Visitors!

We love it when people visit us!  (*hint, hint*)  And you'd think living in an exotic location like Los Angeles would bring in dozens of families on vacation.  Not so much.  We get a few every summer, but not as many as you might imagine.  I guess people do other things, like hike in Colorado or go boating on a lake somewhere rather than come to the smoggy big city, never mind that we have beaches and nice hotels and hiking and attractions and wonderful people--like us!  Okay, enough of a travel sales pitch.  All that to say, a few weeks ago, when I met a darling young girl at Girls' Camp whose family was planning to vacation near L.A., I immediately suggested we meet up!  I didn't really think she'd see it through considering I was scaring myself away with my over enthusiasm, but she did! Last week we met her and her family at The Getty Museum, a beautiful art museum not too far from us.  Amazing architecture, beautiful gardens and fountains, and, of course, lots and lots of art--it made for a fun afternoon.  Well, that is to say, their oldest daughter, an art major, loved it.  The younger...was patient, we'll say that.  That evening we went to Santa Monica Promenade to watch the street performers and ate dinner together.  

I forgot to take pictures.  Well, I did snap one shot of the gardens before putting my camera away and totally forgetting about it.  Typical. 

 But, here it is, the one I did remember to snap!

A few days later, we enjoyed some more company and a church picnic!  Bill Schick brought Manuel for his routine doctor's appointment, and Karla got to come along!  Karla was one of the 5 girls who lived with me at CVE.  We were reminiscing that, even though that was just a little over a year ago, a lot has changed for both of us!  She and her younger sister, Tania, are both in the process of being adopted by Bill and Joan.  This was Karla's first time in the States!

Sunday, as I said, was a church picnic.  It was gorgeous weather, the food was fantastic, and the fellowship even better!  And, as is tradition, the kids broke a piñata!

 Little Evy takes a swing at the shiny star!

 Her older brother's turn.  I love that he's wearing his candy bag as a hat!

 Now they're blindfolded!  I love everyone's faces here!

 Some of the spectators.

Unfortunately, my camera died before I could document the mad scramble for candy which is so classic!  Sorry!

The rest of the week was full of catching up with my lovely Karla.  She's so grown up!  This last year she did a fantastic job with the 1st and 2nd grades at the school on CVE campus, and this year she'll be teaching English.  It was so good to catch up with her!  

 Ice cream at Manhattan Beach Creamery.

Tiramisu cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory.

Apparently we bond well over food!  Random fact, we accidentally got cheesecake on National Cheesecake Day, so the place was packed but the cheesecake half price!  

We spent time at the beach, went for a walk, sang together, and generally goofed around.  She got to spend the night with me too, which was a lot of fun!  

Actually, Karla's spending the night worked out perfectly because Jonathan left for a quick trip up to Cupertino (near San Francisco) for, of all things, a job interview at Apple.  Speaking of job interviews, thank you for your prayers regarding our future.  These next few months will bring lots of change to our family, and sometimes the unknown can drive us crazy!  Me, especially.  But we're learning the daily surrender of choosing to trust God and wait on His good timing!  And He's never late!  Some sweet words that have encouraged me lately:

"Be still my soul: the Lord is on your side;

Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;

Leave to your God to order and provide;

In every change He faithful will remain...

Be still, my soul: your God does undertake

To guide the future as He has the past.

Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake;

All now mysterious shall be bright at last.

Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know

His voice who ruled them while He dwelled below."

I love this modernized version of the hymn sung by Jadon Lavik.  Check it out.

Be Still My Soul by Jadon Lavik

"Normal" Life

These precious summer weeks are flying by.  I can't tell you how much we both couldn't wait for this "last" summer, as we called it.  The last summer with Jonathan spending the majority of time at home--working, but at home, not out in the "real world" with the demands of a full time job.  The last summer of being just a couple, no little kiddos vying for our attention.  The last summer of life at the Beach Cottage, since, as our family grows, so will our home.  Since most of August we'll be traveling (a conference in Portland, a vacation/babymoon, weddings in Illinois), and September will be the dissertation defense (yikes!), and then it'll be moving (somewhere) and a job (hopefully!), and eventually Silly Goose's arrival into the world...well, let's just say it's been our goal to enjoy these precious weeks of "normal" life at the Beach Cottage.

And they're going too fast.  

What have we been up to?

 Well, this.

There's nothing like being able to grab a beach towel and your sunglasses and walk down to the sand.  Boy, have I missed this!  And I know I will too!  I mean, a day at the beach can be planned.  A week's vacation can be anticipated and thoroughly enjoyed.  But, stepping out the front door to spend a few extra minutes soaking up the sun--err, getting one's daily dose of vitamin D?  Who gets to do that?  We do.  And we're making every effort to fully savor our last summer by the beach.

But we haven't just been beach-bumming it, trust me.

I bake.

Mmm, actually this banana bread is in the oven right now.

And it smells sooooo good.

Is this classified as a craving?

Maybe.

Traveling so much meant eating out all the time.  Granted, it was on the company card, but after a while, it gets old.  I missed my cute little (cantankerous) oven, grocery shopping, and--I'll admit it--even the cooking.  It's not something I ever thought I'd enjoy, but I really did miss it.  It's good to be home.  Not to mention all the wonderful fresh summer produce in abundance!

Let's see, what else?

 Home improvement.  

These are my new mint plants growing outside the kitchen window.

From my Mom's mint plants in Illinois, graciously brought all the way out to California by my Father-in-law, I dearly hope these make it!  I'm not known for having a green thumb, but I'm willing to learn!  And I sure love having a little green right outside my kitchen!  

Jonathan's been busy too.  Surfing.

Just kidding, that's not all he does!

 Actually, this is what he does most of the time.

Write, write, write.

Did I mention the dissertation is scheduled for September?

Speaking of which, I'm way behind on the editing part.

We've also been relishing our Sundays back in Altadena church and getting together with family and friends.  The other week we went to a free performance of Shakespeare in a local park with some friends, out for pizza another night with another friend, fireworks with aunts and uncles and cousins on the 4th, midweek bible study with our much-missed South Bay group...

And I was worried I might get bored!  Suffice it to say, that's not been a problem!  God has given me plenty of opportunities to not only keep busy, but also prepare me for that big daunting thing called motherhood looming ahead in just 4.5 months!  I've started spending a few days a week with a darling family with 2 little active guys and a third due to make an appearance next month.  Getting to serve is a blessing, but being mentored and seeing a wonderful mother in action?--even better!  

I've also been blessed by getting to spend time with these crazies!

Some of Jonathan's cousin's adorable kiddos!

My days with them are full to bursting of giggles and FUN!

Basically...we have a full life!  And we are loving it!  This really has been a wonderful blessing of a "last" summer!  

Back home.

The Beach Cottage welcomed us home to stay just a little over a week ago.  The following days were some of the craziest yet with dozens of visitors pouring into L.A. to celebrate with Ben and Suzy on their wedding day!  The ceremony was beautiful, the bride was beautiful, the flowers I brought home after helping cut the cake were beautiful, and, most of all, the fellowship was beautiful!

I especially enjoyed a traditional Sunday afternoon walk with this dear girl!

Well, not really traditional, I guess.  

We usually walked the dusty paths of CVE; this was a beach walk!

Jonathan's family was also in town for the wedding and stayed the following week soaking up days at the beach and enjoying family time with aunts and uncles and cousins.  After seeing them off, I celebrated the fact that we were home to stay by giving the Beach Cottage a good going over!

Then...well, now, I guess, life starts getting back to "normal".  Is it even okay to say "normal" on this blog dedicated to chronicling the "abnormal", the times where everyday life gives way to adventures?  The fact of the matter is, our life feels so far from back-to-normal I think I may keep up this little chronicle, just to have a record of the adventures we seem to find even in the everyday stuff.

Like take the past week for example.  You can imagine the unknown mounting ahead of us: Jonathan's dissertation defense in the fall, graduation in December--right after we welcome the upheaval of Silly Goose's arrival into the world, and then...well, a job.  But where?  Here in L.A.?  Back in Illinois, with the same company that just took us all over the world and close to family?  Or somewhere else entirely?  And with job opportunities come other decisions like where to live.  If you can imagine all that, then you can probably imagine the kinds of conversations we've been having.  To top it all off, just a few days at home in dear California and I was clinging to the idea of never leaving again.  I like it here.  I love our church, our romantic little Beach Cottage, the gorgeous weather, having extended family close by.  God had to do some major work in my heart as I listened to Jonathan's big dreams because his heart hasn't settled here like mine did so quickly.  When things came to a head and I shut up enough to listen to the Spirit's call to be surrendered to His plan for us, it seemed like all we could do was wait.  Yes, there were major decisions to be made.  But nothing looked like it would be cleared up in a week, no matter how many times we hashed it out.  Wait.  Be patient.  Know God in this moment.  It's a tough place to be in, but a sweet one.

And then, BANG!  It's all thrown back at us and into our conversations again.  Nothing will be settled in a week?  No, probably not.  But we did find out that a day can bring some pretty significant opportunities.  In the course of a few hours, a new idea was on the table casting a different light on the upcoming fall.  What will come of it?  God only knows.  But meanwhile we've have a good lesson in waiting on Him, 'cause He's got some crazy adventures up His sleeves, that's for sure!

The Bible Stories, Our Story: One and the Same

I wrote this post back in January before we ever left on our adventures.  The book I was reading seemed a Godsend in preparing me to face "adventure"--which, as fantastic as it sounds, can be downright freaky.  Anyway, I share it now as a way of summing up our sojourning, coming full circle, in a way.  Rereading this entry reminded me to see our experience, along with any experience in life, as part of The Story.  The Story that begins with God creating a world, the rebellion that followed, and the glorious plan of Redemption that has been unfolding ever since.  Each new day brings a new adventure.  And each adventure is sent by our loving Father to open our eyes to the wonder of experiencing him!

I'm reading a book about a man who, feeling distanced from the Bible he once knew through his Jewish upbringing, sets out to walk the torah (the first five books of the Bible).  He finds that what began as a way to connect with his roots through an interest in geography and archeology, soon grows into a very real connection to the words on the page as the stories become more concrete.  He walks with Abraham the three day journey to Mt. Moriah to offer up Isaac, runs his hands over stones like the one Jacob used as a pillow when he saw the vision of heaven, follows Joseph the slave to Egypt where he's raised to prime minister, and marches out with the Israelites tasting their fear as the hard-hearted pharaoh sets chase.  This is called experience.  And I think it's how the Bible was meant to be read.  Maybe we can't travel to the middle east to spur our imaginations about what it must have been like, but I don't think God ever meant for these epic adventure stories to be simply words on a page.  We might not be in the same geographical location, but God so often places us in the same spiritual location as those Old Testament heroes.  Can we say we sinned, not just Adam and Eve, and therefore deserve to be put out of paradise?  Or we believed God and it was counted to us as righteousness as was said of Abraham?  Or we were brought out of Egypt like the Israelites by God's outstretched hand working signs and wonders?  Isn't that what makes the Bible the Living Word?  It's alive because those stories are relevant to us here and now.

Anyway, all that to say, I've loved reading about this man's adventures and how they led him from head knowledge about the God of the Bible to heart knowledge: really knowing the God of the Bible.  That only comes by experiencing God--which is the greatest adventure.  And this is what the author had to say referring to his guide leading the adventure,

"As much as he knew about the Bible, he seemed to know more about the nature of travel, about how to go places, leave a bit of yourself behind, take a bit of the place with you, and in the process emerge with something bigger--an experience, a connection, a story.  Maybe that's one reason the Bible has such enduring power: At its heart, it's a great adventure tale."

Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land through the Five Books of Moses by Bruce Feiler

We're all sojourning.  Traveling through life, and just like the patriarchs, trying to make sense of the world, the circumstances we find ourselves in, and the God we've not yet seen who seems to be leading us on extraordinary paths full of unforeseen adventure.

And that last line I wrote?  "Unforeseen adventure"--whoa, I had no idea!  Yes, the experiences chronicled here have been adventures in so many ways, but right now, as our sojourning comes to an end, I see no end to the adventures!  In fact, I think there's more "unforeseen adventure" ahead than ever before!  

Why does this feel so much more comfortable?

After another night on a plane (I must confess, the novelty of trying to get a few hours sleep while flying overnight has long since worn off), we touched down in Buenos Aires and proceeded through our fastest airport experience yet!  We were driving away after just an hour and a half.  And that includes the time it takes to wait in line at passport control, collect baggage, proceed through customs (where we always get the third degree for bringing in so much equipment), renting a car, and even grabbing something to eat.  Tell you what, we are pros.  Or things just went incredibly smoothly.  Take your pick.

Four hours later we made it back to dear Venado Tuerto (remember what that means?) and checked into our trusty lodging spot, Miró Park.  It's so good to be back in a familiar place where people make sense when they open their mouths!  That evening I picked up some supplies at the local grocery store while Jonathan was at José's office making a game plan.  As I walked back to the hotel from the store, I was struck by how comfortable and beautiful the scene around me was.  The clock tower over in the plaza was bonging the hour, the air was that crisp cool that comes with late fall, only a few colored leaves were still clinging to the trees, and a few locals were gathered around sipping maté and chatting over the day.

I wish I could describe it better.  I should have taken a picture, but...confession.  I forgot the camera.  Again.  I know, I know, it's awful.  But at least we have our phones.

Next morning, we got up while it was still dark.  No joke, it doesn't get even remotely light here until 8:00 am.  Seriously.  After a tasty breakfast of good ole medialunas and café con leche, Jonathan was out the door by 7:15 with Leandro to do an installation at a farm several hours away.  And it was a long day.  He didn't get back until midnight.  The good news is yesterday was a much shorter work day, with a late start and early finish.  We spent the evening dining at one of our favorite restaurants and then grabbing coffee at our favorite café.  Boy, is Argentina great.  Maybe it's just the level of comfort from having spent so many weeks here, or maybe it's the language barrier not being so much of a problem.  I don't know, but I know I'll take Argentina over Brazil any day!

This morning we went back to a local church where we've attended services before.  Although it's all in Spanish, we both definitely enjoy the worship section of the service!  They have a dedicated worship team, and everyone is really enthusiastic!

We're now in our last week of travel abroad.  It will be interesting to see how the next few days play out, but with harvest at an end, our main task is to finish up and get feedback from the teams that tested our product here.  It's hard to believe we're coming to the end of this fantastic adventure!  But for now, we'll just focus on finishing strong--and enjoying as many of our Argentinian favorites as possible!

Até logo, Brazil! And good riddance!

Today we leave Brazil.  Hopefully.  I mean, we're supposed to be on a plane tonight, but it's Brazil...what's ever gone as planned?

Right now we're still at the farm.  We spent the last 2 days here, actually staying right here on the farm campus itself.  It's not your typical farmyard.  There's no sprawling farmhouse since the owner doesn't live here.  Actually, he doesn't even live in this country, but even when he is here, he and even the managers live offsite at a town several hundred kilometers away.  This farm sports a couple big dorm-style buildings where many of the farm employees live.  There's a main cafeteria where they are served their meals (and based on our limited experience, the meals are pretty much the same things all the time: bologna sandwiches for breakfast--eww!--followed by beans and rice and spaghetti for lunch, and dinner usually has a little more variation, more beans and rice and some other main dish).  The rest of the barnyard is full of machinery and big sheds housing tools and spare parts.  The whole compound is surrounded by a tall chain link fence topped with razor wire.  There's a guard tower (literally!) at the entrance manned by security guards packing some major fire power and even ski masks at night.  It's a little creepy!  I guess they've had some problems with security in the past, hence why they're so well fortified now.

As Jonathan was finishing up the last installation here on a 3rd combine, I was looking into plane tickets for our next and last trip.  Next week we fly to Argentina for about eight days, and then we're done (how thrilled am I that our trip to Brazil was cancelled!).  It's actually kind of sad, thinking of being done with these adventures. But we're not done traveling yet!  After Argentina we're spending a week in Illinois tying up loose ends with Precision and visiting family!  After that we're spending a few days in Magdalena, Mexico!  So it's a totally different kind of traveling--yay for visiting people we love!

For now...we've set our sights for home and the Beach Cottage!  I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend our first anniversary!

Finally!

Good news!  Today we finally left Brasilia with the shipment!  It's pick-up time went from Monday morning, to Monday 4:11pm, to Tuesday 8:00am, to Tuesday 11:30am, to Tuesday 1:30pm, to Tuesday 6:30pm, to Tuesday 10:30pm, to Wednesday 9:00am.  We left town by ten this morning.  Not bad.  It's pick-up location went from "maybe Terminal 2"/"I think, Gol airlines", to Gol cargo, to Avianca cargo, to being shipped to our hotel (it never showed up so...), and finally back to Avianca cargo.  When Jonathan went in to get it, after shuffling around for awhile they informed him it was indeed onsite, but somehow it had been changed to one of the employee's names rather than Jonathan's.  The missing employee was called in to sign for it, and we were good as gold!  Needless to say, I think I'm done with Brasilia.  It's an okay place, but...I'm just done with it.

Tuesday morning as we waited around for news on the shipment, we spent our extra time visiting the zoo.  

 As we parked we were greeted by these funky looking birds roaming free.

This doesn't do their height justice; they were taller than waist high!

 These dudes were my favorite, but it's not a great pic, sorry!

The giant anteaters!  

As we stood there, one stuck out his tongue!

So gross.  An impressive kind of gross.  Google it.

 Leopards.

 The lion gave a roar for us.

It sounded more like a complaint.  Not very majestic, to say the least.

 Tiger.

And elephant.

So...I know the pictures aren't that exciting.  I mean, anyone can go to a zoo just about anywhere and get even better snapshots of the typical animals.  But in my general defense regarding picture taking this trip, honestly, there hasn't been much worth taking pictures of.  And I also forgot the camera in California, so these are iPhone pictures.  

As for Brazil, it's looking like we'll cut out the second half of our trip because waiting on the shipment wasted so much time!  This means we might have to come back as part of our planned trip to Argentina in a week.  Yikes!  I'm already gearing up mentally for another trip into this frustrating country.  

We learned something when we were engaged that has really stuck with us.  "Expectations lead to contempt."  I think that's been the chief problem with adapting well to Brazilian culture.  When you're constantly fed an expectation--"The shipment will be here tomorrow at 8:00."--when it doesn't come through (which is apparently often here) it's not easy to be flexible and adjust without a lot of negativity.  We have a lot of learning to do.  Maybe that's why we're coming back.  God's not done teaching us this valuable life skill: letting go of expectations.