Getting Settled

It's been awhile, but finally time for an update on our family. We have been back on the mainland for almost 4 weeks now. Hard to believe, time goes by so quickly. I can't believe the crazy weather here in the northwest. If there's one thing about Hawaii it was the predictable weather. We definitely got lots of rain, but the temp was always pretty predictable, and it was the same year 'round, except in the winter it was maybe in the mid 60s to low 70's whereas the rest of the time it was 70s to 80s. Anyways, so yeah the weather is actually a bit refreshing but I forget that it's the end of may at times and think it's actually winter! This is just weird weather.

Well, we moved into an apartment this past week and it feels so good to have a home. We traveled around visiting friends and family for the first 3 weeks and so this is the first time in about 14 months that we have a home of our own. (we lived with our friends out in Hawaii). God has been blessing us and providing for our needs and it has been wonderful to trust the Lord and see him work the details of bringing us back here and providing this place for us to live.

We have been getting some much needed rest these past couple of weeks. We got a bad stomach flu bug of some sort a couple of weeks ago and it just wiped us out. But it didn't last too long thankfully--I'll spare you the details, but it was the worst sick I've been in too long for me to remember. My husband says that since we've been isolated on an island for the last year we're pretty susceptible to sickness. The boys have already had two cold, one that is still here.

We've already got a home church here too which is a huge blessing. It is such a wonderful fellowship and quite unique to most churches we've been too. God's already used a family in our church to bless us and we just feel really overwhelmed by the goodness of God. We're still not exactly sure all the details of what we'll be doing here we just feel God's blessing on us through all that's happened so far and trust that he'll continue to show us what he has for us in time. My husband is currently looking for a job, so please pray that we'll persevere in faith as we wait on the Lord to provide for us.

Yummy New Treat

Okay, I had to just share one more thing before I go:
This may be an old recipe already invented by someone else perhaps, but I honestly came up with this on my own and had never had it before. So weather it's old or new, it's super easy, yummy and healthy. You should try it.

Cucumber Apple Salsa

Chop: half a cucumber, half an apple(I used braeburn because of the sweet, but not too sweet and firmness of the apple) and chop 1 tablespoon (this can vary for the flavor you desire) onion
and then 1/4 to 1/2 cup cilantro (this can also vary depending on how much you would like). Mix altogether and then squeeze 1/2 of a small lime all over. Mix again. It's so good will tortilla chips or crackers!

Short Update

Today is major moving day for our friends who have been sharing a house with us. They are moving to another house and we are finishing packing our bags and we'll be cleaning house today too, and we fly out tomorrow. Major praise: We sold our van last Thursday! YEA! We didn't get as much as we were hoping but we sold it, and that is what was most important. It was such a relief getting rid of it. Well I'm trying not to stress about the last minute stuff...it's just hard...moving in general but moving across the ocean. It's been so hard saying our farewells and see ya laters to our dear family out here. We are going to miss our church and friends here so much. I've cried a bunch already but I will probably cry more at the air port tomorrow. God has been so faithful to us and blessed us so abundantly. I don't know when I'll post again next since we are going to be in such transition for awhile. Please pray for peace for our hearts and that we'll just continue to trust the Lord, and that the rest of our move will go smooth. I will be in touch. Thanks for your prayers.

Today is Thursday

We had a yard sale last Friday and sold almost everything of what we own, at least all the big stuff. And lots of small random things. It's so hard whittling down your possessions to very little. Here is an idea of what we have right now. All of our possessions, including our boy's things, fit into a medium size bedroom. And basically it will all have to fit into 7 bags. Back in Oregon, we have about 6, 18 gallon rubbermaid totes that we left with Ryan's parent's but that is about it for our worldly goods. It's a good process to go through and to evaluate what is really important and what we need to let go of. It really makes you focus on eternity and realize that it's just stuff and we take it with us when we die. It reminds me of how important it is to store up treasure in heaven because that is what will ultimately last. So, the last thing here that we're waiting on the Lord to provide is a buyer for our van. We have a 1998 Toyota Sienna that we bought when we moved out here and we're praying for a buyer. We leave in 13 days, and it's really stretching our faith and trust in God as we look to him to bring a buyer along to take it off our hands.

Meeting new people

So, I had never heard of "Christafari" before our church began the process to put on this concert. But then again, there are lots of bands and groups I've never heard of. Apparently these guys are fairly well known. They've played for the president even, and groups up to 80,000. Wow. Anyways, it was fun being up close and personal with such a incredibly talented group and getting to know them a just a little tiny bit while they were here. We had a great time having them out.


Last Sunday our church hosted a Sunday service put on by a Christian reggae band called Christafari. (They put on a concert the night before). This is our family with lead singer Mark Mohr and his wife Avion(she is from Trinidad).
The girls of the group Jennifer and Avion fell in love with my boys!

ANyways, just wanted to share a few photos. It was really fun hosting a concert at our church, though so much work! It was awesome meeting this band, and just connecting with people from anther walk of life and hearing new music. It was a great time to be apart of before we leave here.

Today is Thursday

I'm tired. It's hard trying to fit your life into 6 pieces of luggage and a few carry ons. I might have said this before. I somehow had 7 pieces going for our luggage and realized my miscounting today and was a bit stressed about it (we can only take 6). I know it will all work out in the end, but it's hard. I really don't want to move again for a long time. At least not across an ocean. And our whole house is feeling kind of sick, sore throat, tired stuff. We hosted a Christafari (christian reggae) concert at our church this weekend and with all the activity and visiting with the band that's been traveling a ton, it's probably why we've got a little bug now. I didn't go to the concert but i heard it was awesome, but they played at our Sunday morning service so I got to see them there. It was really great.

New Hair

So, God is so sweet to me. I've been wanting to get my hair cut for the last year or so. A year ago I had pretty long hair, we moved out here it and it was so warm that within a month or so I had a friend cut off like 5 inches so it was up to my shoulders, then I layered my hair myself in the bathroom. It didn't look so great down, but it didn't matter since I just needed it to be lighter and I wore it up all the time. So than it grew and 6 months later I cut if off myself again in our bathroom. This time I did a pretty good job, considering it was me doing it. But I still wore it up all the time. Okay, so now I had been wanting to get it trimmed, thinned out and restyled by a professional and wanted to be able to wear it down without it looking like a homemade cut. So, I didn't even pray about it, but God provided me with a free haircut! About 2 weeks ago at church a dear lady walked up and told me she wanted to pay for me to get my hair cut. (She knew of my hair cutting endeavors). So she sent me to this awesome place that gave me a scalp massage beforehand, even rubbed my neck and shoulders too. I got a wonderful shampoo and was so incredibly relaxed by the time the hair cut started, I almost kept my eyes closed the entire time. That was a mistake. I feel that I have the worst --don't like the work luck, but what word should I use? I don't know, I'm tired so i'll just say luck, I have the worst luck with explaining to the hairdresser exactly what I want. Even when I bring in a photo it never turns out right. So, I did my best to explain my desire for my hair before I became relaxed and once again it didn't quite turn out right. So, I was blessed a free hair cut and a wonderful experience while I was there but it wasn't what I hoped. Basically it looked great at the shop, but after washing it the next day and realizing that the reason I liked it the day before was because of all the product(mouse and what not), and she spent so much time styling it. She actually cut my bangs too short and the length of my hair I would have like a bit shorter. So, I have short hair that is constantly falling in my face and I don't own a blow dryer, curling iron, or any hair spray. So the past few days I have been trying to figure out my new hair and how to make it work. I thought about going back and asking her to cut it shorter but than I don't think that I would like the rest shorter when the top is shorter than I would like. Ugh! Hair, gosh, the things that I get frustrated about are so minuscule. I'm learning things through them, though not sure what I'm learning with this yet. So, I've worn my hair the same for about 3 1/2 years now, so maybe getting what I didn't want will help me come up with a new hair style.