tuesday is tomato tomahto

Tuesdays can be kind of challenging. Especially in adult world. Can I get an amen? BUT. We're looking at the bright side of things this year. SO. Here's why today, Tuesday, was so brilliant in such an ordinary way::

1.  The sun was so bright I almost ran off the road. But I love the sun so that makes it okay.

2. My car got to go through the wash today for the first time during this salty season we're having.

3. I bought a new pair of black heels after work. 

4. My roommate's date got cancelled tonight so I get to hang out with her. 

5. A client at worked called me Betty Crocker over the phone...because I'm the one who bakes all the cookies. Just another Tuesday.

What makes your weekdays spectacular?

don't hate on mondays

via

I am starting to feel bad for January...everyone hating on it, including me. And then there's Mondays. The worst of these being Mondays in January.

Lets not denying the fact that we all might need a extra swig of coffee on Monday morning {or something like that}, but maybe some positive thoughts thrown in the bucket would't hurt either. Like instead of complaining about scraping the wet sloppy, crusted-on-the-windshild-like-a-left-out-casserole-pan  snow off my car at an ungodly hour of the morning feeling chunks of icicles fall down my boots....I could decide to mention how pretty outside it looks when all the fresh snow is still draped on the trees. Or the fact that thirty degrees feels like shorts weather and I didn't lose my breath when I walked outside.

Okay so maybe that one's a long shot.
But do you know what I mean?

Today, this Monday, I had a great day at work, enjoyed spending time with the people I saw, got to run off some steam at the gym and now have several hours to relax and catch up on whatever non-nonsensical Netflix show I decide I like this week.

I like what Leney had to say today about Mondays. Maybe they wouldn't be so bad if we spoke good things about them. Thanks for the words of wisdom, lady.

So there you have it, Monday, I'm standing up for you. You're not so bad after all. Thanks for being our fearless weekly leader and taking all the crap-ola for it.

whirlwind thursday

Welp. It's official. Working full time means never taking any pictures of anything anymore...does this happen to anyone else? I'm curious, those of you who do the same, how do you keep up with blogging? I really want to know. Struggle-fest over here.

So just for that, here's a picture I didn't take for your enjoyment. It snowed today, people. snowed. So excited that soon it might look a little like this outside. Lets just ignore the slush, frostbite and scraping the car windows off at 6am with your credit card because you can't locate your mega scraper.

{via} This week my dear jungle roommates came to visit, they are on a fundraising trip so we got to have dinner and catch up. Their little girl Kelly makes me about die from cuteness overload. Oh and she speaks Spanish.  Also this week, it was mister JT's birthday. I got him a Gore jersey. The Packer fan in me wants to cringe a little but you know what they say...people do crazy things for love. Do they say that?  {who is they anyway?} We had a nice dinner and a SF Giants-watching week because if you weren't aware...they are in the World Series. And that JT can't be a happier camper.  I'm not sure how we've arrived at Thursday night already but I'm not complaining. Oh and may I just share that I spent the entire day walking around with my dress completely unzipped in the back. Thank goodness for cardigans. {but still!} How was your Thursday?  Looking forward to some major R&R this weekend. I'm thinking winter hat shopping, coffee sipping, netflix watching, and a chance of throwing something sweet in the oven.

on living the regular

I think we can all agree that college is fan-freaking-tastic. It just is. So many friends and so much fun that happens between the "studying" and that whole going to class thing..

And since I graduated, I haven't exactly dived into the post-college reality check working world. Instead, I fled the country. For a long time. It was exactly what I wanted to do, what I knew I was called to do during that time of my life. But it's come to an end.

So in between coming home from that and finding a j-o-b it's, well, a bit of a let-down. If I could sell my free time to you busy people I totally would. And I realized I have a bit of a wanderlust bug that I can't get rid of -- which contributes to the fact that part of every day of mine involves looking up how much plane tickets are to somewhere else.

But just yesterday I talked to a very wise man about this "living the regular" thing. And how it can be a bit of a let down after the constant excitement and novelty of college life. Good things still happen, there's just a bit more space in between them. And that's okay.

I know we've all got this thing about living to the heights and making every day crazy and magical. But there's something really special about finding the good and the purposeful in the regular days.

Like today, when...

.When not everything is instagramed. When you're not wearing your fashion show shirt or your "what i wore" post outfit. When your hair is super average. And when your camera doesn't focus on the right thing when you're taking a bathroom pic with a painted flamingo in the background.

When the excitement for the day is the fact that "operation: salvage the favorite coca-cola shirt by getting rid of the unbelievably large stain" actually worked. And you can add successful bleacher to your resume.

When you eat the leftover pizza from last night for lunch. And you're super excited about it because it was darn good pizza and it means that you don't need to spend more money on food. 

When you're thankful that you get to spend time with your only brother who is moving away to college in just 2 short days. And helping him pack up all his crap in bins is fun and just another way to tell him that you love him very, very much. 

So happy regular day, people. Cheers to Tuesday and finding the brilliance in the ordinary. 

awkward and awesome thursday

awkward::
-- my parents hiring maids to clean their impeccable house..i wonder if they walk in and are like, so...what's the job? what's more awkward is that they came while i'm melting into the land of social networking on my computer and simultaneously watching live with kelly {come on you know you like it}. so i'm like lifting my feet up so they can clean the floor. do i help? do i leave? at least i understand their spanish conversation about going and getting something out of the car. useful.

-- hair trims that are 55 buckaroos. that's outrageously insane, right? or is it just me...?! not awkward. just minorly majorly upsetting.

-- doing a walk/jog around the block with an infant and toddler because auntie erin forgot to make sure everyone went to potty before going to the pahk. i sat for a minute and decided if bushes were easier {do people get fined for that now??}  or if hopping the neighbors fence was worth it. instead i was a grown up {kind of} and booked it back. we made it. now if only the drugged up neighbor dog didn't wake the baby.

-- getting asked by way too many kids this week why my skin had so many dots on it {or any uninhibited variation of this question}. they're freckles, okay young people? that never gets old. oh wait, it does.

-- having to pick the register at wal-mart that didn't have one of my fellow high school ex-classmates standing at it. #smalltownproblems

--paying almost 7 dollars for a bowl of froyo at yo mamas because of a few amateur mistakes...putting a little big of everything in there. not paying attention. no room for toppings. complete overload. realizing that i have to pay for however much it weighs. at which point i look for a place to put some of it back. {can't do that.} paying for it anyway. i'll try harder next time.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:: awesome

-- getting to spend so much time with family i usually don't get to spend mounds of time with. aka my three favorite little nieces in the whole universe. {and their mom and dad ; ) }

-- practicing my mad tortilla making skills so i don't loose what i got when we're back on jungle diet.

-- eating any kind of food from wherever. whenever. oh, and i didn't cook it. it's a miracle! it's amazing how many eating out places you can hit in one day when you really want to.

-- seein mah GB packers woop some firemen in a game of basketball.

-- being about 6 feet away from a real life giraffe. gosh i love those guys.

-- sleeping on these sheets that just smell absolutely magical. straight out of the garden but like better. where is that detergent from?! is that normal? and can i bring it back to honduras with me??

that's all for now.

happy thursday! getcho awkward on.

the daybook

the homeland

oh the treats about being home...

since "operation: get out of central america" has come and passed, i thought i'd share little bits and pieces about being home to visit. so far i've been totally overloaded with love and treats -- 

1//targeeeeet, the place where anything can be bought.

2//magical manicures with mama {something i could never get myself to pay for on my own, but still love}

3//brother's last day of high school classes! oh, what a miracle.

4//my new morning friend, the classic french press. i know you're not supposed to put espresso ground coffee in there but, what the heck, i love that stuff.

5//the biggest {i mean for real} pizza i've ever eaten in my 23 years of life.

6//a treat to get to go to niece's gymnastics expo

7//kites at the park with friends

8//the classic "cute baby with large sunglasses on" picture {had to!}

9//reunited with the one and only alterra coffee {major happy face.} and no it doesn't embarrass me to be kissing a coffee cup.

10//wagon ride to the park

11//a bit of swing action

12//my favorite little girls in the whole wide world.

it's been a nice rest to be home with family and friends doing {normal} american things. 

good good news:: officially headed back to hondo in a little over a week. who hoooo!

next stop tomorrow:: the zoo. with many small children. oh boy.

happy sunday lovelies!

indoor plumbing is for sissies

so it all started when the mostly reliable water source became a little less reliable. lots of left over dishes, lots of drip-drip-drop showers, yaddah yaddah yaddah. something had to be done. i could tell you the story about the water leak scare in our house, a consideration to knock out the concrete floor of the kitchen, the easy fix of an un-glued pipe, the cow stepping on the waterline and the adventures of outside dish-washing…but I won’t. 

the brilliant brainstormers and innovators over here decided it was time to dig a well and get a new, very reliable water source goin’. after some logical location selection and a grouping of a few good men, they started digging. and digging. and digging. and then they hit water. oh, wow! let me just say that for a non-country living girl i was thoroughly impressed, alright?!

Here’s some footage from the well-digging escapades..

and my limited but heart-felt participation in the matter.

{cute, right? yeah. i won't be living that one down for awhile.}

this whole thing sure made me think about all the people in this world who don’t have access to water, much less have it in their house! we are so spoiled. life got real easy when water stared coming out of the faucet again. were we happier? maybe for the moment. but then it becomes just another thing we expect out of life.

things like that don’t make people joyful. we’ve got to look somewhere else for that folks or we’ll find ourselves a lifetime later with empty pockets still searching for the next greatest thing.

Today we are more thankful for water and we find our joy complete in the one who created it.

little things

today is an ordinary monday. 

we are thankful for 

the rain that has finally come after a few weeks of waiting. 

 for visiting friends. 

 for give hope 2 kids family. 

for new puppies on the porch. 

and for an extraordinary box of blow pops that successfully feeds my unashamed addiction.

{{how can this not make you smile??}}

{the guys of the house made breakfast the other day. french toast and eggs. this was their final exam to graduate "cooking 101" class. they passed. 

can i also draw your attention to the 3 liter pepsi bottle filled with milk straight from the cow? 

love that country life.}

{{unashamed}}

{{ david teaching his daughter about the bull they killed that morning for food. yes, that is the head. }}

{{ early saturday morning at our house }}

{{ this morning's english class with out friends visiting from virginia. playing a little simon says to help remember all the body parts in english}}

{{love that miss girl finishing up her meal for the night. headed straaaaaight for the bath. }}

tomorrow....tomorrow will not be so ordinary. 

tomorrow we get to meet five new kid's that will be coming to live with us.

 prayers for our new house family, the kid's travels tomorrow and a smooth transition into their new home.

love.love.love

the typical {and the not so typical}

thought i'd share a few scattered picture that haven't quite made it up here in the past month...

valentine's day was spent making cards for all the guys while they were out running errands in town all day. except for my valentine, he was taking a nap and playing with markers on the floor.

the kids learned how to make chocolate chip cookies with melissa who brought her family down from good ol' wisconsin to serve and encourage the team down here. thank you again!

sunday soccer day in urraco

we are so proud of our gringo goalie!

also, fun fact, i was also asked to play defense on the women's urraco soccer team. i warned them. i did. and yes, i played one sunday. i have a feeling there won't be another invitation, no matter how desperate they are for players!

hanging out with the babes that aren't so small anymore! josiah and kelly are right on track for soul mate status. and i promise they're not in jail -- it's just our front door!

if you didn't know, we are filming the new flinstones movie right here in the valley with those monstrous lamb ribs we've got.

monica and i have taken to cooking experiments lately. this is one of our unexpected successes -- bagels! the first time they were nice and small and just plain. this time we added in a little cinnamon raisin fayvah and got a hold of some cream cheese to make it a pretty magical experience.

one of the many oh so loved scorpion visitors in our house. every time it rains. kelvin's new tactic is his pocket knife and clothespin combo. seems to work pretty well. at this this one is not in my hair.
 or inside the toilet...

my new hobby is making a corn hole set -- working on hand sewing the bags. i think i've been working on it a little too long. by the time the swimming goggles end up on my face it's gone too far.

 ginormous grasshopper number four in our house this week. to the hondurans, this is good luck. i'll keep that in mind {even though there is no such thing} instead of focusing on the
jurassic park size insects in our kitchen!

it's times like these that make every ounce of this worth it. three four year olds, baby kelly, and tia eva and tia monica all on the hammock together making funny snoring sounds and laughing. not quite convincing tio kelvin that we are actually sleeping.

speaking of tio kelvin...he looks less scary post-shave.

the end!