We made it!

This is for any of you still checking this blog. We are in Lima, Peru! We landed late Monday and had an interesting experience. Luckily its been good so far and we're enjoying some slower time (packing time and goodbyes were a little more intense).

For more stories and all future posts, please bookmark:

www.theroadgoeson.net

It's been fun!

In transit

We're officially headed that way. Sunday we headed toward Texas and Monday morning we left Tennessee, not to return for a couple of years. Weird thought; it hasn't really sunk in.

It was strange to walk through Ken and Suzanne's house, checking that we were all loaded up, when in fact Shaye's crib and changing table were still there, all the household furniture was still in place, our coffeemaker was still on the kitchen counter, Shaye's feeding seat was still at the table...it just didn't feel like we were actually leaving. (Those are all being taken by lovely people in Tullahoma and we are thankful for their help in getting our stuff cleaned out and put to use elsewhere.) Shaye was playing in the backyard with Suzanne and the dogs. We had gone to church, had a lovely send-off, then returned home for naptime and more packing. Besides all of the getting rid of stuff and the UHaul trailer, it felt very much like a normal Sunday and that house felt very much like home.

We were very sad to pull away from our life in Tullahoma. We were loved by so many people and really settled in quickly. We loved living with the Smiths and will miss having meals with them where we sit around and talk as equals. I will miss seeing Shaye run to the door calling for Suzanne when she hears someone come in. We will miss having the option of calling friends for a coffee outing or dinner and a movie, or going to small group on Sunday nights or having guy/girl nights where the guys watch sports finals and the girls go out.

What a connundrum! That we have been so unbelievably blessed to have a wonderful life in Abilene, that we missed so dearly when we first moved to Memphis, where we had a wonderful life that we missed so dearly when we first moved to Tyler, where we had another wonderful life that we missed dearly when we first moved to Tullahoma, where we had yet another wonderful life that we are missing dearly already. I know Peru is just another wonderful life waiting to happen and I am so excited to meet our new friends and learn a language and figure out how to feed a toddler from open market fare. I am thankful that our problem is having so many people that we love and enjoy that we can't stay near to all of them.

So we're in Texas now, finalizing lots of small details, giving away the rest of our stuff, figuring out what 300 lbs of stuff just has to get to Peru and what doesn't, sleeping...I'm glad to have the long drive finished and plan to make the most of our last week in America. I've already had Starbucks, mexican food, homemade peach ice cream...and there's more to come, not to mention lots of family and friends to see one last time. It'll be a good week.

Please be praying that this is a restful/fun/productive week for us.

Oh, and this will probably be my last post on this blog. We've begun a family site in order to compile blogging, updates, photos, etc. For future deep thoughts, please bookmark www.theroadgoeson.net .

10 DAYS!!! AHHHHHH!!!

Yeah, so I'm moving to Peru in a week and a half. Yikes! It's no real surprise, in that we've only been talking about it forever, but I got so used to talking about it, I'm kind of surprised that it's actually here.

I liken it to getting married or having a child. It's something you want, you plan for, you get excited about and really want to happen. Then you realize that it is happening for real, that there is no turning back, that your life is about to change, never to be the same again, and you panic. Not that you're not still excited, or that you doubt your decision...it's just huge and you react accordingly. How in the world did I get myself into this?! I'm not sure I can do this! Why didn't I just keep my mouth shut?! Oh, boy, here we go!

I think that's okay. I'm not changing my mind. There's no turning back now and it will be great. That's what everyone says, so we'll make it happen.

It's crazy to think that I, of all people, will be living in South America soon. I can look back over the last few years and see so many ways I have changed, ways God has been preparing me for this transition. I used to be much more passive, but I had a job where I had to stick to my guns, so I learned to do so. I used to fear the unknown and believe that comfort comes from familiarity, but I have seen too much change in the last two years and found joy everywhere we went to still believe that fully. (All you have to do is take a tiny piece of the familiar with you and start over.) I used to have to resist my desire to get more stuff, make my house exactly how I wanted...never be satisfied with what I had, but now I yearn for the freedom from stuff that comes naturally with packing our entire lives into suitcases. God is so good, and in His hands I can do anything He asks.

In the meantime, I have work to do, so I can't focus on fear. I've given myself permission to ignore it until we get on the plane to Peru, then I can cry the entire way if I need to, but my family needs me to keep it together long enough to get us and all our necessities onto that plane. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

Still, I have to say...AHHHHHHH!!!

Adorable

Just enjoy. I hope it makes you smile. I sure did...got a little misty even.

What's new with the girls?

Well, between Shaye and I, we have made some changes this week. For example, guess who wore big girl panties all day Saturday?

Now, she had as many accidents as she did successes, but the day as a whole went much more smoothly than I necessarily expected. We set a timer and went to sit on the potty every twenty minutes. The accidents happened when we were in between trips, so she was being a very good sport. She was more likely to sit on the potty long enough to actually do something if we gave her a book or read one to her, so we did. Cute, huh?

Also, we counted it a success that, when she did wet herself, she was very upset by it and came calling for help. That means she didn't like the feeling, which means she's more likely to catch on to how it can be avoided more quickly. At least that's what we hope. We're not pushing fast at this point, but I just wanted to give it a try and see how it went. Oh, and her treat for successful potty stops are chocolate Teddy Grahams. Woohoo! Keep it up, big girl!

Now for the change that Mommy has to report: I cut my hair! I've had it pretty long for a while, and I've been messing with it being curly at the same time. As in, I've blow-dried my hair about 10 times since Shaye was born...you do the math. It has never really cooperated in the way I wanted, so I headed to Dillard's with a couple of pictures printed out and a loose idea of what I wanted. The first round resulted in a not-so-good-look for me. She initially styled it by blowing it dry, curling it with a curling iron, and setting it with hairspray. Um, not gonna happen that way at home, so I decided I would wash it and style it myself and see how it came out. See for yourself:

Ugh! Since my hair is only wavy on top and is actually pretty straight underneath, this was kind of like a half-hearted mullet. Not so much what I wanted, so I headed back a couple of days later to keep cutting. What do you think now?
Shorter than I had planned, but it feels really good, the curl actually works better, and I feel kind of cute, so I'm happy. Kyle is getting used to the fact that it is shorter, but the mullet had to go.

Here's to taking small steps forward!

Stats

Official numbers are in. Shaye is now 26.5 lbs and 31" tall. That means she is a little short and a little chunky for her age, but she's back on the scale. Now for the interesting comparison...she weighed less than 20 lbs in mid-January, meaning she has gained 7 lbs in 5 months, or 33% of her body weight. The other interesting fact is that she went from wearing 9 mo size clothes at 1 year to wearing a 3T shirt yesterday (moving through 12 mo, 18 mo, 24 mo, and 2T). Mostly she wears 2T shirts and 18 mo pants, but she'll outgrow 18 mo pants here before too long. And she's already wearing one pair of size 5 shoes.

The other day, Kyle got her out of the car when we got home in the evening. She had fallen asleep, so he gently carried her inside to put her to bed. I got our stuff out of the car and into the house and was starting to go about my usual business when I realized he wasn't coming out of her room. I peeked in to see him sitting in the recliner (basically the most comfortable chair in the house, or world), just holding her as she slept. He saw me and wrapped his arms around her defensively, as though to keep me from taking her away. We haven't had opportunity to hold our sleeping daughter recently, so he was soaking up the moment. I don't blame him; there is just something so tender and vulnerable about a child sleeping in your arms. The funny thing was, as we whispered back and forth, I realized how much more of his lap she took up. It doesn't seem that long ago that he would hold her to fall asleep and she would stretch from his shoulder to somewhere on his stomach. Now, with her head on his shoulder, lying at an angle, her legs were hanging off of his side at his waist. She just looked so grown up. It was a sweet, special moment as we absorbed yet again how much she has changed and how much we have been blessed to witness.

On a journey...

So, it's been a while, and not because I don't think of you all or check your blogs...I just haven't sat down with the intention of posting. It's been busy, which did help break my rhythm at first. We've traveled, traveled again, had company, helped with Vacation Bible School, and then recovered for a week.

In update, during that time:

1) Shaye has gotten huge. We have her checkup tomorrow, so we'll see how big and tall she is, but she just looks big to me. Keep in mind that she was very petite (as in off the charts low on weight and about 25% height) for her first year. No more! Chunky monkey alert. She is also cutting her fifth molar, even though she skipped her canines? Not sure on that one, but she has about a dozen teeth. She loves being tickled, eating with a spoon (all the time! Even crackers!), washing her hands, putting on her crocs by herself (most of the time, at least) and singing in church. She also has learned to fold her hands to pray, which is really cute, though it only lasts about 20 seconds at most.

We are in the early stages of potty training (would love to be through with diapers by the time we move to Peru!) and she has both peed and pooped in her little potty several times. We started because she would pee on the floor as she stood naked in the bathroom waiting to take a bath. So I got a potty chair for her to sit on and wait, just thinking that maybe she would catch on to what was happening. Well, the second or third time we did that, she did both numbers and helped me flush it down the big potty. We're nowhere near done yet, but I'm very proud of her progress thus far.

2) The team has raised all of our work funds for this year and are within about 5 G's for recurring years after that. This is huge! We have been raising funds for years and may be done soon. Big sigh of relief, all together. Whew! And considering we fly out for Peru on August 25th, it's a good time to be able to shift focus elsewhere.

3) I have been on a personal journey of trying to be environmentally responsible, cost-effective, and healthier. I started jogging a while back and was faithful to run three times a week for a little over a month. Then we started traveling and I lost my momentum, though I will be getting back on that horse as soon as possible. (Any good words of motivation? It's hard to get going again!) We have gotten more purposeful with recycling anything that we can, and I have avoided bottled water. I heard somewhere that it takes 2 or 3 L of water to make 1 L of bottled water. And a cow drinks 250 gallons of water a year (I think that's right...), so milk is quite inefficient as well. Anyway, I decided that I can drink my water out of a cup and make sure the world doesn't run out too soon on my behalf. Baby steps.

I have started using cloth grocery bags. Let me plug the bag thing - it is so great! How many times have you had more plastic bags than you can hold? These cloth bags are larger, so you can put light stuff on heavy stuff, still lift the thing, AND it has a shoulder strap. Brilliant, I tell you! WalMart also sells lightly insulated bags for cold stuff for $1.50 (cloth are $1), so it's not like you can't afford to add one a week to your grocery bill for a month or so. I only use 3 or 4 regular ones and the one cold one for a week's worth of food. I put cold stuff into that bag as I shop, so I don't have to worry if the milk got too warm or anything. It's wonderful. I even stick in my own plastic bags (I have the mountain of them, like everyone else) to put meat in, or anything I think might drip. Then I feel okay chunking them, like I used them to their full capacity. It just works for me. And hey, if you want to help the world even more, get Kiva bags at kiva.org as your shopping bags. Then the money goes to a good cause. I'll move on...


The other facet of this adjustment for me is trying to shop for locally grown, in season food as much as possible. Suzanne (my adoptive mother here in Tullahoma) gave me a cookbook/textbook I had been wanting called The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters. She basically teaches you how to use the food you can find at its freshest, which naturally means it tastes better before you cook a thing.

The book is also chock-full of good food information, outside of recipes, such as which kinds of potatoes to use for which purpose, tricks to make dishes easier or more flavorful (If you're not sure if soup needs more salt, put a small amount in a bowl and add salt to test it. It's right where profound/genius meets DUH!) , or (my personal favorite right now) why grocery store produce is not the best to choose. We all would kind of acknowledge that farmers' market food is better, but do you know why? Well, let me tell you: Local farmers often grow heirloom varieties of produce. That means they produce the same line of goods that farmers grew way back when, before grocery stores were supplied with shipped goods. Why does this make a difference? Because nowadays they cultivate (plant lingo for "breed") new types of fruits and vegetables, not for their flavor, but for their ability to hold up in transit. That's why the stuff at the store probably looks better than some of the stuff at the market, but it just doesn't taste as good. Interesting? It is to me. If not to you, then my apologies for babbling about it.

Our first attempts have included braised chicken legs with tomatoes and onions (delicious!), squash soup (2nd try was better, I like an alternative to squash casserole), sauteed cauliflower (good), white beans with rosemary and garlic (delicious, if you like beans), and I really want to try my hand at homemade pasta, a peach/blackberry tart, and scones. The lovely thing about this book is that it is not focused on the recipes, but the principles behind the recipes, so that you can adjust several things according to your ingredients or preferences and still capture the flavor of your basic items. Lots of fun, a little cheaper, healthier...good times. Plus, I will be able to basically do all these things in Peru.








4) So now that it's summer, Shaye and I are participating in a few new activities. For one, Shaye loves hanging out with her friend Ana. Anytime we pull up to their house (where we meet once a week, and go swimming whenever), Shaye excitedly says, "Nana!" and almost leaps out of her carseat when I get the straps off. Aren't they adorable in their pool floats?


A new staple in Shaye's and my daily diet is a good panini. I have never been a sandwich person, but I have discovered one that I find delicious and I make them very regularly. It contains guacamole, which Shaye has decided she really likes (will dip anything into it), so we almost always have some. My sandwich is as follows: Pepperidge Farm Oatmeal Bread, hickory smoked turkey, swiss cheese, guacamole, honey mustard. Yum, yum! Shaye likes ham and provolone, with a side of guac for dipping. This handy machine is called the Griddler. Suzanne is a really good cook, so I have access to quite a few nifty things in this kitchen, but I have used this one far and away more often than most others.

Oh, and I didn't win the ice cream contest with my super creamy Mint Chocolate Chip. I was officially the closest second place holder in the competition's history, but I still think I should have won!

That's all for now. Here's to hoping I'm back sooner this time!