Feliz Pascua!

Happy Easter Everyone! Feliz Pascua is Happy Easter in spanish. Nate and I enjoyed our Easter weekend in Iowa this year. Saturday we were able to enjoy the day outside and really got alot done in the yard. And got a list of what we will be doing in the yard this spring!! I can't wait to get the backyard spruced up! Fun!

Other than that we have been enjoying very busy lives. Between our work and Komen ... it hard to get things done around the house. Nate has had to be the one to most of the laundry lately! But after mother's day hopefully things will slow down! Here's to hoping.

Well the Easter Bunny did find us here in Iowa (i was scared dodger had killed the easter bunny, so i was relived when i woke up to full easter baskets this morning! ;-) The pups got lots of treats and special peanut covered cookies and a toy for each of them. They are currently playing tug of war with them! And nate got a basket full of sugar -- his favorite! Pez, chocolate bunny, jelly beans and my favs m&m's.

Well i hope all of you enjoyed your Easter Sunday and had time to think about the meaning of easter... here are some parting thoughts...

Philippians 3:10 -12

I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die."--

John 11:25-26

"He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me."--
Matthew 28: 6-10 KJV

ON ADOPTION NOTE: NOTHING NEW :-(

Go Wildcats!!!

Boys Go To State!!!

Okay, so we are in Kalida. Nate was finally able to take a few days off so we have a 4 day weekend!! It's nice to family and have Nate here (so i don't have to drive home alone!).

Yesterday we spent out at mom and dad's house helping getting things around for Beth's baby shower and dinking around. After dinner we finally said some Pinochle had to be played so we started. 3 hours and 15 minutes later we were done with one game!!! And I bet you guys are all dying to know who won! Me and Mom!! Yippee!! It was a long fought battle but the pretty team won! I know there willl be a rematch this weekend Nate and Dad won't want to end the weekend losing. :-)

We also were able to hear the Kalida Boy's Basketball Game on the radio. They were playing in the Regional Finals... and WON!! Go Wildcats!! Now the town square has tons, of toliet paper strown all over it!! It sounded like Jordan had a very good game, and I hope them the best at State this next weekend. To bad we won't still be in town to cheer them on... Here We Go Wildcats, Here We Go! I remember going to state with the girl's when I was a sophomore. It was so much fun!!!

As for adoption stuff, no news..... still waiting to hear we have been put on a waiting list. Hopefully the Colombia people have nothing wrong with our paperwork! So as we wait we continue to fill our lives with lots of things to do. So much we can't slow down.

FYI - we are staying in Iowa for Easter this year, nate and I talked about going camping with teh pups and just relaxing close to home. Maybe then I can catch up on some much needed house work!!!!

As we continue to wait............ and wait.....................

Paperwork is out of here!

Okay Finally our paperwork has been sent to Colombia. Now this means that we are not even on a waiting list, that could take another 3 months. We are now hoping just to be on a waiting list before our one year anniversary of starting this huge paperwork chore -- June 12th.

Until then we wait.... and watch sand slowly trikle down the hourglass.



Who knows when our prayers will be answered... but we will try to patient while we wait. We are in for a long one!!

Patience is the greatest of all virtues.
Cato the Elder 234 BC

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!!

After 13 years Nate still gets me the most beautiful flowers every year.

I am thankful every day of my life for an extraordinary husband!!

Hope you all have a wonderful day and enjoy life!

More of the trip - Cartegena!

Okay are you sick of hearing about our trip yet?!? I am just getting started, i have finished the two days we were in Bogota, now let's blab about our two days in the most amazing city ever!! And our plane flying in to Cartegena looked like it was going to land in the water! (my first thought was the miracle on the Hudson!!) but the runway was probley only a stone's throw away from the water that surrounds Cartegena, Colombia. We went from the airport straight to the hotel had a debrief-- which was great to recap on so much that has happened. We then had dinner at our lovely hotel which was great that we did not have to be in a bus or plane for a couple of hours. (Nate's legs must have been cramped!) I know my butt was sore!! So relaxing at the hotel for an hour was inviting.

The next morning we got our new armed security guard, Cesar, and started where we left off. We visited with a few clients who have graduated from trust groups to individual loans. They receive more money than of the people would in a trust group. The first man was a hard-working man. Fabio, who started getting loans in 2007 and has graduated to an individual loan to invest in his business and offer better life conditions for his family. He sells homemade snacks for schools and small shops. He gets up at 2:30 am cooks goes to the shops and schools to sell his product and then goes to sleep from 9 to 2 and then gets up to sell his snacks to the kids when they leave school. He has 4 employees and has already started to look for someone to subcontract his work so he does not have to work so hard.

A extra business that Fabio has (because no one we met had just one business!) was that he had 3 tvs and an xbox and a playstation. He then rents hours for 1000 pesos (equal to 50cents) for kids to play. Ingenious!! Nate wanted to stay and show them a thing our two on their futbol game. But we had places to be. Our next stop was Claudia's.... she started as a saleswoman of products sold at corner shops and/or on street corners. It was there she acquired two of her display cases to begin her dream:

owning her own business!

She has been an independent worker for 6 years. Her services are selling premade meals, washing motorcycles, Internet cafe, selling minutes for the cell phone (which quite alot of the people we met did this) . She started with a trust group and that is where she invested in her very first business selling roasted chicken.

She had a very good location on a very wide street corner and quite a bit of space. Her short-term goal is to suit the place with a covered terrace and improve the facade. She is an excellent example of what opportunities you can give these great men and women by given them funds to start!!! Claudia wants to this place to call the attention of all the people who walk along the street. She was very happy!! This is a pic of her son Christian. He was a cutie.... but was upset that i did not know Spanish. I must not of fooled him with my poor interpretation of a Spanish speaker!!!

We then met with yet another trust group (what a great bunch they were!!) oh... they had a two women in their group who had not paid their loan that week, one had been in the hospital but the other was there and they asked why she hadn't paid. She said it had been a horrible week. You just felt so bad for her! The rest of the group discussed this circumstance openly and agreed to give her only one more day to pay it off! It touched your heart. This little girl was a cutie!!! I wanted to take her home. And she was enthralled with Nate showing her the digital camera with her pic on it.

Okay you may see a trend in our pics... we took lots of pics of kids and babies! You know of course!!!! But you really see the impact/ benefit the next generation is getting from these loans. Doesn't this little boy look like me?!?! He almost came home in our suitcase, but as thoroughly customs worked me over i don't' think i would have made it very far!!! Right, Nate?

Our last day :-( we really did not want it to end!!! The opportunity coordinators made it our choice if we wanted to go out in the field or just sight see this day. We were only in Cartegena once so we decided we can sight see some other time and we wanted to get every client visit we could out of this trip. And boy did we make the right decision. The final day we visited the poorest of the poor. This community was only 2-3 years ago the city dump of cartegena, the smells, the homes, were just depressing. But the people we met were happy and grateful and praised to Lord what they were given!! Amazing!!! What a show of Faith! This woman lived in this area. She had a store in her house that sold school supplies and medical supplies. She said she worked from 6 am - 10pm but so nights she gets no sleep because people knock her door to get medicine. She is the only one in the area that has medication, saline, pedialite, amoxiciline, and anything you can imagine. Obviously they do not have prescriptions! She was newly married and her parents live near by. She was all smiles!!And we just met more and more people. It's amazing because i did not even bore you with them all!! If you want to hear more about our trip or see our many pictures just stop on by our house and we will fill up your mind, heart and time with everything we saw!! If you let me know in advance I'll even make supper. I can make an authentic Colombian meal of Ajioca (colombian soup) Nate purchased some packages that you just add water and chicken to the mix. ANd we can pour you a cup of Colombian Coffee. Juan Valdez.... the best kind you can have! Juan Valdez and Shakira (the singer) is Colombia's Celbrities.

I can't tell you how much this trip meant to us, it was insightful!!

Just make sure to keep in touch with our next trip to Colombia... which will happen as soon as we can make it back and our adoption process (which is not going anywhere right now Nothing New?!?) Check us out at our blog: www.farandaway-ouradoptionjourney.blogspot.com

Also think about visiting Opportunity International's website www.opportunity.org to learn more or think about going on your own trip to see what they are doing. (ask Nate and I and maybe we will go with you!!)

Can you tell we enjoyed it!!!!

More, and More -- Make me stop!!

Okay so you just heard about our first full day in Bogota. Does it make you want to go yet!! We had an armed security guard with us everyday and never felt threaten by anyone. I just think Colombia gets a bad rap.

Day 2 - Feb 4th in Bogota

This day we visited clients near the historic center of Bogota. We met with another trust group, some of these members have been together for 3 years. We then walked to Chiciuron's shop/home. Chiciuron sells eggs out of his home and will also deliver them. With a loan from OI he was able to purchase a car to deliver to homes farther away. He has no employees sells about 20,000 eggs a day. note: in Colombia they do not refrigerate eggs so that is a little leery?!? He also told us that he has been dealing with his wife who left him. The volume he sells really hasn't increased that much but he was in major trouble with loan sharks before so his loans from OI helps him. The loan sharks charged him 20% interest a day, that took alot of his capital.

We also met Maria Angelica. She sells wonderful empanadas -- which are delicious! She has 3 children and 3 years ago she started a loan with OI now she is selling 110/120 each day which will raise her 100,000 pesos. She did say that everything is now more expensive (like her supplies to make the empanadas) but she sells an empanada with a bottle of coke for 500 pesos.

She cooks out of her tiny kitchen and sells her stuff out of a mobile cart. She rents her apartment for 250,00 pesos/month plus services like $20 for electricity which she needs in the Early morning when she makes her empanadas.

One other woman was a great inspiration... notice most of the clients are women?!? 87% of OI's clients are women Amazing right!!! This woman (i can't remember her name) sold arepas out of her home. Arepas are a traditional Colombian food which is ground corn and made into a pancake sortof. You can slice them in half and put meats or cheeses in them. EXCELLENT!! one great thing about this trip -- Nate and I found out the food in Colombia is wonderful, we will do just find down here!!!!

This woman started with selling arepas out of a grill on her front stoop. Now with a loan from OI she has a custom grill in her home and makes everything from arepas to hotdogs. She has been able to send her daughter to the university and she will graduate to be a flight attendant. She is a proud mom and hopes to take a vacation to Santa Marta soon!!!

Oh and didn't we take tons of pics of little kids. This little boy was so shy until Nate gave him a jolly rancher and he just lit up. So Cute!!!

Our last meal in Bogota was authentic as well... YUM. (can't you tell we ate well!) this sopa (soup) is called Ajiaco. It is a potato based soup with chicken and a piece of corn on the cob in it. the also served several toppings to put in it. Avocados, salsa, sour cream, lots of others. This is the national dish of Colombia. Also we tasted a great drink Feijoa it is a fruit in Colombia with sugar and water added.

Very good... can't wait for Cartegena.. off we went more flying. We landed in Cartegena and checked into the Hotel. Ready for another day... it is getting closer to the end of trip and we weren't ready for it to end quite yet!

Are you ready for me to stop writing yet... not going to happen! Still full of so much love for the country and the people we meet. And i am not even sharing everyone with you. Do you want to go yet? Everyone would just love it there... the people are so enduring and full of faith. It renews your love for the Lord just listening to their faith and what they have overcome.