January News

Well, January has flown by!

This is my third week on the new job. We had our first visiting group this weekend and it went very well. I am *starting* to get into the swing of things! Although my eyes hurt from staring at a computer all day, I wouldn't go back to teaching!

I wouldn't say I'm "addicted" to Pinterest now, but I would say that I use it a lot and have found lots of helpful things on it. It's a great place for ideas. This month I have used it for 5 recipes already, and several sewing/crochet projects. I'll post my favorite recipes in another post...

Leyla is growing up SO much! She is really becoming quite the singer. I have a video on that for a later post. She sings whenever I'm singing, whenever there's a music video or a movie on or if her toy is making music, or even outside just running around - she's always singing! I love it. I can't wait to see how she develops her singing voice as she grows!

I took these pictures of her one day when I did her hair in pigtails. She was waving to the camera and unfortunately in some of them her hand is in front of her face!

 

 

 

This month we've also been working on planting a garden. It's been a slow process, and we're still not finished. We didn't calculate the dirt right so we still can't plant. Marcos has brought dirt from the mountains every time he goes but the raised bed is still not full! My tomatoes and broccoli are still alive but they're definitely ready to be in the ground. I have carrots, spinach, peppers, and onions in a bed too but they haven't sprouted yet. We also need to buy fencing materials.

 Leyla was a big help :) She wanted to help do everything! We dug up a bunch of worms too and it was so much fun to watch her with the worms, getting excited, but scared to touch them, and then wanting to play with them!

Love my little girl!

New Job, New Activities

I started my new job at Predisan last week. I am really enjoying the daily devotionals and learning more about what they do. Everyone is really nice, and while I knew most of them beforehand, I of course hadn't worked with them. Last week I toured the clinic, CEREPA, and CEDECO in the mountains. I had never been to CEREPA or CEDECO before and really enjoyed the tours. CEREPA is a rehabilitation center with tons of great programs and CEDECO is the base camp in the mountains.

Other than touring, I've been listening and learning LOTS of information. It is a bit overwhelming actually! Pretty soon all the responsiblities will be mine and that is a little scary! I have the whole month of February to train though. Beginning in March, I'll be on my own. Most of my responsiblities involve correspondence with donors and visiting groups or interns. I just have to learn who all the contacts are and what information needs to be received/given. This is my first "real" job so it is definitely going to require more effort and involvement on my part, but it is exciting. I like it.

In other news, I came across a few ideas on Pinterest for shirt-revamping and it has really gotten me interested in learning to sew. (here's the link: http://tearosehome.blogspot.com/2010/01/tutorialruffle-shirt.html) I've been thinking about it for awhile now but never done anything about it. As soon as I get settled into this job and get some other projects done, I'm going to buy a sewing machine and make myself a new wardrobe! :) I am excited about that. My problem is though that I get too many ideas in my head and want to do them all at once! I need to finish one project before I start another! So, learning to sew is going to be my March project, ha.

Here's a picture of Leyla to finish, because I can't blog without a picture of her!

She loooooves those dogs....

Video Update

I haven't uploaded videos in awhile, so today I decided to get it done.
#1 - Leyla singing and dancing out front. I have no idea what she's saying, but it's hilarious.

#2 - Christmas morning, Leyla watching "Toddler Tunes" and singing along to her favorite, "Wheels on the Bus." She normally dances a bit more, but she was distracted with her new toys. She also likes to sing along to the ABC song, and at the end, they kind of pose, so she tries to pose as well - but her pose is a little overexaggerated and super cute :)

#3 - Marcos and dad in the mountains trying to vaccinate the bulls. I took a video because it's funny to watch!

Play Time

Some friends of ours gave us this swing for Leyla when she was a baby, borrowed it back, and then returned it last week. Surprisingly, as a two-year-old, she is really enjoying it! She sits there and swings and eats oranges!

 

 Attack! Leyla loves to wrestle with Daddy.

 Playing with her grocery kart! I put her inside to take a picture reminiscent of one I have of me at her age. Except, I was crying. Leyla is having a blast!

Daily Devotional

As part of getting this year off to a good start....I thought posting about my Bible readings would be a good way to keep me on track. So here are my thoughts for today!

Psalm 139

¹³ For you created my inmost being;
   you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
   your works are wonderful,
   I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
   when I was made in the secret place,
   when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
   all the days ordained for me were written in your book
   before one of them came to be.

This is one of my favorite passages. As I was reading it just now it hit me how special we are to God. It's amazing - sometimes I think about how dumb and insignificant we all are and very NOT special, that all humans are on the same level as far as being sinners and needing God's forgiveness. But reading these verses shows us just how much God loves each and every one of us.

He cares so much that he personally stiches our lives together when we are no bigger than a bean. If He cares about us that much, He must have big plans for us! Who would spend their precious, valuable time on something if they didn't have an incredibly important purpose in store for it? Sometimes (or all the times) it takes us years to figure out what our purpose on earth is, and sometimes we doubt that we even have a purpose. Sometimes our purpose doesn't seem as grand as someone else's purpose. Sometimes we feel insignificant, but we are not insignificant to God.

I know that even if I am still searching to find my purpose, I have one. I have a very significant purpose in God's eyes. How neat is that, that EACH ONE OF US has an incredibly important reason for being on this earth - that we each have a purpose that only we can fulfill? Think about it, the next time you feel insignificant :)

Garden Project(s)

I finally took the seed packets I bought 2 years ago out of the fridge with the REAL intention this time of actually planting them. I did germination tests on all of them and was amazed to find that 100% of the broccoli seeds are viable, and maybe 50-75% of the tomato, pepper, carrots, and spinach viable. The carrots, onions, and spinach are still in the baggies - I went ahead and planted the broccoli, pepper, and tomato seeds to get them started.

Broccoli

So, here's what I did. We brought some old wood back from the mountains and recycled it into a raised garden bed! Marcos went back to the mountains on Thursday, so I did it ALL BY MYSELF. I'm proud :). First I had to cut the grass (with a machete) and without a pick-aze or a hoe, I turned up the dirt. I used a shovel to basically dig holes everywhere, then smoothed it again with a rake. Then I built the frame for the bed. One of the pieces of recycled wood turned out to be shorter than the other 3, plus all of the boards had at least one end that was rotted....but I got it built and I think for a garden bed it will be fine!

That was Thursday. Yesterday, cleaned the pila with Leyla, and planted a small red hibiscus in the front wall garden. Today, I planted a rose in the side wall garden. I was so pleased that it bloomed - it's one of the ones I rooted! It is a pinkish-orange rose, really pretty! When I went to plant it I found an ant nest :( ugh. I had to spray before I could dig, and the dirt was so rocky, I had to dig an extra big hole and bring dirt from the back to fill in around it.

Hibiscus

Rose

Rose, impatiens, dahlia, hibiscus, and more impatiens.

After Leyla fell asleep for her nap, I started work on the other beds. The dogs have made a MESS of them, so I got to work cleaning up around the edges, clipping them a bit shorter, and cutting out the dead branches. I tried my best to put stakes in the spots where they have decided to make their beds, so hopefully they won't lay there anymore! I picked up ALL the trash around the yard and burned it. Then I weeded all the beds - which is tough because we have this thorny weed that is AWFUL and I can't pull it up to save my life! I had to just cut them right at their base so they don't just take over. I guess I'll have to keep doing that unless I can find a way to dig them up - or buy some strong rubber gloves so I can pull them!

Now, when Marcos gets back, he'll be surprised to see all the work I've done! Next thing is to bring rich, fertilized soil from the mountains to fill up the raised veggie garden. I also want to build some window boxes to liven up the windows. Or hang some pots. I love hanging flowers so I'm excited to plan something!

Adios 2011

We had a great Christmas! At first Leyla didn't want to open her presents because she was enjoying playing with her grocery kart. Then she opened one and realized they contained more fun things so she opened them all up pretty quickly!

 

 

 

 

 For New Year's, we went over to Angel's and Carmen's and had dinner, played cards, and threw/watched the fireworks. It was fun but I was so tired! I can't stay up that late anymore!

Then we got news of a death in the family that very night, so New Year's Day we packed up and drove to the funeral in La Ceiba. So after all that and all the traveling, I'm trying to adjust back to normal life and let it sink in that it's actually January 2012!

Here are some things I want to accomplish this year (this is a rough list):
1. Reduce my consumption of coke...I say reduce because I can't quit, ha. We'll see.
2. Exercise more regularly
3. Stick to my budget!!
4. Spend more time in daily devotion.
5. Spend more time outside and less time on the computer or watching TV.

This year is going to bring a lot of changes in our lives. I'm starting a new job soon, hopefully, and with any luck and God's blessing we want to add another little one to our family! So I am going to dedicate this year to being the best wife, mother, and Christian that I can be and have an amazing year :)