Counting the cost

This last week I have been counting the cost more than any other time in my life. We live in a wonderful city, we have great friends and we just moved into a really nice apartment. I should be happy, right? Well, these things are amazing and I feel so blessed because of them, but that doesn’t change the fact that I am thousands of miles away from a family that I love so dearly. It doesn’t change the fact that where we are is a far cry from the states.

I was shocked at the difference when I returned last week. I really didn’t expect such a shock. I guess because we went to Italy before we returned to the states, I didn’t have the opportunity to appreciate the stark difference of the two places, but stepping off the plane last week, just smelling the air and driving with a crazy taxi driver to our new flat to drop off our bags. Then returning to our previous flat to begin packing. As soon as I walked in I felt like I was home and that was when I broke down. I had to break away from the only thing that felt like home in this foreign land!

Dad was majorly challenging me this time. I felt the pain of how far away I was from my family, how nice things were in the states and how they are just different here. I am not complaining here, because actually, crazily enough, I really love our life here, and after one week of adjustment, I remember what I love about. Maybe it is just Dad’s Gr*ce that makes me love it, nevertheless I absolutely love it!

Curtis and I were reflecting on our time in the states, one of those days when I was still feeling weak. It is one of those places that it hurts to be in, but you know it’s good for you. You know that this is where the change takes place. This is where Dad takes your weakness and makes you strong and the only way that you can get up and walk around and be a normal human being is because He is giving you the strength to do it. I remember saying through tears how going to the states made me really not want to waste my time here, because I remember now what I am sacrificing to be here. It reminded me that we are not here just to do a job.

So we will fight on with the strength that we are given and we will do what we came here to do. Please think about us as we work to carry out this hefty duty. We love you all and miss you all dearly.

Summer in the states part II

This summer has been indescribably wonderful! It has exceeded all of our expectations and blessed us beyond belief. We have been blown away by the love that we have felt here from our family and friends. Not to mention the things we have gotten to experience here, especially all of the time that we have been able to spend staring at the beauty that is the pacific ocean. Here is a recap of the second part of our summer in America and most of it is in pictures. I hope you like pictures 

Shortly after returning from Mammoth and our visit with Curtis’ sister we made our way out to Newport Beach area to visit my sister Tara, her husband Bill and their beautiful children Henry & Scarlett. This is a picture of Tara and I in Laguna Beach on our double date with her and Bill.

We spent a lot of time at the pool with the kids and one day at a cute little beach spot in Laguna called Crystal Cove. I fell in love with my beautiful niece Scarlett who was born in January this year. Who could resist falling head over heels for this precious baby girl!

Curtis had a lot of fun playing with Henry and having good conversation with our brother-in-law Bill. What a great family, what great memories!

While we were in the area we visited our friends Masha and Chris. Masha is from the city that we work in in Central Asia and Chris is from Orange County, they met in Central Asia when Chris was volunteering there a few years ago and we met them on their brief visit to our city in January 2010, but we got to spend a more substantial amount of time with them visiting at their home in Orange.

After visiting Tara we headed out to Long Beach to Visit my brother John and his wife Sheila.

And their beautiful “children” Eowyn and Lexi.

When we came back, after going to my cousin’s beautiful wedding. We said goodbye to my brother Dominic and his Family. I will miss these girls so much!

Later that week I had the pleasure of reuniting with my three closest friends from Middle School. Michaela, Cristin and Tiffanie. I love these girls so much! We had such a great girls night, watching “Now & Then” a movie we coined as our own in middle school and even now it reminds us of ourselves in some ways. We plan to make this a summer tradition, which I truly hope that we keep 

I then got the privilege of spending some time at the beach with my friend Laura and two of her three beautiful daughters.

Following this Laura and I met our friend Mary-Lou for lunch. Our time together was so sweet. There was lots of laughter, tears, pr*yers and hugs!

Shortly after that wonderful time, my best friend from childhood arrived at our house! She was supposed to come the next day, but her and her brand new husband surprised us when we got home from our friend’s house that night. They were in the backyard when we arrived and we hear this “am I gonna have to stay out here all night?” come from the backyard. I immediately knew it was Katie’s voice! This is the second time that she surprised me like that, gotta love her! Here is a picture of Katie with her husband Danny and their dog Boy 

Danny is a surfer so we went to the beach two days in a row while they were here and we all had a blast.

While they were here, my cousin David, who lives in New York City, came for a visit. We are hoping to visit him someday too since we have never been to NYC. We still laughed together like we were kids.

The next morning Curtis woke up early to achieve his dream of running a marathon. About a week ago he decided to run a half marathon and ended up running 20 miles. He realized that since he was able to run so far, he might as well try to run a marathon, so he planned his route and we met him halfway to give him some gatorade and a power bar and he completed the 26.5 miles in 3 hours and 50 minutes. What a man!

That day we went to the beach again. He rested a lot and soaked his muscles in the icy cold of the pacific and Katie and I played around like we were still 10 years old.

Then this bum showed up, so we decided to take off 

We said goodbye to Katie and Danny and Dad reluctantly said goodbye to his new BFF Boy.

Then we headed out to Long Beach again to say goodbye to Curtis’ baby sister Theresa.

The same day we went to lunch with my Aunt Coleen’s family, including my beautiful cousins John and Katarina.

Later that day we reunited with some old friends at the ESI training in Pasadena. We went to say our goodbyes and just to help out a little bit, with a marriage seminar for the small number of married couples who are going overseas together for the first time and then a game fair, where we taught the new teachers some of the fun games that we played with our students over the past couple of years.

But really the best part of training was reuniting with these wonderful people and just talking to people who do the same thing we do and can totally relate. It is a beautiful thing to have that when you do something like this. It was also great to get a short visit with Carolina!

After training we spent the afternoon with my grandparents and my Aunt and cousins also joined us later in the Evening.

Now we are in Redlands saying goodbye to Curtis’ family. We already said goodbye to his friend Mike yesterday.

Lastly, you all know how much I love to bake and tell. I can’t hide the secret of some of the wonderful things I have tried while in America. So here are three things I have made lately that I loved. Two of which I made twice in the last month.

The first recipe is for Barbecue Cilantro Pizza with Apples.

This delicious pizza was so easy to make. I got it from Katie. The recipe is very simple so I will just give it to you.  You can use Trader Joe’s prepared dough or use this recipe.  Roll it out onto a non-stick cooking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.  Spread around 4-5 tbsp of your favorite bbq sauce.  Top with ~1 cup of cheese, thinly sliced apples, fresh cilantro and green onions. I made this twice when Curtis and I had the house to ourselves and it was delicious. I might even make it one more time for my parents before I leave 

These Butterscotch Meringue Bars are to die for! I made them for girls night and the fours of us ate about half of this 9×13″ pan of them. Then I made them for a barbecue we had at our house, at which they got devoured quickly.

Lastly I made this Blueberry Crisp that I grabbed from Eat, Live, Run  also for a barbecue. 

I almost forgot to mention these salted caramel topped shortbread bites that I made with my friend Anna. Pretty simple recipe with delicious results 

Lastly I want to share one tip that I gave my friend Lindsey, which I forgot was something that not everyone does. We made rice crispy treats together and I always add one teaspoon of vanilla to my rice crispy treats, which makes quite the difference. Try it if you dare 

Thanks for reading along about all of this hoopla. We leave the states in 8 days! Please be lifting us up as we prepare for our journey! We love you all and will miss you, but have greatly enjoyed the time we have had here!

A Night to Remember

There are some moments in life that are so sweet, I wish that I could somehow capture them, not just in a picture or a video, but everything about them, the smells, the sounds, the air and of course the sights.

Last night there were several of those moments, the moments we come home for. Moments where I just stopped and gazed at my beautiful family, listened to the children laugh as they danced…

Watched my brothers and sisters engaged with their little ones and their spouses.

These are the people I love and for one night most of us were together in one place. This rarely happens now that I live overseas.

I don’t know what else to say, other than the time that I have been home has been priceless and this has got to be one of my favorite memories so far, so many of the people I love, all together at this joyous event, the marriage of our gorgeous cousin.

A Marriage that brought two families together, below is a picture of her dancing with her beautiful family, her husband, her three sons and her new step-daughter.

These are the moments in life that I just want to freeze and put in a jar and open up when I am feeling blue. Days when I am feeling like I am missing out on something in life, I can always look back and remember times like last night.

Being Home

Being Home has been awesome and overwhelming and fun and now that I am sick, I finally have time to write about it! And after seeing many of the fun things that I have done in the past four weeks you will get why I am not well.

Let’s start at the beginning, I was welcomed home into good ol’ LAX, by lots of hugs. Including my first hug with mom in almost two years!

I also got to meet my niece Scarlett for the very first time and hug these beautiful girls!

Celebrated Father’s Day by making my dad his favorite dessert, Strawberry Shortcake

After a week with my family, Curtis’ family welcomed us back with a pool party

After about two weeks in California, we finally got a good beach day in! We started the day by hiking in the beautiful mountains and then relaxed on the beach all afternoon 

A few days later we headed out to Vegas with my parents.

Don’t get me wrong, we didn’t go there to gamble. We didn’t even touch a slot machine. The idea of sitting at a slot machine doesn’t appeal to either one of us, but we did enjoy our time there at this great hotel.

On our second night we went to the Venetian and relived our days in Venice 

But this time we actually went on a Gondola Ride!

After that we did what we came to Vegas to do! We went to watch “The Phantom of the Opera.” My dad got us VIP tickets with backstage passes because his cousin plays the Phantom. His cousin got sick and wasn’t there that night, but we still had an amazing time and really enjoyed the show in this beautiful theatre!

When we got back we got another beach day in with our wonderful friends Danielle and Nate and their new baby Landon

The fourth of July quickly approached and we spent the day celebrating with family and winning the bake-off at the annual Block Party!

Those were Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes! Delicious! But the winning item was actually No-Bake Black Bottom Pudding Pie. There are no words to describe how amazing it was!

It was a really fun family day!

The next day we headed out to Mammoth to see Angela, Alan and Lucy! We had such a great time there, we did many things, including canoeing

Spending a day at the pool with Angela & Lucy

We even got a little time to ourselves out by Twin Lakes

Just before leaving, we went to “The Stove” with Angela & Lucy

Then this weekend we went out to see Curtis’ sister Theresa! She is doing so well and we are so excited to see the things that G*d is doing in her life! What a blessing this was and a huge answer to many pr*yers!

The whole family was together again for the first time in two years

So, that is most of the things that we have done since we returned and our time has been so wonderful. We are looking forward to more great times as we continue our time here.

On another note, one of the things I love to write about is cooking, and I have gotten to experiment with it a lot more since I got to the states since I can buy so many more things here! So here are some of the things that I have experimented with since I got back. I Made this guacamole the weekend we returned for my family and I Made these amazing Mint S’more Brownies twice!  I also made this Zucchini Pizza last night for my brother’s family.

It has been so much fun to be a little bit more flexible with what I bake since all of the ingredients are at my fingertips. I am just trying to take advantage of it while I have the opportunity.

Anyhow, I hope that you try some of these delicious new recipes and that your summer is going as beautifully as ours is!