My Pleasure

Do you ever have people thank you so profusely that it almost makes you feel bad? Especially cause it wasn't a chore for you in the first place, it was a delight. But sometimes the response "my pleasure," doesn't convince them, I suppose it's just become another version of "you're welcome."

Last night, I was picking Angie up from one of her new classmate's birthday party with no pressing schedule to follow the fiesta, when Kristin our pastor's wife called and said they were having some car trouble. There were ten of them stranded in their van that wouldn't start, but the good news was they were just around the corner. So, we headed over to the pizza place where their car had serendipitously given up and tried to charge their battery, while chatting with Paul and Kristin, playing with the six kiddos, and catching up with Kristin's visiting parents. Did I mention there was pizza with "real" pepperonis?! So, when they thanked me repeatedly, like I'd donated one of them a kidney instead of just driving them home, it was kind of hard to accept all that gratitude. "You can pay me in pizza anytime!" was the best I could come up with when "My pleasure" fell short.

Today, it happened again! My good friend Adreana wanted to take the Cristo Viene girls and boys who'd made the "honor roll" at school to "Playland," an "amusement park" just outside of the city. (The abundance of quotation marks in that last sentence is because the honor roll is based on a grade level Adreana decided on herself and "Playland" only had three rides open so it may be a stretch to call it an amusement park, however we were amused.) So, Angie and I picked up the eight star students this morning with some fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, picnic lunch and not nearly enough sunblock and headed to the park. It turns out eight hours of fun in the sun may require more than two applications of 30 SPF. But it was well worth it!

Next time anyone needs to ask us a favor involving a "log flume" or pepperonis, pleeeease don't think twice about calling us, even if it's mostly our ginormous car you're looking for and not really our amazing company; although we'll throw in the company for a slice of pizza.

¿Qué Novedades Hay?

Literally, this common Spanish greeting translates to, "What new developments are there?" or "What news is there?" Since I never read or watch the news, and lead a pretty normal life, I don't usually have much to say to this question, well at least not since a year ago when I randomly adopted a small child as an unmarried foreigner. But I digress. Generally the answer to this salutation is similar to our English version, "What's up?" or "What's new?" Answer: "Nothing."

This week, as I start back at the university teaching summer classes, which I love by the way, the professors, students and staff are emerging from their holiday break back onto campus, with "¡Felicidades!" Which is kind of "Happy New Year!" and sometimes "¿Qué novedades hay?" And for the first time in awhile, it would just be dishonest to respond "nada." Since I last saw all of these friends and co-workers a lot has changed, and I sure do have news.

I never thought I'd be that girl that waves her hand in the air showing off her ring, but it must be some kind of female instinct when sharing the news that you've just gotten engaged. The excitement just gets the better of me.

Angie's gonna have a daddy!

(Most adorable side note ever: Every prayer she's prayed over the past year that she's been with me has automatically started with, "Thank you God for this nice day." Every day, that is, until the day Jon left to return to the US when she instead opened with only, "Thank you God for this day" in not just one, but two of her prayers)

Ruby's gonna have another playmate, master, and pushover to get table scraps out of.

And I'm gonna be a wife. Woah. But before that wife role kicks in, there's this whole necessary (debatable) wedding thing to do first. Have you ever tried to plan a wedding from 4,000 miles away? Well, it's actually possibly easier than attempting the same feat from ground zero, or at least I seem to be enjoying the details more than Jon and this was mostly his idea in the first place.

Ah, but I skipped the when and where. On July 21st, 2012 at the Caldwell Chapel in Louisville, KY, we'll be officially growing our little family again.

Now, amongst the wedding planning fun we get to try pre-marital counseling from different countries. Skype, podcasts, books, and semi-bilingual couples small group should be a good start, but if you have any advice we're all ears.

If you haven't met Jon yet, you're missing out and you're gonna love him. I'm still trying to figure out what I can bring to this relationship as he cooks better than me, keeps a cleaner house than I do, fixes things, sews, and rarely lets me carry anything. Maybe I'll just cheer him on while he lays down the new hard wood floors and changes the oil. I think I'll count Angie and Ruby as my contributions as well, that's fair right?

Another first day at a new school

Does anyone else feel like the movie "Splash" may have given us false expectations for second language acquisition?? Even though I had my own personal years of struggling with learning Spanish as a second language, I still fell back on the lessons I learned from Madison (was that her name?) about learning English by watching TV for a few days in a television store. I was under the impression that Angie's young sponge-like mind would absorb English in a few months if not hours, just by being around it, listening to some Switchfoot, and watching movies with subtitles. Uh, no. Anyone want to join me in a class action suit against "Splash" for pain and suffering due to false expectations?

Today, Angie started her third of four new schools in as many years. She might as well be a military brat. We've worked our tails off trying to get her English to where it needs to be, and then homeschooling her the first semester of third grade in three weeks, but it paid off. As a huge answer to prayer, she was able to start at the Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center today, popping into the middle of their third grade school year. It's gonna be a difficult transition for her, as it's an English school and her English still leaves something to be desired, but we think a necessary transition for her to make now instead of later.

To add to the nervous jitters of starting yet another new school, in a new language, we found out she needed to be vaccinated. A reasonable enough request I suppose, but we have absolutely no records of any vaccines for her, she remembers getting them, but has no proof. So, we went to the doctor last night and asked them to start from scratch. She nervously giggled the whole way through, what a trooper.

Leaving school this afternoon she was smiling from ear to ear, laughing with her new friend, and bubbling over with stories like how her teacher went to help her with an assignment on the verb "to be", but she had already finished it. Thanks for all your prayers and support in this journey, keep the prayers coming, I doubt she'll have computers and P.E. everyday to keep things so light and fun.

One Year Together Today

“Mommy, are you content?” (which really does not translate well, because "content" in Spanish can be almost ecstatic)

Me, “Yes, I’m very content Angie. Are you content?”

“I’m more than very content!!” she confirmed.

This conversation took place soon after Angelica found out she was officially on the road to having the best daddy ever, Sunday morning when we told her Jon had proposed on New Year's Eve.

A little later, “Mommy, I can’t quit smiling.”

At bedtime, “Mommy I can’t stop being content.”

“Well, you don’t have to stop being content, but you do have to settle down enough to go to sleep.”

One year ago today, I arrived back in Bolivia after a two week holiday visit to the States. The trip where Jon and I decided to make this work, regardless of the 4,000 miles trying so hard to separate us. And one year ago today after dropping off my luggage, brimming over with US goodies, I picked up Angie from Talita Cumi and we started our life together.

It’s been a roller-coaster of a transition for us, with about a 12-day honeymoon to start but then a tumultuous first 7 months, a few sweet months of calm, followed by December marked with change such as summer vacation, her English entrance exam to enter yet another school, Christmas visitors, and Christmas in general all contributing to some stress, leading to some melt downs. But since I’ve had this gorgeous ring on my finger, 2.5 days now, it’s been pretty smooth sailing. It’s gonna be like this from now on, right??

No, I know it won't always be easy, and I know this change will bring its own challenges for her and for all of us, but I also know God has been leading us down this path for some time, and He's as excited as we are to complete this little family. Well, "complete" for Angie would include at least three little brothers and sisters, but one thing at a time child, one thing at a time...

The pictures on the left are from one year before their counterparts on the right. For more details about the latest, very handsome, addition to our growing little family, check out my February prayer letter, or following blog posts if I can't wait that long to tell you all about him, but today Angie and I are celebrating our first anniversary!