Life on the Ground

life rule #7

2012-02-08T09:09:00.000-08:00

try not to be a snot to people simply because I am frustrated with someone or because it feels good to let someone have it. it sure feels like crap when you are on the receiving end.

winter update

2012-02-07T22:00:00.000-08:00

You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace. Isaiah 55:12

I know you are probably thinking, “I just got a newsletter from the Schwabs last month. Why are they sending me another one? They must be spending their kids’ inheritance on postage.” Which would be partly true. We did just send you a newsletter, but we’ve got new news and it isn’t going to be what you think it is, so keep reading!

Because we can’t resist an adventure

God must have been chuckling when I wrote that as the title of our last newsletter. Wouldn’t you know it, He had a huge adventure waiting for us just around the corner. Something totally NOT on our radar screen!

Jason and I attended a marriage conference outside of Seattle in the middle of November. After the conference we were feeling renewed and united in our marriage and our ministry. The day after we got home we received an e-mail from the chief pilot in the Philippines.

Would we consider coming to fly in the Philippines for a year?

It went on to say that the flight program needs a pilot to cover the island of Palawan while the family there returned to the States for their furlough. The pilot who was scheduled to relieve them has been delayed for about a year which would severely inhibit the church planting works in the tribal locations.

At this point in the story, I just have to declare God’s goodness. The fact that my first response was excitement about going back to the Philippines is a testament to the power of healing and grace that He has showered out in my life in the last year (even if initially it was for something as shallow as being near a beach and in the sun—hey, you’ve got to give a northwest girl a break!).

As Jason and I talked through the opportunity, our excitement grew. Even though we could think of things that could be difficult, like getting our house rented out and the possibility of homeschooling (insert ‘deer in the headlight’ stare from me), we weren’t able to come up with a single reason why we would not pursue wholeheartedly the chance to go back. Even the kids are ready to go!

We would be going back to the island we left, where Jason flew and already knows the airstrips and we know the town. We would be able to live in the house and borrow the car of the family that we will be relieving. We feel like it would be an amazing experience for our kids to see what life outside of the States is like and to see what we do as missionaries overseas. Jason would be back in the pilot seat. We are hoping that it is even an encouragement to the students in the Moody program to see us willing to serve again in the Philippines. There are so many things to be thankful for.

We feel like going back will be another step towards proclaiming healing in our family. We love the thought of going back full of life and power and ready to be an encouragement to those we will work with, which is such a contrast to the brokenness and emptiness we left the field with 5 years ago.

Besides benefiting us personally, our ability to serve there for a year is extremely important to the work in the various tribal areas that is currently going on in Palawan. One team has JUST started teaching through the Bible and would not be able to remain in their village without flight support. Being pulled out of their location at this point in the teaching would be detrimental to the years of work that have led up to this exciting point in their ministry. One of the tribal ministries that has been on Palawan for the last 20 years will be printing and delivering the first copies of the translated Bible to the tribe for the first time. They need flight service to get the Bibles into the tribe and continue discipleship. In January of 2013, a team will be moving into a new tribal location to start their ministry. This requires the use of the airplane and their start date would be delayed without flight service available to them. We are NEEDED and we are willing!

Can you tell we are excited?!

fall update

2012-02-07T21:35:00.000-08:00

The annual “Big Trip” from Jason

One of the highlights of the program here at Moody Aviation is the Extended Cross Country project. I’ve gone with the students the past several years and this year I was entrusted with leading the group. This gave me a great perspective of how each person responds to the trip and all the learning opportunities there were along the way. We took them on an 11 day loop of the western U.S. which included flights in busy airspace (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Salt Lake City), navigation in unfamiliar areas, mountain flying in Utah & Idaho, and plenty of character building as we spend all day every day together.

The trip provides application of the principles they’ve learned and deepens their experience level with the benefit of supervision rather than jumping into the deep end once they’re on their own. Each student returned from the trip thankful for the experience and all it taught them. I really enjoyed pointing out to them how great it is to be a part of the body of Christ as we interacted with people along the way. A highlight of the trip was our stop in Salt Lake City where we stayed with gracious supporters and visited Southeast Christian Church. Thanks so much for being a part of our ministry!

Because we can’t resist adventure from Jen

I’d like to think that we’re fairly adventurous people. In the 11 years that we’ve been married, we’ve had our fair share. This summer our latest adventures took us, along with the Schwab clan, to Glacier National Park and Yellowstone for a fabulous family vacation. Adventure is the Schwab family’s middle name so there was lots of fun to be had!

Last year I took a flying leap off of a cliff and started a photography business. Adventure is my middle name too even though I only married into the Schwab family. It has been a really rewarding year and one of learning to set boundaries, trying out new ideas, getting taken advantage of, meeting new people, and having lots of fun. I’ve been so thankful to be able to have a creative outlet. It makes me feel like I finally fit into my side of the family, whose middle name happens to be Art!

Lately we feel like God has been calling us to a new adventure. It has been an adventure that has been in the works of my heart since I was in 6th grade and my aunt got the call that she could go and pick up her precious little boy from the hospital. It’s been a calling that has been a point of discussion since Jason and I met. It has been a source of heartache and frustration as it seemed it was never the right time over the last few years. But the time is here. Now. Finally.

Adoption

After years and years of thinking and dreaming about it, I had completely given up on us ever adding to our family. I started a business last year because I knew that both of our kids were going to be in school full time this year and I had transitioned in my mind to being a mom with time on her hands. So when Jason came to me this spring and said now is the time, I resisted. I was done changing diapers. I was done with high chairs and Cheerios on the floor. No way. But this summer the Lord has been picking away at my heart. Revealing my selfishness. Challenging me with the bigger picture of who He wants our family to be. Inviting me to be a partaker in His faithfulness. So I considered. Then, I said only if we could bring 2 kids home. Jason agreed. The kids are stoked. Things will never be the same.

The subject of adoption didn’t just bring up concerns about car seats and sippy cups though. How could we possibly raise the money to bring 2 kids home? How will we be able to support a family of 6? How? How? How?

God keeps whispering this word in my ear. Faithful. Faithful. Faithful. You will find Me faithful.

“I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.” Ps 89:1

This decision will change the fates of generations. My heart’s cry is that generations of Schwabs will be singing of His love and faithfulness.

We think we have an advantage in being in missions the last 10 years. We have seen God’s faithfulness over and over again. We can look to His faithfulness every month when he provides us, through you, the money to pay our rent and buy our groceries. I know that if, after 13 years of talking about adoption, He could get Jason and I to the place where we both said “Yes Lord” that the money to bring home 2 kids and provide for them will be easy and nothing more than a drop in the bucket to Him who is able. Faithful.

I’ve spent the last few weeks writing adoption agencies. Looking at one country and then the next. Looking at houses that would be better able to accommodate a family of 6. I feel like my head is going to spin off of my body. Yesterday I managed to lock myself out of the house and then lock myself into the back yard. My hero had to come rescue me. Thank goodness my kids are in school because I would probably accidentally leave them in Target on a trip to buy toilet paper. Things feel a bit like I’m in the middle of a whirlwind right now. But that whisper just keeps coming. Faithful. Faithful. Faithful.

Are you excited? We are. Do you hear the whisper? Get ready for the adventure.

In with the new

2012-02-07T16:38:00.000-08:00

Can't believe it's been a year since I last posted. Lots of news for us. Time to start writing again.

Hello Disgusting. Good Morning Gross.

2011-01-13T21:15:00.000-08:00

So Jas and I started the end of the year out with a detox/cleanse. He read about this particular one in a magazine and since he's had so much trouble with his stomach lately we thought we would give it a shot. I agreed that I would give it a go with him and even though it hasn't been quite as bad as I thought, there have been lots of times that I've wished I would have allowed him to embark on this food journey alone.

The bummer is that half way through it, it doesn't seem to be clearing up any of the issues that we were hoping it would. And alas, I don't think I'm going to finish the month out looking like Heidi Klum, although I am no longer popping out of the top of my pants and other clothing items, which is very good news indeed.

The low down: we eat a liquid meal for breakfast and dinner and then a restricted lunch. The hardest part for me has been giving up coffee in the morning - no caffeine, no coffee, even decaf. I usually roll out of bed and go directly to the coffee pot. Sometimes I set the timer the night before and have it waiting for me when I get up and if not I stand and watch it drip into the pot until there is enough for a cup. I'm not even in it for the caffeine, just something warm and wonderful to get me going. I've had lots of herbal tea lately, but it just doesn't cut it. A week and a half to go and I get my blessed coffee back.

We've had lots of weird juice concoctions. Jason is such a machine, he can just down it, probably like he downed certain beverages in college (I'm just speculating since I didn't know him in college). Or to give him the benefit of the doubt and probably more the case, maybe he just downs that nasty juice like he does a glass full of water at the end of a bike ride. There have been nights were I just sit at the table and stare at my glass and try and gag the thing down one gulp at a time.

A week and a half to go. I'm dreaming of hamburgers already.

In other news, we are trying to decide what in the world to do about our church 'situation'. In May we started going to a new church that we love, love, love - mostly. The only problem is that if we fell over dead and never showed up to church again, I don't think more than a single person would notice. And that single person is the children's director who checks our kids in on Sunday mornings. It is getting to the point that we are getting a little lonely. So we're trying to decide what to do, what to do. UGHH! It has been just another friendly reminder that this world is not our home and nothing here on this earth is perfect. It has really convicted me though about being friendly, even if it is just making eye contact and smiling.

We're also trying to plan out our trip to AZ. We're headed down for a missions conference at our home church during the middle of February. I have already made a schedule of where we are on which days, which evenings and afternoons we are going to be seeing people and when I get to meet my cousin's new little baby and spend time with my nephew that I haven't seen since June. It is always such a struggle when we are there because whenever we go the time gets divided between my immediate and extended family, my friends, our 'couple' friends, the church, supporters and in-laws. It gets to be SUPER frustrating for me sometimes trying to stretch ourselves so thin. However long we are there seems to never be enough time. I am super excited about getting in some good SUN time while we are there. And some good mexican food too!

ten whenever - warning: this is a super cyncial dump session

2010-10-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

1) I have once again been neglecting this blog. You will see from the pictures below that it isn't the only thing that has been neglected lately.

2) I've realized how much a creature of habit I am. In the last 2 months Jason has been gone around 20 days and spent 3 weeks working at night and we've had about 10 days of company and as a result I felt like my life has been derailed. I can't quite get back into the swing of things. I haven't been to the gym, I've hardly been to the grocery store, I haven't been cleaning. To tell you the truth I have no idea what has happened in the last 2 months. I'm attaching some evidence. This is what my house looks like today while I am busy typing away on this blog....

My lovely living room, what you see when you walk in the door. Welcome!

My inviting bedroom. Doesn't it just scream romance?

Mirielle's room. It is actually pretty clean. I'm going to turn her into on of those hoarding shows as soon as she is old enough.

My super sanitary kitchen. I was so behind earlier this week, I ran 3 loads in the dishwasher in one day just to catch up on all of the dirty dishes.

Yep, I'm awesome. Don't you wish you lived at my house?

3) Speaking of letting things go, I submit evidence #2. Myself. I saw this picture and thought... What. In. The. World..... Nothing like a picture of yourself to bring you back to reality.

This picture was taken at a trip to Disneyland earlier this month. I just need to point out that we didn't pay for the trip because we are missionaries and we don't do extravagant things like go on vacations, especially to Disneyland. Currently the only thing we are doing with our money is paying off medical bills because our benefits are so stinkin' AWESOME. HA! Back to the picture. Jason's mom ordered us all matching shirts for the trip. Bad news: We were called the Smurfs and I felt like a major dork-a-doo wearing it around. Good news: it was easy to find each other.

Anyways, I think I'm going to blow this picture up and tape it to my fridge. Hmph...

4) Kellan tuned 5 this month. We took him down to the John Deere tractor store and I'll just say that John Deere employs the nicest people. This guy took both of the kids for rides on the tractor and a crazy off road 4 wheeler. Major highlight.

6) Jason and I have started going to a counselor. So when we finish paying off our thousands of dollars of medical bills we will have counselor bills waiting for us to keep us company. The counselor said that we we are in a 'period of discernment' which is a really nice way of saying we are confused and frustrated and having a mid-life crisis. Basically it boils down to this: my husband is a pilot through and through and he is not piloting he is teaching.

We have no idea if we should make a change, how we could possibly make a change and how we would deal with the possible guilt of making a change. Because if we love the Lord and want to see people come to know the Lord we should be ready to suffer, right?. At least that is what we have been told in the past. So how are we supposed to discern if it is time for a change? We haven't had such a great track record of making great decisions so we are going to pay a couple more thousand dollars to have someone help us make a decision regarding what we are supposed to do with the rest of our lives. Oh joy. Don't even get me started.

7) This is the first time since we moved here that I haven't looked forward to the fall. I guess it is because I know that the weather will be crappy until June. This is a great place to run a photography business. We've had one day of sun in the last week and it is supposed to rain and rain for the next few days. Scream!!

8) I took this picture of myself a few days ago, because I finally did my hair for the first time in I don't know how long. I took Kellan to preschool in my schlumpy sweat shirt with no makeup on and my hair in a pony tail and ended up walking in behind a mom who was all done up in a cute outfit, make-up and a cute hairdo. Shame on me. So I pulled out the curling iron and went to town. The good news about being a photographer is I can 'retouch' my face. Now if I could only figure out how to make my LAZY eye look not so lazy.

9) Mirielle put foam rollers in her hair all by herself this weekend. She had school pictures this week and wanted to do the same do. Um, let me think about that one. NO! So I put her in bigger size rollers and she was MAD when she took them out. There was weeping, screaming and gnashing of teeth. After working on her hair for 40 MINUTES she was finally satisfied. I'm so shipping her off to boarding school when she hits 13.

10) If you don't ever want to come back and read this blog again. I don't blame you. Hopefully next time I come back to post I will be in a better mood. Like maybe in April....

ten on tuesday - a day late

2010-09-15T20:30:00.000-07:00

1) Jason is on his 10 day long cross country trip. Please do not come rob my house if you live in Spokane and read this blog.

2) Our Lolo (grandpa) Chris from the Philippines has been here visiting the last few days. Chris and his wife Lynn were our fill in grandparents when we were in language school in the PI. It has been so fun to spend time with him and laugh at all of our most embarrassing and humiliating memories. And there are LOTS!

3) Pandora radio is on right now playing Madeleine Peyroux. Perfect music for an evening on the computer. Check her out.

4) My mom is coming in tomorrow and I'm super excited. Mirielle already has several sewing projects lined up for her.

5) Kellan started preschool this week. He LOVES it. His favorite part according to him: chasing the girls. Last night he told me, "Mom, tomorrow I'm going to go in all by myself like a big boy." Then he got mad when I told him this morning that I had to go into the building with him to sign him into his class. It is such a GREAT confirmation that the choice to put him into preschool was the best choice for him and he is ready to go and having fun!

6) A few Sundays ago I was talking to Mirielle about what happened at church that morning. Our church had a service celebrating 2 new churches that were being 'launched' out of the congregation. They brought all of the kids in when they prayed for the 2 new pastor's families.

I went on to tell her that our church in Phoenix prayed for us like that when they sent us out and explained to her that we are missionaries up here and what that means, etc, etc.

After she thinks for awhile we have the following conversations:
M: Mom, I think when I grow up I want to be a missionary to France.
Me: Oh yeah, why is that?
M: I think it would be a pretty interesting place to go.
Me: It probably would be. Why do you think it would be so interesting?
M: Because there are some people there that only wear their underwear instead of clothes.
Me: Really, how do you know that?
M: Uncle Matt told me

I can only imagine what that conversation went like! And it SO does not surprise me that the answer had something to do with Uncle Matt!

7) I really wish there was some ice cream in the house right now, which is exactly why I have refused to buy some when I'm at the store.

8) I'm pretty sure that I have one of the messiest kids in the world living in my house. Can't quite figure out how to get that girl to keep things clean.

9) I had 2 photo sessions on Saturday. FUN!

10) Here are a few pictures of the first day of school and our trip to Starbucks after to celebrate.

Ten on Tuesday

2010-08-24T09:13:00.000-07:00

1) Lately I've really been loving listening to Kellan singing the Pirates of the Caribbean song around the house. I'll miss that little voice when he heads to preschool.

2) We just had a garage sale on Saturday. I spent hours and hours the last few weeks sorting through our junk. Good news: We can now walk in our shed! No more boxes of outgrown toys and clothes being stored. And this morning I even noticed that I was surprised to walk in the back dungeon part of our basement and see the floor. I love getting rid of stuff. Too bad I like to shop too!

3) Jas and I just sat down with the calendar. It is looking like a busy fall. Good busy though. Uff. Makes me tired just thinking about it!

4) We have a NTMA guy staying with us this week. I should actually say a NTMA friend! Tomorrow night is dinner at our house with the students while Doug is in town.

5) I'm starting to feel like the gluten free diet has been a blessing in disguise. I feel so much better about what we are eating. It is nice to walk into the grocery store or Costco and just shop the periphery. I've been discovering new recipes and have started to enjoy cooking just a little bit more :-)

6) On that note - I have been thoroughly disgusted as I've started reading food labels. The next time you go to the grocery store, try looking at the ingredients in sour cream. It's now a dollop of Daisy for this family!

7) I'm getting an itch to redecorate something in the house. I think Kellan's room is next on my list. Jason is going on a 10 day trip in September, which means that it is play time!! Last year while he was gone I redid the basement. Just something about the hubby being gone that gets the creative juices flowing!

8) Did I mention that I'm ready for school to start?

9) Today it is back to the orthodontist for a new mouth guard. Hopefully this will help more than the last one. I've been waking up lately with my jaw locked up. Not fun.

10) Off to do some more back to school shopping with the kids today.

Hope you have a lovely Tuesday!

Ten on Tuesday

2010-08-10T14:04:00.000-07:00

I thought I would try this format out for updating this blog, since I'm obviously pathetic at keeping it current. I figured in a list format I could just post rambling thoughts and they hardly have to be coherent, which is how I seem to be rolling these days.

1) Jason took the kids camping this weekend and it was absolutely heavenly. It is the longest amount of time I've ever been alone in my own house. It was a total of 48 hours and it was sweet bliss.

p.s. - the man is an awesome dad and my hero!

2) We took the kids back to school shopping last weekend. Thankfully Mirielle picked out something cute because I told her she had to find something from Gymboree (yes, I know it is $$, but otherwise she picks out what I think is the ugliest stuff in the store and I'm just not that into stuff that looks like something some punk 14 year old would wear or hello kitty stuff - I know I'm a snob!).

We got a new pair of shoes for Kellan, which happened to be the same size as Mirielle's shoes, so now I'm wondering if the kid is going to be as tall as his uncles. Anyways, they were super excited to get some new stuff and then SUPER MAD when I told them they had to wait to wear all their new stuff. Lesson learned - next year shop the weekend before school starts!

3) I keep having these weird baby dreams. I have a baby, someone else has a baby, I have to take care of a baby, I'm taking pictures of a baby. It's been kinda weird.

4) Going gluten free hasn't been as bad as I thought until we tried taking Mirielle off of gluten. The girl has been complaining of her stomach hurting for the last year and she seems to be doing better in the last few weeks. We're good until about lunch and that seems to be when things fall apart. She doesn't like the gf bread and all she wants it a piece of cheese and a hot dog and then she is still hungry the rest of the afternoon.

5) Speaking of which, if I hear a kid tell me "I'm huuuuungry!" one more time today I'm going to lose it!

6) I'm super ready to be in a routine, and although I'm really looking forward to Kellan having preschool this year, I'm not looking forward to the running back and forth.

7) The kids have been taking swimming lessons at the YMCA so yesterday when K was in his lesson, I decided to swim some laps. I swam for 30 minutes and I think the last 5 were the only ones that I wasn't thinking that I was going to die. The hardest part: I usually huff and puff and pant when I exercise, but you can't exactly do that when you have your face in the water. I thought my lungs were going to explode. Those 30 minutes made me mighty happy that I had spent all of those years on the swim team. I actually felt like I knew what I was doing!

8) The absolutly best part about Zumba: when an unsuspecting guy joins in the class. I especially like it when they are big and buff. I have rare seen a man that can manage that class. The guy last week stumbled around with his eyes as big as saucers and his mouth puckered up like he was sucking on a lemon. Watching him: priceless!

9) We've been reading Ramona this summer and are though 5 of the books. Jason told Mirielle that when she finishes reading (when I finish reading her) all of the book series we would take her to watch the movie. She's super excited.

10) I've been trying to come up with good ideas for getting my photog business going. Any good ideas??

Another case of "What in the world was I thinking?"

2010-03-24T10:42:00.000-07:00

I've been looking around for awhile for a chair that I could use when I'm taking pictures. Something vintage/retro old fashioned with some cool character. Yesterday I drug the kids into the Goodwill store and after admiring a chair that had potential (that was $70 - wait, I'm in a thrift store right???)

I saw this baby as we were leaving the store. I LOVE it. I love all of the tufting and the buttons. I even kinda like the color, but wouldn't ever want my kids to sit on that nastiness. In a moment of insanity, I thought I could possibly do the kind of magic that my mother could do with recovering chairs and I bought it. For a whopping $8.

Then I drug the kids to the fabric store and bought some beautiful red fabric. I brought it home and started to pull it apart and what I discovered is that I might have a potential disaster on my hands. However, I am determined to turn it into something beautiful, if for no other reason, than to know that I don't have another unfinished project sitting in my basement. I figure if all else fails, I'll have to have my mom guide me while on the video cam through Skype.

Bada Bling!

2010-03-16T16:05:00.000-07:00

Jas did a good job with our anniversary this year. He actually did a GREAT job. 10 years this year of being man and wife. I love him. And not just because he bought me some bling. He must have been paying close attention because I am in LOVE with my new sparkles!

Makin' Me Happy Today

2010-03-16T14:45:00.000-07:00

I pulled all of my bulky winter things out of the closet and replaced them with my bright spring sweaters

I FINALLY, FINALLY after years of thinking about it registered myself for an online photography class. I'm anxious to start and the end of the month!

My ugly crocs. I know they aren't the most fashion forward shoe, but I can walk around the house all day in them and not feel like a creeky 80 year old lady by the end of the day. Plus these have a super soft snuggly lining in them. So cozy!

Spring is on its way bringing a feeling of rebirth.

Makes me smile to have sun streaming through my windows today too!

Birthday Time

2010-02-26T10:40:00.000-08:00

Jason passed the mid-30 mark this year and I thought I would try and do something fancy this year and make a cake completely from scratch. It took forever and while it was delicious, I'm not quite sure it was worth the effort. The cake part went pretty well, but the frosting was another story. I tried adding raspberries to the middle frosting (it was a 3 layer cake) and because they were frozen and a little soupy they ended up making the frosting a giant goopy mess. It squished out the sides and was dripping off of the plate and all over everywhere. Lesson learned. I won't ever put frozen fruit in a frosting again. It was mmm mmm good though and it made the man happy so end the end I was happy because he was happy. I now know for sure that my calling is not in cake making!

Happy birthday Jas! I love you!

Drip Drop

2010-01-19T17:16:00.000-08:00

Last year was snow, this year is rain. Today and yesterday we had blessed sunshine, but lately there have been lots of drip drops around here.

The Big Apple

2010-01-19T15:00:00.000-08:00

This December my very generous and adventurous mother-in-law decided to take us girls on a whirlwind trip to New York City while it was all dressed up for Christmas. I have never been to NYC, nor had I ever thought I would make it there so I was super excited to see such an amazing place. Being the NCY virgin, everything was new and somewhat overwhelming in the best way possible. The trip was nothing short of amazing. I think we must have walked over a million miles in the 3 days which thankfully helped cancel out the million and a half calories we consumed. Here are a few of the highlights!

Rockefeller Center was beautiful!

When I found out we were going to see the show 'Wicked', I thought, why would I want to see a show called Wicked? I'm a missionary, I don't do stuff like that! What I found out was that the show was nothing about being wicked, but a beautiful story of friendship in the face of hardship. I even cried during the show. It was PHENOMENAL! A total highlight of the trip! p.s. - don't tell anyone I'm posting this picture....I got busted for taking it!

We looked through the windows of lots and lots of shops. Oh sweet Anthropologie.... If I had a million dollars we would be such close friends....

Here is a picture of us ladies! What a fun time we had together. We found lots of great places to eat while we were there. Almost every meal was a planned outing!

One of the best places we ate at was Serendipity. It was a tiny little place that had quite a wait, but was worth every minute was sat outside waiting to get seated. Everything from the decorations to the desserts were charming, delightful, over the top and amazing. Shall I go on?

We got to see the Rockettes perform at Radio City Hall

My obsession with red and white during Christmas time continues...

You know you're not in Spokane anymore when.... No standing? Just keep walking I guess!

And on a COMPLETELY unrealted note, I saw this little alcove of a restaurant and thought that this is much closer to what I had envisioned as far as where the Volturi lived. I didn't think the movie made the scene dark and threatening and Italian enough. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, just ignore me!

more pictures are here

Something old something new

2009-10-15T17:32:00.000-07:00

Today I was super bored and couldn't STAND the thought of cleaning so decided to take a creative brake from the routine. I had bounced around in blogland earlier this week and was inspired by this refashioned shirt. So I pulled out a few shirts from the junk I had to take to Goodwill and made this beauty.

I cut up a white shirt that I bought on clearance a few years ago that had 3 Christmas trees on the front for the base shirt and then cut the petals out of a longsleeve blue shirt that somehow got bleached out in the wash. I made sure to stitch petals over the Christmas trees and used some purple thread to give it a little punch. I think it turned out pretty good and should be a fun addition to my somewhat boring wardrobe. Throw on a black sweater and now it's an outfit!

p.s. - I took 126 pictures to try and get a good one to post and you can see how many good ones that I got. Maybe I need that point and shoot that has the screen on the front of the camera!

The Basement Redo

2009-10-01T16:01:00.000-07:00

Moving on to the month of September...

Jason was gone on a 10 day cross country trip with his students, so my mom flew up to keep me company for a few days. She graciously agreed to my plan to turn her into slave labor, and so, we began a basement transformation. This is the before - the walls were a lemony yellow and it never felt very warm and cozy. I was really looking for a warm and cozy look and feel, since this room feels like an ice box for half of the year. The transformations were mostly through paint, a few new things hung up on the wall that I have been saving for the last year for just this time, and a few new pillows on the couch.

Indulge me a moment to complain. This house is old. I think it was built in '57 or somewhere around there and there is a list a mile long of some of the things we would like to work on when we get the $ chance. Replacing this window is one of them. This poor tiny little thing is the only window in this room of the basement. Since it is probably original to the house, it doesn't work very good. It is super drafty and Jason decided to cover it with masking tape to keep the draft to a minimal. The man just can't stand inefficiency.

On that note, here is our fireplace. Deciding that masking tape probably wouldn't cut it, Jason decided on packing tape around opening of the fire grate. I guess it looks a little bit prettier than masking tape, don't you think? I have to admit that this fireplace is SUPER drafty. The really lovely part about this fix up is the noise that the tape makes when it is windy. Have you ever blown on a blade of grass between your thumbs? The noise of the tape is similar, except in a much lower pitch, which sounds something like a bodily function. We make sure and explain this to anyone who might be house sitting. Now that it is currently getting cold, I am considering robbing a bank so that we can afford a wood burning insert. A what? you AZ people may be asking yourselves, a little wood burning stove that fits into the fireplace. It would be so wonderful, sigh...

And now onto the fun! I picked a warm brown. Yes, you heard me, a brown. I SWORE to myself that I would never put the color brown in my house. I thought the color brown lacked imagination, but I love how it makes this room feel. I also repainted the UGLY blue fireplace. I'm pretty sure it hadn't seen a fresh coat of paint since 1983. Goodbye blue, RIP.

This dresser is one of my favorite finds ever. A Craigslist score. I love the vintage style and the color. And there is our tiny drafty window. And a set of speakers in the ceiling that go to nowhere. But I love me that dresser and I am proud that I have been able to keep that plant alive for almost 2 years. Yes, I am really growing in my skills as a housewife.

Here is the wall opposite the fireplace. The day bed is from IKEA and can pull out into either a queen or a king size bed and the drawers are wonderful for storage. A friend gave me this OLD door from her turn of the century house. It has been several colors since coming into my possession. This is where our multitude of guests sleep - hence, the 'bed and breakfast' sign.

A few new things for this wall. I sewed a few new pillows for the couch.

Kellan refused to move from the table until he saw me trying to take this picture and then he refused to move from the floor.

My ode to Nester

On a small side note, this is a picture my aunt painted of Mirielle that I think is amazing. I set it on top of the piano and it is the perfect thing to match my blue piano.

Ta Da!

Summer Camping

2009-10-01T14:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, I've totally given up on trying to catch up blogging this summer. But before I moved on I did want to share a few pictures of our first ever family camping trip. We traveled an hour and a half north east of here to a beautiful lake in Idaho. It was a lovely campground, the weather was perfect and we all had a blast!
I think we should do lots more camping. Jason was in his element and I mostly got to sit around and relax and watch him doing stuff like this:

We went for a walk down this trail and as you can see I had my pants rolled up. As we were walking back a gigantic grasshopper jumped up the bottom of my pants. Panic would not adequately describe what I was feeling. I tried to shake him out, but this only encouraged him to jump in the only direction he was facing which was up. I managed to stop him as he got to about my knee, but then I was faced with a decision. If he wasn't going to go down, then how would I get him out of my pants? I considered many things, one of which was to try and take my pants off while holding onto the grasshopper through my jeans, but I didn't enough guts to drop my pants on a path and not enough skill to wriggle out of them while holding him. So it seemed that the only option was to smash him and kill him while he was in my pants. After that, I managed to shake him out of my pants and then had to think about the grasshopper guts that I got to wear in my pants for the next 2 days. Lovely. That was the worst of our trip though, so overall, not too much to complain about!

Beautiful lake Pond Orielle

Maizy enjoying the water for the first time.

End of School

2009-07-30T11:21:00.000-07:00

Mirielle ended up having a week of school to make up due to all of the snow during January. Here is a picture from her first and last day of school.

In the beginning - a vistit from my parents

2009-07-30T10:03:00.000-07:00

Good grief, I am so far behind in blogging. This summer has been insane and I haven't had much of a chance to sit down and even think through the last 2 months.

Lets start at the beginning.

Early June brought a trip from my parents. 10 long days of fun!

A picnic lunch down at the river.

A classic Dad pose.

Taken on a different day, but looks about like the same pose to me!

The boys guarding the purses

Dad's spot in the car when they come to visit.

Dad helped me put in a flower garden around our patio that I have been dreaming about for over the last year. I love having a lovely little spot to sit outside. Every time I look at the patio, I hear Mirielle's little Cinderella book saying, "Dreams do come true!" I know, I'm a little dramatic. Thanks Dad!

Little Man and a side note

2009-04-28T16:03:00.000-07:00

There is a new little man around town. My dear friend Stacey gave birth to this beautiful boy just over a month ago. She willingly agreed to let me snap a few photos of him, which is a good thing because I would have found a way to get some pictures of him, even if I had to bust their door down. And that might have damaged my camera. I have been waiting a long time to get some pictures of a newborn!

Look at these folds - I could just melt! And he isn't even my kid!!

It is so fun having a friend with a newborn - I kinda get to play aunt. The day of his birth was so emotional for me. I think I finally figured out why.

First, we have never been somewhere long enough for me to go through the whole entire pregnancy process with a friend. From finding out that she was pregnant to getting the text that he had arrived in the world, I was along for the ride. It was just emotional being able to feel connected in that way.

Second, it somehow dredged up feelings of sadness and disappointment that I would never be the mom of a newborn again. After feeling like both Mirielle and Kellan just about tried to kill me before they were even born and then having a c-section with Kellan and a hard recovery, we decided to stop. Thinking that we were going to be overseas for years, my intention (I was still working on Jas) was to adopt. I really wanted one of these for my own. Break my heart alreay!!I never really thought that Kellan would be my last - just the last one to come out of my body.

Now that we are back in the States, it seems like the possibility of adopting is mostly an impossibility. Sniff, sniff....

Jason was working from home that day and the poor guy kept watching me pace the halls and crying my eyes out. He just didn't get it. I guess you would have to be a mom to get it.

Oh, the fun she had on the last day of her life

2009-04-27T14:07:00.001-07:00

It is funny how every once in a while I think in blog titles. "Oh, the fun she had on the last day of her life." That is what I was thinking after I walked into the kitchen and discovered empty bottles of paint and blue footprints all over the floor. Not to mention a rainbow of colors all over the cabinets, countertops and screen door.

She decided to take a box that we had outside and turn it into a paint pit where she could slip and slide the afternoon away. I was not a happy camper when I found her. I told her she had to stay outside until I calmed down. Then, in an attempt to teach her a lesson, I made her scrub the paint away, including all of the paint she got on the patio. Unfortunately, Kellan saw her with the scrub brush, got jealous and then getting the paint off of the cement turned into a fun game. I was hoping to make the consequence as labor intensive and as horrible as possible. Sometimes I just don't know about this girl.

Let's have a good laugh

2009-04-13T11:12:00.000-07:00

Bike Man is on a ride right now and the kids are watching a movie, so I thought I would take this opportunity to post some pictures of my new haircut. I normally would not post so many pictures of myself here, or anywhere for that matter, but I though that we could all use a good laugh!

I'm so lucky, I think I got 2 haircuts for the price of 1 - one haircut on each side of my head! Here is the evidence: I'm feeling a little lopsided! One side long and flat, the other side short and round. I know my hair lays totally different on the two sides, but still!

I am my mother!

I just like this picture because it makes me look like I have an incredibly skinny neck, either that or an incredibly gigantic head!

Can you see it? One side is longer than the other. This is after I trimmed it twice.

The good news is that after I fix it, it appears somewhat even. SO I'm not sure if the girl cut it like this on purpose because the picture I showed her of the haircut I wanted had one side tucked behind the ear. Jen Pyle would you like to weigh in on this? The bad news is that I have to tuck it behind my ear or I look pretty funny!

The after I fix it in the morning shots:

Man, do I have a lazy eye or what!!

I actually like the cut. Or most of it. It is shorter in the front than and longer in the back which makes me feel like a total dork. The style right now is still longer in the front, right? Which brings me to a discussion I had with my dad on the phone as I was driving back from the haircut...

Dad: What are you doing?

Me: I just got my haircut

Dad: You didn't get it cut the same as when you were in AZ did you?

Me: Like what? Shorter in the back and longer in the front?

Dad: Yeah

Me: Dad, that's the style

Dad: Oh

Me: What, you didn't like my hair?!

Dad: (silence)

And then later that night, Jason tried to approach the subject as tactfully as he could

Jas: So, do you like your new haircut?

Me: I think I'm going to have to get used to it

Jas: Did you like it better when it was longer?

Me: I think so, how about you?

Jas: Yeah, me too

Now that I'm getting used to it, I really would just like it an inch longer on the short side. We'll have to see what happens next!!

Get the dust off of the camera

2009-03-26T21:40:00.000-07:00

Crime of all crimes, I just noticed the other day that my camera is sitting in my bedroom collecting dust.

Kellan was playing around the house and we had glorious sunshine streaming in the windows for the first time in awhile, so I decided to take advantage of the moment.

My little guy is growing up. His jeans that started out a little long in the fall are starting to get short, he is talking up a storm and his is master of the potty these days. My little baby is leaving me. Sniff, sniff.

I loved every single picture I took of him, all 50 of them. Thank goodness we have a great big hard drive! He is the master of expressions. I just love him so much!

Bike Man

2009-01-30T15:35:00.001-08:00

This story gave my mom a good laugh so I thought I would share.

My man likes to ride his bike.

A LOT.

He was a biking maniac when we first met. He was a lean mean biking machine. One of our first dates was a picnic and I panicked at not knowing what kind of food to pack - no chips, no pop, no cookies? Maybe just a sandwich on whole wheat and an apple? Oh how I've corrupted him since then. Anyways, back to my story.

He bought a new road bike a few months ago so that he could ride his bike to work for the, oh - 3 months out of the year that it is nice up here.

He recently decided that he and 2 other friends are going to do a Seattle to Portland bike trip in July. This is a one day, 12+ hour bike trip. I though he was crazy, but I encouraged him thinking that it would be good for his health, good for his state of mind, give him something to look forward to and would be something that he would really enjoy.

So just this week he informs me that he is going to have to start training. So far he has been riding the exercise bike while we watch Biggest Looser (while I sit on the couch and eat ice cream) and the Office. So I get the needing to train part.

He proceeds to tell me that pretty soon he is going to have to start taking 5+ hour bike trips on Saturday mornings. I'm secretly wondering if he left that part out on purpose. I'm thinking that is a lot of Saturday mornings by myself. I mean with the kids.

So I started mulling this scenario over and this is what I came up with to even out the score. Once he does his ride in July, I'm going to start training for a marathon. A SHOPPING marathon. Every Saturday morning I am going to train, BY MYSELF, for 5+ hours (and probably a couple of hours during the week too) from July till maybe December. Then in December I'm going to put all of that training into practice and do a weekend shopping marathon. Maybe I'll go from Seattle to Portland too. Doesn't that sound delightful??

Too bad it won't actually happen. I thought that it was a pretty good idea though. A pretty good trade off. Maybe I should look for sponsors.......

Picture Tag

2009-01-30T15:04:00.000-08:00

Good grief I am slow. Back in December Sara picture tagged me. So I am finally getting around to posting my picture.

Here are the rules:

1) choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer
2) select the 4th picture in the folder, insert it into a post
3) explain the picture
4) tag 4 people to do the same
NO CHEATING! (cropping, editing, etc.)

My picture says so much.....

Picture taken August of 2005.

As for an explination, well that surely is a cockpit of an airplane if I've ever seen one. I think Jason took this while he was at an airshow in Oshkosh, WI. He thinks it might be the cockpit of a Kodiak. Super exciting, I know.

2009-01-09T16:15:00.000-08:00

Mom bought us some flowers for Christmas from Costco while she was here. The darn roses died within a few days, but these babies just keep on going and going. I'm really going to miss them when they are gone. They remind me of their visit and I think they look so pretty with the white snow as a backdrop sitting in my kitchen window.

January 3

2009-01-09T16:12:00.000-08:00

While we were eating lunch today we looked out our front window and saw several red robins eating berries off of our tree. The kids scared some of them off while I was getting my camera, but this guy decided not to be shy and stay awhile.

January 2

2009-01-09T15:59:00.000-08:00

Today we decided we needed to get out and have some fun. Take advantage of the monster amounts of snow that have been dumped here. So sledding we a went.

Kellan was brave enough to head down the hill by himself. Way to go boy!Kellan getting carried back up the hill by his dear dad

Taking off down the big hill

Wishing for more of this beautiful blue sky

Mary and Joseph

2009-01-08T13:42:00.000-08:00

And here is one more picture that didn't want to upload yesterday. I think it is one of my favorites. Mirielle succeeded in talking Grandpa into dressing up as Joseph, which really meant just throwing a dish towel over his head and holding a yard stick. It was a big deal to her though. I have to give my dad a big hand this year for being a good sport. He let Mirielle put glitter in his hair, played a Princess jewelry game and graciously rode in the back 'trunk' of our CRV for the 10 days that he and my mom were here.

December Recap

2009-01-07T11:54:00.000-08:00

This year December seemed to fly by and now that it is January, I feel like I somehow missed the fullness of it. Last year, between spending my first Christmas in my own home, experiencing my first winter living in snow, and trying to capture it all in my Daily December posts, December seemed full, wonderful actually. This year it seemed like a blur. Welcome to reality I guess!

Here is a brief recap of December

Kellan and Mirielle painting Christmas ornaments

Mirielle had a great time visiting Santa again this year. Kellan on the other hand refused to even look at him. He had just woken up from a nap in the car, which I suspect had something to do with the grouchy mood. Not even a candy cane could convince him to climb up on Santa's lap.

Sledding in the front yard. This December was the snowiest December on record. Great for a white Christmas, not so fun when you have to shovel it.

I decided that breakfast out on Christmas Eve is a new Schwab tradition. Breakfast at Rockwood Bakery is my favorite. They have the best pastries EVER!

Me, the lazy eye and dear sweet hubby

After breakfast, we tried to take some pictures at the park with all of the glorious snow. The kids weren't too cooperative. I'm guessing they probably had too much sugar pulsing through their veins to behave.

Inspired

2008-12-10T21:09:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures of my newly created garland inspired by Nesting Place. I love, love, LOVE this blog. Nester's mantra of "it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful" has inspired me to try new things around my house, including sewing new pillows for the basement, which is now is now in the process of becoming more beautiful (while certainly not perfect!). It has given me new creative energy to work through the house one room at a time to finish all of the decorating that I started when we moved in but never finished. Thanks Nester!

I bought a new pre-lit garland at Costco, a wimpy one at Michaels to add some oomph, and a few pieces of greenery to add some character.

Here is a not so perfect picture of my new garland in the living room

The sprigs of eucalyptus combined with the red berries are my favorite

looks like my candles aren't perfectly straight. oh well!

I love the middle with all of the red

I had to throw in a few stars for fun

On another note, I've decided that this rusty star is my favorite ornament this year. It was a little rusty when I bought it, but the rust grew while we were in the Philippines. I think the rust makes it all the more beautiful, adds more character. Kind of makes me think of my life. A little more rust, a little more character, a little more beauty.

A Good Laugh

2008-12-08T15:51:00.000-08:00

I just saw this on my brother's blog and thought that it was funny enough to post over here. I will refrain from saying more on this subject.....

Because there was nothing better to do

2008-11-07T15:18:00.000-08:00

This is what it looks like today. It is 3:17 in the afternoon, it has looked like this all day and they say it is supposed to rain for the next week. It now gets dark at 4:30 thanks to the time change.

Yuck.

Welcome bad weather.

Goodbye sun.

So I managed to get in a shower, although not until after lunch (I was cleaning the house, I had an excuse!). Mirielle came into the bathroom while I was putting on my makeup and asked if I could put some on her. Usually this isn't allowed (don't want her thinking that she needs to be getting into my makeup bag), but with a day like today I figured what the heck, what else would we do to pass the time.

I dolled her up big time and even curled her hair. She was so excited she was literally laughing to herself the whole time. This was the result. The more pictures I took the more dramatic it became. She is such a drama queen!

note change of dress

addition of the crown

On a side note, I have discovered I can sew after sewing Kellan a shark costume with no pattern, so I have moved on to making pillows for our new daybed in the basement. So far I've only gotten 2 done, which for me is a pretty big accomplishment.

Trip to AZ

2008-10-31T15:52:00.000-07:00

The kids and I were able to take a trip down to AZ at the end of September for my cousin's wedding. It was a fast and furious 11 day trip and we were all exhaused when we got home, but had so much fun while we were there.

We did lots of great shopping, had a birthday party for Kellan, I got a fun new haircut, did an 8 hour day trip to see my Grandparents, saw a few friends, ate at all of the places I miss, did some more shopping (I love the big city!), swam over at my aunts house a few times, saw my beautiful cousin get married, and got far too little sleep. It was a BLAST!

Here are a few pictures from the wedding (in reverse order from which they happened -darn blogger!).

September MOPS park date

2008-10-31T15:44:00.000-07:00

Our MOPS group went for a play date to the arboretum in September. One of the girls asked me to bring my camera and take some pictures of the kids that were there. I ended up taking over 500 pictures but got some really cute shots. Here is one of my favorites. (I especially love those leaves up in the right hand corner!) And I love this shot of this mom just walking with her kids, not knowing that I was talking pictures of them. Those are the best!
It ended up being a LOT of work going through all of those pictures, but it sure is fun to sort through the ones that actually turned out. MOPS has been such a blessing to me since we've been here. I've gotten to know so many really great moms and have made some really great friends in the last year.

Blurry

2008-09-23T10:09:00.001-07:00

I have several empty frames sitting around our house, more than a few in our master bedroom. I thought I would try and take a few pictures of Jas and I to put in those frames by using the timer on my camera. After several attempts of jumping over the dog, running through the grass and avoiding Mirielle, who was crying becuase I wouldn't let her in the picture, I finally gave up. I think that this was the best shot that I got. Too bad I don't know anyone who is obsessive about taking pictures as me who lives close by. Then we could practice on each other. Until then, I'm thinking that maybe I need a remote for my camera.....

Trippin it to Seattle

2008-09-09T15:14:00.000-07:00

For my 30th birthday, I decided I wanted to take a weekend trip to Seattle. I had been telling Jason this for months. I had originally envisioned a romantic getaway weekend, but as the summer flew by, it seemed that a girls trip would be much easier as I wouldn't have to make any arrangements for the house, the food or the kids for the whole weekend and could just leave my dear sweet husband in charge. Too bad the grandparents don't live closer. I think he was a little disappointed that I was leaving him behind, but was still excited for me to go.

So, my friend Stacey and I left our hubbies at home with the kids for the weekend and had a fun weekend in Seattle. We did a little bit of sight seeing, did some shopping (yea for big malls and DSW shoes!) ate some great meals and had a great time.

Meanwhile poor dear hubby ended up with 2 kids with strep throat over the weekend. I felt kinda bad knowing that I was kicking up my heels having fun while he was at home playing nurse.

We went to Pikes Place Market on a Saturday (which I think was during the hottest weekend of the summer throughout the whole of WA.) The place was packed and it was hot. It kinda gave me flashbacks of the Philippines - hot and crowded places.

We went on an underground tour of Seattle which was fascinating. Brought out the history buff in me. Almost had a panic attack down there too. Too stale and hot!

Love the old architecture of the city

And I love my new shoes!

Overheard

2008-09-08T14:20:00.001-07:00

Kellan has come up with a few lines that have made me laugh lately.

Kellan is holding his special blanket that has a lion head that is attached whom we lovingly refer to as Lion.

Mirielle: Kellan, what name do you want to call Lion?
Kellan: Tiger

Kellan at the table sorting his cheetos into small, med and large sizes.
Kellan: The small ones are the baby ones, these are the mommy ones and the big one is the dad one at the hangar.

Labor Day

2008-09-05T17:09:00.000-07:00

Here are some randomly posted pictures of our trip to Montana over Labor Day. The first day we enjoyed sun and the picts are from our favorite part of our trip to the river. Unfortunately, Jason missed the best part because he came down with a cold on top of strep throat on the car ride and had to take a rest while we all went out to play. The second day we enjoyed rain and the third we woke up to snow. Welcome to living way up north!

Mr. Droopy Pants

I LOVE this face.

Mirielle and her rock that we thought looked like a maple bar

The kids even got to feed some deer from the cabin porch. Too bad the picts turned out blury, but I didn't think Mrs. Deer would be too fond of my flash.
Back again on Sunday morning for one last snack

Fun in the Garden

2008-08-13T08:41:00.000-07:00

I couldn't wait to get a garden started this year. Why, I do not know. I don't like weeding, I don't like bugs, I don't like dirt. But, somehow the idea of having a living growing garden in my backyard seemed like a very nice idea.

I've been pretty proud of the fact that we acutally have some things growing. Stawberries, lettuce, peppers and tomatoes, peas and something that I forgot to mark so we are still waiting to see what it produces.

It has been a learning year for me. I think I will give it a go next year too, but with a few changes. The kids have really gotten a kick out of being able to eat things that we have grown.

We Have Been Waiting

2008-08-13T08:31:00.000-07:00

We have been waiting and waiting. Watching you grow.

And you did not disappoint.
I think next year I might rip out half the grass in our yard and plant sunflowers. There is something about them that just makes me happy.

Going Green

2008-07-11T09:52:00.000-07:00

I know there is lots of hype now days about 'going green' and being sensitive to the environment. So I just wanted to let everyone know that we here in the Schwab household are doing our part.

I found this in the fridge the other day and it gave me a good laugh. I went to pull some lunch meat out of the meat/cheese drawer and this is what I found. A bowl of cheese from last night's dinner placed in the ziplock bag that holds our cheese.

I asked Jason when he got home why he put the whole bowl of cheese into the fridge and he simply replied, "Then I wouldn't have to waste another plastic bag." Oh, duh!

Out to the country

2008-06-24T15:54:00.001-07:00

We headed out to the country the other day with some friends. It was a perfect day - not too hot, not too cold, cloudy - which made it perfect for pictures. The kids had a great time tromping around. Kellan especially loved playing on the tractor. I had fun chasing them and tormenting them with taking pictures. We all left happy!

Our little artist

2008-06-12T13:59:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we put almost all of Mirielle's toys in time out because of some bad behavior. The deal was that she could get one toy out of time out a day for good behavior. Most of her toys are still sitting in our closet.

What this girl loves most are a coloring book, a pack of crayons, a pair of scissors and occasionally her chalk board. This week she did an amazing drawing of a mermaid complete with a fish tail, a bikini top and a cute hairstyle (with a castle located on the left hand side.) I thought it was a pretty good job for a five year old!

Facebook

2008-06-06T16:19:00.000-07:00

So I've been on Facebook for awhile but I hadn't really done anything with it. I just joined a few months ago because they created a group for the women at Moody. But this last week, one of my friends from Argentina (I was an exchange student there after high school) found me on Facebook. I could hardly believe it!

So I admit that since then, I've been a little distracted playing around with it and finding friends. I have been amazed at how many people are out there that I can find that I've had some connection with. It has made me realize how many circles we have run in so to speak over the last few years. It made me sit back and think about how grateful I am that we have had the chance to go so many places and meet so many people (even though the ride hasn't always been that easy). We certainly have had a rich life as far as the relationships we have developed along our journey. Thank you Lord for friends!

Just for Kicks

2008-05-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

Mom, I just thought you might get a kick out of seeing what Kellan did with those stickers you sent him awhile back!

Tagged

2008-05-09T19:27:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged two different times so here goes. A little bit about me.....

Four jobs I've had:
1. When I was in 6th or 7th grade I went to work for the 'Bird Lady' as we affectionately called her. Bird Lady lived just a mile down the road from our house in Mesa where I grew up. I guess I got the 4 hour Saturday job because I thought I wanted to be a vet and the lady had a lot of animals and it would give me valuable experience. (HA!)

What she mostly had was birds. Cages and cages of parakeets that she sold as a business. I mostly ended up cleaning bird poop for hours on end on Saturdays, unless I got a break and she put me to work washing her dogs. She paid me piddly squat and that is where I learned the real meaning of a dollar. I would look at a pack of gum and realize that it would take me an hour of scooping bird poop to pay for it, and most of the time the price of what I wanted wasn't worth buying. My dad made me keep that job for a long time too, even though I hated it. Because when you are a Vlahovich, once you make a commitment, you keep it even if you don't like it.

2. My second least favorite job that my dad found for me and made me keep (sorry Dad!) was working at Taco Bell. They put me to work at the cash register because I was too slow making tacos. That darned perfectionism made me want to put all of the cheese in just the right spot!

To his credit, he did get me lined up to be the Ryans family's babysitter when I was in jr. high, which was a great job. 2 of the 3 kids are getting married soon. Agh! I feel old! Becky Ryan went on to give me another great job at her insurance agent when I was all grown up :-) So Dad, thanks for that!

3. After I graduated high school, I went to work as a receptionist at a retirement center. Super Dad got me that job too. I loved that job! My favorite part was going down and taking attendance at lunch. I got to meet lots of sweet people and hear lots of amazing stories that way. For awhile, I thought I wanted to become a social director at a retirement home. I still think that would be a great job.

4. I worked for Portraits by Reg for almost 2 years in their sales department. That was another great job for me too. I guess I really enjoy the jobs where I work with people the most. I loved seeing moms fall in love with pictures of their seniors, even if they thought the packages were expensive. :-) I still would love to have a career of having people fall in love with the images in front of them of their loved ones. Hmmm.... Maybe some day.....Maybe not!

Four movies I've watched more than twice:
The New World - I love the cinematography and music of this movie.
Waking Ned Divine - hysterical!
Chocolat - lovely and whimsical
Strictly Ballroom - I love the soundtrack from this movie too!

Four places I've lived:
Mesa, AZ
Villa Regina, Argentina
Roach, MO
2 different islands in the Philippines

Four TV shows I watch:
Biggest Loser
Take Home Chef
What Not to Wear
The Apprentice

Four places I've been:
Chile - one of the most beautiful places on earth ever!
Boracay, Philippines - one of the other most beautiful places I've ever been
Maui
Germany

Four places I would love to visit:
I would love to take a historical tour of major cities on the East Coast in fall
I would love to take a cruise to the Mediterranean
I would love to get an RV and drive around New Zealand
I would love to stay in my aunts' beach house on Maui for our 10th anniversary

Four foods I love:
chicken enchiladas
crab legs
Pei Wei's Mongolian Beef
tiramisu

Four things I've been looking forward to this coming year - ok, I put more than 4!

Maybe getting to go to Seattle for my 30th birthday. I'm crossing my fingers on this one.

Getting a new computer with our tax incentive, so I can finally load the Photoshop Elements 4 that I got last year for Christmas. (Jason is convinced that it will crash our laptop if we load it.)

Starting a garden if we can get some of our back yard cleared out. It is a total disaster.

Being in AZ when my beautiful cousin Lindsey gets married this fall and seeing Mirielle as her flower girl.

Learning more about photography and stretching myself to be more creative and confident.

Finishing up some of the finish work around our house. Getting M's room done. Repainting our master bedroom (I don't like the color already). Painting the baseboards that my dad put in a year ago! He says he wont come visit until we get them painted ;-)

Growing together and getting to know the young families home group that we just started at our house.

Not having MOPS on Thursday so I can go to yoga at the gym.

Getting a better picture of what goes on in Kellan's head as he is finally starting to talk more.

Jason being done with his first year on the job.

Maybe going on vacation together as a family. Right now I am guessing that might mean nothing more than camping out in the living room for the weekend.

Needing a little TLC

2008-04-29T14:52:00.000-07:00

I have to preface this post by admitting that occasionally Mirielle and I watch TLC's 'What Not to Wear' and '10 Years Younger' together in the afternoon while Kellan is napping. I figure that it is better than soaps (which I don't watch) and probably better than some of the cartoons on in the afternoon too. SO....

Yesterday I wore a skirt in probably the first time in months. As I was standing in the bathroom fixing my hair, Mirielle walked into the bathroom and started running her hand down my side saying, "Mom, look how smooth this skirt makes you look!"

AND

A few nights ago after washing my face, Mirielle looks at me and says, "Mom, your face looks kind of red, maybe you should call TLC."

I'm thinking that we are going to be turning off the TV in the afternoons!

2008-04-23T13:07:00.000-07:00

My lovely girl. She is growing up too fast. She is always such a character. I love her crazy and creative spirit. She looks so much older in the bottom picture - the baby features are disappearing. It is going too quickly....

2008-04-23T12:58:00.000-07:00

For whatever reason, today this made me miss my Grandma and Grandpa. I always remember eating Mac and Cheese at their house. Sniff...

A visit from Grandma

2008-04-04T16:02:00.001-07:00

We all loved getting 'Grandma love' while she was here! Grandma was able to come and play while Grandpa had to stay at home and work. We had fun celebrating Mirielle's birthday and had lots of laughs and crazy moments. Of course the best part was being able to sneak away without the kids and having coffee with mom - just the two of us.

A Special Gift

2008-03-19T14:59:00.000-07:00

My dear sweet friend Stacey, gave me a set of these mugs for Christmas. I have to say they were and still are one of my favorite presents. They happily sit on my kitchen windowsill brightening up my, blue and white with red accents, kitchen.

After all of our moving around from here to there it is really amazing to have a new friend that
knows about my red and white obsession,
knows that we had been drinking hot chocolate with the kids for a Christmas tradition,
knows me well enough to see something like these mugs and think of me,
and then buy them as a special gift.

For some reason, these mugs seem to be symbolic of a new phase of my life. A life that is a little more settled and has all of those really important things that life needs, like good friends.

Done!

2008-03-07T09:58:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that it took me till March to finish up my Daily December. I guess I am not going to do that again. At least not when we are having company and then traveling - hmm, can't imagine that ever not happening.

Time to move on to new posts!

Amazing!

2008-03-06T16:44:00.000-08:00

My most amazing scrapaholic mother surprised me with this beautiful Christmas album of my Daily December posts. It is truly amazing! She put in so much work, tried all kinds of new techniques and products. I LOVE it! Now she can finally finish the album. :-) Here are a few of the pages. Thanks Mom!

Daily December: Christmas!

2008-02-28T17:06:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning in our own house. Yeah!

Christmas dinner was:
Herb Crusted Lamb
Roasted Potatoes
Winter Pear Salad
Baked Brie

I thought that menu would cut down on the amount of time I would have to spend in the kitchen on Christmas day (versus the big turkey dinner) but it still felt like I spent most of the day cooking. I'm thinking maybe next year we will have hot dogs and mac and cheese :-)

Yum!

Christmas Eve

2008-02-26T14:37:00.001-08:00

Dear Santa,

Mirielle would like a pair of ice stakes
bunnies that hop and have fur on them
some things to paint with
books, Incredible book
dolls

December Daily: Day 24

2008-02-26T14:10:00.000-08:00

Yeah!! It is Christmas Eve today. Jason's parents are here for Christmas and we are planning some fun for today. We started off the morning at a fun little breakfast place here in town. Huckleberry's is a great natural market with a cute little bistro in the store. Not only do they have great food, but it is also an excellent place to do some interesting people watching. They have an awesome bakery, and I'm thinking that maybe we will have to start a new tradition in which we pick out a new dessert to try each Christmas Eve. :-)

After breakfast we drove downtown to do some exploring. We walked through the historic Davenport hotel to look at their beautiful Christmas decorations.

We took a drive through the park and decided to get out and see the ducks. Around the pond was nothing but sheer ice. You can see that Grandpa had to try and keep Kellan on his feet!

And a quick trip to the Falls

December Daily: Day 23

2008-02-26T13:54:00.000-08:00

An excuse to do something we don't do every day. We've had extra fun this Christmas season!

December Daily: Day 22

2008-01-31T17:03:00.000-08:00

I love red and white together as colors. There are red and white combos all over the house. Christmas time is my favorite because it means more red and white! I am loving this centerpiece on my table. Red and white candles on a white platter surrounded by some fresh pine branches that I pulled off of the tree in our backyard, sprinkled with cranberries. Simple and lovely!

December Daily: Day 21

2008-01-31T15:44:00.001-08:00

Today we are enjoying decorating sugar cookies. I've enjoyed having an excuse to bake these last few weeks. I've been trying different sugar cookie recipes this year. My mom's is the BEST, but for some reason I am completely unable to get the recipe to work out. So this year I tried a new recipe and finally had a small measure of success.

I've also done something new this year that I've never done before. We had left over cake frosting from the gingerbread houses, so we used the rest of that frosting up on the cookies instead of making some from scratch. I felt like such a cheater, but no one seemed to mind! The kids LOVED decorating with the sprinkles, which of course were all over the kitchen by the end of day.

There are a couple of cookies that have to be made in order for Christmas to be complete. Sugar cookies are pretty near the top of the list. My favorite are chocolate covered peanut butter bonbons. Mmmm! Jason has to have spritzer cookies in the shape of green Christmas trees and after trying the cookie recipe on the back of the Andes Peppermint Crunch the other day I think I'm adding those to our list of 'must haves'.

Daily December: Day 20

2008-01-31T15:40:00.001-08:00

A little craftiness for this post. I saw this idea in a book and thought that my version of it came out pretty cute. All of the materials except for the letters were from the dollar store!

Daily December: Day 19

2007-12-31T15:13:00.000-08:00

My dear sweet husband arranged for me to have a new hair cut for Christmas. I thought I would throw my new 'do' into the mix of pictures for December.

I think the last hair cut I had was in June. I had colored it a few times by myself in the last few months, which Jason isn't much a fan of - usually because I end up turning my hair orange (apricot was the perfect color description that Loreal used when I called their help line!)or bleaching it out (in an attempt to get rid of the apricot color) which all end up resulting in tears.

It was so nice to have someone do my hair that knew what they were doing. Amanda (from day 16) was sweet enough to give me a new cut and a much needed color.

NOW, I am ready for Christmas!

Daily December: Day 18

2007-12-23T20:46:00.000-08:00

Tonight we were downstairs in the basement. We heard fire trucks in the neighborhood and then down our street. And man, they were really loud. I'm rushing upstairs thinking that surely our neighbor's house is on fire. Instead, we find Santa riding on the back of a firetruck! Ho Ho Ho! Welcome to Spokane :-)

Daily December: Day 17

2007-12-23T16:02:00.000-08:00

Millions and millions of letters. At least that is what it seemed like. Today we finished up working on our Christmas newsletter. We hope that you got it in the mail!

Daily December: Day 16 part B

2007-12-23T15:50:00.001-08:00

This fall I took a photography class and so I am trying to find willing victims on whom I can practice. Sunday afternoon I went over to the house of one of Jason's students. Ben and Amanda had beautiful Abigail over 8 weeks ago. She was 5 weeks early and born at 4 and a halfish pounds. She looked like a doll the first time we saw her but she is a healthy 8 pounds now. Here are a look at a couple of my favorite shots. It was so fun and I am so excited how the pictures came out!

Daily December: Day 16

2007-12-23T15:37:00.000-08:00

Today we tried to do some fun new traditions with the kids. We ordered pizza for dinner (that was more fun for me than the kids!) and we got into our pajamas (not including Jason) made hot chocolate and went for a ride in the car to look at lights.

We decided to head up to a local church that was having a drive through living nativity. We got into line just after 7:00 and this is what we looked at for over an hour.

After an hour of looking at tail lights, the kids were getting pretty antsy.

The kids did remarkably well for being in the car for an hour and a half. The nativity was really neat. If we go next year, we will just have to be prepared for the wait.

Daily December: Day 15

2007-12-17T20:04:00.000-08:00

Going to see Santa Clause this year was great! We headed up to Green Bluff (our favorite fruit picking area) where one of the stores had a Santa that the kids could visit. There were no long lines, we could stay and visit as long as we wanted and best of all, it was free. Kellan was only in it for the candy cane, but Mirielle seemed to get a kick out of sitting on Santa's lap. We took a few pictures outside and I just couldn't pick which one I liked the most.

Daily December: Day 14

2007-12-17T19:21:00.000-08:00

Tonight was the Moody Aviation Staff party - family style. I made sure we all coordinated our outfits for this picture on our kitchen floor :-)

Daily December: Day 13

2007-12-17T18:49:00.000-08:00

A work of art. Mirielle was finally good enough to decorate her gingerbread house. I looked at 4 different stores and could hardly find any hard candy to decorate the house. I still haven't seen any red hots. What is this world coming to??

My original intention was to have all red and white gingerbread houses, and in my quest for red and white candy I made a delicious new discovery. Andes mints makes Peppermint Crunch chunks(like chocolate chips, except chunks, red and white chunks!). They were so good to snack on that I decided to make the recipe on the back of the package - peppermint chunks, oatmeal, coconut and over a cup of pecans. How could you go wrong with that combination? They are SO good!

Daily December: Day 12

2007-12-12T22:16:00.000-08:00

Although this post isn't exactly keeping with the Christmas spirit. It is definitely a snapshot of our lives right now.

Today was one of those days. Both of the kids were crazy psycho. Kellan has hit the trying 2s right now and is testing everything. Mirielle definitely gives him lots of ideas on how to be naughty.

Today was the battle over lunch. Mirielle didn't want taco leftovers so that meant that Kellan didn't either. So I've posted a picture of our afternoon - the spank stick and the 'time out' timer on the stove. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!

Daily December: Day 11

2007-12-12T22:00:00.000-08:00

First, I just have to say that I was not the adult in this house that allowed our daughter out to shovel snow in her dress up clothes. See those bare legs in the picture?! Thankfully, she got too cold after about 3 minutes and headed back inside.

Getting this girl to wear winter clothes has been quite the ordeal. I guess running around in the Philippines without socks, shoes and occasionally without much clothing is in her veins.

I think the biggest mistake I made with her was allowing her to pick out her clothes this summer. Since she stared school, there have been some major fits over her wearing 'school' clothes and not her favorite green top and red velvet skirt followed by black tights and her white Easter shoes.

Besides looking like a clown, now that it is winter, the girl simply refuses to dress appropriately. What was under that jacket? - a bikini top to go with her blue mermaid skirt! We just can't get her to wear clothes - even when it is 20 degrees out.

The solution: Yesterday we removed all of her clothes from her room. Now they are all in our room, which she in no longer allowed to go in. She gets one outfit a day and she doesn't have any say about what she gets to wear. It is the only other thing we could come up with after the 3 months of other things we have tried to get her to cooperate. And, she still gets to play dress up, but not as a half naked mermaid!

Daily December: Day 10

2007-12-12T21:50:00.000-08:00

It started snowing just before we left church on Sunday. It was great watching it fall through the windows in the church while we closed the service out with Christmas hymns. Today, everything is not only snowy, but frosty. All of the trees are covered in white and it is absolutely BEAUTIFUL out. I had to run out to the store and driving down the road, I almost started crying. It is a sight to see! Thank you Lord for giving us such amazing things to enjoy on this earth!

The red berries are from the tree that produced those amazing pink blooms in the spring. It is the tree that never stops giving. :-)

Daily December: Day 9

2007-12-12T21:44:00.000-08:00

Away in A Manger

Mirielle was so excited for her preschool program. She was telling everyone that she met, including the lady in line at the store, that she was going to be on stage on Sunday. Saturday night she could hardly sleep. This girl is a performer at heart. She did a great job of actually singing! It was so fun to see her with the other kids singing her heart out.

Daily December: Day 8

2007-12-12T21:40:00.000-08:00

One more snowflake. Told you, they are all over the place!

Daily December: Day 7

2007-12-12T21:35:00.000-08:00

I love love love snowflakes and right now they are all over my house. Funny story: I remember going skiing in Salt Lake when I was dating Jason. It was cold and it was snowing, but I remember stopping in my tracks to look at the snowflakes on my jacket. I guess growing up in AZ, I had seen snow, but hadn't ever been snowed on. I couldn't believe that real snowflakes were just like the cut out ones - each one detailed and different. I'm pretty sure that Jason thought I was nuts when I told him I couldn't believe how amazed I was to see real snowflakes!

Daily December: Day 6

2007-12-12T21:18:00.000-08:00

A potato sack race?
Nope!

One of the ladies shared this Christmas idea at Bible study the other day.

Last year she sewed bags for each member of her family. Their job was to fill it up with things that they already had that made them happy or brought them joy.

I thought it would be a fun activity for our family to remind us to be grateful. Kellan is still too little, but I would be interested to see what Mirielle would put in her bag.

What would go in my bag?

My Avalon "Joy" CD (my favorite Christmas CD this year) and Ella Fitzgerald Christmas CD

My Christmas snowflake earrings

My boots that keep my feet oh so toasty these days

A candy cane (I love decorating red and white - so I LOVE the Christmas season!)

My new Crate and Barrel spatula that I won at MOPS (mine didn't survive the trip back from the Philippines and it has been oh so interesting to try to bake without one)

My camera, especially my camera!

A picture of my kiddos and wonderful hubby!

Daily December: Day 5

2007-12-09T20:52:00.000-08:00

I've been trying different settings on my camera, since it seems like our house is not bright enough any longer, between it being cloudy and gray and the sun setting at 4:30, to take pictures without a flash. I was trying to capture Mirielle playing with our Christmas house that serves as the night light in our bathroom.

Daily December: Day 4

2007-12-05T18:51:00.000-08:00

This is all that is left of our poor snowman. Heat wave this week, which means temps in the 40s. The kids keep looking out the window, crying about their poor lost snowman.

Daily December: Day 3

2007-12-04T20:01:00.001-08:00

Tags, Tags, everywhere

30 tags for
30 Christmas gift bags for
30 women in poverty

Spent a few hours working on these tags to go with the gift bags that our women's Bible study group is giving out this week.

December Daily: Day 2

2007-12-03T14:47:00.000-08:00

There was just enough time to fit in building a snowman before getting ready for church.

Had a wonderful message at church!

Had a delicious dinner with friends.

December Daily: Day 1

2007-12-03T14:35:00.000-08:00

Bought a new coat at Kohls. Cause "Baby Its Cold Outside!" I brought Kellan home for a nap while Jason took Mirielle to Disney Princess on Ice for an early Christmas present. I baked most of the afternoon while watching it snow out of the kitchen window and listening to Christmas music.

Made these delicious gingerbread and cranberry orange scones for a Christmas coffee house/movie night at the hangar for all of the Moody Av students and staff. I had a few too many samples! :-)

2007-12-03T14:31:00.000-08:00

I like to browse the blogs of some of my favorite scrapbook girls for ideas, especially around the holidays. Ali Edwards has a great idea for December. She puts together a December Daily Album. I'm going to give it a try it this year and thought I would share our pictures on the blog. I have a few days to catch up so here goes!

Recipe for: Insanity

2007-11-25T20:23:00.000-08:00

Moody just had their annual missions conference. We signed up to host a dessert following the sessions on Friday night. What I didn't know when we signed up and offered to provide the desserts is that we were supposed to plan for 20-25 people and the dessert wasn't supposed to start until 8:30pm! We weren't sure if our house would even hold that many but we managed to cram all 18 of us into our kitchen/living/dining area. Yeah! And the kids even fell asleep before everyone arrived and stayed asleep. Double Yeah!!

My kids were lots of help while I made 3 different desserts :-) I might go the Costco route next year because with the 2 little ones at my feet it was truly a recipe for one insane mom! The desserts were much appreciated though which made me glad I spent the time and effort on them.

We hosted almost an entire crowd of freshman guys. Some of them commented on the curtains or the paint color in our kitchen, which was so sweet of them. It just made me laugh though to see what a couple of months of living away from home made those guys appreciate! It was fun to have them in our HOME! It has truly been a joy and a blessing for us to be here and be involved in students lives.

2007-11-15T10:39:00.000-08:00

It seems like in all of the places we have lived, no matter how small or the length of time, I find a spot that becomes a sort of favorite spot.

I think that it has been a way for me to survive all of the moves. I just find a little spot in the house that makes me happy. My new favorite spot in our house is the fire place in our living room.

I especially love it now because the little pumpkins I bought for fall match the colors in the room perfectly. It makes me smile! I can't wait to see it hung with stockings. Not too much longer....

Cute Kid's Book

2007-10-04T12:39:00.000-07:00

My mom just ordered the kids some really cute books. The series is called Sam Books. They are written by Amy Hest and illustrated by Anita Jerman (illustrator of Guess How Much I Love You).

The stories are short and cute and the illustrations I would describe as warm, cozy and delightful. I want to crawl into the pages of the book and live at their house. I've thought about redecorating my house with all the colors in the book!

Just thought I would throw it out there if anyone is looking for a cute read for their kids. Kiss Good Night is probably my favorite, but just because it gives me an excuse to give my kids extra kisses!

2007-09-07T09:27:00.001-07:00

On a fun note. I was looking at photographers on the web in our area the other day. There is a lady out of Coeur d'Alene that I found that does beautiful work. You can see her website, Captured Photography, here.

Anyways, she is just getting her blog started up and was giving away 3 free sittings with an 8x10 to the first three people who contacted her. I jumped on that right away and ended up winning the last free sitting! I am so excited!! I would probably never spend the money to do something like this, but I know it will be a treasure. Plus, I'm excited to go and see her in action, since I secretly wish I could have a job like hers. If you haven't noticed, I love taking pictures!! Click here for the latest.

Mary and Martha

2007-09-07T08:38:00.000-07:00

I had kind of a Mary and Martha moment this weekend.

Jason and I had a discussion the other day about how our house is still not unpacked. You would think that with all of the practice we've had that we (or I, really) would be a pro at getting unpacked and set up. Not so. I definitely am not an organized person and I get distracted really easily. And I've found myself having a hard time deciding where to put things in this house. The closets are small, the linen closet is really small and we have a bunch of open shelving in the basement that is great for storage, but drives me crazy because it always looks like a mess.

All that to say that over the weekend I was trying my hardest to get the house picked up and a few more things unpacked. I was on my way upstairs and glanced over in the dining room and noticed Jason sitting at the table playing a game with Mirielle. The thought that first went through my mind was, "Why is he sitting playing with her when there is so much work to do around this house?"

The second thought was, "Wow, that sounds like a version of the story of Mary and Martha." I am Martha when it comes to my kids. I am too busy trying to keep up with the whirlwind mess, being distracted by the computer, yelling at our dog that is desperately trying to dig her way into the neighbors yard, and put a nice dinner on the table to take the time to sit down on the floor and play with my kids. How sad, I know.

I am very thankful that I have a wonderful 'Mary' husband that spends time interacting with our kids. It did hit me however, how little time I spend with them during my day. Which made me stop and think about what is really important. I don't want my kids to grow up only having fun memories with their dad. Guess it is time to start making time for some serious play!

2007-08-10T15:21:00.000-07:00

My grandma just passed away on Wednesday. On Saturday she was at my cousin's wedding and by Saturday night she was in the hospital and from there, everything went really fast. Even though we will miss her like crazy, she was a believer so we are rejoicing that she is now in heaven.

After struggling with arthritis for years, it is an amazing thought to think of her in a resurrected pain-free body dancing in heaven!

She was one strong woman. This picture of her in her garden on the farm where her and my grandpa raised 5 kids puts me to shame. I think I've got it rough when I have to load the dishes in the dishwasher! It just amazes me to look at that picture and think of the life that she lived.

I guess her death has made me do some thinking about the legacy that gets passed down from generation to generation. And in the face of death, things become so very clear. It is so easy to see that the only thing that matters is Christ and Christ alone. At the end of your life, it is only what you've done in the light of eternity that counts. It has really made me think again about how I conduct myself as a mom, as a wife and as a woman. It challenges me to be intentional and active. My one desire would be that my kids and their kids and their kids would be followers of Christ. Because it truly is the only thing that matters.

While we have encountered different struggles over the last years and continue to be challenged in our new life here, my prayer is that through it all, God would be glorified and that I would be transformed. I want my kids to see that we believe and have hope in a living God that is real and is active in our lives and the world around us.

2007-08-08T08:26:00.000-07:00

Its been a long time since I've posted. A really long time. I've decided it is time to return to the world of blogging. I suppose this blog won't be quite as exciting as when we were in the Philippines. Hopefully no more stories of worms in my kids and snakes in my house. The most excitement we've had around here lately is a giant spider in the washing machine. But all I had to do to kill it was turn the washer on and the scalding hot water that comes out of my wonderful American washing machine did the job. That spider couldn't stand the heat!

Anyways, things here in Spokane are still an adventure. We still definitely feel like missionaries here. It is just different struggles and different adjustments. More on that later.... I love that we are getting settled and are starting to know our way around. Spokane is a really beautiful place. The biggest small town you will find. Jason is starting to adjust to the schedule at work. I am starting to get a routine down with the house and the kids. AND the Lord has been so good to give me a good friend here already (makes me tear up just to write it!).

Well just wanted to get the ball rolling. More to come soon!

The worms go in the worms go out

2006-10-27T17:15:00.000-07:00

Well, we've experienced another part of 'normal' missionary life. Living with worms. Not in our yard, not in our food. In our children's stomach. (I know this is probably too much info, but I can't resist!) Yes, this week we found a 10" roundworm the thickness of a pencil. I thought I was going to THROW UP when I saw it. I will spare you the rest of the details. We are now ALL on deworming medicine. I had no idea that I was supposed to deworm the kids about every 3 months. GROSS!!!

2006-09-25T18:11:00.000-07:00

In an earlier post I mentioned going crazy living with my crazy daughter. In order to defend myself, I have posted some new pictures on our photo gallery. I indeed have a crazy daughter that I love. I am sure however that she will not love me when she is 16 and finds out that I posted these pictures of her to our blog!

www.schwabair.shutterfly.com

My missionary kid

2006-09-25T17:35:00.000-07:00

We've been having lots of brown outs again, sigh. Thankfully, Mirielle has gotten used to the power going out. Yesterday when the power went out in the morning, she was able to find the positive in the situation. She looked at me with her eyebrows raised, looking like she just had an epiphany and said "Mom, God made light for us so that when the power goes out we don't have to light candles." That is an exact quote from my missionary kid.

Biker Chick

2006-09-22T04:11:00.005-07:00

I think someday she might grow up to be a motorcycle mama. She definately gets her wild side from her dad! This is a fun little adventure that Mirielle and her dad go on every once in a while. They hop on the bike and ride just to the end of the street to get a bottle of coke. Mirielle loves it becuase she gets to wear her bike helmet and if she is anything like her mom, loves the speed! (No Jason doesn't go fast, but anything must seem fast to a 3 year old!)

Something to think about

2006-09-21T20:22:00.000-07:00

I just started rereading Linda Dillow's book, "Calm my Anxious Heart". She starts off with the issue of contentment - just what I needed to hear. In the first few pages, she includes a list of her friend's mom, who was a missionary in Africe for 52 years.

Her "perscription for contentment":
*Never allow yourself to complain about anything - not even the weather.
*Never picture yourself in any other circumstances or someplace else.
*Never compare your lot with another's.
*Never allow yourself to with this or that had been otherwise.
*Never dwell on tomorrow - remember that [tomorrow] is God's not ours.

I'm tempted to tatoo these, along with some corresponding scripture on my forehead, or paint them on my walls, etch them into the bathroom mirror. Oh, how I struggle with each of these things. Especially not complaining, even about the weather!

Along our journey, we've heard stories about how missionaries used to pack all of their belongings into a wood coffin becuase their chances of surviving life in some of the dark places where the Gospel needed to go was pretty slim. And deep down in me I want to be that kind of follower, but I cling so tightly to what I feel like are my rights.

Pray for me as I try and rid myself of the mindset of clinging to my rights. My new prayer for myself is Philippians 2:5-8
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who being in very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing; taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!

I want to obey even if it means giving things up that I don't think I possibly can. I want to be content in that too, not just walk around feeling like a martyr.

I am preaching to myself becuase I just flipped out the other day worrying about the tomorrows that are God's and not mine and feeling like it isn't fair that I have to deal with the things I am dealing with here. Worrying about the kids, worrying about never fitting in here, worrying about trying to establish a routine that works between me, the kids, and 2 house girls and a husband who has a schedule that can hardly be considered a schedule at all, worrying about our finances, feeling crazy becuase there are about 3 hours in the whole month where I am actually alone - by myself with no one around, feeling guilty about not being a more loving and creative mom and then to top that off, have 2 girls in my house watching me 5 days a week, as I feel like I fail every day, and on and on.

Yes, sin gets me down good and I certainly get caught up in it becuase it is so much easier that going to battle. A friend wrote and told us that he would be praying for us to take our thoughts captive and making them obedient to Christ as we deal with our struggles here. Thanks for the reminder...I needed it this week.

I wonder

2006-09-18T02:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to one of our favorite restaurants. Why is it one of our favorite places to go? First of all, we can eat there for a steal. You can get a BBQ chicken breast and a cup of rice for 59 pesos, which is about a buck. It depends on the exchange rate. Every month it gets a few cents more expensive since the exchange rate usually goes down and our dollar becomes less valuable. But still a steal! Secondly, Mirielle loves their chicken and she loves the restaurant becuase it is open air and she can run around and look at the turtles that they have in their little pond. So we go there when we need a family friendly place to eat.

After eating, Mirielle was running around with an entourage of waitresses trailing behind her. They were singing ABCs together and counting and Mirielle was telling them how old she was and her brother's name. I was thinking about how she will grow up to be a different person than if she grew up in the States. I wonder if she will grow up to be friendlier being here in a world where everyone loves the cute little white girl. Maybe she will eventually become more guarded once she gets a little older and it isn't as much fun to be the cute little white girl and to have so much attention. I wonder....

Here, everyone loves her attention. They love to talk with her, touch her white skin, they are always sharing their food with her. We really noticed the difference in her behavior when we returned to the States last year. Just after returning, we would be at a restaurant and she would want to interact with people, acting like they cared that she was there, wanting to crawl up in their laps. It was so weird for us to watch. She was so outgoing and doing what was just natural to her here and it came of seeming really weird in the States.

Things here are so different. I just wonder how Jason and I will change over the years and how our kids will grow up to be different than if they grew up in the States.

The other day, I was driving down the street and was watching kids pour out of the school that was near where I was driving and seeing the kids skipping down the road in their uniforms sent a big pang of saddness through my heart. The sight of it made me wonder if I would ever see my own kids skipping down the road to our house after school - certainly won't happen here. Maybe one year when we are home on furlough. (Although we just found out the other day that when we came home to have Kellan, since we came home becuase of me and I am not the primary wage earner, we ate up future furlough time because of tax reasons. That means that we probably won't be able to come home for a full year until Mirielle is 10.)

That means that my daughter may never grace the room of a classroom until she is 10. She will be forever stuck in this house with her crazy mother!!! And yes, part of the reason I am so crazy is because I am stuck in the house with my crazy daughter :-) I fear that my kids will never feel like they fit in here and when we go back to the States they won't feel like they fit in there either. I guess I fear that for myself. I wonder if we will ever adjust to living here. I wonder what that would even mean......

Livin' in a Zoo

2006-09-12T16:04:00.000-07:00

When Mirielle was a little older than Kellan we started teaching her all of the animal noises. A cow goes 'moo', a pig snorts, a rooster goes 'cock a doodle doo'. I always thought those sounds were so cute, until I had to live next to them.

It seems like no matter where you go, except maybe Manila, you are constantly surrounded by livestock in Philippines. Sometimes I feel like I am living on a farm. In the empty lot next to our house a cow roams around eating all day and we have chickens that float in and out of our yard through the chain link fence.

The roosters I have mostly gotten used to. I think just about every other person in the Philippines owns a rooster. They are BIG into cock fighting here. When we went to the beach the other day, we were driving through the middle of nowhere, nothing but tiny little bamboo houses here and there and out of nowhere appears a gigantic building. A big beautiful building, cememt with real roofing on it, nice paint job. And what was it? A 2 story cock pit, compliments of the government. Nice.....

Our neighbors to the front of us have pigs. Thankfully they are quieter than the pigs our other neighbors had at the last house we lived in. Those pigs would go crazy a couple times a day. I imagined that those pigs couldn't have sounded much worse than when Jesus cast the demons into the pigs and they all ran and drown themselves. So, anyways, I am VERY thankful to have quiet pigs for neighbors this go around. I don't think that there is a sound that sets me more on edge than a screaming pig. What is hard about living here, is that all of the windows in all of the rooms are always open, so there is NO place to go in the entire house to escape the noise. Even burying myself under a pillow doesn't drown out the sounds.

I have recently discovered the second most terrible sound ever made by an animal. A bleating goat. I always thought goats were kind of cute. Just a friendly little animal that you would see at the petting zoo. WRONG! Our neighbor that owns the pig recently purchased a few goats that now roam around the property. The first few days they were here I had to convince Mirielle that the noises she was hearing were really just goats. She thought that there was a child outside screaming for help. That is kind of what these goats sound like "HELP, HELP, HELP"! Drive me nuts!!! The goats tend to roam over to the empty lot on the other side of our house, over by the kitchen and dining area, in the evening while I am making dinner. So we sit and listen to goats crying all through dinner. It sounds like someone is dieing outside. I am convinced that missionaries need to come home on furlough just so they can have some peace and QUIET!

Walking, Maybe?

2006-09-12T15:49:00.000-07:00

Kellan just took his first steps on Saturday. I missed the first 6, he performed his new trick just for his dad. Later in the day he was so kind as to grant me the pleasure of seeing him take a few more steps on his own.

I think that I am pretty ready for him to start walking. He already crawls a warp speed and gets into about everything that I can imagine him getting into at this point. My back would be so happy if he started walking around. He is still so huge!

Thirsty

2006-09-10T05:39:00.000-07:00

This morning I was making a cup of coffee from my dwindling supply of REAL coffee and listening to a CD, singing along. It just hit me hard how much I miss worship at church.

The music at our church here is based on volume and not any kind of what we would consider to be quality. The singing at church borders on a painful experience for us. We literally sit as far back in the church and as far away from the speakers as we can. We think the worship leader must have gotten the job based on his enthusiasm and not his vocal ability. What is wonderful, is that it seems to be a truly worshipful experience for the the Filipinos at that church. However, it makes us want to run and hide.

While I was home for the wedding this summer, my parents took me to an evening service with Henry Blackaby (of Experiencing God). The message and the music that night were truly like water to my thirsty soul. It was so wonderful to worship, to sing, and to be in a crowd that didn't seem concerned about performance but about reaching the heart of God. The message didn't have any jokes, no movie clips, no funny stories. It was just a good ol' message delivered straight from the Word. And I still remember it. And it STILL convicting me.

I miss worshiping in the context of my culture. I love to sing, but somehow joining in with a CD just isn't the same as worshiping with other believers in the context of your own culture. And unfortunately singing with a group of out of tune Filipinos singing at the top of their lungs just distracts me from focusing on God. I miss it. I miss home. I miss 'American' worship.

Making it a little better

2006-08-21T05:32:00.000-07:00

Oh what a relief. Things are going a little bit better this week. This last week, we have had Bel at our house doing the flight following. Bel started off at Garry and Cynthia's house about 6 months ago as their house girl. She had been picking up what was being said on the radio while Cynthia was flight following. This was great news to us, as we were wanting to train and hire a national to do the flight following so that I could spend time with the kids. We figured with the nature of flight following (sitting next to the radio for as long as Jason is in the air) we would either have to hire someone to watch the kids or hire someone to flight follow. The fact that Cynthia was able to train Bel to do the radio is a HUGE answer to prayer! It is really amazing that Bel can pick up all that is being said (all in English) on an old scratchy radio. She has been flight following from our house this week. It has been great being able to know where Jason is at but not have to do the radio myself. YEAH!!

On a side note, we just got our TV fixed, (Jason had to basically tell the fix it guy how to fix it). It broke about the 2nd day into our week long rain last week so has been down about 2 weeks. I really missed watching the news and being able to plop down at the end of the day and watch an episode of Globe Treker. And I was getting really sick of the kids movies we had that Mirielle has been watching for the last 2 weeks! Jason is flipping right now and we've been laughing our heads off watching a Filipino soap. Captain Barbell. HAHA. This one is a real LOL! It looks like something a junior higher would pull together for a school project. SO FUNNY!