My List of 10

Had some sleep...then got the stomach bug. Aaron thinks I was just overly exhausted. Not sure what it was I just came home from helping in Tay's class yesterday and got sick. Throwing up is not fun especially when I had yet to eat anything but drink coffee. Luckily Aaron came home and helped me with the kids. I laid in bed, slept and read a whole book. I didn't even turn the TV on. Nice time besides the yucky tummy and achy body. I was better by last night...it was like the 12 hour bug. Today I feel even better, I am going to go to my training time at the gym and push on. Then I will pick up Tay from school and then hit Trader Joes for some much needed groceries. We are out of basics like string cheese...you know the basics when you have little kids.

Here are a few things I am VERY thankful for right now:
1. My husband. He is smart. Buff. Sexy. Sensitive. Hot. Funny. And I love him A WHOLE LOT!!
2.My son. He makes me laugh, literally he has become quite the comedian. And he gives great "love"...he lays his head on me and says "aaahhh". So cute!
3. My daughter. Precious girl. She gets me. We understand each other. Done with her kindergarten homework. Two weeks left until she is gonna be a first grader. Wasn't she just in my tummy? So proud of her and the little girl she is. She has a huge heart that is tender and truly loves.
4. This weekend I get to see Gina, times with her are always great.
5. My prayer time has rocked lately. I have made my drive time to the gym, time I just spend in prayer, out loud talking to my God. And I'm working on the listening. And allowing my burden and load to be handed over to the One who's burden is light. I have spent time in prayer for Aaron and the kids, and whatever else God directs me to pray. Good times.
6. My clean house right now...who know how long it will stay. Laundry getting finished up and it is only 9:30 am.
7. Last Comic Standing, it makes me laugh, and it is on tonight.
8. Looking forward to fun things this summer...like possibly a few concerts, time off with Tay and TJ, days at the beach, seeing family, and celebrating 9 years of marriage. And of course, seeing more progress of gym/eating right. I'm gonna be there again....
9. Trader Joes, $4.99 flower bunch. It lasts a long time and it brightens the house with some color.
10. My town. Is that a funny thing to be thankful for? Well for me I love living where I live. I love going to the library and then walking to have dinner and then going on a trolley ride. I love the beaches we are blessed to be near. The awesome trails all around to hike. The school my daughter is at. The friends I am making. The church we are attending. To be here is to feel blessed. To be here is to realize that God knows Aaron and I, He put us in a place we love.

My goal was to hit 10, 10 things I am blessed with right now. I could go on and I'm sure through out the day I will think of more. It is easy for me to get weighed down with one or two things that can almost consume me and my thoughts...and blur my vision of the good. I needed to make this list...and to submit to God the other tiny things.

Come to me all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30

Strawberry Festival

We went to the Strawberry Festival this last weekend so I thought I'd share some pictures

(This is Taylor LAST year at the Strawberry Festival painted as a Ladybug)


This is Taylor THIS year painted as a Butterfly


They had this bungee jumper ... Taylor loves flying high


... and Higher ...


Up into the sky


She really enjoyed it


Court and TJ enjoying the Festival


Two gorgeous girls


Dad and Taylor on the back of the downtown Trolly

Thoughts

Hmmm....so it has been awhile since we last posted. I think I have been in a blog funk...my mood is blah. I think I have been going turbo speed through life and am a little on burn out. That and I honestly can not remember the last time I slept all the way through the night. It is, I am convinced, the greatest form of torture. Forget weapons of mass destruction. Just get the bad people and every time they fall asleep wake them up...night after night after night. Last night I was to the point of tears, I just wanted to sleep. Thankfully my husband recognized my tears as needing some sleep and he took TJ out of the room and allowed me a bit of rest. Now he is tired. I have tried it all it seems. Not sure what to try next. The problem is that my son thinks I run a 24 Hour Drive Thru...he wants to nurse all night...even after he has had a sufficient dinner. I have tried to take the stand that he won't be little long and that is special bonding time for him and I. I know it is, I realize it is. I believe this to be true which is why I have nursed both my Babies. Taylor until one and a half and TJ, well not sure when he will be done. Anyhow, I just am struggling to find that inner joy from bonding with my Baby at 11 pm on...all night long. I have tried giving him only water in his sippy cup. Which I heard of other Mom's doing and I thought how could they. Well I thought that when I could nurse Tay right back to sleep. TJ on the other hand not so much. Funny how we do that...say we will "never" or "how could they" until we are faced with a situation in which we do. Lord, if my son is not sleeping from any judgement I may have passed. Please forgive me.

On other notes...we are counting the days until school is done...June 12th. Yeah! I am looking forward to summer, very much! Not sure how I will figure my gym time in, which I have grown to love. I have lost 15 pounds, yeah! Still have so much more to go but I definitely have that bug. Getting more sleep would be helpful in the having energy department though. Funny how actually exercising even when low on energy helps with giving me more energy...that and a few cups of coffee. Tay starts soccer soon...I think I will coach after all. Tay lost another tooth last night...finally! It was her front one that she had yet to loose and it was hanging all funny and kinda sticking out. She looked like she had in Halloween teeth:). She is so precious. I love my girl!

We had a nice 3 day weekend. Saturday we did the Bob Jones trail with the kids and Maggie. A 5.6 mile round trip, but the turn around is the park in Avilla Beach. Our favorite park to play at. After that we came home and watched a couple movies. Nice time. Sunday our church had an awesome baptismal service at the beach. It was an awesome time of worshipping on the sand. I love baptismal services, they are refreshing. Only thing is it was freezing...so the pastor and elders and people getting baptised had to be SO cold! After church we ventured to the Strawberry Festival in AG...fun times. We went last year. Funny to be here and experiencing things a year later...good time to ponder the past year. We had a fun time. Tay got her face painted and rode a few kid rides. We walked around and looked at all the fair type stuff and ate good food. And of course brought home the most yummy fresh strawberries. Yesterday, Monday, I cleaned house while Aaron ran a few errands with both kids. Then he worked with Tay on riding her bike without training wheels...she did really good! Then we had friends over for a yummy BBQ.

Today....well today we are playing hooky. We all slept late because of the lack of sleep. And Tay stayed home from school. Aaron of course went to work. So a nice day for me and the kids, an added 4th day to our 3 day weekend. The only thing now is trying to figure in my work out since I will miss going to the gym. I think I will just have to hit my good ol'treadmill once TJ naps. So this is a random post on life here lately...hope it finds you all doing well:) I promise to post some pictures at some point this week!

Nature or Nurture

The other day we were in the store and TJ and I meandered into the toy section. We first came to what is, traditionally girl toys. Barbies, stuffed animals, play kitchens, dolls and all things pink. The reaction from my little man ... nothing. No wide eyed wonder, no sighs of amazement no hand clapping or points. Just a look of bewilderment and he attempted to make sense of his bizarre and unfamiliar surroundings.

Then, we traversed into the traditionally boys section. Cars and action figures, swords and weapons, police and military get-up and all things dirty sticky and dangerous. My little man's reaction, laughter, joy, and glee. Clapping of hands, pointing and instant association that he had arrived in "his" section of the toys. Then in a moment of overwhelming excitement ... he squealed, like a little girl.

A breath of familiarity

Ever been in a new place you are unfamiliar with feeling lonely and missing everything that IS familiar to you? That was me the other day. Then I discovered this. We have a few in the area where I live and it was a resplendent euphoria to discover this little piece of home a half a world away from friends and family.

I found this at the mall ... well they aren't really malls here. They are more like domed cities spanning multiple floors and several football fields in length. I had taken the shuttle to this mall because the hotel offered a routine shuttle to and from the mall. What they didn't tell you is that they don't pick you up in exactly the right spot. So after standing in the horrid humidity for almost an hour I called the hotel (after the pay phone at my first round of coins) to discover that it was going to be another hour before the shuttle came back around. At this point I'd been up for over 24 hours and I was not a pleasant person to be around. Then I found my happy place. Mmmm ... Coffee, the great equalizer.

Girls in Pink

Taylor and Maggie have become fast friends. However, she is definitely "my dog" because she follows me everywhere it almost as if she has separation anxiety if I leave the room. We have taken her on a few hikes and she has been awesome, the longest so far has been 6 miles.

Maggie is wearing her new pink sweatshirt. I could not resist it when I found it on clearance for $3. I think it is slenderizing because she doesn't quite look her 60 pounds!

BTW the kids and I are doing great...we are SO excited to see Aaron in two days!! We have dinner plans the next two nights. Tonight we are going to California Pizza Kitchen (my fav) for a fundraiser dinner for Tay's school and are meeting friends. Tomorrow we were invited over to a friends house. It is nice to be making such great friends. And yeah for not having to cook! More to come when I have more time...Tommy finally napping so maybe just maybe I can shave my legs and wash my hair in the shower and still have time to make myself look halfway decent before he wakes...what a treat that would be!!

Cebu City Alliance Church

Today ... er ... yesterday, well Sunday I had the opportunity to attend Cebu City Alliance Church. Knowing that I was going to be here for the weekend I figured there had to be an Alliance church somewhere in Cebu. I got there right before the 9 am service began and it was incredible. Exposed to the beauty of nature I often feel God's bigness but being immersed in a different culture with people worshiping God in a different language took God's Creator, Godhead to a level I haven't experienced in almost 20 years (can you believe it's been that long since I went with TMI to Honduras?)

Here are some pictures of my short time at CCAC

Here is the church from the front, the services are held upstairs


A closer look


Just before the service starts


CCAC worshiping


This cutie sat in front of me the whole service. Made me miss my kids very bad.


A few kids swinging in the front of the parking lot asked me to take their pictures

Midnight Ramblings

Less than one week and I get to see my man again. Kids get to see their Daddy. Well I guess I shouldn't say see because technically we have seen him almost every day via the web cam. It is nice to see him but not the same as actually "seeing" him. I am horrible at long distance communication. This trip I have really realized how much I need and cherish the time Aaron and I have at the end of the day together. When no matter what the day may have brought us we can come together and "right" our world. I feel so lucky, no blessed, for the relationship we have. I get to be married to my most favorite person. We get each other, we laugh...a lot. At the end of a long day I look forward to laying my head on my most favorite place, his chest. Here are a few other things I miss about having him around...

~When my feet are cold he gets me my favorite thick socks and puts them on my feet...even if we are already in bed. Since he has been gone I have been putting the socks under my pillow every night just in case I need them.
~He can take the trash out after it gets dark...I'm a bit too scared to walk to the side of the house by myself when I can't see.
~He wakes up with TJ in the early morning so I can get a little sleep after a hard night with my son who is not a fan of sleeping through the night.
~He walks Tay to school every morning and even picks her up on crazy days.
~He helps me with dinner, dinner clean up, bath time, homework time, and bed time...a very busy time...which could be chaotic but with two of us it goes pretty smoothly.
~He gives me time to take as long of a shower as I want...and even time to shave my legs:)What a treat!
~He makes sure I have water on my night stand each night, since I drink water all night long.
~Given that I drink water all night, he holds TJ, who is more than likely awake in the middle of the night so I can have a potty break.
~When I am full of anxiety at the end of the day over whatever it may be, he can pray with me and help me to see things more clearly.
~He wrote me a love letter for every day he is gone. A hearty letter with a scripture and his thoughts on the scripture and how it ties into life...my life, our life...just life.
~He signed each letter with something sweet like, "Thinking of you often".
~He meets me at the gym on his lunch break...I have still gone each day but miss seeing him and the goofy smile he gives me when he catches my eye.
~He kisses me goodnight, hello, goodbye, and just cause...not so much good morning...I have a sensitive nose for stinky morning breath-yuck!

And on and on...I am so in love with him. When he left last month, there were those that said, "This will be good for you. Absence makes the heart grow fonder." I think that is a dumb statement. To be honest. My heart is not fonder, I do not feel "more" in love. I miss him dearly. If anything at all I appreciate what I have. I can reflect on where we have come from, the good and the bad and be so grateful for the ease and comfort and honesty we share. For the help we offer one another. Aaron makes me a better Mommy to our two. I feel that what I feel with him is "home". He makes me feel safe and comfortable...all cozy with butterflies in my tummy.

I just watched that movie, Juno. So good. Totally recommend it. To quote the movie, "Aaron is the cheese to my macaroni." He is. Even in watching the movie...both kids are sleeping...thank you Jesus, I really needed a little time without little hands wanting/needing me. Anyhow, I cried my eyes out. When the Baby is born in the movie, I just cried. Aaron would have looked at me and given me that look of, "how do I approach her? is she crying at the movie or did this bring up some emotional response I need to tend to?" and look to me for guidance. And more than likely it would turn into a playful time of him teasing me and making me laugh. I love that we are playful.

Sorry for all the sappiness...It is that time of day when I would lay my head down on my favorite place and snuggle up to my hubbie and call it a day. Only I am not sure I could sleep right now even if I tried...but maybe I will give it a go and put my nice warm socks on. I sure hope these last few days go quickly...I miss my man.

Okay, just read through this. A bit super sappy! Thought I would add that the kids and I have not been sitting around sulking. We have been super busy. We have had play dates and my family has been to stay. We went to my parents house for the weekend and hiked and played our hearts out. Tommy is walking so good. Taylor is talking so good, sometimes I am amazed at the things she says and how she is putting together her thoughts to have real grown up conversations. Tommy has another tooth that popped through today. Maggie is a great dog and we have loved getting to know her more. I will miss Aaron especially on Sunday, but I will celebrate Mom's Day with my family. He bought me flowers before he left. They are about dead but I am determined to leave them up through Sunday. He also left me a card and a card from the kids to open on Sunday. How thoughtful. We have been getting out and getting things done and having fun in the midst of missing Aaron greatly...like I said before I hope these next few days go quickly!

The Greatest Driver that nEver Was

Click the picture and have the opportunity to vote in what could possibly be the most important election of the year. Of course there may be other candidates in other areas vying for your votes, but let's get real for just a moment. We are talking about being a part of something bigger than ourselves here. We have the opportunity to be a part of the great swell of individuals deciding which fictitious driver is the greatest. Please vote. If not for you, for the children?

Yup, I'm a White American

I've come to realize that I am a typical white American. How can I tell?

1. My sense and sensibilities have been assaulted by various large, rotund men on the beach wearing just enough to bore the imagination. Something that appears not to bother anybody else not from my hemisphere.

2. My first shower over here I saw that not only was the nozzle color coded, but it was labeled with the corresponding temperature. Wondering you could turn it to well below 30 degrees which would shoot ice cubes at a terminal velocity I turned it to a pleasant 85-90 degrees. As the hot molten lava melted the skin off my body I realized that as a stupid American I assumed that since I, an American was staying in the room obviously it must be labeled in Fahrenheit. Oh Celsius. So not Fahrenheit.

3. Rice comes with everything and I'm the only one thinking ... really? Rice Ice Cream?

4. I'm the only one around here monolingual. For all the people of this region don't have by Western standards, most everyone speaks at least 2 languages, some more.

Here are some pictures of my commute to work

Standing at the door of the office looking down the street the office is on


The view from the floor my office is on in the early morning before I head home


Typical public transportation. A motorcycle strapped to a basket on wheels


Yes the guy in the corner is doing what it looks like he is doing


Side market


Random shot into the sun


Josh's Internet Cafe


Bridge over the water

Butchoy

Perhaps "Butchoy" is Tagalog (Philippino {stupid American for Filipino} dialect) for "Hunker down"?

Weekend in Cebu

It's Sunday afternoon here which means where everyone I really care about is, it's just past midnight Sunday morning. I first have to take a minute and brag about my wife, she's been amazing through this whole experience. I can't imagine how difficult she must have it staying at home and she's been just absolutely amazing and supportive.

So, last night the locals at our new office here put together a little shin-dig to say goodbye to Adrian (my co-worker who's been here for 3 weeks and left today) and to say hello to me. It was fun times to be had all the way around. The Philippiano people have been absolutely amazing to us and they are an extremely generous people. They had rented out a, well I guess you could describe it as a lean-to on the top of a mountain top that had an amazing view of the city lights below (tried to take a picture but it didn't turn out). They are very into karaoke here and we stayed there for about 8 hours singing karaoke. They also fed us ....

We turned this


Into this


And I enjoyed all their hospitality


So now am here pretty much by myself and I was standing on my desk outside my room looking to the right at the rest of the hotel


Then to my left




and I thought, hey, why don't I go out and enjoy that.

Moving On

In just a few short hours I will be back on a plane heading just south of here. Leaving Manila behind I will be spending the next week and a half in Cebu.

HOWEVER

Where I'll be staying


minus



Equals

24 Hours Later

So now that I've been over here for about 24 hours what do I think? A few thoughts based on initial impressions.

I wouldn't say I'm experiencing culture shock, it's too Westernized over here. There is however a culture-clash that exists. A modern Westernized society is blended in some kind of harmonious balance with appears at times to be third-world. That being said, the people here are amazing. I was enjoying a walk yesterday and a police officer stopped and asked if I needed help or was looking for anything in particular. Than he began offering suggestions on places to go. You'd NEVER find that in the States.

Driving here is ... pretty much exactly as I'd been warned. The lanes are more suggestions than hard and fast rules, it's pretty much like nascar out there. And they take their security very serious. Every store I've been in, I've been greeted by a police officer who's run a wand over me looking for WMDs. And every time we drive into the parking garage at the work they pop the trunk to look inside and check under the car with a mirror for explosive devices.

Manila is a beautiful city


But there are places and times when that beauty gives way


to reminders of the culture-clash that surrounds you.