Off on Another Adventure

As of a few days ago I have been home for THREE WHOLE MONTHS! Wowza. I can hardly believe it. Or the adventures I've been on since coming back! Haha. So, my plan in coming home was to go back to UWEC and get a nursing degree. That didn't happen. The whole time I was there I just had a voice in the back of my head asking "What are you doing here?!" I was back and forth on my decision but in the end decided not to continue. And I felt soooo relieved! I don't know how to explain my whole decision making process in deciding to go back and then deciding to not go back, but in the time since leaving again I feel like God really has called me to where I am currently. So, upon leaving the University I decided to look into nannying, and after talking a little with a family that I'm good friends with, the Karguses, I decided to move to WA with them to help homeschool their girls for what remains of the school year. So, I'm here in Washington as of about a week and a half ago. Yeah, left home again two weeks ago. It was a little strange to be saying goodbye again so soon, but I knew it would only be for three months, and somehow it didn't seem so bad just moving across the country as opposed to going down south again : )  Anyways, I only left two weeks ago, and it's been fairly chaotic riding out here and then helping unpack enough to fill a house, but in some ways it has been so incredibly restful for me. I don't know if it's just because I'm in a new environment and not surrounded by people I know and things to do, but I've just had a lot of time to "recover" in a way. It's hard to explain exactly how I felt after returning from Bolivia, but I was just very beaten down in many ways, and I feel like I've finally arrived at a place where I'm "healthy" again. Those of you who have been on the missions field (and possibly a lot of you who haven't) can probably understand what I mean when I say that. I don't know if it's just been more focused set apart time in the word or prayer or just finally enough time and distance between me and Bolivia, but I just feel refreshed in a way I can't explain, and I'm very thankful to the Lord for that. Anyway, I'll be in Washington till May, then head back home for some graduation stuff for my lil bro : )  And then this summer I will be working at Arrowhead again, and after that... we'll see I guess. As always I have tons of options, and as always I'm excited to see where the Lord leads. Back here, back home, somewhere new... who knows? But I'm excited for where I'm at right now, and I'm excited for this summer, and I just look forward to whatever journey God chooses to send me on next. He is faithful. Thanks to all who have continued to pray for me as I adjust to life back here in the States. It's definitely been an adventure!

Three Weeks of Being Home

   I'm in a bit of a weird spot. I've been home for three weeks now, and I feel like I'm just on vacation. I've gotten a few emails from the director of the home with updates on the kids and have talked with my dear friend Laura and heard how all is going down there. Boy do I miss them. The home has a new baby now- Andy. He was found left laying behind the wheel of car. He was two days old. After calling aroudn to a number of the homes to find a place for him they called Judah Quy, and they decided to take him in. I saw pictures, he's so precious! In my mind I thought wow, I can't wait to meet him! But then realized I probably won't. Wow. I never spent more than 10 or 11 days away from the home- it's so weird!! Otherwise the kids are doing pretty well. The other little baby, Miguel, appears to have anemia, so they're working on getting him some vitamins to help with that, otherwise his virus numbers are continuing to go down which is leading us to believe that perhaps he really doesn't have HIV. Praise God! Esperanza is doing better and better. She has amoebas and diarrhea at the moment but is finally putting on some weight! She's up around 5 kilos, or 11lbs,  which seems like something we've been working at for forever!! So that's very encouraging. I haven't gotten much news on the others, so I would guess they're all doing well : )  I got to see some pictures from a Christmas part they had with the Hoffmans (the director's family) and they all looked like they were doing really well. I miss my babies!!
   Things here are going pretty well. Adjusting hasn't been quite as painful as I expected, but it still has it's moments. Like when I'm looking at pictures of my kids and break down crying. Or the other day when I was setting up a little bit of a budget. Goodness gracious. Life is blasted expensive here! Wow. When I was in Bolivia I was not paying monthly car insurance, I had to buy credit for my phone which cost me maybe 7 dollars a month (compared to 35-ish here) I didn't have a car to put gas in, I just took a bus or a cab wherever I needed to go (or walked), I had free rent, and food was ridiculously cheap in comparison. So that's been a little rough. And I miss my friends. It's hard to go from being invested in someones everyday life to not talking with them more than once every two weeks. It really sucks! On a happier note, it has been good to be home. I love my family, got to spend Christmas with them, and it's been fun to just catch up on "normal life" that everyone here has continued to have despite my absence. I'm involved in a super wonderful Bible study with a group of people that I absolutely love. It's so encouraging to have a night or two a week to spend with people that are incredibly on fire for the Lord, not only in things they say but also in what they do, how they live their lives. Some of them are friends I've had for a number of years, some I just met two weeks ago, but when I'm with them my heart feels at home, and I am so blessed to be a part of that group. Today I went and talked with my old boss and it looks like I will be going back to work in another week or two, which will be nice. It's fun to have some down time, but I also start to get a little restless after a while. Especially after this past year where I was almost always doing something. It's weird to just sit around! For a while it's nice, but then it starts to get old. I'm enrolled in classes at UWEC for nursing, short one that I need. Hopefully someone will drop it during the first week. I need chem 103 before I can get into a few other science classes I need to get into the nursing program, so we'll see how that goes. But, I guess that's about where I'm at. Life sucks sometimes, but for the most part it's not too bad :)  God has blessed me immensely, and I often can only sit in awe of all the things He's done for me and done in my life. He is one great God.

MILK!!

Here's a brief list of things that I missed while in Bolivia and have been enjoying since returning home (these are in no particular order):
-MILK! (I really like milk. They have milk in Bolivia, it just tastes really disgusting.)
-Snow
-Watching the Packers on a big screen (or just not via skype)
-Arguing with my Dad
-Being able to text my friends
-Deep fried cheese curds
-Frozen Pizza
-Driving!
-Cold weather
-So many friends and family members
-Being able to have deep meaningful conversations without having to ask "huh?", "what?" and "What does that mean?" all the time (ok, not all the time, but enough that it was annoying)


However, there is now a long list of things I miss in Bolivia (also in no particular order):
-MY BABIES!! Oh I miss them!!
-Chicken and rice. I ate that maybe half a dozen times while I was there, but now I'm just craving it!
-SPEAKING SPANISH! I'm afraid I'm gonna lose it
-Being able to get anywhere I wanted to go in 20 minutes or less for 3 dollars or less.
-Mi amiga Laura
-My church
-Cheap living expenses
-Coca-cola made with sugar
-saltenas
-A long list of missionary friends and Bolivians who had become much like family
-Micros
-Warm weather
-Did I mention my babies??

So as you can see, my world is now somewhat divided in two. I love being home (usually) but in some ways, oh how I long to return! I try not to dwell on the things I left behind, as it only makes it harder to move on, but as you can imagine I will always carry a piece of Bolivia with me wherever the road leads. I just pray it takes me back there someday soon.

Eight Days

    I finished my time at the home nearly a week ago now, and I can still hardly believe that I've begun the transition from life in Bolivia to life at home. My last shift was Wednesday night of last week and since then I have been free to catch up on sleep, spend some time with friends, and do lots and lots of souvenir shopping! I have been back to the home twice- once for a despedida (goodbye) and then today I went back to just to spend a few hours hanging out with the kids. It was great to go back and see them but strange in a way. It's nice to be able to just hang out and not have all the responsibility, although I did everything I would normally have done anyway. It's beginning to hit me though just how much I am going to miss them! I will be very sad to have to tell them goodbye. But it has also been a good time of being away from the home and trying to prepare for being back at my home. I'm still not sure how I will handle everything (if I'll be able to remain pretty chill or if I'll do a little freaking out...) but I know, I know, I know that God will be with me regardless of how I react to all the changes, and for that I am incredibly thankful. I keep thinking about/remembering back to when I had eight months left and was impressed that I had already made it through nearly three months here. How bizarre to now only have eight days. And wow, what a packed eight days they should be! I feel like I should have started gearing up to leave about a month ago... maybe then I'd be more ready. But, I've still got a few slots of free time to squeeze people in that I haven't "penciled in" yet, and I have a couple chunks of time to spend with my babies, and I think more than anything that's what I'll end up having wanted to do. Oh how I will miss those sweet little bundles of joy! Or annoying little bundles of tears and screams... either way you put it, I'm going to miss them so much. Thanks so much all who continue to pray for me! You are greatly appreciated. I'm a little nervous about how these next two to three weeks play out, but I am excited that this time should involve getting to catch up with many of you that I haven't been able to keep up with very well in my time here. Excited to see you all soon! God Bless!

"Christmas" Cookies

We got out the fake Christmas tree today and were putting up some decorations so of course we had to make some Christmas cookies too!

 I got the cookies in the oven and frosting whipped up and started digging around for the food coloring.

That's when we ran into a little trouble. Well, I'm quick on my feet, so when I realized that we only had blue and yellow food coloring I (like any proud Wisconsinite)

 came up with the brilliant plan to make "Yay For Being 11-0" cookies instead of "Christmas" cookies : )

I mean what other options did I really have?

Happy Thanksgiving

Things I'm thankful for today-

     -A group of 60 fellow missionaries to have a Thanksgiving feast with
     -Three girls to go out for iced coffee with and enjoy a stroll around the plaza
     -Getting to watch the Packers continue their undefeated streak via a projector equaling a really nice sized screen
     -Having Skype and getting to call home to chat with friends and family
     -Running water (we for some reason ran out for a when we still had dishes left to wash! After a few hours it came back)
     -My babies! And getting the opportunity to watch them grow and experience new things and see new places
     -Christmas music
     -All of you who are supporting and praying for me!!
     -And more than all else I'm thankful for Christ's love, grace, and mercy towards me

...I am so blessed! May God bless you richly as you have been a blessing in my life! Happiest of Thanksgivings to you all.

With Love from Bolivia,
  Samantha

November News

Hello Everyone!

    Just wanted to send up a quick update and let you know how things are going down here in Bolivia! The biggest news is that Esperanza is back in the hospital. She came down with an infection last week and went in Saturday- she should be there for a total of about ten days. She is doing better though! They've got her on some strong antibiotics and she is responding well. It appears that she has pneumonia in one lung and possibly a bone infection. Hopefully things will be cleared up in the next week with the meds she's on- we miss having her at the home! Prayers are much appreciated. It's been a little crazy at the home lately as well. We have six kids there now and the schedule has been rearranged to have two people stay the night but now there are also usually only two people on during the day. So, with Esperanza in the hospital it means there is one person there with her and one person at the home with the other five- three two-year-olds and two that are four months or younger. So between taking care of them and cooking and cleaning and doing laundry- lets just say it gets to be a bit chaotic. We have been blessed to have several volunteers coming to help us out while we are short staffed, but what we really need is someone to fill the one remaining staff position that's open. Then I'm leaving in a month, and another worker is leaving in January, so we really are looking for three people to come pretty quickly, so prayers are appreciated for that as well! I know of a girl that is pretty seriously looking at coming down from the States, and another Bolivian friend here is beginning to think and pray about it, so that's exciting, but we'll see how it works out. Other than that things are going pretty well at the home. The other kids are healthy for the most part, and it's just a joy to work where I do. I would also ask for prayers for myself as I'm getting ready to come home in less than a month!! I have two more weeks of working at the home and then two-ish weeks of possibly doing some traveling, and then saying goodbyes and such. On some levels I'm ecstatic to finally be coming home, but at the same time I know there will be many sad goodbyes. It will be an interesting time of transition, so I'm both excited and nervous.
     Thanks so much for your prayers! I'm excited to be seeing you all soon! Enjoy the snow for me if you can : )

~Samantha