40 is not too bad:)

Everyone makes such a big deal about turning 40.  Yes, I do feel older than I did at 30.  But I also love how much farther I am in so many areas than when I was 30 too.  Did I know ten years ago that I would be living in Belize?  Nope.  Wouldn't have even considered it.  But God has done so much in me these past years.  

This morning as I was preparing what I will teach on at Marla's children's home on Saturday...I thought, I never would have done this ten years ago.  God has brought me so far.  And I love how He just gently leads me here and there as I prepare.  When I first decided to start ministering to the girls, I thought, what will I do, where will I start?  But it is just like the Manna in the desert...He really just gives it to me one week at a time.  I do not have the next year planned out.  Just this weekend:)

Back to my bday...  This weekend, the weather was so beautiful.  We woke up early and visited Cahal Pech, some ruins in Cayo we have never been to before.  The welcome center was so pretty and the view of San Ignacio was gorgeous.  The ruins were really cool and it was kind of neat to just have the time with my kids.  I have some pretty amazing kids.

  And it was neat afterwards to walk the streets of San Ignacio, not as a short term missionary, but rather as a resident of this nation.  One who lives here, and truly cares about the nation beyond today and this moment.

This is the no-makeup, hair up, me

the ferry...only three cars at a time

They have recently spent a lot redoing the streets in Cayo.  Just beautiful.  Very touristy too...but very, very nice.  We had a yummy lunch at a new restaurant.  I loved it.  Lee said it was more of a girly restaurant.  Perfect for lunch:)  The view was amazing there as well.

Then we stopped in Spanish Lookout for Ice Cream.  We used to ferry to get there quicker and that was pretty cool too.  Hand cranked.  Crazy.  That guy was strong.

Tuesday, I decided just to relax.  To let some things I normally do go.  No laundry, minimal clean up.  The house was cleaned pre-birthday.  Lee and Tori brought me a beautiful vase of Belizean flowers.  They are still in full bloom.  Lee and I went and enjoyed lunch for just us.  It was nice.  My greatest gift is just to get some time alone with the love of my life.  Then, that night, Lee and the kids threw me a party.  I was so blessed to have friends from the church (and outside) stop by.  Laura and Barry made a yummy cake and lots of fruit.  Notice the grapes?  They are really special  here.  But all the fruit was amazing.  And there was quite a bit left over, so I froze lots of it for future smoothies!!!

And I want to say thank you to all who came and loved on me for my bday, the hilarious video made for me and all the well wishes and messages on my Bday.  It is so hard to be away from my family for now my third birthday...and friends that I used to get together with every single year.  But I am thankful for my husband and children here, and friends here, who took time to make me feel loved:)

My Thinking Spot

When I first moved here, one of the biggest changes for me was washing dishes.  I mean I was always one of those wash-the-dishes-before-you-put-them-in-the-dishwasher types anyways.  I loved the dishwasher because I felt it sterilized the dishes a little.  We have a dishwasher here...that doesn't work, and it would cost too much to run anyway...

Now, I wash dishes in COLD water with a little bleach and my dishes DRY in the dishwasher.  And I wash a lot of dishes!!!  Making things from scratch requires lots of dishes.  Having a family home all day requires lots of dishes.  And I am picky about washing the dishes too.  Usually I wash and one of the girls rinses and stacks them in the dishwasher.  Then they put them away before the next meal.  Erika will sometimes be washing with me and say, "WHOA...that is a lot of dishes we are going to have to put away:)"

At first, I used to hate it.  The constant dishwashing.  But now, I actually enjoy washing the dishes.  After cooking in the hot kitchen, the cool water feels nice.  I love how my sink looks out the window onto the street and there are pretty trees in my front yard.  I love that I washed the windows yesterday so the view is even nicer:)  I love to just look out and Think.  With the busyness of the house, sometimes it is nice to just stand there and think things through.

Laundry is still not my favorite chore here, but even that I have made my peace with.  Probably the most frustrating thing is the amount of rain...although I like the rain too.  But so many times, I will have just hung out a load and the sky opens up.  I used to always run out and pull everything off...but now...sometimes I just let it get wet!

And Cooking.  That has evolved as well.  Things that I would have considered a lot of work in the states are just second nature now.  I have stretched myself beyond what I would have even tried in the states.  There is still more stretching to do, for sure.  There are many failures, but also we discover some new food that we are so glad I tried!  Tori and I made cinnamon rolls a few weeks ago.  The task seemed daunting, but we did it.  And they were so good (except the coffee icing made poor Lee sick).  It took a few hours, but that is something we have here.  Life is slower and so I have time to cook with the girls, bake.  And store bought cookies from the states are expensive, so baking our own things tastes better and is less expensive.

I've also had to learn to cook with what I can find.  Like I make yummy quesadillas, but only when they have the wraps in the stores...  When I find them, I stock up.  But when they are gone it can be months before we see them again.  Miracle Whip...literally could not find for months.  Finally found an expired botttle.  Bought it anyway:(  But I have to cook with what I can find.  In the states, so many things, so many options.  Here, I find I have to constantly find ways to make dinner different or exciting with limited resources.  Yes, I guess the challenge can be exciting, yet it also can be exhausting as well.  

But I have decided that I do like to cook...most of the time.  Just don't always like the long process.  But I do like when my family raves about how they like a certain meal.  And appreciate their patience when a meal is a flop!

Well, time to get busy making something good for lunch:)