just some thoughts

So, what do you do when your plan A, B, and C fall through?

First of all, you realize how stupid it was to put your faith in your own plan, in a person, in a company, in someone other than God, who has promised to do more than we could ever ask or imagine.

When we decided to move to Pasadena, it was a step of faith, but at the same time we felt very confident in our secret weapon: the fact that Elvis's company has a plant nearby. We imagined he would easily get transferred and so it was a step of faith, but not a huge one because we felt like we could count on that job.

Well, it didn't work out.

We also imagined that housing would not be a problem b/c FUller offers affordable (in comparison to other California prices) housing.

Well, that didn't work out either.

No apartments in our price range. There was one house, right in front of Kelly's house which would be awesome, but it wasn't the cheapest and wasn't exactly what we wanted. However, it was our in-the-bag plan B (or was it C or D by this point?) b/c it has been available for over 6 months. Surely no one would get it right now. Except they did. Plan B out the window.

So...where does this leave us? Three weeks away from our hopeful departure date, and no housing, no job, no flights...but also no job or housing or possessions in El Salvador after mid-December. Not the most comfortable state to be in. But if God confirmed time and again that NOW is the time by helping us get the residency papers so quickly, selling everything so quickly, etc, we have to trust that he still has something else up his sleeve...something better than all of our Plan A's.

He does that just because he loves us and loves to surprise us, just as we took delight in preparing Suzy's birthday surprises. She had never even imagined the possibility of watching a movie on a huge, movie theater screen because she had only seen Elmo on her tiny DVD player. How could her little brain dream of something so much bigger and better? But when we took her for her birthday surprise, she was in complete awe that something so amazing existed and she didn't even know about it. She hasn't stopped talking about it since! See where I'm going with this?

I think this puts us exactly where God wants us....he's helping us learn how to trust in his goodness b/c literally we have no other options left. Every attempt we have made at trying to come up with our own "best plan" has fallen through.

Let me be honest with you...I'm scared to death. I want to make sure Suzy has a roof over her head. I would love to be able to assure those people that ask me "But you have a job right?" that we did in fact have all of our bases covered when they raise their eyebrows at our seeming lack of preparation.

Could you take time right now to pray for us? For an apartment, for a job, etc etc etc. For emotional transitions too. Thanks friends...I am looking forward to sharing some kind of great news soon, and I'm sure it will be bigger and better than anything I could ever imagine!

My lil' ladybug is 2!!

I can't believe our little punkin princess is two years old! Here's the play-by-play of the weekend:

On the eve of Suzy's birthday, Elvis and i went to another wedding (2 of 3 in one month's time!) of another American teacher who snagged a Salvadoran! love me some intercultural relationships!

After the wedding, we ran home to finish decorating cookies and cupcakes for Suzy's birthday party the next day.
When Suzy woke up, she unwrapped her present (a Dora doll) and ate pumpkin caaaaaaaaaaaaake for breakfast (really it was pumpkin cheesecake bars....i'll have to put up the recipe soon!)

Then we were off to her favorite park for her party! When we go to that park, she always wants to look for grasshoppers and bugs and butterflies, so I thought a bug themed party would be perfect!


Suzy's favorite part was the butterfly cookies...i bet she ate the frosting off of at least 10 cookies and then put them back =) Our friends went wacko over Nutella with fruit....no one even bothered to get a plate....just fought over the jar! so funny!

Suzy with her Abuelita! Elvis's mom made 100 rolls with beans and cheese for the party....yum!

Entertainment was bubbles,

Bug bean-bag toss,

(high-five!)
...and a plastic bug scavenger hunt.

Then it was cupcake time! Judy made the ladybug and bee cupcakes, and they turned out so cute! (even though they were starting to melt!)
Suzy didn't want to wait for all the singing and kept saying "Want some bug muffins! Want some bug muffins!"

She started with the caterpillar's head....Then needed to try the ladybugs (she loved the Raisinette spots):

And she didn't want the bees to feel bad, so she tried one too! Notice the multi-colored mouth:

End result: sugar high!!!!!!!!!!

So we came home and she ate corn on the cob and cauliflower for lunch (also her faves) to balance out all the sugar, and reminisced with Papi about her favorite parts of the party:
We asked our friends not to bring gifts to the party since we will be leaving soon, but our friend Kathy made Suzy this sweet shirt with a picture of her and Kathy's son, Neville....so cute!
And Nana and Grandaddy sent a card since they couldn't be here:After her nap, we took Suzy to the movie theater for the first time to see Happy Feet 2! She's never seen Happy Feet 1, but she loved it none the less. She's been talking non-stop since about how the big rock of ice fell down (kaboom!) and showing everybody how the penguin danced. THen we ordered pizza for dinner (also her fave) and Wan Chen came over with a bday present and so did Elvis's aunt.

It was an extra fun day celebrating an extra fun little girl!

pumpkin caaaaaake

Suzy was lovin' her pumpkin cake (aka pumpkin pie) leftovers tonight....

my favorite part is around the 25 second mark....

so grateful

I've realized over the years that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I started realizing it when I would get really sad on my first few Thanksgivings here, to the point that my co-workers in the Preschool had to make an emergency run to search for a pumpkin pie one year to cheer me up. But then we started celebrating Thanksgiving with all of the American teachers at Wally and Judy's house, and I started looking forward to this day again every year. And THEN, 2 years ago after one of these feasts, I apparently ate so much that there was no more room for a sweet little bebe growing in my belly, and she wanted OUT. Pumpkin pie was the last thing i ate before Suzy was born, and it is her FAVORITE. That sealed the deal...Thanksgiving is my fave.

As I mentioned, Judy has been cooking Thanksgiving meals for the gringos for several years now and each year she adds a dessert and new cute handmade decorations. This year, we read the Thanksgiving story and she had made Pilgrim and Indian hats for all of us!

Check out that bird:

A dessert sampler platter (and that pumpkin you see is paper-mache, made by judy!):



A little Thanksgiving romance:


Suzy devoured her punkin' pie!
After lunch, we came home and all took a nap despite the massive house-cleaning-out/sorting that needs to be done to get ready for our move. Then we had dinner (I still can't believe we ate again) at our Taiwanese friends' house. Not a typical Thanksgiving dinner, but a great time sharing with friends.

We are purposefully being thankful this year for our move and what God has in store for us in Cali, even though we're still in that tough stage of trust because even though we are less than 4 weeks away from our move, we still don't have a place to live nor a job nor flights. Or anything else for that matter. But we are giving God thanks for what He is going to do, which is sometimes tough when you want to just whine and ask him why he hasn't come through yet. But he's never let us down, and i don't think he's gonna start now! So we're thankful.

Gettin' ready for Christmas SALE!

hey yall, my sis-in-law is having an awesome sale at her etsy shop!

Buy Any Scarf or Fingerless Gloves and Receive a FREE Bar of Handmade Soap with your order! Sale good through November 30th.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/thegoodolive

Mention my name when you buy something! =)

Missions and CUltures fair 2011

THursday and Friday I was a judge for our Missions and Cultures Fair at our high school. I was so impressed with these kids...each year they step up the competition! Interestingly enough, the hardest part was actually eating 12 meals each day...we had to judge all the food too! Sounds like a good thing, but we were sooooo full. I brought 5 take out boxes home for Elvis and Suzy yesterday!

weekend update

This weekend has been really different and fun and a great way to distract ourselves a bit from our upcoming move and from work...my work has been very hectic lately as we are preparing for our upcoming accreditation visit on Tuesday. We have to be re-accredited every 5 years, and it's time. For the past year, I have been in charge of getting all the paperwork together and make sure everything is in order and so I feel like it's ME and my work being accredited! A little pressure, but hopefully everything will go OK.

Anyways, yesterday Elvis and I were able to escape to the beach for the afternoon and evening to celebrate the wedding of one of my good American friends from work. It was fun reminiscing about our own beach wedding and had a great time dancing and eating good food with a great view.

Dinora came back yesterday to watch Suzy for us and we invited her daughter to come too. She's 8 years old and Suzy and Daniela had the best time playing and eating pizza!


Today was also a fun and different Sunday for us because Wanchen invited us back to her house to make dumplings again. Actually, they made them for us and invited us to just sit down and watch a movie with them! It was delish (although I started to have a reaction to some sesame oil in the sauce but i kept it together), and nice to not have to worry about lunch today.


Suzy's favorite part about going to their house is their new little dog, Nio Nio! She lets him nibble and climb all over her. Every night, saying goodnight to Nio Nio is part of the bedtime ritual!