just following...

Wow!

2012-01-21T00:03:00.003-07:00

um i just realized my blog count hit over 30,000 views... that's CRAZY! :-] i still have some faithful readers out there even with my lack of updates :-] haha thanks for stopping in and reading up on me guys!

as promised, here are the pictures :-] i realized after looking at my pics that we did have a few other unmentioned activities happen. so here's a sum up of everything!

note: as i started to upload pictures, i discovered that the internet is obscenely fast tonight! i have no idea why, so what was going to be two separate posts became a super-de-duper long one :-] i figure while i have a good, fast connection i'm going to take full advantage of it!

the t-shirt blanket/quilt i was telling you all about...

piecing it together was quite the task trying to get the colors laid out how i wanted and everything

finished product! i LOVE this thing. i put a grey jersey sheet on the back of it and it's just the most comfy blanket everrrrrrr :-]

a few weeks ago los Limones had several of us over for supper. talk about a fun night! talking, singing, playing the drum... it was great!

hanging out on the kitchen island...

jaqui - to make a long story short her and karla were climbing in a very tall tree. she fell out of it, couldn't move, and after a long night of x-rays and doctor runs, she was put in this brace. Praise the Lord she didn't break anything! :-] He is good!

Kali and Jonathan were with us too -- checking out Limon & Kristi's engagement book of course! haha

speak of... :-]

i'm not sure who took the follow pictures... but i think they're all funny so i put them on here.

karla and fede at their finest...

my favorite i think haha

angel on the gator "driving" with his... legs/feet?

while us adulto-s praised us some Jesus, the kiddos played cards.

mili is still bald. :-]

but cute as a button!

little miss luisa. remember when she got here this summer? go here if you can't remember...

she is just a little chub!

yes juantan?

OOOOOOH I WANT THAT!

going for the grab...

and juantan intercepts the grab! haha

i love her stuck out tongue action here lol

mils with older sister fer

and younger brother LeoB

here's a tree.

notice anything strange or odd about it?

try looking a little bit closer...

better now?

yup.

that's right.

a kid is that high in that tree.

oh diego - are you part monkey or something?

nicolasa had a birthday and we went out for supper

i don't think she was seriously this excited -- she's a good actress lol

and chelly was our photographer. thanks chel!

this afternoon i got invited to go on a picnic with the casa rota! they were actually just using me because they wanted good pictures of their kids with my camera, but i didn't mind. lol

group #1

and the follow-uppers- group #2

lunch consisted of... plus apples and cookies

but mine was just jelly. if you know me at all, you know just how much i ~~don't like hate disgust~~ more like abhor chocolate, and even more, peanut butter. :-]

zulema and her kiddos came with us too!

fer & belinda

one thing i learned today: dirty kids = happy kids

isn't she just beautiful?

watch out! the next charlie's angels!

jenna was peaking behind the dirt pile being the paparazzi at us...

and i caught her in the act once we realized what she was doing haha

climbing climbing and more climbing!

like i said.... dirty kids = happy kids

and to close.... this is interesting. i'm sitting on my blanket minding my own business when all the sudden i hear heidi and jenna getting grossed out. i open my eyes to see jodi holding keyla on her lap. and i didn't see what the big deal was...

and then jodi says "hey rocky -- you might wanna come document this one..."

slightly closer shot.... that's a rock with snot on it. apparently while keyla was being punished (aka sitting in timeout) she thought it would be a good idea to shove a rock up her nose! NASTY! AND OUCH! jodi dug it out gracefully and we now have a fully breathing 3 year old again, praise the Lord!

life...

2012-01-20T12:31:00.005-07:00

wow i ~~have turned into~~ am still a horrible blogger! i really don't like that i go so long without posting on here! ugh! :-]
i don't have any pictures right now that are mine that i can post...
but i do have some updates i can give you and follow with pictures sometime soon!
first off the bat... carissa is officially moved out of the house (insert BIG sad face here) and living at the girl's house...
and i have a new roommate - jessica!
and will have another new roommate, daniela and her daughter darilis, coming in february.
you can pray for smooth transitions and for our relationships together in the house. :-]
we've had 2 work teams so far this year - thankfully i've survived the both of them :-] i love it when work teams come down here. we're SO thankful for all the work they do - it's truly amazing how much gets done when they are here. we have a 3 week break before we start our next round.
in less than a week KT and Sharla will be coming down to visit me and i couldn't be more thrilled about it! i've had ONE visitor in almost 3 years of living here. ONE. UNO. that's it! so i'm SUPER SUPER SUPER happy they're coming. :-]
i'm starting to get on a sewing kick. i absolutely LOVE making my own stuff. a few weeks ago i made a very simple block/quilt blanket out of my old t-shirts. i had so many it was ridiculous. so i thought about mailing them into one of the places that would make it for me - pssssssh yeah right! $300 later for a simple blanket!?! i don't think so! so i decided to make my own and it turned out awesome! pictures to come of that.
so if you're a sewer, i'd be interested in what you suggest for sewing machines. i'd like to purchase my own, though as i was looking i see they can get kinda pricey. i don't want anything that's too confusing -- i'm a beginner sewer so i don't think i need all the bells & whistles of something fancy. email me or leave me a comment for this please!

i'm sure a lot more has happened/changed but i'm kinda drawing a blank at this point. hopefully i will get those pictures up sometime soon.
until then.... adios amigos!

photo shoot

2012-01-10T18:38:00.001-07:00

i'm hanging out at the girls house this evening.
surprisingly enough when they got home (i was already here) they all surrounded me!
however, it wasn't to see me, it was to check out my computer! how disappointing, right!? haha
after awhile karla and i decided to do a mini-photo-shoot... enjoy our goofy-ness!

catch all #2...

2012-01-05T09:28:00.000-07:00

i said it was going to be a long one.. 60+ pics in this post! maybe i should update my blog more faithfully :-] lol

like i said in the last post, i was staying and helping out in the casa rota for a few weeks so the majority of these pictures are from there. enjoy!

how much fun and entertainment can one extra mattress provide?

hours and hours and hours of fun!

they flipped and they flopped and they giggled and they even cried (when they got hurt) and they do it allllllllllllll the time. :-]

belinda found a sparkler somewhere and wanted to lite it (with my help). i said ok - she burnt her finger, it went out, and then wanted to do it again just to get a picture. strong willed child... lol oh dear haha

we had a night for all the kiddos after their last day of school up in the dining room that consisted of a mini-spiritual talk, games, food, a movie, lots of fun, and quite a few... spars!

karla totally took out jodi... i don't know what happened, i was just lucky enough to have my camera in hand when i saw it go down! haha

i'm still not sure who actually won...

then these girls took down their brother...

i was honestly surprised that fede was able to aguantar the weight of both his sisters!

as for the next 2 pictures... well i have no idea again how this came about, i just walked into the comedor and there they were... sparring...

a look of pure determination if you ask me... lol

the kiddos got to play a lot of games for a few hours.

here they are playing crab soccer - not what i would have ever called fun in my entire life, but almost all of them seemed to enjoy it, so that's all that matters!

keyla got cold and wanted my gloves.. and eventually my ear muffs too - she's a darling.

here the kids are playing shark attack with mattress again. i'd have to say that this is about my all-time-favorite game we ever play here at CVE. it's fun!

a few days later i had big B (Belem)

and little B (Belinda) come over to my house in town and help me clean. :-] it was bad since cari nor i have really been staying there. they are great little cleaners and we had a good morning/afternoon of hanging out.

this is how dirty my book shelf was. see this cute, nice little manger set? it's been sitter there since last christmas. i was getting ready to move the pieces and realized that it was this bad. ayayayya.

after cleaning we played some cards and got momo's for lunch :-]

my bedroom door...

which was seriously lacking christmas cards a week before i left for christmas! i will say that now it's about 2/3 full and looks a lot 'happier' :-]

little B borrowed my camera and took about 300 pictures... good thing i can delete them. :-] here's the nice clean kitchen..

and living room...

and me mopping in the kitchen. who knows what i was saying... lol

apparently big B didn't want her picture taking here... haha too bad because when little B has the camera, all requests for no picture taking are off! she's like a little mini paparazzi or something!

heidi got an awesome box full of goodies from her family for the kiddos. :-] it had gingerbread houses for us to decorate with them! HOW FUN!!

mariela is eating her veggies here. i'm not quite sure who took this picture, but the look on her face kinda gives away how she feels about them. perhaps if she obeyed she wouldn't have to eat them near as often. :-] someday she will learn. until then, she's getting a lot of nutrients! :-]

we did have one christmas tree and then the rest (i think there were 4) houses

fernanda and i decorated her house together..

perla and leob worked on the tree.

this was our finish product! :-]

the messy table with the frosting filled messy children :-] i love them!

this is the face of a very sad little boy because he kept eating candy and eating candy and eating candy after we told him and told him and told him to stop. :-]

while home for christmas i got to spend the night with the triplets! it was SO fun!

they weren't up too much throughout the night. mr. connor ended up waking up so i brought him to bed with me and got to sleep with a baby on my chest. to say i fell in love would be an understatement lol

i also stayed with my little sister while i was in IN, so i got a few good pics of mr. jesse

cheeeesin' like a rock star here

then finally we went to IL for christmas eve with my mom's side. it was a great afternoon/evening even though we had to take a minor detour due to a traffic accident on the way there.

jesse and the brother

i love this picture. he has that 'scolding' face down pat!

he did not want his picture taken with papaw.

alex and her baby :-]

whitney and i. we took about 50 pictures and this was the only decent one haha

my papaw is a hunter. quite the hunter at that. he's got deer - bears - boar - he's got it all. jesse thought it was kinda cool for awhile.

until michael got the bright idea to let him touch one of the deer. that didn't go over too well haha

and last but certainly not least, once i got back to cve i hopped back over to the casa rota to help out again. i also received 2 christmas gifts - white chocolate (which i LOVEEEEEEE) and a little box full of goodies. i left them both in my room on the floor thinking it would be fine....

well, things were kinda quiet and jenna went looking for mili..

this is what she found! that little squirt eating MY white chocolates!!

pretty adorable, but raquel was NOT impressed. she ate 3 of those - aluminum foil and all!

moral of the story: mili likes white chocolate and will steal it. don't leave it out in her reach even if your bedroom door is shut!

as promised...

2012-01-04T15:35:00.002-07:00

an extremely random catch all post :-] enjoy - i'll do my best to describe what was going on, but to be honest i really have no idea when everything happened. :-] too much in too short of a time frame i guess. enjoy the pics!

for a few weeks i was helping out at the casa rota.

the last day of school the kiddos had to dress up as something christmas.

so osmara was a christmas tree!

pretty much the best costume out of all the kids in my opinion!

and our kiddos were candy canes! they loved it. we tied ribbons in their hair with mini-candy canes as well.

disclaimer: this little girl knows absolutely no english which is why it's all the more funny for heidi and i

i had a trip home to IN/IL.

the 3 of us in the back of the car - michael didn't feel like taking his picture..

after about 10 pics, we finally got a decent one out of him. little brothers... sometimes they just like to be difficult. :-]

once i got to IL i saw a lot of my friends. we all got together for an amazing lunch at Monical's that ended up being kind of an emotional lunch. with me in mexico and renee in haiti it was one of those moments where we realized that we're all going in different directions, and who knows when we'll all be together again! it could be years down the road... but we know that God is in control and when He wants us together, it'll work out again.

me, sharla, rach, renee, em, leaann, and kt

i got a chance to go and visit Fairview Haven which i hadn't done in awhile.

and i got to visit my most favorite resident ever - mrs. elsie b!

she loves me <3 haha

we took a trip to hermosillo...

there was a very large snake that got loose. and when we reported it this was the response: oh if you don't mess with it, it will leave you alone.

whaaaaaaaaaat? how bout "oh i'll get someone to get it back in it's cage"??

joel started howling at the coyotes and before too long the kids were doing it... and then before too long after that the coyotes were actually howling back - it was hilarious!

on new years eve (or the day before) i had to go to the grocery store...

and had these little angels helping me out. well... when i say they helped... i mean they caused scenes and smiled and giggled and danced and ran into people in the cart and made my trip the santa fe a memorable one. :-]

i do have a few other pictures on my other camera so this is only the first part of the 'catch all posts'

stay tuned!

first world problems...

2012-01-03T12:42:00.002-07:00

so i haven't posted in awhile.

been busy.

however, not too busy because i had time to check out this video.

and it was worth sharing.

did anyone else feel as shallow as i did after watching this? i know i've been guilty of a few of them in the past.... OUCH.

jesus make me see past my first world problems and break my heart for what breaks yours.

i do plan on making a 'catch-all' post soon... so bare with me. :-] until then, hope everyone had a happy christmas and a merry new year!

the hair!

2011-12-19T15:12:00.000-07:00

last week tania wanted her hair cut.

and when i say cut.. i mean more like.. chopped.

she had been growing her hair out for around a year and never said a word about it to anyone.

the whole time she was doing it, she had a motive. not to have long beautiful hair, but to be able to cut it and donate it to locks of love.

and that is just how she is. she has a wonderful heart and loves to help other people. she also loves to stay in the background and go unrecognized even when she does a good deed. i love that about her. so many of our kids will do something helpful for someone or do a good deed, but then they are quick to tell everyone how good they are because of their deeds.

not tania. she has a great deal of self-less-ness (if that's a word...) she does it simply because she wants to help. she doesn't do it for the attention. not for the praise. because it's in her heart. <3 Lord, keep her heart that way. and make ours the same.

so karla sharpened the scissors, and the adventure started...

she was still smiling at this point..

look at that beautiful hair! AND IT'S THICK!!

apparently jaqui wasn't quite sure about the situation right here...

or here... lol

we had to make like 7 or 8 ponytails to cut off because it was so thick my ~~awesome~~ scissors wouldn't cut through it! (note for the christmas lists: left handed hair cutting scissors from sallys!!!)

yaneli wasn't feeling too good about the situation either... seems to be a running theme here, wouldn't you say? :-]

still scared...

and then i cut it off!

a few of the ponytails...

she was scared when she realized just how short it was going to be. 10" is a loooooooong ponytail to cut off, that's for sure.

then everyone had to play with it... a gotee i guess...?

first view in the mirror... almost tears... and then all smiles after wards!

karla taking pictures of herself.

hair extensions

karla kissing yane

she put her hair up so you couldn't see it, but it was ADORABLE! and she ended up being very happy with it, although it was quite an adjustment. i'm just glad she didn't actually cry. i would have felt HORRIBLE if she regretted it. i told her i was so happy she was willing to do something like donate it to locks of love because some lady like my mom who has cancer would be able to have gorgeous hair because she was willing. :-]

cookies!

2011-12-17T10:10:00.003-07:00

i said lots of stuff has happened in my last post. so here's some of the stuff :-]

i had a family from church send me a little christmas package with some cookie baking stuff.

so on a lazy saturday afternoon we attempted to make some sugar cookies at the girl's house. :-]

sarah, me, and carissa

lupita helped us out for awhile.

gorgeous, isn't she? you can pray for Lupita to grow in her walk with Christ and for His love to wash her from the inside out.

the frostings

alicia and gisel came over to help us decorate the cookies because by the time the cookies were ready to be frosted none of our girls wanted to help anymore.

gisel :-]

some of our christmas creations..

yaneli joined in to help gisel once she saw it was the 'cool thing' to be doing at the moment haha

perhaps the most gaudy cookies ever created? :-] they tasted good though!

it was a wonderful afternoon of baking.

thanks billiam & anna for the goodies! i LOVE getting snail mail! :-]

long time no blog :-]

2011-12-15T11:11:00.001-07:00

so since i posted last time lots has happened. :-]

lots of good things. a few thing have happened that i could have lived without, but such is live, right? we keep on keeping on, and God keeps on giving.

i made it back to mexico safe and sound after some much needed R&R.

sarah, sharla, and i at chilli's in peoria.

i have zero other pictures of my friends. i don't know what my deal was, but i seriously was lacking on camera moments apparently. lol.

after getting back south of the border i moved my stuff back home for a week, and then back to campus for another week. :-] gotta love living out of a laundry basket. i'm helping heidi & geo with their kiddos now because jenna is home for a little R&R. extra prayers are much appreciated as we're dealing with a few unique situations with the kiddos. also, geo leaves on saturday to go home leaving heidi and i with 7 kid. [insert:HUGE HUGE HUGE need for prayer here]

yesterday i babysat for joe and denise while they took jenna to the states. they've got 3 very well behaved kids that i enjoyed caring for SO much! it was a fun afternoon.

we took a road trip to my house so i could get my laundry basket of clothes for the week, and then ran by the accountant's office so i could chit chat with him for a few minutes. every time we stopped the car the kids had to take turns in the shot gun seat. which means we had to undo seat belts and then re-do them which is quite the task for little joel here. he was ecstatic to be in the front finally! we did oldest to youngest so he was last.

the girls in the back. gisel & alicia.

and today i'm at the coffee shop!

drinking a grown-up drink (a raspberry carmel steamer) instead of a kid smoothie. :-] working away mind you not, just taking a few minutes to update this thing. our internet hasn't been the greatest on campus because had some serious rain for 2 days in a row and all the phone lines have been affected. so in order to get payroll done, i had to come here.

shucks! who would want to spend their day in a coffee shop working!?! sounds just terrible doesn't it? :-]

christmas card time!

2011-12-01T22:06:00.001-07:00

i think the last 2 or 3 years i've asked people for their address for christmas cards.

it seems every year i get a system down something happens...

i lose my memory stick with the addresses.

i lose my hardrive that has the addresses.

i lose the excel file that i had nicely placed on my desktop. {still confused about where that one went to...}

it's just inevitable!

this year i may try entering them in my gmail account.

we'll see if i have the time...

so once again... i'm asking for mailing address if you'd like a christmas card. :-]

jarrinrabe@gmail.com or you can facebook message me it!

thanksgivings and babies!!

2011-12-01T13:03:00.001-07:00

on my birthday i had thanksgiving at my dad's house. we had grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins. it was a lovely day. after hanging out for awhile, and when the sun was perfect lighting, we headed outside and my cousin kylie took some family pictures for us... let's just say that it was quite interesting with us 4 and the dogs. ayaya. lol

we moved and moved and moved emily's butt before she would finally stay put! lol

after about the first 10ish pictures, we realized that dad looked awkwarddddddd. what on earth was he trying to do with those hands? :-] haha

so after telling him to do something different with his hands, he decided that choking me would be a good position. :-] lol that only lasted for 2 pictures before we moved to a different position.

this one was our christmas card i think...

the sister and the boyfriend. hopefully he'll put this on his fb profile pictures instead of his TRUCK! hint, hint, nick!

my dad's parents and us girls.

i believe kylie cracked a joke about an exploding cat and we all cracked up at this moment. :-]

on monday i got to go to tuscola to visit the triplets! they were all sleeping when i got there, but it wasn't too long before they all woke up.

left to right: jackson, ava, connor

i was SO excited to hold all of them at the same time :-]

ava who is a spitting image of her mother -- i can hardly believe how much she looks like kristen!

jackson

connor

on saturday we had thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family. it was a relaxing afternoon to just hang out and chit chat.

2 of my favorite boys - jesse and michael

in the last few years we've started playing poker after we're done eating. after being accused time after time after time of stealing our uncle's money, whitney went to the dollar general (gotta love small town hick-ness: no walmart) and bought a poker set! so now we play with chips instead of all their change and no one gets accused of stealing their money :-] win win situation haha

mom & lee

my favorite boys again :-]

the brother and sister

michael, mom, uncle rog, and alex

sisters <3

oh i missed him soooooo much. he's almost too big to hold like that now!

papaw with all his kiddos. rog, doug, terry, and mom

then we tried to do a family picture of us.... well it was interesting too. we couldn't get everyone to look at the camera at the same time! lol

this was the best one i think and alex still has that funny look on her face because she was tickling jesse's foot haha

he is just music to my heart. :-]

it was fiesta time!

2011-11-26T09:15:00.001-07:00

well i made it to IL safe and sound. i actually had a direct flight for once which was SO NICE. oh i loved it. but of course i had to sit next to the lady that took garlic pills. that part was not-so-very-pleasant. but i survived. :-] wednesday night these guys below had a birthday party for me!

rach & mitch...

there were a ton of people at their house! we ate supper, played a few games, and just hung out. i got hit in the face with culture shock like never before. that was real fun in moment (sarcasm) but God helped me through and not too many people noticed when i had to slip off to be alone for a few minutes. i don't really think i've ever experienced that before, but i hope it doesn't happen again -- though it probably will.

any rate, back to the part...

we had glitter...

and piñatas...

and happy birthday signs!

it was quite the bash to say the least!

going outside for some destruction..

they blindfolded me, spun me in circles, TWO different times - i don't think they remembered that i turned 26, not 16. i seriously thought the 2nd time i was going to puke but thankfully i kept it down. that could have been bad. lol

i was having a slightly hard time hitting hitting the dumb thing, and couldn't stop laughing.

eventually i just knocked it off but it wasn't quite opened. then we played baseball with it and after wacking it 3 times it FINALLY broke open. and we had some GOOD candy! :-]

LeaAnn was sharing her taffy with sarah... haha

maria holding jace, rae, me and em

katrina, jas, sarah, em, bekah, mark, and krystal

magz n cod

LeaAnn, me, katie, and magz

so that was wednesday. it was great to see friends & family and connect again. :-]

family christmas card!

2011-11-25T11:16:00.001-07:00

Polka Dot Christmas Wishes Christmas

Create from the Heart: photo Christmas cards from Shutterfly .

View the entire collection of cards.

i helped mom make the family christmas card. apparently if you make a blog about it, you get $10 off your next order. :-] guess who gets to use that? ;-]

shatter

2011-11-18T15:27:00.001-07:00

i love and hate those moments/times in our lives when God breaks down our walls. when he shows himself to us in a way that is shattering to our world. it hurts so much, but it's also so amazing to know he's working a masterpiece of us.

the last month and a half of my life has changed me into a different person. God has held me through everything, but he's also been changing me at the same time. i've been staying out at the girl's house for awhile now. and although it was hard at first, it's something that i've become incredibly thankful for.

i'm a woman of stability, routine, and normalcy. i've learned that because that is what i want doesn't mean it's what i need. God has proven to me over and over again that HE IS MY STABILITY, MY ROUTINE, AND MY NORMALCY. a job can't meet those needs. a roof over my head can't meet those needs. my own bed can't meet those needs. only he can. and if i'm looking for other things in my life to be stability, routine, or normal, he'll take them away so i can see him, and only him. he will strip them piece by piece away. all my weaknesses. all my sin. all my everything until the only thing left is him.

Lord I come to You

Let my heart be changed, renewed

Flowing from the grace

That I found in You.

And Lord I've come to know

The weaknesses I see in me

Will be stripped away

By the power of Your love.

Hold me close

Let Your love surround me

Bring me near

Draw me to Your side.

And as I wait

I'll rise up like the eagle

And I will soar with You

Your Spirit leads me on

In the power of Your love.

Lord unveil my eyes

Let me see You face to face

The knowledge of Your love

As You live in me.

Lord renew my mind

As Your will unfolds in my eyes

In living every day

by the power of Your love.

i was emailing a friend yesterday about what our plans are going to be when i go home next week. i fly in on wednesday and we're celebrating my birthday at her place. i had said in my email to her that i couldn't wait to get back home and be normal for once. and today, that struck me as a horrible thing that i never should have said. i was excited to be in a place where i was comfortable and able to "let down my guard" so to speak. i almost had feelings of shame as i read it. i wanted the easy way out -- i wanted a vacation from the chaos and the battle here. i wanted to run the opposite direction of where God has placed me.

wow.

last time i checked we're called to the battle, not to run away from the battle. it was just another sense of God showing my heart how selfish i am. how far i have to go... but it was also another moment where he held my hand, and whispered in my ear that he would be there always.

one more shatter. one more piece for him to take, change, and put back together more beautifully than it was before he started.

thank you God for being loving, and forgiving, and awesome, and wonderful, and never changing, and never failing, and always there.

prayers

2011-11-14T22:02:00.001-07:00

for all you faithful prayer warriors out there..
please keep praying.
a few more requests:
- for God to give us his wisdom in the different situations and battles that arise
- for protection for our children as well as for ourselves
- for God's name to be glorified in all things
- for us to continue leaning on HIS strength
- for the bondage that satan has made to be broken with the power of Christ
- for my up coming trip home - flights to go well, as well as family time going well
- for staff & kids as we are in constant stages of change
- for the love of Christ to be proclaimed upon ever life here
- for patience in the battle
- for God to show himself strong to each hurting heart
- for unity among staff and kids

thank you for praying.

and the boys cooked.

2011-11-12T20:40:00.001-07:00

friday night consisted of the following:

BOYS COOKING SOME AWESOME FOOD!

left: awesome taco meat right: awesome potato concoction

(there were also some amazing baked apples but i didn't snap a pic of those)

marshmallow throwing...

and catching...

and seeing how many we can fit in our mouths.

and lots and lots and lots of smiles.

God thank you for the smiles.

thank you for the tears.

thank you for each and every life you and brought through the gates of CVE.

cutie pies

2011-11-09T22:21:00.001-07:00

tell me you don't just LOVE that big cheesy smile!!! osmara... she'll steal your heart without even knowing it. [jod - i'll get this pic to you sometime soon :)]

mili learned how to wink... it's pretty much the cutest thing i've ever seen a 1 year old do.

and these boys -- scratch that, excuse me -- strapping young men.. well they're just sweethearts. but don't tell them i said that. it'll ruin their manliness. :-]

jules

2011-11-07T15:37:00.002-07:00

so mom emailed me this morning.

they had to put our dog to sleep today.

i must say, i've never ever ever had a dog like jules.

she was so yippy sometimes it drove us nuts, but she was a wonderful part of our family.

jules...

papillion...

rat dog...

julesies...

papools...

pupus...

she had LOTS of nicknames. :-]

i remember the first day we got her. she was running all over the house and yard like a crazy puppy. :-] i was 13 i think. maybe 14. she had a good long life -- full of fat free doggie treats (she was a little on the heavy side according to the vet haha), camping, and golf cart rides. i'm so thankful that mom & pops decided to get another dog after having 2 failed.

its funny how we get so attached to our pets. mom & pops actually had 3 dogs - snickers, emily, and jules. now they're down to 2. i'm sure home won't be quite the same when i get there in a few weeks. it will be different without her around. but i know she was almost miserable before they put her to sleep so it was for the better.

love you always jules papools. thanks for being a great dog. <3

la musica

2011-11-03T10:52:00.002-07:00

so in conjunction with this post i thought i'd take a little survey and see what all you people think about starting up the christmas music november 1st :-] stay tuned for friday! chelly and karla are going to be putting on a little show "who's on first" and it's gonna be great! :-]

Update on Mom

2011-11-02T09:37:00.002-07:00

i hadn't updated in awhile on Mom so i thought i'd take a few mins this morning before i dig into the financial statements to update you all on how she's doing. :-]

today is actually her last day of radiation! she's super excited about that. she said it wasn't that bad - it only took about 15 mins every day. she's actually on her last dose of chemo for today as well. she'll have a month off before she starts it again. AND yesterday she started up at work again! supposedly she was annoying her Dr.'s so much that they finally decided to just let her go. [if there's any doubt where i got my stubbornness and insistent personality from, it's her.] i was talking to her the other day on skype (which by the way is FREE to the rest of my family - aka GET IT SO WE CAN SEE ONE ANOTHER) and she was all worried about needing to find her steel toed boots :-] she has a decent amount of energy, though she is on steroids still. they are weening her off of those little by little, but it will be awhile until she's all the way off. over all i think her spirits are still pretty good. she's quite the fighter. :-] she'll be having another MRI at some point in the near future to see if the tumor has returned and what the next step is from there.

personally i'm doing ok with everything. meaning, not good, and not horrible. literally just ok. i haven't seen her since she was actually diagnosed with glioblastoma - we've only talked over the phone and skyped. so, needless to say i'm excited to go home over thanksgiving and christmas this year! it will probably be emotional, but i have to continually put her in God's arms, and remember He has it all under control.

Isaiah 50

thus saith the Lord...

was my arm too short to deliver you?

do I lack the strength to rescue you?

by a mere rebuke I dry up the sea!

Isaiah 59

surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save,
nor his ear too dull to hear.

i read verses like those and find comfort.

don't get me wrong: i still have freak out, full blown crying sessions. :-] i'm still a woman with emotions that are hard to keep under control sometimes. but i always go back to His words and know His Spirit is with me. He knows my needs, the deep desires of my heart i don't tell anyone. and He also knows how hard it is for me to be here while my mother is battling for her life there. but He's also made it perfectly clear that this is my place for now. He wants me here. and i'm not going anywhere anytime soon. i feel like some people might look down at me for that. "you're mother has cancer and you're not moving home!?" but you know what? i'm not here to serve my mom, i'm here on earth to serve Christ.

and i will go where He calls - even if it's hard.
even if it means being 2,000 miles away.
even if it means i don't see her as much as i'd like to.

it's not about me and what i want. no, not at all. it's about Him and He knows what's best. and i cling to that.

so please continue to pray for Mom - for me - for the rest of the family.
the prayers mean more than you'll ever be able to understand.

sittin' in the dust of His feet,

musica

2011-11-01T13:38:00.003-07:00

so, it's that time of year again.

i always want to start listening to christmas music early.

i LOVE christmas music.

it's november 1st [a shout out to my Pops! HAPPY 50TH!] and this music video just officially came out.

i'm friends with the director.

[and yes, i know that information is similar to "name dropping," but how many people can actually say that they're friends with a music director!? i have to take every chance i can get! haha]

so ry, i blame you and tenth avenue north for my early christmas music cravings. :-]

something new :-]

2011-10-31T20:56:00.000-07:00

i got something new.

it's kinda fun.

check it out.

let me know what you think. :-]

i am now the owner of a Canon Rebel 3t and LOVE it.

get ready central IL and indiana because rocky's got a new lens and is ready to use it! :-]

prayers needed!

2011-10-22T11:08:00.001-07:00

we are in need of some mighty prayer warriors right now.

prayer requests are below.

if you feel moved by the Holy Spirit, please share these with other christians as well.

thanks!

-that freedom found would be maintained, for a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ, strength against temptation, and spiritual growth.

-that the captives who are freed would not only learn to live in freedom, but also be used to bring about the destruction of the enemy in the lives of others.

-for continued wisdom how best to handle and fight in these battles

-that Satan and his demons would see the defeat they have already experienced, realize the battle is hopeless against our Risen Savior, and desert their mission(s).

-for wisdom, discernment, and the Holy Spirit's guidance into all Truth for those in spiritual authority

-that God would use these battles and a biblically balanced perspective of spiritual warfare to transform the American church.

-for the binding of the strongmen involved in these battles (Matt 12:29), all demons under their authority, and their works in Jesus' name.

-that Satan and his demons would lose their control over those who they hold captive--that the captives would retain control over their minds and bodies at all times, not be fearful but grown in their faith and understanding of their identity in Christ (for those who are saved), submit to Christ in humility and obedience and resist Satan with boldness through the power of Jesus Christ.

-that we all (even those of you who are praying) would remember the importance of the armor of God in the battle.

-for deliverance in every single life that Satan has entangled into his web of lies

-for protection for all those who are supporting us in the battle (through prayer, information, etc.).

-that the joy of the Lord would be our strength

-for strengthened faith, encouragement, revelation/discernment, trust that God's hand is over all that is going on, and that He will only allow what He knows will accomplish His purposes most effectively, working all for our good

-for God's continued protection for all involved, including for the children not directly involved in the battles (especially at times when we are occupied with urgent needs of our vulnerable children); that God's mighty angels would be camped out around our campus, circling us in

-for protection for CVE's reputation/ministry, that Jesus' name would continue to be glorified; for favor with government officials and protection from government intervention; protection from scrutiny from authorities and/or family members of our vulnerable children

-against distractions

-that God will continue to break down barriers to trust in Him and Satan's lies in the gentlest way possible; for the breaking of every chain and the Lord's complete healing

God bless you for holding up our arms through prayer!

never dull, that's for sure!

2011-10-21T14:33:00.001-07:00

todd turned 29 yesterday.

he's a teacher and is bien conocido for his absurd outfits that he wears every friday to school.

so, in turn for his birthday the kiddos opted to dress absurd and ate home made ice cream.

{sounds like a tough thursday at school, huh? ;-]}

modeling before heading off to class

yes, lupita has on an apron.

*do you know what character's hand is on the left side of the pic?*

karla, yes -- that's our 12 year old daniel in the dress, and yaneli.

would you like to see what kind of dress he was wearing?

that's right - belle - from beauty and the beast.

he must be really secure in his manhood for this.

i have a feeling that at some point in the future these pictures will resurface, so prepare yourself daniel. :-] we love you!

STITCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i was SO excited to see eddi in this. he has to be the most guapo stitch i have ever seen!

chelly and karla

jose y sarah

osmara with a tie as tall as she is haha

this is how jaqui "helped" yaneli do her hair.... lol

and last but not least, introducing...............

angel with braces! :-]

he was more upset about not being able to eat tacos durados, papitas, and having his fruit cut up than actually having braces -- i guess boys care more about food than appearances. haha

so with all this going on, there is never a dull moment here -- never.

bark bark bark bark is all i hear...

2011-10-19T18:47:00.001-07:00

this is how i currently feel about dogs.

why you might ask?

well... take a look at the following pictures and you'll understand.

*note* all the pictures are taken within 15 feet of my house up and down my street

here are 4 of them... i'm pretty sure there are actually 2 dark ones there by the gringa (white car)

there's another behind the gate here

one in front of the house where joe mama, mama d, seth, todd, and fede live

this one is charlie - she's been around along time. a couple years. she's actually been hit by a car and walks around with her back half bobbing up and down.

this is right on the other side of my house - the hang out place i guess

this is addie. she's just licking her lips here - she's the schicks dog

this stupid little weenier dog - i do not like this one at all. he sits in my driveway and barks at me... not cool.

there's a white one down there

now, in case you weren't counting them, i was.

there are 9.

NINE OF THEM.

NUEVE.

NEUF.

that's a LOT of dog within a 1 block radius.

and they bark

and bark.

and THAT is why i don't like them.

Our Deliverer

2011-10-16T15:35:00.000-07:00

Our Deliverer - by Evan Wickham

When we call upon Your name

You will answer, You will save

And deliver us

In the darkness in the storm

You are shining from the shore

To deliver us, Deliverer

Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Worthy is the Lamb

Our Deliverer

Mighty fortress for the righteous

Saved to glorify

Our Deliverer

Though the battle rages on

We are certain You are strong

To deliver us

By Your perfect sacrifice

We’re made perfect in Your eyes

You deliver us, oh Deliverer

in the last week my eyes have been opened up to the greatness of God and just how strong He ultimately is. i know that i can't see all of Him - but my mind just goes in circles wondering. i love it.

please continue to pray for everyone here at magdalena.

the battle continues.

but so does Our Deliverer.

sweet little pieces of goodness

2011-10-13T16:16:00.001-07:00

these little girls - excuse me, ladies - brightened my afternoon significantly when i saw them playing. so i decided to share their sweetness with you and give you a few prayer requests for them. :-]

Keyla (2nd girl):

Pray that she would grow to understand Christ's love for her.

Pray for her to be a good example to her younger siblings.

Pray for her to feel God's arms around her in her trials.

Estephania (3rd girl):

Pray for her future - that she would feel accepted and loved.

Pray for her to reach to Christ to fulfill her heart's desire.

Pray that she would shine God's love and mercy to others as she grows.

Fernanda (4th girl):

Pray for God to heal the hurt that is behind her smile.

Pray that she would have proper expressions of emotions.

Pray for God's arms to hold her and Jesus to wash her in His Love.

Belinda (5th girl):

Pray that her heart would trust fully in Christ's sacrifice on the Cross.

Pray that she would know the true God, Creator of the Universe.

Pray for her to grow into a godly woman who loves the Lord more than anything or anyone else in the world.

Osmara (1st girl):

Pray that God would show Himself to her in ways that are unimaginable.

Pray that her whole heart would know Christ and His sacrifice and accept it.

Pray that she would grow in knowledge and maturity as God continues to sustain her.

cereal and a gator

2011-10-12T11:35:00.000-07:00

last night i stayed the night at the girl's house. we had fun :-] it was around 8:30 and we were sitting around in the gator just chit-chatting outside. then we decided it would be good if we had some cereal for a snack.

SO, lupita got us cups, milk, and spoons and we had ourselves a good ol' time!

we ended up finishing that whole bag of cereal.

that's a lot of golden grahams.

un hoyo + un carro = no bueno

2011-10-11T11:15:00.000-07:00

funny story happened today!

so someone went to the grocery store and had a car fully loaded of food - including about 12 - 15 boxes/bags of fresh fruits, veggies, and eggs.

on the way back to CVE with the freshly bought food, they remembered they need cheese for quesadillas while driving by the taco place where we order our cheese.

so, they threw the car in reverse to parallel park.

unfortunately they didn't see this:

a rather large random hole in the road.

and the car ended up looking something like this

low-ri-der

here's a more proper view of the hole + tire = not good.

so after trying to get out of the hole with no success (imagine that!) they tried to call CVE for help.

only they didn't have any saldo (air time) on their phone.

so the next option was to walk to Café Sed and get some help/use a telephone to call CVE for help.

eventually a few guys came with a few pieces of wood, some metal sticks, and a jack to save the day!

checking out the situation.

the first words that José said were "Muy Bien, Muy Bien" [roughly translated: nicely done, nicely done]

after about 10 - 15 mins of trying to get the car hoisted up so the jack would fit underneath, they succeeded! then they threw the car into neutral, and pushed her right on out.

and wouldn't you know, the taco place didn't even open until 10:00 and i got stuck at 9:30! so we STILL don't have any quesadilla cheese! ;-] such is life, huh?

stupid fiestas........

2011-10-08T23:32:00.003-07:00

right now magdalena is kind of like a huge party.

it's actually rather annoying to be honest.

they are honoring "Father Kino" and it's been going on for over a week now. it hasn't been near as bad this year as it has been in the past, but it's still annoying. we only live a few blocks (like 5) from the centro where most of the partying takes place and it is NOISY! <listen to video>

last night i went to bed with a headache... and this morning i woke up with one too! after thinking about it for awhile i think it's because i went to sleep with the sound of a blanket auctioneer (yes, that's right -- he auctions blankets) and drums! NOT what i call a restful night of sleep. :-| i never thought i'd say this, but i can't wait for the weekend to be over and for monday to come!

here are a few other pictures that i've been storing up and not posting :-] oops.

kt, sarah, and i

me and the roomie :-]

perla went grocery shopping with me one day. we had fun! she's so talkative that she just says hi to strangers and starts up convos with about anyone. haha. needless to say, she stayed in the seat of the cart the entire time... lol

Mili turned one so we had a birthday party for her... the next pictures are from the party!

NO! don't take my picture!

i said DON'T take my picture!

HAHA KEYLA! i finally got your picture! :-]

kids and fire - what is it that draws them to it!?

mili aka chubs with her cake!

too adorable! :-] she was COVERED by the end of it lol

hamburger line... yummy!

the girls were playing "members of church" and wearing veils. i cracked up at this because most AC kids that i know used to play "church" and play "baptism" - i never did that so it's kind of foreign to me. however, i love seeing our kids playing it! it's hilarious! they sing out of the hymn books and everything!

jorge running around like a wild man with a ------ mop bucket? <come on jodi! can't you get your kids some real toys!? lol>

yes, when it is dark we need shades.

waiting in line to get swung around by fede

basket full of goodies...

i had a child say 'here rocky, hold these' so i put them on! me and belinda. i cut her hair the other day so it's no longer this long - but she's still as beautiful!

kiddos playing with glow sticks! it was CHEAP entertainment, that's for sure! they LOVED those things!

and finally a picture that makes me smile and laugh no matter how frustrated/sad/mad/over whelmed i am...

perla.

oh dear.

i just don't know what to even say! lol this is how she woke up... priceless!

after a little bit of help, this is what she ended up looking like. just as cute, wouldn't you say?

couldn't you just eat him?

leo-b - you are too precious!

well... i think that's about all for now. :-] blessings!

OH, one other thing. i'm thinking - actually i'm pretty decided on - getting a new camera. but i'd like one that is actually for photography! you know, with lenses to change and stuff! i am camera illiterate, so if any of you readers are camera literate and would like to help me out, i'd be all for taking your suggestions!

from discarded... to freedom!

2011-10-02T16:27:00.001-07:00

a few years ago i had the blessed opportunity to be a bridesmaid for a very close friend of mine.

it was a wonderful wedding.

unfortunately it wasn't a wonderful marriage.

there was a lot of hurt. a lot of pain. and a lot of betrayal.

eventually my friend got out of the relationship and away from that man.

recently, she and my other friend, Tess, did a "Trash the Dress" session.

needless to say i wish i could have been there -- looks like it was probably a pretty powerful session for Tess and Kristen to do. here are a few of the pictures from the session that i absolutely loved.

check out the rest of the pics by going here --> Backroads Photography by Tess

Tess - you are an amazing photographer. you captured some amazing shots of one amazing woman.

Kristen - you are so strong and i admire you for that. i praise Jesus that you were able to get away out of a bad situation and have been able to move on in life. what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger! i'm so thankful for our friendship and love you so much!

oh sweet surrender...

2011-09-30T16:15:00.000-07:00

correction is a hard thing to take for some people. honestly, i would venture to say to for most people it's hard. to have someone tell you that you are erring in an area of your life is not fun to hear.

however, if it's done in a loving manner, that always helps. and it's always done in a loving manner when it's done by our Dad -- our Heavenly Dad that is.

i don't know about you, but i have so many times in my life where God just simply quietly tugs at my heart - at my ear - until i'm ready to listen. He's patient. unlike me sometimes. He waits until i answer His pursue of my heart. sometimes it takes me awhile to answer Him - maybe because i have a slight idea what's coming... or perhaps it's just because i'm caught up in myself or my problems way too much instead of being caught up in HIM. regardless, He knocks. and waits. always.

you know those times where He knocks - and you answer - and you hear something like this:

leave it in My hands. don't hold on to this. I can handle it.

those are hard words for me to hear. i know He does it for my good. i'm thankful He speaks to me when i'm clinging to something too tightly. but i know that what follows those words from Him isn't going to be fun.

when my fingers and arms are gripped so tightly around something, He has to slowly pry them off.

finger by finger -- muscle by muscle, He gently loosens my grip. all the while caressing my cheek saying:

child I know this hurts, but I can do it better than you. you put this in My hands, and watch what I can do. you'll see what i can make out of all this mess and hurt and pain, and it will be something marvelous.

He does it so i keep my eyes on Him - not on things of this earth. He does it so He can show me His glory and majesty. but even knowing all that, it doesn't take the pain away of surrendering. it hurts. a lot sometimes. but it's in those moments of surrender - of complete brokenness - that i am more than ever convinced of His love and that His hand is upon me holding me and guiding me through the tears.

oh, Holy Spirit - continue seeking me and changing me from my filth to your majesty.

prayer requests:

- for surrender in my life

- for His hand to be upon the kids and staff here at CVE

- for patience and love to flow from our hearts

- for wisdom in being able to discern what is our will/want and what His will is for us

- for Mom - she started her chemo today. pray for the medication to work effectively, having no problems with sickness/nausea, and for her heart to feel the grace, peace, forgiveness, and love of Christ

and i thought i'd leave you with a few pics of the trip-littles :-]

the first brown family picture! yay

somebody must have been being a weasel! :-]

Prescott AZ

2011-09-20T18:59:00.001-07:00

this past weekend 5 of us girls ventured up north to Prescott, Arizona for a little R & R.

it was wonderful to say the least!

we left on thursday afternoon around 12:30ish for our weekend get-a-way and got to Prescott by around 7:00 i think, ate some supper at Texas Roadhouse, had a quick walmart trip for some food, and headed up the mountain to our destination. on friday morning we headed out to the lake for a little hiking around which was great, followed up by some Ray Vanderland at his finest. saturday morning was relaxed with reading and coke. it was a wonderfully relaxing weekend.

here are a few of our fun moments together...

we ended up getting lost while trying to find the trails... haha

everyone gathered around the map trying to see which direction to go...

nicole, geo, me, cari, and pau

my coke and jane austen - yes i'm obsessed with the movie so why not be obsessed with the book too!?

i have no idea :-]

gorgeous shot, isn't it?

this picture is in front of the dam - but you can't see it...

it was HUGE.

like i said, the cabin was up a mountain.
a one lane mountain.
and the US postal service isn't about to go hauling up there everyday to deliver mail...
SO here are all the mail boxes! haha

this was the sign right before we went to cross the dam - comforting huh? ;-]

me, cari, and pau on the way up

@ texas road house - cari, nicolasa, y pau

we had pumpkin cheesecake and some chocolate cheesecake - i have no idea what kind it was. imagine that considering i don't eat/like chocolate :-]

watching ray vanderland in the foyer

the chicas before we went out on saturday night for the all church bonfire. it was a great evening of fellowship! thanks everyone in prescott!

while we were there i snuck out on the porch a few times to just be alone.

it's amazing how God designed everything. i loved the idea of being stuck at the top of a mountain, surrounded by His creation, and just talking with Him.

i've always been a big star gazer. i am just infatuated with watching them. in all the years i've enjoyed star gazing, i've never seen them twinkle like that. it was absolutely breath taking at times.

i loved it.

i had some good time to just swallow everything that's happening in my life right now. had some time to think about everything with mom - kind of process it all i guess. it's easy to get caught up in my everyday life here in magdalena and realize i went almost the whole day without praying for her. i hate that. she got a lot of prayers this past weekend, i know that.

last week was kind of rough. i just realized that my joy is slipping -- more accurately said, pretty much gone. monday night we had prayer meeting and i cried to God and asked for His hand on my heart. i guess sometimes i get so consumed in the pain and unknown of what's going to happen that i lose sight of Him and what Jesus did on that Cross for me. God's teaching me how when we take our eyes off Him, life is impossible. there's a reason why He says to keep our focus on eternal, and not on this world here.

last tuesday the triplets were brought into this world.

and my joy was renewed.

i couldn't believe that they were born already - but boy was i thankful and full of praise!

i'm not saying that they were brought into this world just because of what i prayed or because of what i needed - God's a lot bigger than that. He had this planned from the get-go. but i do think that He has a way of caressing & wooing our hearts and minds in ways that we can't even imagine.

oh, how He loves us.

how He loves us so.

He is jealous for me.

my weekend... [and the trip-littles]

2011-09-19T16:55:00.003-07:00

consisted of this:

and was amazingly relaxing.

more pics and stories to come this week...

update on the trip-littles:

all of them are doing great according to Kristen's facebook status :-] they are now breathing 100% on their own without any machines, Praise Jesus!
you can actually see their faces!

ava - the nurses stuck some stuff in her hat to make her a bow! haha too cute

dad (brad) and connor - you can really see just how tiny they are in this picture... WOW.

apparently jackson is the sleeper of the bunch [pictured above], connor is the wiggler, and ava is the princess. haha

so here's jackson sleeping again...
oh how i can hardly wait to get them in my arms come thanksgiving! :-]

introducing the brown babies!

2011-09-14T09:49:00.002-07:00

the princess of the bunch...

Miss Ava Ryen

her stats: 17.75" long and 3lbs. 11oz.

and the boys!

Mr. Connor Vincent

his stats: 16.5" long and 3lbs. 10.5oz.

and Mr. Jackson David

his stats: 16" long and 3lbs. 10.2oz.

they are all receiving some breathing assistance right now, but everyone is healthy and doing great! including mama!

PRAISE JESUS!

well so much for that!

2011-09-13T15:32:00.000-07:00

WELCOME TO THE WORLD....

CONNOR VINCENT

JACKSON DAVID

AND

AVA RYEN!!!!!!

to say i'm ecstatic is an understatement! i can hardly contain myself! pictures to come!

mis queridos sobrinitos:
your aunt jarrin can hardly wait until thanksgiving to meet you guys! i love you so much already! i've been praying for your little hearts since the day i found out about you, and i will continue to do so. i'm praising Jesus that all 3 of you and your mama are doing well! He has His hand on you all and i can't wait to see what He has in store for the 3 little brown babies!
con mucho, mucho, mucho amor:
tía jarrin
p.s. tell your mommy & daddy that if they ever need a break they can ship you down here for a little bit! ;-]

once upon a time...

2011-09-13T10:55:00.001-07:00

there was this woman and this man.

they fell in love in high school, and after a years of dating they decided to tie the knot!

a few years later they decided they wanted to have kids....

and now this lady is having triplets....!

A. Jackson David

B. Ava Ryen

C. Connor Vincent

these little guys started giving Mama a hard time this morning and she went into labor.

she's just 31 weeks along and the doctors want her to keep them for at least another 2 weeks.

please pray for Brad & Kristen, as well as Jackson, Ava, and Connor to be healthy and for the rest of the pregnancy to go smoothly.

thanks!

[as excited as i am about having triplets for a niece and nephews, i want those little guys to stay in their Mama as long as possible!]

i saw the sign..

2011-09-12T15:51:00.002-07:00

and it opened up my eyes and i am happy to be living my life without you, i've left you - oh, oooh oh

now that you are singing the early 90's ace of base song, we can continue with my post :-]

so there's a town about 10 miles from magdalena named Santa Ana.

every time i go there i always forget how i want to take pictures of all the signs.

i'm not kidding - i think there has be at least 16 signs.

r.i.d.i.c.u.l.o.u.s.

and in my opinion some of them are funny.

so today on my back from santa ana i decided to take some pics of the signs.

i did miss the first sign which says:

NO DEJEN PIEDRAS EN LA CARATERA

[don't leave rocks in the highway]

it's right before you drive between 2 mountains and when it rains, sometimes the rocks fall. so you're not supposed to just leave the rocks there. i guess the government would rather you stop your car between the mountains, risk having more rocks fall on top of you, and also risk being hit by a car while you move the rock BECAUSE YOU'RE ON THE HIGHWAY. :-]

"maneje con precaución su familia lo espere"

drive with percaution -- your family awaits you

slow traffic in the right lane if you didn't learn this in driver's ed

use the seat belt to save your life

if you drink don't drive

don't abuse the signs

left lane for passing only in case you didn't learn it in driver's ed

if you drink don't drive (do the watermelon crawl)

moderate your speed

use your seat belt

as if putting obey the signs will really make people obey lol

moderate your speed

in case you didn't know... don't drive tired

now, mind you that i missed a few of signs, and a few were un-readable too.

haha :-]

and for my whole 10 minutes that i'm driving, those are the signs that give me entertainment :-]

blogging conduct....

2011-09-10T12:25:00.001-07:00

this post is mainly directed to anyone who has their own blog that they manage - or i guess if you read a ton of blogs, it may apply to you as well...

blogging conduct: is there such a thing?

i entered the blogging world around 2 1/2 years ago - shortly before moving down here to mexico. when i first started i had no idea what i was doing -- i didn't even know what a "post" was... haha

however, in the last couple years i have come to love blogging, and i tend to read quite a few as well.

my question is this: when you find something that another fellow blogger does/has that you like, do you incorporate that 'thing' into your blog as well? say for instance, they have a little tweak about their blog - ummm... say they have some type of a gadget that's unique, and not found on many other blogs... and you like it. it's kind of like their stamp, or seal -- something they're known for. do you go get the same thing and put it on your blog?

i'm in a bind, and i want opinions. i want my blog to be original. i don't want someone else to have a blog similar to mine - i want it to be individual to my likes and my wants. so with that being said, i don't know that i really want someone else 'borrowing' my ideas per say, but i don't have that many great ones anyway. actually, it almost might be compliment to see someone following in my steps in the blogging world.

HOWEVER....

i do not feel like i'm that creative of a person when it comes to blogging. i do like to blog 'shop,' if you will, and find ideas from others. now honestly, i don't think i've really snitched many ideas, although i look. and it's because of this predicament i'm in. i've eyed several - and thought "oh i love that - i wanna do that on my blog!" but i can't really quite bring myself to copy them... although it's mostly from the 'famous bloggers' that i find these ideas, and i know they don't know me from eve, i doubt it really matters to them since the same people who read their blog most likely won't be reading an amateur like me. :-]

so what do you guys do? do you copy? do you copy it and then add your own twist on it to make it 'yours'? is there such a thing as blogging conduct? would you never in a million years 'borrow' an idea from someone's blog?

leave me comments. email me. facebook me. whatever. just give me your opinions! :-] have a great saturday!

bits & pieces

2011-09-09T11:29:00.002-07:00

when mom had her surgery last month my granny marge sent some old pictures to the hospital for us kids to go through :-]

to say the least, i had a lot of smiles while looking back when i was younger.

so without further a due, here are a few bits and pieces from my childhood.

i was a spoiled little girl... this is at my papaw and grammy's house for my 3rd birthday. uncle jim is on the right...

and there is my Care Bear cake. i was infatuated with those bears. i loved them so much! so i just had to have them on my cake! haha

p.s. check out that hot mullet i'm sporting... yes, yes - it's wonderful, i know. but hey, in my defense it was 1988 for crying out loud! :-]

4th birthday here at the same house - just in the living room. my baby brother michael was born just 2 weeks before my birthday so he's hanging out there in the background.

books on tape were huge too apparently :-]

no clue what we're doing, but here's matt & whitney and i

showing off my birthday dress i think...

i also remember having some kick butt halloween costumes! for example: bunny power! aunt marthy always made my costumes and they were awesome!

i had sticky fingers maybe?? not sure...

i was the flower girl in my dad's 2nd wedding - to jean. :-] i was a brat that day from what people tell me. funny how i don't remember being a brat though.. i remember having fun in a pretty dress. supposedly i didn't want to smile for any pictures - which would be why i'm not smiling in this picture, nor in hardly any of the professional pictures... oops :-] haha

the only picture i have ever found of my mom, dad, and i all together

i was the flower girl for someone's wedding

and i walked down the isle with this kid.

i have no idea who's wedding it was or who this kid is.

haha

my dad's mom, julie, and grandpa denny dancing away at my mom and dad's wedding.

matt, whit, and i christmas picture 1986

me and uncle terry at christmas time

ummmmmmmmm yes i LOVE my little pebbles pony tail on top of my head :-]

i think i'm around 3 in this picture - i actually specifically remember taking it - i remember wanting to wear that outfit and i was SO excited to hold the umbrella. haha

me and the mother hanging out at grammy's

papaw, me and my brother - i love this picture too

pops and grams at mom and dad's wedding

and probably my most favorite old picture that i've found yet - well at least in the top 5 - whit and i in the tub! it doesn't get much better than naked little kid pictures, does it!? i'm SO glad that our mom's had us so close together! it was such a blessing to have a cousin that was 6 months younger than i am. :-]

so that's all for today. blessings to all!

on any given day...

2011-09-07T17:12:00.000-07:00

on any given day you can find any of the following pictures taking place [for the most part...]

teachers on the computers in the escuelita [aka school room]...

kiddos reading books in the biblioteca [aka library]...

kiddos playing in the new sandbox [SO fun!]

and if you came to campus right now, you would be seeing a LOT of this going on...

any moms want to guess what they're doing...??

yup, picking lice! YUCK!

jodi requested that someone send a magic wand to make it all go away :-] i whole heartedly agree with her! haha

there are also kids who just look cute like this all the time... sometimes it makes disciplining a little difficult for me... :-]

you can also find kids asking homework questions...

and then you have the kids who are procrastinators and play instead of doing homework :-]

there are also hard workers...

you can also find this little guy being adorable!!!!

sorry i didn't turn the picture before i uploaded it...

at the casa rota [the broken house] our awesome shop guys recently put up a new fence in the back of the house... check'er out!

look at that rain storm int he background! too bad it wasn't on campus raining... :-|

our shop guys are so on-top-of-it that i had to show this off... there are 2 doors

a little one, and then a BIG one for driving through to unload and load stuff - how smart are they!?! yay!

some sweet pictures from my way home...

beautiful sky this afternoon...

looks like a pretty decent flowing piece of water huh?

oh, that's not a river...

IT'S MY STREET!!!

ok, technically i have to take a right off of this street and then i'm on my street. but still. my power steering went out because the water was so deep!

eeeeeeek!

so in other updates...

monday i went to the states - it was crazy, but nice to get away and be alone.

it was the first time i've really be alone since finding out about mom's cancer so it was much needed.

mom is keeping her spirits up, which is great. i'm thankful for that. attitude plays such a big part in your health. i'm not going to lie, it's very hard to be here while my family goes through this back in Indiana. i've been doing pretty well with it all though -- i'm not bursting out into tears anymore at the push of a button, so that's good! :-]

please continue to pray for her - for the family - for me.

it's appreciated more than you'll ever be able to understand. thank you.

have you ever wondered...

2011-09-02T22:39:00.002-07:00

tonight i ~~was~~ am a little bit jealous for this 3 day weekend that 99% of the US population will be taking part in on monday. made me wonder why mexico can't have a 3 day weekend now instead of in 2 weeks...

and then i also started wondering...

Why can't women put on mascara with their mouths closed?

Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?

Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?

If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?

Why are there flotation devices under airplane seats instead of parachutes?

If 7-11s are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, why are there locks on the doors?

Why is it when you're driving and looking for an address, you turn down the volume on the radio?

Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are getting weak?

Whose idea was it to put an “S” in the word “lisp”?

Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?

Why do we say "heads up" when we actually duck?

interesting (and pointless -- i know) thoughts to be pondering on a friday evening.

hope your saturday is more exciting than my friday was!

the real deal

2011-09-01T23:07:00.002-07:00

i think that everyone in this world can contest to the fact that there is evil.

correct?

i also think that everyone in this world can contest that there is good as well.

correct?

i know i'm simplifying theology here, but bare with me. :-]

since moving to mexico, praise God my eyes have been opened in a different way. they have been opened to a whole new world of what good and evil are.

of course God is good - He's the real deal. i've seen Him work miracles, i've seen Him do things said to be impossible. i've seen Him save people - i've seen Him save me. and let me tell you - He's got some mighty angels at our sides fighting for us.

and that of course leaves satan to be the evil one. in the last 2 1/2 years i have learned more about his evilness and his desire to kill and destroy than ever in my entire life. he wants nothing more than to deceive us and make us into nothing. and he is just as much as the real deal as God is.... and so are his demons.

in the last months we have called upon the church for prayer - and we still are. the war is not over - i would imagine not by a long shot - but we are making ground, praise God! ultimately we all know that God has already won, but satan is still fighting - hard. it's amazing when a battle has come to an end and see the victory in Christ's blood!

please continue praying for us at CVE.

-pray for sin to be revealed

-for God's light to shine in the darkness

-for satan and his demons to be dissipated into nothing

-for protection over staff and the kiddos

-for peace amid the chaos

-and for Christ's blood to cover all who will come and call upon His name

the weekend...

2011-08-30T09:48:00.000-07:00

friday night i offered to take the girls so that kali, pau, and sarah could get an evening of rest.

plus, i hadn't had a night with them in a LONG time, so i figured why not? :-]

first we went out to eat....

first picture of the evening kinda describes lilly's mood.... now i told her this was going on my blog so she didn't want me to use the above picture...

instead she wanted me to use this picture.

however...

1. i don't think she reads my blog

2. she never leaves me comments so i put it on here anway [lils, i may consider taking it off... but you should keep reading and then decide later which picture you want me to delete... bahahahah]

3. you'll understand later why that pictures is actually one of the better ones of her from the evening

yaneli, tania, and chelly - who is cracking up, which pretty much describes her mood for the evening - see where i'm going with this yet? 2 waaaay wacky 16 year olds PLUS a bunch of 12-15 year olds... :-]

me and lupi

car ride to the plaza to walk around...

no idea....

walking around in the plaza

tania and i cheesin' it up

and so begin the wild pictures...

now do you understand why i don't think lilly should care that i put that first picture up? :-]

cassidy's face" "oh i'm so tired of this and we haven't even watched the movie yet..."

cassidy's face: 2nd wind!!!

you weird-os!

apparently i didn't get the memo... funny face rocky, funny face...

i guess karla wanted a snack or something....

and this was allllllllll before getting home to watch fireproof. to say the least, i had to do some "shuuuush"s during the movie because had some gigglers in the audience.

but no worries, kirk cameron pull through once again and brought almost all the girls to tears at the end of the movie!

then on saturday i got the flu.

and it was horrible.

yuck.

12 hours of puking - definitely not how i wanted to spend my weekend.

by sunday evening i was pretty well re-cooped but stil lacking on sleep.

i slept from 7:00pm until 8:00am uninterrupted - that's 13 hours incase you didn't do the math - and it was amazing.

however, after the horrid, draining monday i had, i'm feeling like i need another 13 hour night.

so why am i posting this at 11:15? i have no idea. off to bed i go!

buenas noches!

thank you...

2011-08-27T13:12:00.002-07:00

to all my fellow prayer warriors..

i want to extend a deep, sincere thanks for all of your support and prayers that you have offered through the beginning of this cancer battle. i am so amazingly blessed to have so many brothers and sisters in Christ sending up prayers on the behalf of my mother, my family, and myself that sometimes it's just hard to comprehend.

so thank you for sending petitions to His heavenly throne. i know He hears each and every single one.

just because i'm silent does not mean that i don't read every email, every comment, every facebook message -- your words of encouragement speak to my heart and i am grateful to have so many people surrounding us through this battle.

stupid cancer

2011-08-27T00:28:00.000-07:00

stupid cancer.

that's about all i can think of at this point.

mom got her staples out today and gets to wash her hair tomorrow finally which she is super happy about.

as i showered tonight i couldn't help but cry as i washed my hair. the days will soon come when my mom won't have any to wash. so you know what? i'm sure that tomorrow is going to be an awesome day for her!

mom also got the pathology test results back today. none of us are too happy about those. another one of those moments when your whole world changes within a few words being spoken: glioblastoma aka a fast growing brain tumor aka brain cancer, and 6 months of radiation 5 days a week and chemo therapy on top of that.

it's taking me a long time to piece together all of these sentences. my mind is just spinning. remember how i said praying is hard to come by and i just find myself listening to a lot of music worshipping? these are a few of those songs that have been speaking my heart lately...

i hope they're as much of a blessing to you as they have been/are to me right now.

He is in control.

joyfulness

2011-08-25T21:07:00.000-07:00

pretty much ever since everything with Mom started happening, i could slowly feel my joy slipping away. i hurt so much that i didn't think it was possible to be joyful and hurt at the same time. my brokenness was consuming me. and at certain moments, it still can.
i keep having thoughts...
... what if Mom isn't at my wedding?
... what if Mom never meets my children?
... what if Mom never sees them walk, or talk, or go to school?
... what if Mom never gets a chance to come see my home in mexico?
and then i stop - and realize how selfish i'm being.
she may be my mother, but ultimately she's God's daughter. and He's got this whole thing under control.
i realized in my selfishness that i took my eyes away from Jesus and put them on myself - on my family. that is not what we are called to do.

Hebrews 12: 1-3 (paraphrased)
So then, let us rid ourselves of everything that gets in the way, and of the sin which holds on to us so tightly, and let us run with determination the race that lies before us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross! On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him, he thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross, and he is now seated at the right side of God's throne. Think of what he went through; how he put up with so much hatred from sinners! So do not let yourselves become discouraged and give up.

so that's what i'm going to try and do tomorrow - keep my eyes fixed upon Jesus.
mom gets her test results back tomorrow. big day. prayers appreciated.

on another note...
check out this sweetness below!

i could stare at his face all day long and not get tired of looking at him! :-]

the night before i left we had an amazing evening at hodel's lake with friends... more pictures to come :-]

home again

2011-08-24T08:25:00.003-07:00

sorry i haven't updated in awhile. i haven't had a lot of time or a whole lot of motivation.
i'm heading back to magdalena today. i tried to go back yesterday and my flight was almost 2 hours delayed out of indianapolis, and everyone who had a connecting flight missed their connection. they put me up in a hotel and i didn't fly out until today. which wasn't horrible, i was just exhausted and couldn't really enjoy my room. but with as often as i fly, i can honestly say that i was well over due for a "bad" experience. so i can't complain.

i'm pretty anxious to get back to magdalena and try to get into my routine again. not knowing where i was going, where i was gonna sleep, when i was gonna fly back, ect ect was really wearing and stressful on top of everything with mom.

speaking of mom, she's home and doing well... test results come in on friday so we'll know what we're dealing with then. to be honest, i'm trying to not think about it. i'm telling myself she's fine. yesterday she looked great - well with the exception of not being able to wash her hair. i would never have known that she had brain surgery a week ago to remove a tumor. so i'm grateful that she's feeling better and looking good. :-]

ever get in those ruts where you heart just hurts so much that you can't really express it?
i know that God knows my heart - He knows what's going on inside, so even when words don't come, He hears, but it frustrates me that i can't find the words to talk to Him. most of the time i'm just so overwhelmed that i just sit there in silence for awhile and turn on music to praise Him. when you're on your knees and only the tears come - not the words. with time i'm sure things will get easier - my reality will become more of a norm, but for now it still feels like a nightmare.

nights

2011-08-18T07:37:00.003-07:00

the nights are the worst for me right now. when it starts getting around 8:00ish i start dreading sleep. it takes everything in me to finally let go of the day and just sleep. my body and mind are long exhausted, but i'm just afraid to go asleep. but it's a different type of afraid. i used to be afraid of going to sleep because i didn't want Jesus to come back while i was sleeping and get "left behind," waking to hell on earth basically.

this afraidness is more like -- the last 6 days haven't really brought good news to my life, so then what's tomorrow gonna bring? it's this thing eating at my stomach with nervousness. let me see if i can explain that more. i know that happened today. at the end of the day, i can stop, look back, see those moments when i completely loss face and fell apart, feel those moments when God's arms were so tightly around me that i could barely breath, i remember when i was with my mom for the day, being with my brother and sister, seeing jesse...

and before i go to sleep i have this thought of 'how can you be sure it's all going to be the same tomorrow?'

the response: i can't.

and usually i can live with that no problem. everyone goes day to day not knowing what the next day will hold. trusting in God to provide, knowing He has it under control, loving Him and thanking Him for it.

however, in a normal world, the majority of us 'know' or rather, have an idea of what to expect. for the most part, everyone will wake up, get their kids ready for school, go to work for 8 hours, pick up the kiddos, go home, eat supper, play with the kiddos, and go to bed. we have 'norms' that we settle into. it's kind of like: yes, God, i know you will provide for me through this day, help me along the way. and everything goes honky-dory, maybe a bump in the road here or there, but for the most part, things went smoothly.

i don't feel like i'll be seeing any "normal" days for quite some time. oh i'm still trusting Him, i'm still leaning on Him - there's no way i could ever do this alone - i'm still waiting on Him to show off and give us a miracle [hint, hint God - smiling as i type that], but right now i feel like i have no constant in my day to day life. my world is flipped upside down.

and at the end of the day, the only things i can be 'certain' of are the things that happened that same day. a new day brings new possibilities, it opens the doors for more bad news, it makes me wonder even more what good all this is doing.

as i type this, i'm realizing that i'm probably grabbing for anything i can get my hands on to hold and control. i don't want to go to sleep at night. i can control that. i can stay awake, where my world is 'known' and i'm comforted, rather than sleeping and waking up in the unknown.

what is it with humans and wanting control anyway? it's not good for us. why do we default back to that so easily? because we're sinners i suppose.

today is going to be a loooooooong day of hospital sitting. my sister and i are trying to come up with fun stuff to do with mom. so far we've come up with a pedicure afternoon, and a movie night with popcorn. if you can think of any other fun stuff to pass time in hospitals, let me know. i'm sure we'll add it to our list.

thank you for the prayers.

if you could pray for my sister, alex, as well, it would be great. she's going through a lot of stuff right now in her personal life and she's supposed to start school on monday. she's worse off than i am. thanks.

life changing moments...

2011-08-17T16:51:00.004-07:00

life changing moments... we all have them.
those times when you have a choice to make... a fork in the road.... to go left or right...
sometimes those choices are made without our consent.
maybe we're too young to understand.
maybe it's something that's out of our control.

when those moments come, for me it's kind of like a brick wall until i make a choice. i try to lean on God, ask for His guidance, His grace and knowledge so i know what to do.

i feel like i've had my fair share of life changing moments...

choosing who which parent to live with at the age of 7
choosing to love people
choosing to believe in the power of God and trust Him with my life
choosing to move to Magdalena

sometimes, like last saturday, those life changing moments come and we have no say in the situation at all. i got an email saying to call home asap your mom's in the hospital.
i went from relaxing in a pool catching up with allison, to my knees pleading with God in a matter of an hour.

today was kind of like last saturday.
it was out of my control.
i sat in that conference room as the doctor spoke to our family and couldn't believe my ears.
first he said the "T" word - tumor...
i could feel the lump begin in my throat...
and then he said the "C" word - cancer...
and the tears began to swell...

those 2 words do not belong in the same sentence with the name of my mother attached to them.

he said that he was pretty sure it was cancer, but wasn't sure what kind, and in 5 to 7 days we'll know what kind we're dealing with and how to proceed with treatment.

i don't believe my world will ever be the same.

i know that this will be used for the glory of God.
how? i have no flippin' idea.
it's pretty hard to see through the tears and pain at this point, but i know that God is truth and He cannot lie, so if He says that all things work together for good, then they do.

but... wow.
this is hard stuff.

i'd appreciate your prayers for our family right now. we're all pretty much walking around in a daze, totally wiped out emotionally and physically. right about now would be a great time for God to give us some strength, because i'm pretty sure ours is all gone.

friends

2011-08-16T19:56:00.003-07:00

so this is my blog.

i figure that if i need to just 'unload' somewhere, that this is an ok place to do it.

this post will probably be pretty personal.

but it's me.

when we go through life, our friends change.

i remember when i was 4 and we moved into the big white house on the corner behind paternosters in fairbury, i met theresa. for 2 years we were best friends.

i remember when i was 6 we moved to pontiac and i was only 2 blocks away from my cousins house. that was probably my favorite place i have ever lived because we were so close distance wise, and we are only 6 months apart age wise. we were best friends [and still are.]

when i was 8 i moved to fairbury to live with my dad and stepmom. the transition was easy from what i remember [dad, mom, you guys may disagree with that statement haha.] then i was friends with mckay.

as i grew older through elementary school, my best friends faded in and out.

when i hit JR high, tess, kristen and i all became inseparable. JR high years are tough. those girls were my life savers sometimes. we cried with each other when boys were mean, we complained about our parents, we were there for one another. although those friendships lasted through high school, we grew apart as we graduated. they got married (i'm still rockin' out in my singleness [HAHA you two! :-P]) and i moved off to mexico.

and then there was lindsey. when i was 16 lindsey and i were basically hooked at the hip. we did everything together. to this day she is probably still one of the people that know me the best, even though we haven't really talked in over 7 years. she held my hand and comforted my heart when things were crazy at home. she was my rock at times.

it was in those high school years that a lot mistakes were made.

a lot were made on my end.

a lot were made the ends of other people.

in those years i grew a very strong hate for the people who had made mistakes in my life.

and satan used that.

a lot.

about the time satan started working overtime in my life, God came into the picture. He had been working in me long before i even realized it. in becoming friends with lindsey, i started attending church. i learned i was a sinner. and i was miserable even though i was a very good actress and could put on the face for the outside world, my home life and inside my heart were ruined with sin.

as i continued to attend church, i hurt. it was one of those good pains though. like after you have a good hard run and the next day you can hardly move because your legs hurt so much - like that. you know it was for the best, and you're so glad you did it, but man it's miserable the next day. i remember crying through church services because i was so convicted and felt so dirty in my sin.

after soul searching for awhile, i finally decided to make that choice for Christ. and i've yet to regret it. i remember reading in Revelations where John talks about Jesus "coming quickly" and just trembling in fear knowing i was not ready for that moment, and also being sick and tired of that feeling.

God took that sin [specifically the hate] and slowly changed it back into love. i can honestly say that it's an amazing burden that was lifted. and although scars remain, time and the Blood of Christ did heal the wounds. sometimes they still get sore. sometimes they get cut open again, but it's never as deep as it was the first time. it never gets cut more than i can handle, just like He promises.

Praise His Name for that.

please continue to pray for my mom. her surgery is scheduled for 1:00 indiana time on wednesday, august 17. pray for the medical staff, and for other family members who will be traveling here to Lafayette tomorrow.

thank you for praying.

continually looking up,

emergency prayers needed!!!

2011-08-13T15:31:00.004-07:00

asking for prayers for my mom, jill

she has a mass/cyst on the right side of her brain and will be having brain surgery at some point this next week.

please pray for:

God's healing hand to be upon her

for the doctors and staff who will be caring for her and operating on her

for her her heart to know the grace, love, and peace of Jesus Christ

thank you for praying.

and to be a little selfish, i honestly don't know if i've ever been this scared in my entire life, so some extra prayers my way would be much appreciated. my mind keeps going back to this story and i know without a doubt that my God makes miracles happen.

i know that His hand is in all this - it's just hard to see, but i know it's there.

i can feel it.

just call me space-cadet

2011-08-11T15:38:00.003-07:00

do you ever have times in your life when you just can't seem to remember everything no matter how many sticky notes you write, no matter how many times you tell yourself "ok raquel, remember to [insert thing to remember]", no matter how many times you stop and review the mental list you have?

the last week [especially 48 hours] has been nothing but me forgetting thing after thing after thing after thing...

yesterday i went to tucson to drop people off at the airport.
i had to go to target and sam's club.
i went back and forth across the sam's club at least 3 times because i kept forgetting stuff that i needed.
i forgot to use the gift card i had at target (it was even wrote down in huge letters for me to remember it...)
i forgot to buy the cereal at target, which meant going to the walmart on my way out of tucson.
i forgot to stop at the walmart after leaving tucson and had to stop in green valley to get the cereal.
i found a "missing check" in our CVE checkbook. i asked everyone and their mother (exaggeration) who wrote it and what it was for - only to find out today after asking for a copy of the check from the bank that i wrote it to myself for a reimbursement.
i went to the accountant's office today to drop off all our records from July and i hadn't even reconciled the check book yet! i also forgot 3 other important things he needed.
i forgot to order tortillas on tuesday; it's now thursday. i was informed last night by a 16 year old that we have 'no food to eat around here - not even tortillas.' since it's thursday, the tortilleria that we usually use was closed so i had to get them from a different place - i'm sure they're not as good as our normal ones.

can i be getting dementia at the age of 25? because i seriously think it's happening.

let's just say at the end of the day i am SUPER thankful that i can throw my hands up in the air and say it's all up to You God because look at how insufficient i am!

new name for the week: space-cadet rocky

update as of 11:00 pm
i forgot my juice on the counter this morning - didn't realize it until i was on campus.
i forgot about my sister-in-law's baby shower this weekend. she's having triplets and i didn't send a gift! thank goodness for online shopping at the last minute.
and i forgot that tomorrow is karla's quincenera and her gift isn't ready yet...

yup. i think it's safe to say that my brain = fried.

peter piper pizza please

2011-08-09T15:42:00.002-07:00

yesterday i got the opportunity to play.

it was a blast to say the least.

jenna wanted extra hands in taking her kiddos on a little outing to Peter Piper Pizza and mine were readily available! so off we went!

kiddos loading up before we left

belem and mariela were in the back seat

followed by fer and belinda

then alyssa (summer volunteer), thadeo, and leo

followed by perla, mili who didn't even make it out of the driveway before falling asleep, and jenna who mysteriously didn't have any pictures taken of her...

and lastly me and geo!

as soon as we got there the kiddos were off to the play place

left: belinda, belem, and mariela right: leo

the little ones are right after my own heart! they went straight for the race cars! yeah! :-]

disclaimer: perla was honestly ecstatic to be there... she looks rather ticked off here, but she wasn't lol

yeah after this picture he went right back over the yellow on the right and refused to move.

and what does a parent have to do when a kid is stuck in the tube 15 feet in the air?

yup -- you guessed.

i had to go in! and of course as soon as i got there, i barely had to say 5 words of encouragement to the kid to get him to go across. basically, he wasn't crossing without an adult haha it was fun though. by the time i got out there claustrophobia had set in and i was about to panic. eek.

after playing for an hour we had some yummy pizza, played some more, and headed home.

i LOVED our car ride home because the kids wanted to sing the whole time. i don't know if i've found anything more soothing to my soul than to hear our kids sing praises to God and really mean it. they honestly enjoying singing praises to our heavenly King. :-]

i thought this was quite comical the other day. the girls would not stop fighting.

sooooooooooooooo.......

they got their ankles tied together and had to learn to live with one another. they had to feed one another lunch, use one broom to sweep, one mop to mop... quite funny. :-]

i must say, if i ever get married and have babies, i have so many different creative punishments in my head i don't know if my kids will ever get the same one twice! lol

and last but not least, a baby photo shoot!

on sunday we were hanging out in the kitchen and realized that soraya (limon y kristi's) is just as long as milagros. Soraya is like a month and a half give or take.... mili is 10 months old...

mili is smiling and soraya is just handing out

left to right: luisa, mili, and soraya

and then the screaming started haha luisa was NOT a happer camper after about 30 seconds of being ooo'd and aaaaawww'd over

a close up of mili's socks... her feet are so small that her socks need taped on! :-]

more creativity! i tell you what, you can't make this stuff up....

thank you Jesus!