Life Lately

So, here's the deal. I STILL haven't finished our travels post. I know, it's taking me forever. Did you know it's so much easier to post pictures straight from my ipad/phone than to hook up the camera to the computer and upload pictures?...hence the reason for the delay. We took so many pictures on our real camera that I want to use for the post about Italy/Turkey. 

In the meantime, here's what's been going on in our world! 

(AG is 15-16 months in the following pictures)

Everyday, I come home from school around 12:00 to meet up with my best little friend. 

Every Sunday, we have our house ch-rch, where we entertain AG every possible way. Here, play with these...pearls.

I just love this picture. AG loves to eat our food. If we are eating anything, she will come up to us and expect us to give her a bite. So sweet daddy shares his cereal.

It snows here. A lot. But life must go on. You like my earpuffs? A purchase I made in Italy when I WAS SO COLD.

AG likes to get ready with me in the morning. As I sit to put on my makeup, she waits for me to either pick her up, or give her a make up brush. This day, I did both.

Curly pigtails. 

My 16-month old girl. So big. Every Tuesday and Thursday, I come back to the school for basketball practice. I bring AG with me to hand her over to Eric. 

A friend took this picture. I'm thinking it may have been at a soccer tournament held in November.

Starting Small

Man, it sure has been awhile huh? We have been traveling for the past three weeks, so the blog has been put on the back burner. I'm in the midst of blogging about our travels, but since we were gone so long, it is a lengthy post filled with lots of commentary and pictures...so to keep from becoming overwhelmed, I am writing little bits at a time. So, stay tuned if you are interested in our adventures over the last few weeks, it's coming!

Meanwhile, I'm going to write a little blurb about exercise. Yep...don't freak out or roll your eyes. Give me a chance to encourage you!

If you know me at all, you know that I really love fitness and exercise. It's something that I feel strongly about and eventually when we return, I hope to become a certified personal trainer.

If you don't like/enjoy fitness, then this post is for you! Getting into shape can seem like a daunting task, especially if you haven't worked out in awhile. When we arrived in this new country in September, a few things occurred that put to a stop my ability to exercise...so that means I have been out of commission for 4 months. Yikes! This new year, I am back at it again, however, I feel as if I have to start all over.

When this happens, it's good to ease in gradually. Don't overwhelm yourself with the first workout, instead, work your way up. Start small. Gradually increase expectations for yourself as you become better in shape.

So, let me encourage you to try this workout. I did it yesterday...and I am sore. If you do it correctly, you will be sore! The good thing about this workout is that you go at your own pace. If you are pretty in shape, you can go faster and do more!

The following exercises should be completed back to back
Warm up (jog for a minute) then stretch
30 seconds all out sprint (this means, run as fast as you can for 30 seconds)
30 seconds of push ups (you can go at your own pace, whether that be you do 10 push ups or 30!)
1 minute all out sprint (again, run as fast as you can for 1 minute)
1 minute of lunges (right leg then left leg. Repeat for 1 minute)
1.5 minutes of sprinting (run as fast as you can for 1 minute and 30 seconds)
1.5 minutes of jump squats (sit down into a squat  (your knees should not pass your feet), then jump as high as you can. Repeat)
2 minutes all out sprint
2 minutes of crunches

If you are a beginner, you can stop here. See how short this workout is?! TEN MINUTES! Not overwhelming, but I guarantee, if you do it correctly, you will be sore the following day.

As you become accustomed to working out, gradually increase this exercise. The way this workout is intended to work, is once you reach 2 minutes, you then go backwards to 30 seconds.

 For example:

You reach 2 minutes then...
1.5 minutes all out sprint
1.5 minutes strength
1 minute all out sprint
1 minute strength
30 second all out sprint
30 second strength
Note: "strength" is the exercise you complete after you sprint.

If you are really in shape, then repeat the entire workout! You can also interchange the strength portion with a variety of exercises. You can also add weights or just use body weight.

A workout that combines both sprinting and strength (one that allows for the heart rate to be elevated throughout the entire workout) is an exercise that actually allows you to burn calories all day long. Yes, even when you stop exercising. A common misconception is that in order to lose weight or get into shape, one has to run miles upon miles. Not true! Long distance running burns calories once- while you are running. Sprinting and strength burns calories all day long! Did you hear me people?! ALL DAY LONG!

So, I say, start small. Work your way up. Don't overwhelm yourself or you will dread exercising.

You can do it!

Just Because

 As a child, I wanted to be liked by everyone. Obedience was my best friend and rules became a gift to me. Not a gift where you are so excited you can't put it down, but more like a gift you know is necessary so you appreciate it. Kind of like new underwear. Rules told me exactly what I had to do for someone to be proud of me. I didn't necessarily love rules, but they didn't leave me guessing. If I followed them, I knew exactly where I stood with the person who enforced them. 

If I made you proud, then I knew I was loved. It was evident by the pats on the back, the trust I gained, and the affirming words that made my heart glad. I am good, therefore, I am loved. 

Ask my mom and dad. I was very obedient. 

If I made someone upset, it destroyed me. 

If I saw someone sad or left out, it bothered me. 

One Christmas, I had such a difficult time enjoying my gifts because I could not stop thinking about the millions of kids who received nothing. 

One year on my mom's birthday, no one made her a cake, so I poured her a bowl of frosted flakes and pretended it was her cake. 

If I did something wrong, I would tell on myself. 

I said my first cuss word when I was 11, so I confessed to my mom. 

I cheated on my spelling test in second grade, got caught (because I told on myself), and walked away with a heavy heart and my tail between my legs. 

Condemnation made me cry, not spankings. Well, spankings did make me cry, but usually I didn't need a spanking because condemnation alone was enough to turn this girl around. 

Then I grew up and although my rule-following desire wasn't as intense, it was still there. I did stop telling on myself (most of the time), and I tried to brush it off my shoulders if someone wasn't happy with me. Although if I'm honest, most times it still bothered me deep down. 

Rules are good. It's good to obey. It's good to care for others. It's good to have a sensitive heart. But sometimes things that appear relatively good can be used to distort the truth about God. 

This innate desire within me to please and gain love through obedience has bred within me a false belief about God. One that I constantly have to fight, and it started at birth. Desires that are ultimately good on the surface became the thorn in my side. A thorn that deceives me into believing I need to be good for God to love me. 

So here I am. Once again having to learn the same truth over and over again. 

I confess that since living over here I have questioned whether God truly loves me. Of course I know this isn't true, but to feel His love pouring over me is something I have struggled with here. 

And I know why. 

I am more than inadequate over here. I cannot speak the language.  I cannot drive anywhere to help  someone who is in need. I am constantly living in cultural stress which means I spend my energy surviving rather than thriving. I simply cannot Do. 

I am able to do nothing to gain His love. 

So, once again, through my inadequacy He is teaching me about love. 

He loves me because He just does. There is absolutely nothing I do or don't do for Him to love me any more or any less. Even when I'm up to my eyeballs in the dirtiness in my heart, He still loves me just the same. 

This may be one of the hardest Truths for me to fully grasp. Maybe because we humans often love people only when they are good to us, so sometimes without even realizing it I think God is the same. 

To limit God in his ability to love based on whether or not we are good enough, is to completely distort His character and reduce Him to the level of a mere human. 

God is teaching me again, in a different way, that He loves me for no other reason besides grace. He has put me in an environment where I have no abilities to do anything to try and earn His favor, so He can patiently remind me again. 

And I'm here to tell you, whether you follow rules or follow trouble, whether you are an atheist or a Muslim, whether you are gay or straight, politician or prostitute...He loves you. So much so that He wants to know you. He sent His son J-sus to die for you, to wipe away every bad thing that you have ever done, SO that He can know you. He doesn't ask for you to get your life perfect before you come to know Him. Let Him worry about the mess in our lives. Just run to Him. 

There is more love and forgiveness in Him than there is sin in you. 

And He wants you to know that He loves you. Just because. 

15 month update

We no longer have a baby folks...Full-fledged toddler on our hands. I love this little girl so much.

Walking! We have a walker! She has been walking for a couple of months now. It started maybe right around her 13 month birthday. We were at our House Fellowship, she took a few steps, and everyone errupted in cheers. Since then she has practiced everyday, and now it is becoming her primary mode of transportation.

Sleep: We have tried to experiment with a morning nap, but she's just not having it. She won't fall asleep and if she does, well, that means she won't take an afternoon nap. So because her mom values an afternoon nap more than a morning one, we will just stick with sleeping around 12:30-1:00. She usually naps for 2-3 hours. She loves her sleep. She doesn't want to be rocked...when she's ready, she's ready. I give her her baby doll and try to rock her, but she just holds her hands out to her crib. I lay her down, she doesn't fuss, she lays there and goes straight to sleep. She does this for naps and at night. So thankful. 

Eating: It comes and goes. She loves her milk. LOVES. Some days she eats everything, others she eats two bites then is done. I just keep in mind that this is just a phase and am thankful that she loves her milk. Because she drinks so much milk, and therefore doesn't want to eat, we allow her milk after she finishes her meals. Seems to work!

Personality: Shy and hilarious. She has been this way since her personality started to show when she was just a few months old. She is quiet and observant, then when she warms up to her surroundings, she is so friendly and hilarious. She is a girl of many expressions, laughs, and has so much personality. She will play with anyone and let anyone hold her after she has warmed up. She makes me laugh all the time. She is so joyful most of the time then of course, like any one year old, she can be a grump. She has her days where she whines and just wants to snuggle, but I love my snuggles :). She has so much personality it's ridiculous. After she has warmed up, she is miss independent.

Talking: When I change her diaper, I play a game with her where I say, "Say ____," and she'll repeat words. I usually have all her attention when I'm changing her diaper, so it's the best time to play this game. Usually when I say "milk, more, food, or please" she'll sign it instead of say it. I love that she does this. Her two new words this month: Cheese, apple, banana "nana", papa and cracker. 

She loves her nanny

She loves peanut butter on a spoon

Meltdown for no reason

I told our nanny it was Thanksgiving, so she dressed AG accordingly...

Her two favorite things: her baby and her milk

Thanksgiving

Curls and moccasins...Uzbek moccasins 

Commit to Pr-y

Living on this side of the world and being immersed into the community to which we are succumbed , I have heard more stories of the persecution of believers in the last four months than I have heard in my entire life.

Pastors being arrested for simply preaching the G-spel in a ch-rch. 

People being kidnapped and never being seen again. 

Sharing the truth to those under a certain age being illegal. 

People sitting in prison cells for no other reason other than their belief in J-sus. 

Being super careful about your language in order to remain safe. 

This list could go on. Yet the list would be incomplete if I simply left it at that. I have also heard amazing conversion stories...

Conversion through dreams. 

Conversion through simply reading. 

Conversion at the sake of being beaten by your own family. 

Conversion at the sake of becoming "dead" to your own family. 

Conversion with the possibility of death. 

Conversion because the truth is greater than any persecution one might face. 

Any rejection than one might experience

Any physical pain that could be inflicted

And because the truth is greater than death

...and in this region of the world, if one believes, it is with these things in mind that truth is received. 

I can't help but wonder that if all of these were factors in claiming J-sus, how this would reveal the truth within the hearts of many around the "easier" parts of the world (when it comes to freedoms, that is). 

This morning I was reading in Galatians 1 and couldn't help be moved by Paul's writing, 

"For I would have you know brothers, that the g-spel that was preached by me is not mans g-spel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received through a revelation of J-sus Chr-st. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the ch-rch of G-d violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who has set me apart before I was born, and wih called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles...(vs 23) They only were hearing it said, "He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy." And they glorified G-d because of me.

Paul persecuted. 

He believed. 

He preached. 

He was persecuted. 

He preached. 

And was persecuted. 

He still preached. 

What if we all began to fervently pr-y for oppressive leaders, the greatest persecutors of the G-spel, to believe.

Everyday. 

We commit to that pr-yer. 

What if thousands committed to that pr-yer. All around the world.

Paul, a man who once was the greatest persecutor of Chr-st followers, became one of the greatest men used to advance the G-spel by G-d. 

So let's do it. Pick an oppressed country. Pick an oppressive leader. And pr-y them to bodly proclaim Chr-st. 

Ask your friends to do the same. 

Winter in October

The first snow dusting of the season proved to be everything I hoped and imagined. It was beautifully refreshing. Snow capped mountains, the feeling of winter in the air...oh wait. It's October.

The first snow of the season is always exciting for me. Possibly because I've been in school my entire life and the result of a snow means NO SCHOOL!! It means you get to sleep in a little, hang out in your PJs all day, wake up to a warm drink by the fire...its a feeling of cozy around the house. But here...well, if we didn't go to school every time it snowed, we would be out of school from November to April. I'm okay with that. But apparently it's not good for the whole learning thing.

This past week was Fall Break. In NC public schools, Fall Break means no school for two days. Here, we are out for an entire week.  Winning. We slept. We ate. We hung out. I sewed. We stared at each other for hours. Having no car really limits our activities. So, we asked our friends with cars to hang out. We also took advantage of down time this week to practice the taxi system here. Mom, Carlyne, Nana, Aunt ME...you should stop reading now, but if you choose to continue, remember that what I'm about to say is COMPLETELY NORMAL here.  The taxi system here is similar to hitch hiking. Actually, that's what it is. We need a ride, so we hold out our hand, someone pulls over, we hop in the car, they take us where we need to go. Boom. No-car-problem solved. If you have a car, you are a taxi. It's just what they do here. And it is way, WAY, safer than America. Promise. We have already done it three times, and look, we are still here.

The last three days we had a retreat with our team. It was refreshing. A team from NC came in and brought tons of coveted American goodies...and the only thing I really care about...Starbucks. I was so excited about good coffee that I couldn't wait to go to bed so I could wake up and drink it. I even woke up throughout the night from excitement of good coffee and fresh snow. It's the little things, y'all. 

AG was so exhausted from the retreat that she slept in until 9:00 Sunday morning, took a three hour nap, and was out by 7:00 that evening. She is such a people person. She will let anyone hold her and will play with about anything and anyone. She gets passed around so often here, most of the time I have no idea where she is...and she LOVES the attention.

Christmas Help

This year, Christmas will be different. Being in a foreign land, we have decided to take advantage of being on the other side of the big pond (the Atlantic) and explore Italy and Turkey for Christmas break.

Yes, we are excited. But it will be different. We won't be with our friends and families, so I have been brainstorming new traditions for our little family in order to make Italy feel like Christmas. I don't want it be just a vacation. Because it's not. It will be Christmas. The best time of the year. 

So I need YOUR help. What are some of your traditions that we can take with us to Venice? Brainstorm with me and help me think of new ideas to help this time of year to be just as joyful as past Christmases. 

Here's what I got so far (not much!)...

1. Stockings. 

In order to fill in the quiet space of our little apartment, I am learning how to sew while Addie naps. A woman on our team has let me borrow her sewing machine and will be giving me a few lessons. So, I have decided to use this time to sew stockings. Now, this is my first time sewing, so I'll be proud if I create something that semi-looks like a stocking and can hang on the wall. 

Since we are doing a big trip for Christmas, our gifts to each other will be to fill one another's stocking. I'm going to make mine huge. I have made one already, and here is the final product. Don't look too closely!

My first sewing project :)

2. Make Christmas cookies. 

We always did this growing up, so I think before we head out for break, I'm going to bake some to bring with us. 

3. Read the Christmas story

This is a no brainer. I hope to read about the birth of Chr-st Christmas morning then go to a fun cafe for Christmas breakfast. 

Well folks, this is all I've got so far which is why I need some help! You may be thinking it's too early to think about Christmas, but if I don't start now, then as time approaches I'll get overwhelmed and not do anything. 

We will first explore Rome, then on Christmas Eve we go to Venice, then Turkey later in the week.