4 Years at a Glance

It's unbelievable that as I'm typing this, it's been almost 4 YEARS since my last blog post and even longer since I've stood on Parguayan soil. So much has happened in my life since coming "home" from Paraguay after spending an {unplanned} extended amount of time there.

5 months after being back in the US, I met the guy who I would soon call my husband.

He made a ring out of rosewood and a box from a tree in his parents backyard 

and asked me to take his last name. 

(Who wouldn't after that?!)

We tied the knot 6 months later.

We honeymooned in Italy!

After a year of marriage, we traded our tiny shack adorable bungalow at the lake for more square feet and less of a drive to some of our favorite towns. 

(Above: our house at the lake. This was the living room AND dining room! Below: our new crib)

We started doing some amateur photography work and called our project "Anchored Media."

I inherited my step-cat, Bugs and together we adopted a Boxer rescue that we call Bruno from a family friend. 

I got my license in Property and Casualty Insurance after landing a job at an insurance agency.

Those are just some of the highlights, I never ever would have imagined that I would have done any one of those things as soon as I did but life can take you crazy places and I've never been one for a plan. I'm looking forward to blogging more though to keep track of life. Reading over some of my old posts have really jogged some memories! Here's to the next aventura. 

Wow, I can hardly believe that it's almost been 5 months since my last blog. So much has changed since my last post. I've sadly fallen back into the American way and gotten used to all of its luxuries once again. Part of me hates that I've let myself get comfortable with how life is here. While I'm being honest, I guess I could just throw something else out there: I've been avoiding my blog. It may sound ridiculous, but it's the absolute truth. Reliving the memories of the greatest adventure of my life is something I wasn't ready for. About a month ago, I wrote down a blog that i had full intention of posting, but for whatever reason, I couldn't get the strength to sign in. It's been really hard to think back about everything that happened and all the incredible people that I met without having to remember the realization that they're all several thousand miles away and I'm not sure when I'm going to get to see them again. While saying my goodbyes, it was so easy to say that "I'd try to be back as soon as possible." But making it happen is so difficult. It's like being between a rock and a hard place. I'm here with all of my family friends that I love, but at the same time I'm missing out on my "other family" and friends that I love. The fact that life is still going on there without me is a hard thing to swallow.
Since I've gotten back, a few things have happened. Less than a month after I got back to the states, I got what I thought to be my dream job, using a certification that I got in high school, taking care of an 87 year old lady. My fourth day on the job, she sent me to Wal-Mart. On the way back, I was going down a road that I had gone down several times in my life, it was just another day on the same road and then--BAM: a car pulled out in front of me and I was involved in my very first wreck. Everything was going in slow motion. I was in complete shock. Because I had just gotten back in the country, I didn't have my own car yet and I had been borrowing my grandfather, but to run errands, I had borrowed Ms. Dunson's car. It was totaled. It's funny how things work out sometime. After things had calmed down a bit (meaning after I quit screaming... haha), I realized that the family that was in the car that I hit were Hispanic, and they didn't speak English! It was so amazing to be able to talk to them in their language and make sure they were ok.
My job is very fun and how everything worked out with getting it, there's no doubt that it just had to be the hand of God. I'm still working for Ms. Dunson, and she's been teaching me so many things. Sometimes when I'm working I'll imagine myself back in Paraguay. Washing dishes or cooking, talking to Caroline and Camille and them making fun of me :) So many times I want to say that I've been so guapa that day, but no one understands that here but me... bummer. ;)

Anyway, the Lord has definitely watched over me lately. I was able to buy a car that is payed off! (Yay God!) And I'm still able to keep in touch with Paraguayan friends. The big question everyone wants to know is when I'll be returning to Paraguay. I'm still not entirely sure when that can be. I would absolutely love to get back ASAP to see everyone, but on the other hand, if I decided to go back on a little more of a long-term situation, I want make sure that I do everything like I should and I'd like to take some bible classes also. That brings me to my next thought: I've been thinking about taking some courses for Christian ministry. I think online would be great, but I'm not sure if I'd commit to more of a classroom setting. So keep that in your prayers!

I guess I'll close this blog out for now, and I'll definitely try to commit to blogging more from now on. God bless.

Being Back

I've noticed myself getting more and more used to the lifestyle of being back in the US, and it makes me extremely sad. A few weeks ago, I was using a clothes dryer as opposed to a clothes line, for the first time in 6 months, and that taking a hot shower, that didn't require flipping a switch to turn the electric shower head on to make the water hot. 

I'm still getting asked if I'm excited to be back, and how I'm adjusting, and I'm still not sure exactly how to answer it all. I guess the best way to put it into words being 100% honest: I'm a different person. I don't know that I'll ever be fully adjusted, or excited as I could be, to be back.  In saying that, I do not mean at all that I'm not extremely happy to see my family and church family and friends again. But life has a different meaning. 

Tonight, Allisha and I spoke to the church about our trip experience, and it was so incredible to be able to show pictures and talk about what happened in Paraguay. Of course, just seeing the photos and hearing the stories, don't completely serve it justice, and none of them may ever know the people or the lifestyle of Paraguay as I have got to know it, but now they have a little piece of what goes on in a country that a lot of people don't even know exist. 

My past couple of Sundays (and some nights during the week) have been spent with the Spanish congregation of my Church. It still feels so surreal having complete conversations with them in Spanish, and they have really given me a confidence boost in being impressed with how fast I was able to pick up the language.  

Return Trip

I've officially been back in the states for 10 days. The trip home didn't go as smooth as I'd hoped for, but I'm still alive, and wasn't mugged, so all in all, it was ok I guess. It was my first time to travel alone, and God put some wonderful people in my path on the way to help the travel much easier and interesting.

I landed in Miami at about 5 PM on December 18. My first 5 minutes back in the US were so surreal... I was expecting the dramatic language change in that whenever I got back here, everyone would be speaking English. That was not the case at all. I heard just as much Spanish in Miami as I did in Paraguay. All of the airport employees were Hispanic, with only a handful of exceptions. It did catch me off guard though, when I got into the food court area and there was an Indian man wearing a turban. I had completely forgotten the existence of people from India, and especially their use of a turban... The smell of Subway made my taste buds go insane, but not insane enough to break down and spend a million dollars on a sandwich and chips... I had a few hours to kill, but no one to kill them with, so I decided to just go ahead and go to my gate to wait for the plane. Luckily, there was a small plasma TV hanging from the ceiling in the giant room of people, broadcasting CNN. The meteorologist was doing his spill about the weather and about how North Carolina and a few other states were having the worst storm of the season, and that he would hate to be the pilot of American Airlines having to land in Charlotte and look down on that mess... Fantastic... I was flying with American Air, and going to Charlotte... what are the chances... For some miraculous reason, we got to Charlotte without any delays at all, but due to the weather, my parents and I had no other choice but to stay in a super cool hotel for the night until the ice melted :) There is a ton that I've noticed in differences already, but I'll save that for the next blog. For now, I'm just throwing out the official, I'm back in the States again, and I'm alright.

Despedida

After over 5 amazing months in Paraguay, it's now my time to go home. It was a hard decision, but a decision that I had to make. I have made a lot of friends in Paraguay, and will miss them like crazy. It has been a huge learning experience, and I'm looking forward to taking my new found wisdom to my home country and sharing it with everyone there.

Sunday, Ken and Christie threw my a going away party, "Despedida," that turned out amazing! Several of the neighbors came, pretty much the entire church, and other friends that we've made along the way. Saul and Ken put their chef skills to work and made home-made pizza for the entire huge crowd, and Christie did what she always does best, the computer. We had a slideshow of a few pictures of my time here and some Christian music videos projected on the wall. And the Pastora (Pastor's wife) even baked me a cake! We all had a great time, and I'm going to miss everyone here very much.

Stove top for everyone!

Last year I got to spend Thanksgiving with the Hispanic congregation from my local church. I remember thinking what an awesome experience it was fun to do a little something different. I had no idea one year ago that I'd be spending this Thanksgiving in Paraguay, but it was definitely something I'll always remember. Another missionary family came over (with awesome food home-made American food) and we cooked up some ourselves (including stove top stuffing from Ken's mom, wohoo!). Some of the neighbors also came over to have lunch with us. It was cool getting to watch them try food that is so completely normal to us, and them having no idea what it was.

Happy Hour

If you read my last blog, you have already seen a few on the tons of children that live in this neighborhood. Since there are so many, I decided to have a little something every Sunday to teach them a Bible story and provide a little snack. Oddly enough, the children's ministries here are called "Hora de Feliz,"...Happy Hour.

Sunday was my first time and it went super. We had told them about it earlier in the week, but apparently they had forgotten that it was Sunday, so the girls and I went outside to remind them. As always, there were about 10 kids sitting on the front porch of our house just hanging out. I asked them if they were coming, and they all acted as if they had no idea what I was talking about. I reminded them of what we were having, that it started in 15 minutes, and to bring colored pencils if they had some. They all jumped up as fast as they could to run home to get their pencils, and tell the rest of the kids in the neighborhood. I think the final number ended up being about 18 children in total, some of which that I had never even seen before. It was a super turnout and I was so excited. I read them the story of creation along with a little slide show. Then afterwards, they each got a paper and were assigned a day of creation to draw. (The picture to the left is two of the most roudy kids of the bunch. Everyone was so shocked to see them sitting so quietly and contently drawing their pictures.) Everyone went above and beyond of what we were expecting and they put a lot of time and effort into their drawings, older kids too! Some of them didn't even want to stop drawing to take a group picture. We also served popcorn and Caricia (here's version of Kool-Aid).

The past few days, several of the kids have came up to me and told me that they couldn't wait for this Sunday's lesson, and that they had so much fun drawing and doing coloring pages. It's so shocking to see how something so simple can mean so much to them.