Scoping out Ecuador

As promised, I thought I would post a little more about our plans for Ecuador. We are planning a trip next week for 4-5 days to basically 'scope out' possibilities for our long term goal of an orphanage/medical clinic in Ecuador! This is a HUGE next step for us. We didn't think this would be happening for another year or so. We will be meeting with missionaries as well as others in Ecuador who have started an orphanage there. To expand even more, in talking with missionaries currently in Ecuador about my (Kim) long term goals of becoming a nurse practioner, it was said that NP's are not really recognized as such there. I would either be in administration (WHICH IS NOT MY GIFT AT ALL) or I would HAVE to work with a doctor. Not that that is bad, but it makes it more difficult if we are in the 'bush' somewhere. So, I am trying to gather more info while we are there to see if finishing school is the best option, or if I need to wait for a while and see or if I can be a nurse and function there well. These are all questions that will hopefully be answered soon. With my school being the only thing keeping us from going to the mission field, we could 'potentially' be on the mission field sooner rather than later!!!! We would LOVE that, but we also want to make sure that is God's leading and not just our wishful thinking and hoping! Below are some pictures from our previous trip to Ecuador. The orphanage pictures you see-we will be meeting with the directors there.
Other ministries there at this time are in the local city garbage dump which are pictured.
We will blog more info when we know more.





Precious girl in the Quito dump
















Play time at the orphanage








Kim with kids at the dump


Joel made a friend at the orphanage
People's reality in the dump

Kids right outside of the jungle-they LOVE to smile and get their picture taken
A girl that loved to give hugs at the orphanage

Remember When...

This week is finals week for me at Rush University. It's interesting to be involved in finals week now that I am OLD compared to what finals week was like in undergrad.
I know not all colleges did this, but the 2 or 3 that I went to were just awesome for finals week!
At Asbury College, the night before finals started, the faculty served US a huge breakfast spread and we all just hung out! There and at IWU, I got fun 'finals packages' from mom and dad, church people, etc that were filled with highlighters, candy, an apple or something (to pretend they were being healthy) and lots of RAMEN NOODLES! AHHHH, I miss Ramen. It just doesn't taste quite the same as it did in college.
I remember staying up till all hours of the night, well actually morning 'pretending to study' and then realizing I really HAD to study or get a paper done. It was so fun being around all your friends and knowing they were all in the same boat with you. It was stressful, but the stress was overshadowed with friends, food, and fellowship.
Finals week now...
Well, lets just say there is not much of the above besides stress. Not to be a downer, but there is just SO much pressure. I don't know where things changed. The friends are not all here, no fun packages (except maybe when Joel brings me a DQ or a coffee). It's just not the same. Is it weird to say I miss finals in undergrad. Defintely never thought those words would ever be written by me.
Anyway, what if anything do YOU remember about finals week?
OH, I almost forgot the best thing I remember...
PAPA JOHNS PIZZA AND BREADSTICKS!
AAAHHHH the memories!

3 Things

There are 3 things that have gotten me through this week. Number one is my husband. My husband is wonderful! I know I have said that before, but he truly is. Not only is he my husband, he is my best friend. Through these last couple months, wow! He has just been amazing. The ups and downs of the stresses we have gone through. He has been amazing! This is one of my fav pictures of him with one of our nieces!








The second thing that has made this week easier is a new song from one of my favorite groups superchick. The song is
"Stand in the Rain!" If you haven't heard this group-you've got to!!! They are amazing. This song has been the first thing that is in my head when I wake up in the morning and the thing that comes back in it amidst the craziness of classes and work. A bit from the song...
Stand in the rain, stand your ground, stand up when its all crashing down. You stand through the pain, you won't drown and one day what's lost can be found, you stand in the rain...
It has been so powerful for me this week as I feel like all I know about me and what I am good at etc...I feel solid knowing God is with me standing in the rain.


The third thing that has helped this week...
Peppermint Mochas from Starbucks! I know, I am totally that yuppy girl, but I LOVE THEM!

What are your 3 things?

Birthday, Buckeyes, and Buddies!

This weekend we were able to relax a little before we jump into more busyness. We were very excited to have our friends from Ohio come to celebrate Joel's 31st birthday. The highlight was going to see the Ohio State Buckeyes play Northwestern-just right down the road from where we live! Here's the gang of us that went. We don't look cold do we? It was like 40 degrees with wind! But we had fun. This was right after a big lunch of stuffed Chicago Style Pizza at Giordano's. After the game we went downtown to the APPLE store and got some Garret's popcorn(the best in the world!!!)
It was a fun day and I hope my WONDERFUL husband had a great birthday!
Here's the birthday boy! It was so fun to get to spend time together and no better place to have fun than watching the Buckeyes. They ended up winning by...well, ALOT! Most of the NOrthwestern fans were gone by the second quarter.
In this picture I was trying to get a picture of the coach-Jim Tressel, I don't think you can see him...














It was a total sea of red at the stadium. I felt a little bad for the Northwestern fans because there was MAYBE 10% purple, the rest red and one lowly MICHIGAN fan that we met later on the EL. I am not quite sure what HE was thinking. Anyway, he did make it out alive.

Does YOUR DQ do this?

We have had a tradition that each time we go to DQ (Dairy Queen) we ask for "doggie cups". It all started when we had the pups with us and stopped and they gave us to cups full of regular soft serve ice cream. The dogs of course loved it. They eat ANYTHING that tastes terrible, let alone something that tastes as scrumptous as soft serve from DQ. ANyway, each time we go we ask for a treat for them too. Tonight I had to take pictures because it was just hysterical!

Hireq (the brown one) stood on her hind legs for as long as she could to get her share. Even Patah (the white one) tried to stand, she's not quite as good at it as Hireq, but it's ice cream...who wouldn't???

They were all over the place and finished in about 2 or 3 minutes.
I wonder if dogs get ice cream headaches?
Anyway, enjoy the pictures of our dogs enjoying their treats!


MMM, MMM
GOOD...

Destination...Ecuador...

Well, this is a very loaded blog that will probably need a continuation since I am at work right now and at any minute something bad could come through the door and cut this short. Maybe I should just keep you guessing...
Just kidding...

Well, we are planning on taking a trip to Ecuador the beginning of December to "scope out the territory".
For those of you that don't know, we took a trip 2 summer's ago to Ecuador and really felt that this a place where we needed to see if God wants us, well, for the rest of our lives.
This is kind of the 2nd step in the process. We met with missionary friends last week and they said they would host us for a few days and introduce us to some people and just hang out.
Well, I am feeling a little scattered as I am writing. I feel I have so much to tell you all that has been going on, but I don't want to get in the middle of it and have to stop. So, what I am going to do is post more tonight about our last couple weeks and post some pictures too.
Until then, keep your feet on the ground...and keep reaching for the stars...(that sounds kind of familiar.) ANyway,
HAPPY FRIDAY to ya!

Cafe WHAT???

Last night, thanks to my old job, Joel and I were able to go out for a date night! This is something that we have really been working on trying to implement into our marriage. We are so busy that sometimes these date nights are catch up from the previous week. We had so much fun at this resturant. My old unit gave us a gift certificate that was good for like 20 different resturants. This was one of the few we thought we could afford after the $25 was gone. We came home and watched some of the Cards vs. Detroit game. It was so nice to just be able to relax and enjoy each other's company. So this is a big thanks to the PICU for giving us a night together on you.
Happy Sunday!

Today is the day!

I finally did it! I joined CURVES today. I had my first workout with a trainer and it felt really good to get back in to working out! For those of you that don't know what CURVES is, you can go to

http://www.curvesinformation.com/

to find out more. I have gained a lot of weight since we got married and it is really starting to make me feel not good about myself. So, I am making a change.

This may be weird to some of you as something to blog about, but it is important to me and I am totally OK with the occassional check up's on me from you all to make sure I am still keeping up. A little accountability is a good thing-especially for me who tends to be a little...undisciplined. Anyway, today was the day!

Have YOU Ever Been THIS tired??????????

Have you ever been THIS tired?

Trading Spaces...Amongst Other Transitions...

As the title says, we traded spaces. Maybe not in the sense of the show that was so popular, but there was a lot of painting that went on and hopefully soon-new furniture. Right now, there is just LOTS and LOTS of boxes! We moved from our apartment close to Wrigley Stadium to Rodgers Park (still a part of Chicago), but very close to Evanston, IL-where Northwestern University is. Don't worry, we will NEVER be Northwestern fans (GO BUCKEYES!!!!!!!)
Anyway, the apartment is twice the size with a sun room, two bedrooms, a garage, enclosed backyard (for the pups) and other perks too! Hopefully soon we will be able to post pictures.

OTHER TRANSITIONS...
Two weeks ago, Joel was voted in to be interim associate pastor of our church! There are mixed feelings about this right now. I know I have told you all some things, but our church has gone through a lot of transition itsself this year and Joel was there during that time-but it is still going on. He does however feel God wants him here and we know that our God doesn't make mistakes. He also gives us the strength to handle whatever He asks us to do. It will be interesting to see what happens there.
Most of you know this as well, but I also changed jobs just a few weeks before we moved. I am working in the Emergency Room. It is challenging and stressful, although a much different stress than working in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. I admit I miss my old job-especially the people, but again, I know God knows so much more what He is doing than me-so I will adjust and go with it.
I also started classes 2 weeks ago. I am doing a lot more studying than previously. The classes I am taking are both very invloved-Physiology and Biostatistics. The latter I do believe is my nemesis...not much more say about that...
Needless to say, a lot of transition at once, but we seem to be taking it OK at the moment. We hope to eventually post more pictures from the new apartment. Right now you wouldn't think it was very nice since mostly boxes are filling the rooms.
Happy Sabbath (almost)

Our Mt Fugi Climb

This is when the fog started setting in right before the drizzle came. Right before the climb started getting really hard.





THis is the map at the base of the mountain showing the different trails you can take up. We were warned many times to stay on the path you start out on or else you will end up somehwere that is really hard to get back from.







This is us at the base of the mountain.


So, I promised more pictures from Japan. One of the highlights was our climb up Mt Fuji. I guess I have always taken for granted climbing a mountain when I read it in a book. You know "Jesus went to the Mt of Olives.." Climbing a mountain is just plain hard work!!! The big thing with climbing Mt Fuji is that most people arrange it so that you get to the top for the sunrise. Of course we wanted to be like "MOST" people. We started around 4:30 PM at the 5th station (there are 10 stations, but you only climb 5 of them). A bus carried us to the 5th station. We were supposed to make it to the 8.5 station before nightfall which is about 8PM (that's when they turn of the electricity). Almost as soon as we started climbing, the fog came in as well as drizzle, which made climing the volcanic rock...FUN to say the least. We made it to the 8.5 station in 3 hours and 20 minutes (it usually takes longer) I just had to add that. I was pretty proud of us. We passed a lot of "young college kids" on the way so that made me feel good. Anyway, we got to our $100 hotel which was more lilke a barracks-a hundred or so sleeping bags with bean pillows right next to each other. I guess they can charge that since they are 1 of 2 on the entire mountain. We went to sleep around 9PM and they woke us up around 2:30AM to finish the climb to the top. We did this and made it in time for the sunrise. It was such a beautiful place to be. One of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences and just such a beautiful reminder of God's awesome creation and what a priveledge it is to in the midst of His vastness. It made me realize once again how small I am, but how much I mean to Jesus. Here are some pictures from the start of the trip-read down for pictures from the top...

More Climbing...

I thought about sending these head shots to Hollywood, but then thought I would save them just for our blog-why waste them on Hollywood. Really, this is probably the worst picture ever of us, but I just had to get the head lamps in. This was during our night climb up Fuji-the first half anyway. Please erase this picture from your mind after you see it...







Joel wondering what in the world he got himself into climbing this thing...Or maybe thinking about all the great sermon illustrations he will use from this experience...who knows what he was thinking, I jsut thought it was a fun picture...

A cool picture of the sun rising over the mountain. It was such a beautiful sight and such an awesome reminder of Jesus and His wonderful and VAST creation.

This is us right as the sun was rising over the mountain. Notice the 'peace' sign...that is what a lot of Japanese do when they take a picture. It was hard to find a good place to take a picture because there were so many people. Notice also the BIG smiles and of course...our really cool headlamps!

It was REALLY cold at the top of the mountain. We probably didn't prepare like we should of for it. We also didn't have a whole lot of food at the top or water so almost as soon as we got to the top, we headed back down for water and food. Just to put things in perspective. Noodles similar to the 25cent kind here in the states with tons of sodium and "just add water" were like $5 there and you had to pay for the hot tea too. Needless to say we waited until the bottom...

GO BUCKEYES!!!

GO Buckeyes!
Ohio State fans should be excited about yesterday's win over Cincinatti! They did it again putting them 3-0 still ranked
NUMBER 1!

We are very happy for our Buckeyes and hope they continue with a great season. We are so excited that we get to go see them in Evanston when they play Northwestern in November!

WOO HOO!

More Than Just Sushi...

This was part of our first meal in Gujo Hachiman. We grilled fish over the fire and just had a wonderful night of conversation and lots of food!
This farmhouse is where we stayed the first couple nights in Japan. Eric and Fumiko have friends who live here on vacations and allowed us to come and stay with them. Japanese culture is so welcoming and hospitable. They cooked every meal for us and also showed us around town (Gujo Hachiman). During this time we got to experience a traditional festival where everyone in town dresses in their best and dances in a big circle for hours. It was quite an experience. We loved our time here.
We went all over Japan, but one place we stopped was in Kyoto. For those of you who have read or watched Memoirs of a Geisha, you would recognize this city. It is a beautiful historical city. One highlight for me was "Geisha Hunting". We were actually more like the papparazzi, at least I was. Geisha's which are actually not called Geisha anymore but 'Michael's' (I don't think that spelling is right). ANyway, they are superstarts in Japan. There were tons of people watching for them and Joel just happen to be one of the first to see this beautiful lady. She was kind enough to let us take a picture. For me, this was one of the many great moments.

As much as we love Sushi in the suburbs of Chicago, it is NOTHING like Sushi in Japan. Eric and Fumiko took us to one of their favorite Sushi resturants. We dressed in our best (the boys in Jimbays and the girls in Yukatas). Fumiko didn't wear one because there was no way I would be able to help her put it on. We had a great night and it was wonderful!

Coming Soon...

Soon, I promise sooner rather than later we will have pictures post from our recent trip to Japan as well as more pictures from our mission trip to Alaska. I am sure you are just on the edge of your seat waiting so it will be soon. Hang in there.

Friends VS Seinfeld

OK, so I am not one to usually post about such crazy things as TV shows (year right) but I thought I would get opinions from those out there about what you think. My husband and I go back and forth regarding Seinfeld and Friends. I am a Friends fan and he is a Seinfeld fan. Don't get me wrong, I think Seinfeld is hysterical, I just prefer Friends. Now I am sure we could have a huge theology debate and I think our conclusion would be that neither is either uplifting or adding to my relationship with God-Survivor doesn't either but...
Anyway, back to the subject. WHich do you prefer? Friends or Seinfeld?

A new job, flowers, and a vacation...

Tonight was my last night of working in the Pediatric ICU. It's quite a big transition for me to leave because I totally love it there. There was a big party for me with lots O food! What a great going away gift-5 extra pounds to my backside-but who's complaining? It is great to know that people like me at my job and they said that I had a positive influence on them. I hope so. I will so miss Univ of Chicago and I am not quite to the point yet where I am excited about my new job. Maybe when I am able to have closure at my current job. Anyway, I will keep you updated on that. Just to say how awesome my hubby is... knowing how hard this week was on me with leaving and everything-he came to work tonight (after calling my manager) and brought a box of candy and a dozen roses to the unit and also to meet everyone. How awesome is he?
We are also getting ready to take another trip-this is not a mission trip, but purely VACATION! We are so excited to be able to go to JAPAN to see Joel's brother's family. We are excited to be able to go and experience new culture as well as see fam that we haven't see in awhile. We will post pictures when we get back. Talk to you soon. Please pray for our trip that we get there safe without any problems with flights, airplanes, etc...

A new job, flowers, and a vacation...

Tonight was my last night of working in the Pediatric ICU. It's quite a big transition for me to leave because I totally love it there. There was a big party for me with lots O food! What a great going away gift-5 extra pounds to my backside-but who's complaining? It is great to know that people like me at my job and they said that I had a positive influence on them. I hope so. I will so miss Univ of Chicago and I am not quite to the point yet where I am excited about my new job. Maybe when I am able to have closure at my current job. Anyway, I will keep you updated on that. Just to say how awesome my hubby is... knowing how hard this week was on me with leaving and everything-he came to work tonight (after calling my manager) and brought a box of candy and a dozen roses to the unit and also to meet everyone. How awesome is he?
We are also getting ready to take another trip-this is not a mission trip, but purely VACATION! We are so excited to be able to go to JAPAN to see Joel's brother's family. We are excited to be able to go and experience new culture as well as see fam that we haven't see in awhile. We will post pictures when we get back. Talk to you soon. Please pray for our trip that we get there safe without any problems with flights, airplanes, etc...

A couple more pictures

Here are just a few more pictures from our Alaska trip. The landscape is a glacier that we saw. Isn't God's creation beautiful?

The kids in the village of Elim were just so cute! For all the social issues they face, they really loved to play and smile. It could be because most of what they eat is candy. It is rare to see them without candy of pop in their hand. But we had so much fun with them. We miss them.

Although this pictures is not going the right way, you can see we are eating something. This is called "Eskimo Ice Cream". It looks very similar to ice cream, but it is made with:
Crisco or butter whipped together with whale or seal oil and mixed with salmon berries which taste like not quite ripe blueberries. You may think that this wouldn't taste very good, but it actually was VERy good. Joel even had 2 helpings! The native family that made this for us told us it was good because it was made with whale oil instead of seal oil. Usually they put seal oil in it but they really like the seal oil rancid, that's what gives it the 'bad' taste. What a fun adventurous trip. I will post more later.

We're Home

I just thought I would post a few pictures from our Alaska trip. We did A LOT of work and are still recovering. But here are a few that I thought you may enjoy. To the left is a view from a boat tour we took at the end of the trip.

It is Silver Salmon Season in Alaska and we took major advantage of it. A native couple took out team out fishing-Joel caught the last fish of the day and I caught 2!







Yes this is me with a power tool! I used a lot of other ones. The other lady and I on the trip put in the first two windows on the house! GIRLPOWER! We were so excited to have tool belts and power tools.
This is a picture of us on the beach in the bush village of Elim. It was such a great village and the people were wonderful! I will post more info about the trip, but thought you might enjoy the pictures.