideal weather. Though I might miss the sun in Seattle, I miss it here in Ohio too.) I was newly divorced, had just finished my degree, and was working a temp job. Unfortunately I needed to save up some money to make either of those moves, even with family offering to help me.

And then it happened, I got a really great job here in Dayton making pretty good money. And then I bought a house. And then I married a man who never thought he'd move 3 hours from home, let alone the other end of the country. So here I am, stuck in a snowy state - with a great job, a pretty nice house, and a wonderful loving husband (and great family who live only 3 hours away). I guess I shouldn't complain too much, but I still have those days I wish I would have moved to Florida. (Jason would have still married me, right?) :)

The roller coaster of the past few days...

The back story: We started trying to get pregnant in May of 2008, several months after we got married. A few months later we started counting days and taking my temperature. After several months of nothing we found out that our hot tub wasn't helping the situation. So Jason was banned from the hot tub and after waiting a period of time we started again - counting the days and charting everything. Still no baby.

We tried ovulation prediction kits, and nothing. And then heartbroken, I didn't want to "try" anymore. Everyone told us we were stressed and to quit trying, so we did. Then we started making plans to move to Kentucky and I was suddenly glad I wasn't pregnant. But now, 8 months later, we still haven't moved.

So back in December Jason and I decided we were going to start trying again - using the scientific method again. We got the ovulation prediction kit and started counting days. I was so afraid to get my hopes up because the let down seems to get worse each time. I think that would be my biological clock mocking me. Even if I got pregnant immediately, I'd still be 38 when the baby was born. They call a pregnancy after you're 35 a "geriatric pregnancy." Not because I'm old but because my eggs are old. (Why do raisins come to mind???)

So last Saturday I was a day late and we decided to take a pregnancy test. I have a love/hate relationship with these little plastic sticks that we pee on. I sat it on the sink and waited. One line. Yes, this is what usually happens. I did some other things and a minute later looked back and... is that a 2nd line??? I waited but all that appeared was a very faint second line. Was it even there?

"Well, that's annoying." Jason hearing me say this came in and looked at the test. He saw the very faint 2nd line and asked if that meant I was pregnant and I told him I wasn't sure. So the google searching began. Our online searching basically told us that we had bought a cheap test that wasn't good at detecting hCG, the pregnancy hormone. (Don't buy Answer Pregnancy Tests, even if it says it's an "early" pregnancy test - it's not.) The final answer was "probably, but you should take the test again to be sure."

We were afraid to get our hopes up; we both needed big red flashing signs and a "probably" wasn't going to do it for us. So Sunday morning I took another test and got the same faint line, but this one was definitely darker. That was enough for us - it was a positive test!

So I called the doctor on Monday and talked to a nurse and explained the situation. We made an appointment for March to come in for the first ultrasound. I was feeling some nausea and was definitely tired. I started limiting my caffeine and avoiding Advil... and my electric blanket. :(

Then the trouble started. Around noon yesterday I started bleeding. (If you're even in the bathroom and hear a woman say "crap" out loud it's never a good thing.) We were worried but then turned again to google searches. 20-30% of women experience bleeding and will still have a healthy baby. Just to be on the safe side, I called the doctor again. I went in this morning to get some blood work to find out the hormone levels and get a good idea what was going on.

This afternoon I got the news. My hormone levels were really low - I was no longer pregnant. I talked to the nurse about the faint line pregnancy tests and everything else and her assumption was that it wasn't a viable pregnancy. That I probably started losing it as soon as I was pregnant. (In our internet searching on pregnancy tests this was never mentioned, but some of our friends have experienced this - questionable results followed by miscarriage.)

We're both disappointed but there's a silver lining - we CAN get pregnant! I have friends who have gone through this and have spent thousands of dollars trying to get pregnant. We've spent $30 so far (this year). There is sadness, but there is hope. This wasn't our only chance and I feel very strongly that we'll have good news again soon.

Thank you to all our friends who have been praying for us. Please continue to pray for us when God puts us on your heart. I believe all your prayers today made a huge difference. There was really no way to save the pregnancy, but we felt God's comfort and peace the whole time. Instead of discouraged we are encouraged. We've gotten so many words of support and encouragement, we're just overwhelmed by your love and understanding. Thank you again.

I think I'm going to go have a Diet Coke and take some Advil (I've got a pain that won't be ignored) and I'm definitely turning on my electric blanket tonight. And I can go back to running... anyone want to join me tomorrow night?

Our fuzzy babies

First, meet Kinzie...


This is my precious baby who will be 14 this Spring. I got her about 13 years ago, right after Christmas. I went to a pet store to get a kitten and started thinking I should get an older cat from the Humane Society. One of the girls working there told me that someone was at the register trying to give her cat back to them but she was too old. I immediately fell in love with the fluffy little kitty that was about 6-8 months old. The girl who gave her up said that her boyfriend got her a kitten for Christmas and her mom wouldn't let her have both cats. So (unbelievably) she decided to give up the older cat, whom she called Precious. As precious as that little cat was I had to pick a name I could live with. I call her Kinzie, but she seems to prefer Kinzu. :)


Kinzie never did well with other cats and about 8 years ago I promised her that she would be an only cat from then on. (This may have been the only thing that kept me from having 10 cats by now.) Then in the summer of 2007 I started dating a wonderful man who had two little kittens. I knew that if things worked out with him Kinzie would have some adjusting to do. After Jason proposed I started reading about how to introduce young cats to an old kitty. We kept Jason's babies (who were about a year old at the time) upstairs and after several weeks finally let the cats all meet. Kinzie became the head cat and has kept the other two in line ever since. She's a bit on the grumpy side when they're around, but honestly I think she's happier with the company.

When Jason first got the two kittens he was told they were girls. I helped him with names - Lilly and Daisy. Several months later when Jason took them to the vet to get them fixed he texted me: need to find new names - they're both boys. So Lilly became Lenny and Daisy became Davey. (Our friend Becca remembers their names by their colors - lighter Lenny, darker Davey.)


Lenny tried to challenge Kinzie when they first met and she put him in his place every time. To this day he stays far away from her and he's jumpy when she's around. Occasionally he'll come up and sniff her but she usually tries to swipe at him and he jumps and runs away. He's whooped now, but she won't give him another chance to challenge her.



Davey is very different - he's a lover not a fighter. He tries to rub on Kinzie and she usually tries to bite him or smack him. He just lays down and takes it, usually purring the whole time. She might bite him but she usually ends up licking him a few times afterwards. She doesn't seem to mind having him around but she doesn't usually approach him.



Recently Davey has tried to snuggle up to Kinzie while she's sleeping. We put out a couple blankets for the kitties to sleep on and a box for Kinzie to sleep in. One day he climbed in the box with Kinzie. Jason and I waited for the abuse to start but she just glared at him and then went back to sleep. This happened a few more times until Davey got too brave and actually pushed Kinzie out of the box. I've gotten another box and placed it beside Kinzie's box so that Davey has room to sleep next to Kinzie. I have to share pictures of the two of them in the box together. :)




The boys are now almost 3 years old and they've calmed down a lot. They're not scratching as much as they used to (I keep their claws clipped). They usually don't jump up on the furniture anymore, resulting in a lot less broken items. Davey chews up my hair bands if he can find them - and he's been known to dig through my purse and work bag to find them. Lenny wakes me up too early every morning hoping for treats. But the boys are now my babies as much as Kinzie is and I just love them to pieces.

Like Mother Like Daughter

Here was me about 2 1/2 weeks ago at the Vineyard's Christmas party for our community:

Here's my mom when she volunteers in Florida:

You all knew I had it in me to be silly, goofy, clownish (is that a word?). But did you know where that came from? Now you do.

(Pickles and Sweet Patootie - my mom)

I've done some face painting in the past but it's such an artistic thing and I need a lot more practice to be confident. So then I tried balloon sculpting (it's so much more than animals) and I loved it! I used to be really jumpy when it came to balloons, but one class and I'm over that. (Thanks Chuck. LOL)

We have more opportunities at church to do clowning, so I decided I need to get a real clown costume and a clown name. So of course I asked my mom for help with both of these. She made her entire costume herself, without a pattern. It's a great costume, but it took her 3 months and much frustration to get it just right. I think it's perfect for her. And her clown name? Sweet Patootie. (Just a side note - she has a page in a clown coloring book!)

Jason and I are flying to Florida next week to spend some after-Christmas time with my mom and step-dad. We'll be there five full days and Mom and I think we can get quite a bit done on a clown costume for me. The hardest part - deciding on what kind of costume I wanted to go with.

I searched several clown costume websites: Costumes by Betty, Mooseburger, and various other google searches. I discovered that there are many different types of clowns. Though I love the Pierrott clown look (see types of clowns link), I decided the best for me was the Auguste clown. (Pierrott - elegant, artful, skillful; Auguste - bumbling, stumbling, slapstick.)

I wanted to go with the dress style of outfit instead of a pantsuit/jumpsuit style. I definitely do not want a belt around the middle (ugh) so the best type would be the rag doll or baby doll look. Here's the style I decided I liked the best:

I looked at that a couple of times and realized that looked a lot like this...

Seriously? I picked exactly the same costume as my mom? Yes. Yes I did. So I emailed my mom and asked if she could do another costume just like hers for me. Her answer in short was "oh goodness no" and explained that it would be a lot faster and easier if we worked from a pattern. She did say she was glad she was sitting down when she read my email because she couldn't believe that I picked the exact same picture that she used to make hers.

Yup, this apple didn't fall too far from the tree.

So I've picked out two patterns and may end up getting both and using both for my costume.

I like the 1st one but it's a one-piece jumpsuit with a pinafore. Not practical if you have to ever go to the bathroom. Love the 2nd one but no clown flair like the first one. (I believe if you click on the picture it'll take you to the Simplicity website where that pattern is.)

Still trying to decide on the fabric and colors, but that will probably be decided by what we can find. I'm thinking some bright polka-dots on white for the dress and bright pink for the pinafore. Still trying to decide if the pantaloons should be white or the same color as the pinafore. (What do you think?) Also, my mom pointed out that both patterns are sadly lacking pockets, so we'll definitely have to add those.

I'll keep you updated on our progress! :)

Feeling Burned

I've been thinking a lot lately about feeling burned and what it means to be burned. This has actually been a theme for me throughout the last year. It started around May of last year when I was having some down time with God. I was reading through some scriptures about the festivals in the Old Testament and having a conversation with God.

(I know some of you are wondering about "having a conversation with God." It's not like I hear an audible voice, it's more like just praying/thinking and then suddenly there's a clear thought in my head - which obviously isn't something I would think of. When there's a revelation or something huge, I know it's God speaking to my heart. Doesn't happen all the time but when it does I know what the Bible means about God speaking in a still small voice. Eh, okay, some of you probably think I'm crazy, keep reading anyway, mmmk?)

So the conversation when something like this:

Me: okay God, we've been asking for a few things this past year and they're just not happening. What's the deal?

God: what you're asking for isn't going to be easy on you. If you still really want it, I'll give it to you but you'll go through the fire for it. But I promise you, you won't be burned.

Me: huh? What? Like that burning bush in Exodus? (Exodus 3:2b: "Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.")

God: something like that.

So I had my own interpretation of what this meant. I looked at what my friends had gone through to sell their houses or to have kids and weighed what I'd do in similar situations. Thing is, God deals with everyone differently and I should have know our experience would be so much different. (I'm a slow learner sometimes.)

A couple weeks later our house was broken into and some very personal belongings were taken. I immediately went into a tailspin and got angry with God. "Hey! Didn't you say I wouldn't be burned? I'm feeling really burned right now." I talked to Jason about it and he said that maybe my definition of being burned was different than God's definition. When God promises something, he delivers. So I tried to look at the positive - neither of us were home during the break-in. I happened to be wearing the jewelry that is most important to me that day. We were safe, and our home was secured (door fixed & security system installed) within 2 days. But I was still feeling burned - why didn't God protect us from this?

The following weekend we visited a new church in Olive Hill (Jason's hometown) and the pastor, Chris Binion, spoke about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from Daniel 3. These were the 3 guys that were thrown into a furnace for refusing to worship created gods. When the king looked in the furnace, he saw 4 men walking around - absolutely fine. (Some say the 4th guy was an angel protecting them, others think he was Jesus.) Here's the kicker about that story - in verse 27: "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire... the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them."

The funny thing was that we had been camping with friends that weekend and Chris pointed out that we smelled like campfire when we came in. We didn't have a campfire that morning, and the clothes we wore were clean. These guys were IN the fire, and when they came out their clothes weren't singed at all and they didn't smell a bit like fire. God promised that they wouldn't be burned and they weren't. Even to the extent of not even smelling like they had been in the fire. Dang.

I was starting to get it. These 3 guys didn't whine about getting thrown in the furnace. They were acting out their faith and for it they got thrown into the fire. The guys who threw them in were instantly burned - I can't even imagine being in that situation. (I'm not going to get graphic here, but just imagine that for a moment.) They went through a literal fire and trusted God would save them every step of the way. I'm going through a figurative fire and I'm a whiney-butt.

So I'm adjusting what I think it means to be burned. 2009 was a rough year. Just about everything we asked God for didn't happen. However, we ended 2009 with less debt than we had the year before, and our marriage is pretty strong, and our lives are pretty great. But most importantly, my faith is stronger than it's ever been. Maybe that's the point for going through the fire. To see if we'll bravely proclaim that our God is able to deliver us - or will we get whiney and complain about all the little trials we're going through.

Hey, God made me a whiney person, so I know he's not surprised at my reactions. God never promised me that life would be easy. He doesn't owe me everything I ask for. I'll admit, I'm a spoiled-brat daughter of God. I know how much he loves me and I probably ask for a lot more than I should have (and expect it). I throw my temper-tantrums and he still loves me as much as ever. And then I calm down and realize that through everything, he's still protecting me from how bad it could have been.

I don't think we're done going through the fire. I think there's more to come, but my reaction is getting better. Hopefully soon when I'm feeling the flames again I'll be able to face it head on with the attitude of "bring it on!" Because God promised me that I won't get burned and I'm doing my best to trust him.

2009 Wrap Up

I like to look over the past year and reflect on what went well and what didn't. Usually I just focus on the goods parts, but this year wasn't the greatest. The ups and downs make up the whole year... so here we go.

January - let's review the goals I had a year ago at this time. I was starting my 5th year at Thompson Hine but getting bored with work. I was thinking about getting training for another career and all I needed to do was find a school online (or near Dayton) that had classes on meteorology or surveying. (Yes, seriously.) I was also hoping that we'd get pregnant this year and that Jason's cabin in eastern Kentucky would sell after being on the market for over a year. Little did we have any idea of what this year would bring. (Quick answer - none of the above.)

February - we celebrated a low-budget Valentines day with dinner and cards. Jason somehow surprised me with flowers he bought at Krogers the night before and then delivered to my building on his way to work. A week later my law firm had layoffs and several of my friends lost their jobs. I was grateful about still having a job but it scared us pretty good - how could we make 2 mortgage payments and 2 car payments on Jason's salary. I suddenly appreciated my job a lot more.

March - Jason and I went to Gatlinburg to celebrate being married a year. (We won't technically have an anniversary until 2/29/2012.) We found a great cabin at the top of a mountain with complete privacy, wood-burning fireplace and hot tub. And then we got snowed in. :)

April - not much happened in April. We helped with our church's huge Easter egg hunt and I was in the Easter choir. I also went to the Dayton tea party downtown - I just stayed late after work. It was cold and I just wanted to go home. It was great to see so many people in Dayton who want change, but so many seemed angry (at people who weren't there) and some of the children holding up signs kinda bothered me. Freedom of speech and all that. I worry about future generations for so many different reasons.

May - this is when our lives turned upside down. Our house was broken into May 20th and my laptop (along with many pictures) was stolen, Jason's ipod touch was stolen, and all of my gold jewelry, including a lot of my grandmother's jewelry, was stolen. I'm heartbroken and try not to focus too much on the loss. It's just stuff I guess.

A week later Jason and I were at church and I was questioning why God lets bad things happen to people who try to help other people. (I'm still wondering about this.) I asked God for some direction, some answers to prayer, and I just felt like God was telling me that we're moving to Olive Hill, KY (where Jason is from) and we're going for the people there. I wasn't sure I heard right and didn't say anything to Jason. But then later that evening Jason said he felt like God was telling him that we needed to move back to Olive Hill. We decided to pray on it and make sure we had heard right.

June - a friend of mine, Jenni, won tickets to the Art Ball at the Dayton Art Institute ($300 tickets) and asked me to be her date. I happily said yes. We had a wonderful time sampling incredible food, wines, and dancing the night away. I so wish that we had the money that I could take Jason next year. Maybe someday - but I have a feeling that Jimmy Buffet tickets would take priority. :) By the end of the month we knew that the move to Kentucky was a "when" and not an "if." We just wondered about the timing.

July - I had started running in June and had my eye on running the Air Force Marathon 5k. I surprised myself from going from barely being to run for 60 seconds to running for 8 minutes straight within 6 weeks. On my birthday I wore strappy sandals with a heel when it was raining. I ended up with a high ankle sprain and was on crutches for about a week. I couldn't run for 6-8 weeks and really struggled to get back on track with running. I'm still hoping to run a 5k in 2010.

August - we traded in Jason's boat of a car (Crown Victoria) and got a used Ford Escape. We love it! The next day we took it down to Riverbend (Cincinnati) to see Jimmy Buffet. We figured out it has a little quirk of locking the doors when you haven't hit any buttons (it's happened 3 times now) and ended up locked out of the car. Our experience with Riverbend security was horrible and I'm still not sure we'll go back there next year. (They won't let AAA into their parking lot and they treat you like a drunk even when you're not.) Keep in mind I was still wearing a brace on my ankle and wasn't in the best mood at 12:30 am while we were still waiting for someone to let us into the Escape. Anyway...

September - this was the month we were putting the house on the market. We fixed pipes, we repairs cracks and chips, we scraped and repainted, we cleaned and decluttered and put almost half our stuff in storage. Friends took in Jason's two kitties (boys that were just over 2 years old) and Dad and Claire took my big fluffy kitty, Kinzie. We had the carpets cleaned and finally had our first Open House. And... nothing. Jason was hopeful about getting his old job back working for the state (commonwealth) of Kentucky. It looked like he would but then... nothing. The "when" of the move was still up in the air.

October - my favorite time of the year with the cooler temperatures and the leaves changing colors... and Halloween. :) Few people were coming to look at the house, so we decided to bring the kitties back home. There was a bit of readjusting to be done with the cats getting used to each other again and so much of the furniture missing. We were very happy to have the fuzzies back along with all the fluff and chaos.

We decided to go "goth" for Halloween. It was the first year that we didn't have to plan our costumes around events involving children. So we decided to do something a little on the scary side - something that wasn't us. It was fun and we shocked a few people - but isn't that the point? :)

November - I went to Honduras for the 4th time. It was definitely the best trip I've been on - because it wasn't as hot as the summer months when I've gone in the past, and also because I got to really connect with the people there. I really want to work on my Spanish so that I can talk with them a little better next year. Several weeks later we went to Columbus for Thanksgiving. Dinner was at my step-sister's, Stacy's, house. My dad, step-mom - Claire, Amy - my other step-sister, and my step-mom's parents - Grandma Doris and Grandpa Bob, along with some of Stacy and Neal's friends had dinner together. It was a great time of getting together with family.

December - a very eventful month! Jason and I finished a cake decorating class and plan on taking the next course in January. I knew I wouldn't get a bonus this year and it was doubtful that I would get a raise. And then we found out that Jason would be laid off in January. So we decided to do no more Christmas shopping (we had already purchased gifts throughout the year). At first I was upset but the season turned out to be a lot less stressful. Though we're hoping we have the opportunity to splurge on the ones we love next year.

We started off the Christmas season with the holiday home tour of the historic South Park neighborhood. It was a chilly day but the homes were warm and welcoming. I also took a balloon animal (and other such sculptures) so I could be a clown at the Vineyard's annual Christmas party. We serve a sit-down dinner to 1400 people and give gifts to over 800 kids. Jason was one of the servers and this year I put on some festive clothes and Sparkle (the head clown of our group) do my makeup. I ended up twisting balloons for over 4 hours and loved every minute of it. I'm looking forward to learning more about ballooning, and clowning too I guess. :)

Our choir at church (the Dayton campus of the Dayton Vineyard) decided to do a cantata-style performance this year. We had books with 3 parts (soprano, alto and men), CD's with our parts, and a choir director. After two months of practicing we had one performance, and it was awesome. Christmas eve I had the privilege of singing harmony for the worship team. Christmas songs have to be my favorite songs to sing harmony too. What a treat! After the 7pm communion & candle-light service we headed to Olive Hill to spend the rest of the holiday season with Jason's family.

It was a busy but great Christmas season. We are so loved by our family and friends and we are so blessed to have so many positive, up-lifting people in our lives. We had one last blessing - a few days ago I got an email stating that there would be bonuses and raises after all. We trust that God will truly provide for us in 2010, no matter where we live or where we work.

One last thing. We get asked so often - what about the move? It will still happen, we're just not sure when. Our house is still on the market, and Jason is still looking for jobs in eastern Kentucky. When he gets a job, he'll move to his cabin and I'll stay in Dayton until the house sells. If the house sells, we'll go ahead and move. But with the housing market and job market being what it is, it doesn't look like the move will happen anytime soon. Ultimately though we keep in mind that God is in control of this and when he wants us to move, the timing will be perfect and everything will happen right as it should. I'll definitely keep you informed when it finally starts to happen. :)

Thinking about the week in Honduras...

What an amazing trip! I’m sitting here in the airport in San Pedro Sula waiting for our flight and reflecting on everything that’s happened this past week. I thought I’d start blogging while everything is fresh in my mind. I didn’t journal this year as I usually do. My down-loading each evening was done in the form of chatting with Jason.

Definitely the most amazing trip I’ve been part of. I don't even know where to start, so I thought I'd just do a quick overview and then I'll tell some stories of things that happened this past week. If I miss anything, I'll just do another blog.

At the beginning of the week we didn’t have any large projects to do, just screening windows and showing the Jesus film. Most of our emphasis was to reach out to the people there to help them, show them God’s love, and pray for them. We wanted to interact with people outside the church as we built screen frames for their windows, and we were going to invite them to a fiesta which included dinner and the Jesus film. We thought we may also try a few other outreaches, whatever might come up.

There was one change. When we got to El Quebracho, Pastor Roberto asked if we could show the Jesus film in El Rosario, a village nearby. This required some change of plans, but we're flexible. Gregg, who was in charge of our outreaches, also wanted to go to a squatters village near Comayagua.

So here's how things went down this past week.

Saturday - left Dayton at 5:55 am and arrived in San Pedro Sula at noon (Central time). Went to a nearby mall for lunch (I had Wendy's), then drove to Canchias. We were the only team there and many of the students were gone on break. (Graduation is next weekend.) After dinner and orientation, we headed up, up, up to our cabins. (First time I haven't stay in Casa de Esther.)

Sunday - due to a the path being flooded, we were unable to go up to Ambassador Mountain for devotions. We went to the back patio, which has an incredible view, and started with a couple of songs. We had a great time of sharing and prayer, and then Amy, the Heart to Honduras staff person who was with us all week, shared the background and vision of Heart to Honduras. Around that time it started to rain, so our village tour was done by truck as we headed to Comayagua. We got to the hotel we like to stay at, the Hotel Santa Maria, and checked in. After quick showers and dinner, we headed to El Quebracho for church. It was so wonderful to see everyone again!

Monday - started our screening projects. We all went to the first house together and took measurements and then went back to the church to cut the wood and start putting the screens together. Then we broke into 3 groups. Two groups went out to get measurements and then would install the screen doors and windows after they were done. The third group, which I was part of, built the doors and windows.

My part was stapling the wood together and then putting the two layers of screens on (one layer is regular screen and then a heavier layer with bigger holes it put over it). Then we added firring strips over the edges. I believe we got 5 doors and a couple windows done the first day.

(lunch under the orchard trees behind Pastor's house)

Monday night after dinner we went to the beautiful cathedral square. It started to rain, so we headed for a cafe where we got pastries or ice cream. We didn't get many pictures of the square, but we had a great time hanging out in the cafe waiting for the rain to stop.

Around 1:30 am I started having bad stomach pains. Around 3:30 am I (finally) got sick and was able to fall back asleep. I woke up Tuesday morning still feeling queasy but went to breakfast and devotions anyway. I was determined to go to El Quebracho with the team, but alas, I got sick again and ended up in bed all day. I wasn't able to keep anything down until that evening. So I also missed the church service that evening. Thankfully by the following morning I was feeling a lot better and was able to go out with the team again.

Tuesday - the day I missed, they did more screen doors and windows. They went to El Rosario to pass out cold bottles of water and pass out fliers about the fiesta. They met a man named Eddy who had been in a car accident and had a bad scar across his neck. It seemed he was lucky to be alive. They prayed for him and invited him to the fiesta. That evening they went to church and Ana was there with her three kids. (This was the only time she made it to El Quebracho, so unfortunately I missed seeing her this year.)

Wednesday - we stopped at a grocery store on the way to the village to pick up some bottles of water and ice. I went inside to see a Honduras grocery store and you know, it looked just like an IGA except there was a guard with a gun outside. (Heh, I got him to smile for my picture.)
Then more screen doors & windows. This time, however, some guys from the village were working on putting the doors & windows together. It was great to see the pastor's two sons working on them too.
While they were working on installing the doors and windows, I walked around to the tiendas (stores) in the village with Gregg, Kevin and Ever to get snacks for the outreach.
After lunch we loaded into the bus with six guys from the village and headed to a squatters village down the road. It was a large field where people had taken whatever materials they could find to piece together homes. Zelaya, the president that was removed, gave these people the land even though it wasn't his to give to them. We started walking around and many people came out to us. We gave them bottles of water and the small bags of chips we had and then prayed for people. While we were praying for one family, the wind blew a large piece of their roof off the house. So much of what I have seems frivolous after seeing what little they were surviving on.

That evening we went to church and Chris took the youth outside and Ever translated for him. Then men also met outside with Luis translating for them. And the women met inside with Michelle speaking and Amy translating. It was a great evening with a lot of prayer and encouragement. When we're there it no longer feels like "us" and "them." It's all of us being a church, being family.

Thursday - the day of the fiesta! In the morning we started the day by finishing up the screen doors and windows. A group, including Kevin, Gregg and Michelle, went to the store to get groceries for dinner for the fiesta.

We went to Pastor's house for lunch and discovered that the ladies are hung decorations for Kathy's 60th birthday. After we ate they came out with a cake and sang several birthday songs for Kathy. Afterwards there was a pinata which Kathy did a great job beating until the candy came out. So much fun & laughter!

While this was going on, the ladies from the church had already started cooking the chicken for dinner. After the birthday celebration the men left to start packing the truck and setting up for the fiesta. The women stayed at the house and chopped vegetables for hours. Then everything started going in the big pot and as the food was ready, we had an assembly line that would put the food on the plate with a fork and two tortillas and then wrap it in Saran Wrap. We did 300 dinners this way.
The men went to El Rosario early to get things set up and all of us ladies who worked on dinner road in the bus over together. At 7pm the people from the Quebracho church started handing out dinners to the people waiting to watch the movie. We passed out cups of water after they got their dinners.
Then we started the Jesus movie, en espanol. (This would be the one put out by Campus Crusade, not the Passion movie.) After the movie Gregg got up and explained how everyone can have Jesus living in their hearts and led a prayer asking Jesus to come into their lives. Then 50 people stood up to say they had prayed the prayer. Afterwards we prayed for people and started packing everything up. It was a long day, but so exciting.

Friday - Pastor Roberto, Olga, and their two sons, Levi and Limber, joined us for breakfast and devotions.

Then we headed to see the new camp that Heart to Honduras is building. Due to the presidential problems, many teams canceled their trips this summer. This has created some financial problems for them, however this freed up a lot of the staff people to work on the construction at the camp. In June there was one building, and now there are 4 buildings, a gymnasium, and a soccer field that's halfway done. It's amazing!

We went to Power Chicken for lunch and then went shopping at the mercado. I got some souvenirs, Christmas gifts, and some cigars for Jason. Then we went to Casa El Meson bed & breakfast for the night. (The women stayed in one room in a building behind the house and the guys stayed in rooms in the front of the house.)

Saturday - our last day in Honduras. We had Gary flying back to Louisiana, and Michelle was flying into Columbus, but all of us were leaving around 1pm so things worked out well. All our flights were on time and we made it home by 9pm that evening.

We had such a great group of people and did a lot of laughing. The staff people that Heart to Honduras provided were great and really got involved with our group. We were able to make connections with the people of the church and also others in the villages of El Quebracho, El Rosario and the squatters village. But most importantly, we got to see the people of the church there doing what we do at our church in Dayton. They're reaching out to the people around them, and "showing God's love in a practical way."

Gregg told us about a book he read where it said that the gospel could be summed up in four phrases: 1) Jesus did it, the disciples watched. 2) Jesus did it, the disciples helped. 3) The disciples did it, Jesus helped. 4) The disciples did it, Jesus left. In the same way, we came to El Quebracho, showed the people there what had been taught to us. We did it, they watched (the first year). We did it, they helped (the last few years). They did it, we helped (this year). And now we're gone and they'll continue what was started.

Once again I left my heart down there. I miss them as always. They are an extended family and I look forward to seeing them again. They have picked up some English from us and we've picked up more Spanish from them. The best part was hugging them and hearing Olga say "I love you" and me hugging the women I spent hours with on Thursday telling them "mi hermana." (My sister.) Our hearts are knit together and we are truly sister churches.

More pictures can be found here... http://quebracho.shutterfly.com