Baby Ava Arrives

Baby Ava graced me with her presence this last week. And she was even kind enough to open her pretty eyes for me. She was born just a few weeks ago! She is the first daughter of my dear friend and old roomie, Christiana. She and her husband Nate are leaving soon for Cambodia doing awesome work for the people of Phnom Phenh.

First Look

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day. I got to spend part of it with some beautiful people. Here is a first look at our time together.

Team Reno

Uno Mas

Too cute to leave out...and because this little "Nay Nay" as we call her was asking for more.

It's cute when kids share.

Autumn Rises Again

Here in Santa Cruz, the Indian Summer was in full effect until about a week ago. It's a fast change and although it may not be appreciated by all of us homo adorans, it is a much needed break for the earth. This short pause in life is brief and allows our little earth to rest and be restored again in just a few months (if you live in California). But have no fear, if you are one of those among the 1 season preferenced people, there are loads of companies looking to profit provide you with warm gooey comfort to get you through the next few months. Pumpkin Latte's and Peppermint Mochas will see you through your fear of the cold and before you know it you'll be on to frappachinos again. Don't worry, I will be right there with you, and we can help Starbucks takeover the world together. Cheers! Oh and if you need a little extra help in the enjoying-the-seasons category, just take a lesson from some little ones near you. They enjoy soaking up every bit of autumn. Hooray for times of rest, wee ones, apple picking, and pumpkin spiced beverages!

Martin Slideshow

I have finished the Martin's photos. I think it took me longer than necessary because I didn't want to be done with them!

Martin Preview, part deux

Phew, I have enough done to watch the office tonight. Here is a little preview of what I've been up to...






This last one makes me smile every time! How cute is he?

DIY Invitations

Well ok, these are only half Do It Yourself, since the design has already been provided. BUT it still counts as a DIY if you manage to get the right paper and successfully send it through your perpetually-give-you-a-problem printer. If all that goes off without a hitch, you in for a cinchy DIY invitation creation. I want to have a party to just use these! Alas, our apartment only accommodates 1 couple at a time, so maybe I'll just send these out one at a time. If you visit BlogRoomShop you will find more of her playful notes. To download the invites seen here, go to her original post here.

Inspiration

I absolutely love how easy it is to access photo art on the internet these days. I found this wedding that I just loved and thought the pictures were worth sharing with you. It is from OneLovePhoto. Enjoy these pics—they are magical.

Martin Family

I had the pleasure of hanging out with the Martin family a few weeks ago (I know I am very late with the photos). I snapped some pics of their lovely family. My favorites are the ones of the 2 little red heads...I'll be editing them and posting more soon. Here some of the first batch. Click to enlarge.

Duggers Status

In the "news" this month it has been announced that the Dugger family is preggo with no. 19. Quite a feat, eh? While my family is nowhere close to Dugger status, most of our siblings have been blessed with about 4 kiddlets each. My sister Jen has a knack for making cute babies. Yesterday's pic is one of hers and this is another. I'm posting some photos of her youngest, Jonathan. He's going to lose his role as the baby brother come December! That will make my sister's total 4. So far she's got 3 boys, so we'll see if this next one makes 4. Apparently people feel it necessary and as if they're doing their part for population control by telling my sisters (mothers of 3 or more kids)—"that's a handful you've got there," or "I hope you're not going to have anymore," or "gosh did you plan that?".  Since when did more than 2 kids constitute a large family? None of my sisters are even close to Dugger status and yet people watch them walk down the street like they're a sideshow. I am going to start practicing my rebuttals now so that when we have kids (Lord willing) I'll know exactly what to say to the "population-conscientious" checker at the grocery store. Let me know if you have any suggestions. Anyway, all that was just an excuse to post these old photos of Jonathan. He was playing with daddy, uncle peter & a marshmallow gun on his 2nd bday back in Feb. I just adore him.

The End

Well not quite, but it's almost the end of the week. It has been a glorious week so far—filled with fantastic warm weather, game nights and time with friends and family. We are going to visit my side of the family Friday, I can't belive it but I haven't seen them all since June! They're only 1 1/2 hours away! We were in Oregon, then my mom was in Africa, then my sister was in Oregon, then my mom was in Oregon, then we were in Mexico, and on and on. So we're finally getting together for fajitas & badminton at my moms. So excited to see all my little friends. This little guy is Eli, I adore him! He is almost 5 and still can't say his "r's" vewy well. I just love it. Yay for Friday fajitas & badminton!

Congolese Handbags

I am so excited to announce the newly published site SHAKOSHI—a site you should all visit and make a purchase from! The site sells handbags that are made by women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They sew using machines donated by Moriah Africa, Peter's Aunt's mission. The site will hopefully open a market for them that was otherwise un-obtainable (without going through a middle man and losing some of their revenue). These bags are literally how these women make their living. Sadly, the locals can only afford to buy them for .10 cents above the cost of making them. Please consider purchasing some for gifts—I find people would rather receive gifts that are meaningful and thoughtful. Christmas is just around the corner, so check out the website! www.shakoshi.com

  Bags made from women in a cooperative in Bukavu, Congo. The photos here are my 2 favorite fabrics of these handbags.

Wrapping Up Mexico

Peter returned from his survivor episode safe and sound. He got really good waves but paid the price with 2 sleepless nights (sleeping on coral reef is never easy), and a few other crazy experiences that are too good to be told on the blogosphere. Ask him about it, maybe he'll tell you. Anyway, he got home and swept me away to Puerto Vallarta. We stayed at an all inclusive resort and are convinced that is the only way to end a trip, even normal trips that aren't fiasco filled. It's so relaxing and care free. Thank you husband!

 

 The resort was so massive you could see it from our plane.

Update 2 from Mexico

If you haven't read part one of the Mexico adventure, you'd better start there first. 

An update on the storm. I had a lovely conversation with the house manager, Trini, tonight. She tells me that last night's storm was quite phenomenal and it had the whole town scared. So, I can feel a little better about myself for all the fuss. Through talking with her, I have discovered the culprit of the storm last night. He is a saint if you can believe it! Apparently he is very angry with God for some unknown reason. The story goes that one night every August he tries to destroy the world with lightning. So there you have it, I've survived the end of the world.

An update on the empty pool. It is now finished. I decided to venture in after all the construction workers left. It was nice to look at, very inviting but it turns out it's warmer than the air outside!
An update on my room. I managed to soak up the inch of water that covered my floor, so one trial down, how many more to go?

You didn't think you'd have to wait for long did you? I have another ready for you! The air conditioner, while I am SOOO grateful it finally began working, makes strange noises and can be particularly alarming at night. Let me paint you a picture...There are some gecko's in my room (I eventually had to give up on that one) and the AC sounds kinda like a gecko slaughterhouse—like they're getting stuck in there and eventually don't make it out. First you hear their little feets clackity clacking then the body and then the head (which is the loudest part). Well ok, it's not really a gecko slaughterhouse but that's what peter thought it was the first night we were here, no seriously he did.

Some great news is that I managed to jerry-rig the internet by stretching a really long ethernet cord from the downstairs kitchen, out through the window and up a ladder over the roof and through the top slat of my door! Now I can freely roam the world wide web in the comforts of my air conditioned room. Also, I can use it at night, because before I would have to be up in my room by nightfall if I wanted to avoid any tripping and falling in the light-less outdoor stairway. Clearly there should not be an indoor stairway because that would be too easy. Buenas Noches!

Viva la Raza, Nosotros Somos en Mexico!

Bueno de Mexico! Peter was requested to travel to Mexico for surf and surf lessons. I hopped on board and we got our tickets 4 days before we left. Wrapping my head around that one took a few days, so I was only left with a day to hastily pack my belongings. In all the hubbub I managed to forget hand sanitizer. Important public announcement: DO NOT VISIT UNDERDEVELOPED COUNTRIES SANS HAND SANITIZER! I've been rubbing lime on me like I've found the cure for aging!

The food is kinda like the apple in the Garden of Eden. It's crazy good, but if you eat it you might die (well probably not, but you'd likely get ill). So far so good though! God is good. It's a peculiar thing, I feel more at home here than I have traveling anywhere else in the world. I even feel more at home here than I did in Australia where they spoke English. I have met multiple people with my maiden name, and the food tastes a lot like my mom's cooking. I can understand a lot and I can speak a little, at least enough to hold a conversation for a few minutes. I didn't think I had it in me.

While I am enjoying the food, the people and natural beauty of Mexico, it's turned out to be a little rough around the edges. For example, I think I experienced my first tropical storm last night. Apparently rain at night is common but my local friend Fede tells me "last night was a (insert curse word in Spanish)" and storms that bad don't happen all to often. It was intense I tell you! And I know I am guilty of occasional exageration but I promise you you would have been scared and awake with me last night if you were here. There was thunder and lightening like you wouldn't believe (well I guess you might believe it if you've been in a tropical storm or been in a lightening storm somewhere in the US). So bright and loud I had to cover myself with a pillow at times. Oh and it rained so hard my room flooded. Cool. Towards the end, I put on Zoolander to ease the nerves. Fede has has been charged to watch me and the house at night whilst Peter is braving the elements on some island south of here (he comes home tomorrow and I have never wanted time to fly by this fast). I am very happy to have Fede's countenance around these parts while I'm all by my lonesome.

Ahhh privacy, this brings me to another point of roughness around these here edges. We didn't know coming here that we would be in the middle of a zona de la construccion. Every morning I have the pleasure of waking up to a large man on a ladder with his midsection at my window. This same man bids me good morning with drilling and tromping upon the roof of my room. Ahhh sweet relaxation. In all fairness, I am very grateful I am not the one doing manual labor in 100 degree weather! Yesterday I came very close to offering to help him, but I decided I might be more of a hindrance should I pass out from heat exhaustion. Another contingency of the construction is that the pool is out of service. Not that I would use it anyway given the roaming of said dark skinned st. nick pot bellied friend and his workings above.

So that brings me to today, Wednesday. Today is a little cloudy—remnants of the nights angry storm. The sun wants to come out. If all goes well there will not be another storm tonight, I will get some sleep, get some reading done and await my husbands return manana. Hasta Luego!