Likes

A list of the things I enjoy here, so far.

• The mountains. We are surrounded by gorgeous views in every direction.
• The weather. With the exception of days where it rains all day, the weather is generally great.
• The market. I love going to market on Saturdays. The produce is great, but really I just love the environment. Getting to see people I otherwise would never meet. Going to the same stand to get those little bananas every week, and seeing the lady recognize us. She laughs at my Spanish, but I think she likes that we try.
• The children. With very few exceptions, the younger children here are so sweet, and very friendly. This is great for Olivia, and I look forward to the day when she can communicate enough to really have some good Tico friends.
• The need. I don't mean that I like the fact that there are very needy people here. I mean, not in the typical "like" way. I just love the fact that God has sent people here, and sends people here regularly on teams, etc. to minister to HIS people. Our God is so caring and compassionate. Even though I don't get to go out as much as I would like, I love hearing about peoples' lives being changed. There have been so many instances where God has drawn people to Himself through a physical need, such as a home or medical care being met.
• Teams. This one is such a huge part of our ministry here in CR. Teams come and go on a regular basis, and while it's hard on our family in some ways, it is so wonderful to constantly meet new people, and to be able to see God at work in their lives. I love to think about how they go home and change the world around them, wherever they may live.
• Prayer Partners. It's such a blessing to get an email, like we did today, from someone just stating how they are praying for our family. It is so encouraging to know that people care about our family, but also that they care about people they've never even met who live here with us in Alajuelita.

Indian giver

I'm officially taking back my promise to post a list daily. Two reasons - I physically cannot some days (i.e. we are gone from sun up to sun down, our internet isn't working, I'm brain dead, etc. You get the picture.), and I think it borders on annoying... especially when I have nothing important to say.

But, speaking of nothing important to say, on to today's list.

Things I've heard broadcasted from a loudspeaker in CR. (Most of the time, the loudspeaker is attached to the roof of a car, truck, etc. Many times the loudspeaker is the same size, or bigger than the vehicle it is attached to. Seriously.)

1. "The Egg Man" - A guy that drives through the streets of Alajuelita (and other towns?) advertising that he has eggs for sale, from the back of his truck.
2. A clothing store that has a sale going on.
3. Political ads.
4. And of course, to be expected, the guy who wants everyone in the neighborhood to know he spent a lot of money on a sound system for his sweet ride. This is usually the same guy who spent more on his "dubs" than the car is worth.

I think there will be more posts to come on this topic, but I need to learn more Spanish so that I know what they are saying...

Character Traits - Part One

Been thinkin' a lot today.
Here's a list of the things I hope we can teach/model for our daughters.

1. Patience
2. Faith - trusting God completely, even when it seems foolish to others
3. How to Forgive
4. How to be forgiven
5. Kindness
6. Compassion
7. Selflessness
8. How to obey, even when you don't want to (Parents, those in authority, most importantly - God)
9. Modesty
10. Confidence in who they are - not tempted to give in to peer pressure
11. How to laugh at yourself
12. How to deal with disappointment in a healthy way
13. Self-Control
14. (And most importantly) LOVE

I think I will keep adding to this list. Do you have any suggestions? I'm sure there's lots of "good ones" that I've forgotten. This are just the ones I've been dwelling on today.

A Day at Home

What I've heard today, in the four walls of our home:

Whining
Crying
Laughing
Backtalk
Whining
Whining
Screaming
Crying Louder

Get the picture? Please tell me other people have days like this... I am ready for bedtime, and it's only 7:30.

Childhood Movies

Tonight we borrowed the movie, The Aristocats, from some friends. Jeremy nor I had either seen the movie, but it did get us talking about favorite movies we watched as kids. Here's a list of a few of ours... I think when we go home in a few months we'll have to try and find some of these for our girls to watch.

Pollyanna
Mary Poppins
Jungle Book
Robin Hood
Lady and the Tramp
The Fox and the Hound
101 Dalmatians

There are probably many more good ones that we'd like to share with our daughters. What were your childhood favorites?

five things I do daily.

1. Clean-up baby poop.
2. Wipe spit-up, bottoms, faces, hands, feet...
3. Bottles: make 'em, wash 'em, boil 'em (reminds me of Bubba Gump)
4. Pick up toys.
5. Squash flies. Yes, I'm serious.

I know, I know, it's a glamorous life I lead. I wish I could blame where we live, but let's face it - with the exception of the flies, it's pretty close to the same daily list I had in Jax.

But it's all worth it.

Nightstand

Here is a list of all the books I'm "currently" reading. As in, most of them I have started but not finished. If I've actually read the entire book, I'll put it in bold. What's on your nightstand?

"Radical" by David Platt [i just started this last night, but i am planning on reading along with our home church as they go through this book for the next several weeks. looking forward to hearing the sermons that will go along with each chapter! - thanks ape]

"Have a New Kid by Friday" by Dr. Kevin Leman [i actually read this entirely before, but now that we are dealing with some new discipline issues, i thought i might skim through it again. i highly recommend it, he has a very practical, no-nonsense approach to discipline that i love.]

"Bringing Up GIRLS" by Dr. James Dobson [i started this book about a week or so before ava was born, and i really love what i've read so far... but that was to be expected. after all, it's dobson.]

"Living Abroad in Costa Rica" by Erin Van Rheenen [we bought this with a gift card just before we moved to cr, but i love all her insight on living here, although i haven't read more than a few chapter so far.]

"Go Into All the World" - a mission journal [this was a gift given to us by a dear friend, and we have loved reading through all the various scriptures and quotes that apply to our current 'job'. it is a great gift for anyone that has a heart for missions, or is preparing to go on a mission trip. we both love it.]

"A Wife After God's Own Heart" by Elizabeth George [i think i may have read this entire book when we were engaged, but i can't remember if i finished it. i pulled it out on my nightstand again, looking forward to a re-read soon.]

"Covenant Child" by Terri Blackstock [this was left here by a mission team, and i haven't started reading it yet - it is a christian novel, which i'm typically pretty skeptical of. but, since we don't have lots of christian bookstores here (none, that i'm aware of) i thought i would grab it before it was thrown out. i'll let ya know how it is.]

"The Parent You Want to Be" by Drs. Les & Leslie Parrott [i started reading this book when i was pregnant with olivia, yes, olivia. i don't think i ever finished it, but i remember thinking how great it was - focusing on who we are verses what we do... going to read this after i finish the first parenting book on the list.]

Adventures in Shopping

Hipermas - A store, owned by Wal-Mart, that is almost identical to Wal-Mart. Most things are in Spanish, and the prices are in Colones, but you can find a LOT of things that you would find in a typical WM back home. The prices are another thing, but I've said enough about that already.

PriceSmart - Basically a Costco or Sams' Club-type store. You purchase a membership. (Funny anecdote: The guy took my photo for the membership card with me holding Ava. So in my picture it's my face with Ava's face right beside me! That cracked me up.) Anyway, you can find lots of interesting things here - better prices on meat, donuts (haven't seen them anywhere else), frozen stuff, and most importantly - coffee creamer. French vanilla. Everything else I've seen is powdered, and it's just not the same.

Pequeno Mundo - This is pretty similar to Big Lots/T.J. Maxx stores. Today we made a quick run there to purchase plastic bins that will hopefully better organize our medicine closet at the Team House. Kelly is working on getting everything organized before the next medical team comes. They also have cheap furniture (relative to the other stores), lamps, baskets, clothes, cleaning supplies, etc. There are also a few kids toys and home decor stuff.

Universal - This is where a lot of the girls' Christmas presents were purchased. It's 95% toy store and 5% art store. The perfect mix for our girls! The prices again aren't cheap, but we were able to find a few things for each girl.

MegaSuper - The closest thing to a local grocery store that we have. It's pretty close to our house, only about a 10 minute walk, just around the corner. They have lots of standard grocery stuff, diapers, bread, etc. You can also pay your electric, water, cell phone, internet bills there... at the cash register. Yup, we pay our bills at the grocery store.

There are about 1,000 other stores that we haven't ventured into yet, but I know they exist! 

Oops! Missed a day already.

[Hmm, maybe a list every single day is an impossible task. I already missed one.]

Anyway, here is today's list: The ways/methods/excuses our sweet Olivia uses to get out of going to bed.

1. I need to go to the bathroom.
2. I need two and five sips of water. (Yes, she says it exactly like that.)
3. I'm scared.
4. I need music.
5. I need a night light (one is already on).
6. I took my socks off and my feet are cold.
7. I need a bandaid for the bump on my head. (Which is non-existant.)
8. I need my Eeyore.
9. I need covers on (or off).
10. There's a bug on my wall.
11. There's a snake in my bed.
12. What was that noise? (In CR, that could be a 1,000 different things.)
13. Who is that honking at us?
14. I need Daddy.
15. I need Mommy.
16. I forgot to kiss Ava goodnight.

I'm sure there's some I'm forgetting. Those are just the ones that were used tonight. What excuses do you hear from your kids (or have I covered them all)?

For Better or Worse

Today's list is not about marriage. It's about the things that are different here in CR. For better or worse...

1. Diapers are the same price.
2. Diapers are NOT the same quality.
3. Formula costs about the same.
4. The scoop in the formula is measured for one ounce, so you don't have to guess how much to use if you want a 5 oz. bottle.
5. There is a CR craigslist. It only has a few postings per day, and they can be from anywhere in the whole country.
6. A LOT of people drive motorcycles here. A LOT. And they're very, very loud.
7. The light switches are sideways. They turn off and on from left to right.
8. We have a light switch in Olivia's bedroom that controls the laundry room/closet light, which is around the corner, inside another bedroom.
9. It gets dark every day around 5:30, and light every morning around 5:30.
10. Since things are less spread out here, there are a lot of things within walking distance of our house. Small grocery store, small hardware store, mechanic, copy place, etc. It is just a little crazy getting to them sometimes... (see #6)

I promise to try & make this more interesting as time passes. I'll quit making comparisons eventually, because I'll forget how it was back home. Well, maybe not. Ha!

A List a Day?

I started this blog for my family & friends to have a glimpse into our daily life here in Costa Rica. I'm not sure how much time I'll actually be able to commit to blogging, so I'm thinking of trying to add a list each day here. They may be random thoughts, things we need to do, or just a list of what we did that day. I can't promise it will always be interesting, or even meaningful, but I will try to keep this up. I think it will be a nice record of our time here, however long it may be. (I'm hoping I don't regret making this blog...)

So, for today - I will start with a list about our Christmas experience here.

• Ticos celebrate Christmas on the 24th, at midnight.
• EVERYONE, kids included, stays up until midnight to open presents.
• They then play with their presents until 2 or 3 AM. Including electronic cars, fireworks, etc.
• We were up at 6:15 AM with Olivia - full of excitement to see what was in her "socking".
• Jeremy and I were ready to go back to bed at approximately 8 AM. (We didn't, but we wanted to.)
• This was our first year with a fake tree.
• I really missed the fresh tree scent.
• I really didn't miss all the needles everywhere on the floor.
• I'm not sure when we'll take the tree down. I feel like it'll be kind of sad without the tree in the corner.
• We were given some money from family members to buy presents for the girls. It was quite interesting.
• Ava got a blanket w/toys attached and a entertainment bar (?) that dangles toys overhead. That was about $80.00. Yes, you read right.
• Olivia got lots of little (dollar-store quality) toys. She also got one big item, a Dora dollhouse - which is entirely made of plastic, and cost about $65.
• I'm not complaining about the quantity of gifts they received, just surprised at the price difference.
• We were able to really use our nativity set "What God wants for Christmas" with Livi this year. (Thanks, Hortons!)
• She wanted to open all the boxes at once.
• We ate a nice Christmas dinner with the Gammage family.
• We watched "Alvin & The Chipmunks" Christmas DVD approx. 10,000 times.
• We watched "Elf" four times. (Love that movie!)
• Olivia learned how to say "cotton-headed ninny-muggins"
• I cooked a turkey breast in a crock pot for the first time.
• It was yummy.
• Olivia was able to talk to all her grandparents, aunt, and uncles on Christmas Day.
• Skype is wonderful.
• We got to take Christmas cookies to the guys at The Refuge on Christmas Eve.
• Olivia decorated the cookies. :)
• Ava slept through that whole exchange. :)
• We were also able to buy Christmas gifts for Maria and her two children - to be delivered tomorrow. (She's the lady who received a new home for Christmas)
• We made our birthday cake for Jesus - Olivia, Luke & Ben all sang & blew out the candles.

Not a super-interesting start to a blog. That's just a glimpse of our Christmas. What did your family do for Christmas this year? Your answer doesn't have to be a list.