IKE in Ohio!!?! What??

Well, thanks to those of you who have been praying. Yesterday around 4pm, the "fun" began. We were watching the Weather Channel and saw that there were strong winds headed our way (north eastern Ohio) which were the aftermath of Ike. Yes, in Ohio. What we also learned is that thankfully there was a hot air system in place which prevented the aftermath from causing tornadoes throughout the mid-west (as opposed to cold air). It was eerily hot the last few days and incredibly humid but not rainy yesterday. We heard the wind getting crazier and crazier outside and began to see branches fly off of the trees around our house. Being from the south, we went outside to enjoy the power of the storm (sounds crazy, but there's something very awe-inspiring watching a big storm like that). While we were collecting a few of the small branches from willow trees by our house, a large branch cracked on a bigger tree right beside our house (just 5 ft. from our kitchen window). Then the wind kicked up and blew our WOODEN patio furniture around, so we rushed inside. We prayed and anxiously waited while we could actually feel our house tremble a little. Around midnight, we went back out to see the damage, the wind had died down for about 30 minutes. While many branches on the ground, trees stripped, there was no damage to our house, car, the fence, or our landlords property. Thank the Lord! There were more downed branches this morning as we woke up, though nothing touching the houses or cars. Today is really nice weather and we've taken the opportunity not only to clean up the mess, but to start getting the shrubbery around the house cleaned up a little.

Cleaning out the junk!

Well it's not actually spring, but heading fast towards fall, with a chill in the morning air. But, we are nonetheless doing major cleaning. We're getting rid of junk, the stuff we've kept around, but haven't dealt with in a while. It seems to be a theme in our lives these days, dig out the junk, deal with it, and live in a free-er cleaner way. It's actually very refreshing, after all the effort in cleaning out. Here are a few pictures of our junk, the trash for the dumpster, and stuff for a yard sale.



This is the trash, it's gone! And the black tote, empty and in the basement!

Here's the stuff, usable, however we don't want it in our storage! It will feel nice to get rid of it.

Playing around

Well, in these last few days, José & I have been able to take advantage of the pool in our "backyard" (our landlords live behind us and are very generous people who find us interesting). We've eaten hamburgers and hot dogs 4 times this week, and we will have a lamb roast tomorrow after church. We've gotten to know probably 100 people this week in various small groups, we've learned what a potato launcher is, how to perfect the art of smore making, and most recently played "corn toss" and bocce ball.

In addition, we've been "playing around" with the furniture arrangements in our cute little house. And as you may notice, we've been playing around with some new ideas for our blog.

We figure that life is more fun if you laugh, so why not help people remember us better by laughing with us. So, you will notice the new addition, Chinchilla Life, which should (if it works) feature a new chinchilla picture daily for your viewing pleasure. This will remind you of us, to pray for us, and continue on this journey with us. You can also see what kind of weather we're enjoying at the moment, and keep up with the blogs we enjoy reading.

So, stop by, enjoy the page, and have a little laugh.

Also, if anyone happens to know how to make a spanish version of this same website, without changing the url or having both languages on the same page, we'd love the information. We're trying to make it easy for all of our readers. Thanks!

What we've been up to...

These days, we've been spending most evenings in the backyards of people from North-Mar Church for barbecues. Instead of southen baked beans, and slaw/chili hotdogs, we're enjoying corn on the cob, cheesy potatoes, and tons of fresh veggie salads from people's gardens. (Including squash casserole!)


It seems that at one of the small groups, we had an interesting bunch of kids. They really did build this potato launcher that is PVC piping, hairspray and a spark/lighter. Pretty amazing, and it works well with apples too. They taught José how to do it, too. Hahahahaha.

In addition to the amazing potato launcher, José also had his first experience with smores and roasting marshmallows. We are having a great time here, and enjoying the hospitality in many people's homes.
Thanks for taking a minute to read up on our latest. We'd love to hear from you!

Making Ohio Home

Come for a quick visit to Cortland, Ohio, right outside of Warren.Warren, Ohio. We've been here 8 days now, and the house is getting in order, slowly. Here's a picture tour of our house here in Cortland (right outside of Warren, and off of Hwy 46).This is us!
This is the view of our house from the road.
The front portion that is sticking out used to be the front door/porch, but was closed in to make a 2nd room.

From the driveway.
Come on in!The front door is a landing, go right, and down a few steps and you'll be in the basement. Go left, and up a few steps, and you'll be in the kitchen.
There's a little corner/shelf kind of space on the landing, and that's Sofia's new spot. It's MUCH smaller than her room in Asheville, but she likes it.
Creative storage units above, and down the stairs to the basement.
Kitchen view from entrance.The kitchen. All gas appliances, we LOVE the gas stove!The bookshelf turned pantry leads into the hallway. (Notice the new wood flooring the owners just put in!!) Bathroom's on the left and office on the right. Living room straight ahead, and beyond that the bedroom.
Bathroom.
The clean/organized part of the office, with the desk & Melanie's craft stuff.
A work in progress. Thankfully there are plenty of bookshelves.
Living Room, right sideLiving room/dining area on the left.
Finally, our room. Notice the amazing quilt. My mom gave it to José & I just before we moved. It's king-sized and we LOVE it! Thanks Mom!!!


Well, that's our house. Now I should probably head back to into the office to put things in order....

Moving in

Well, as you may know (or not), we are now living in Cortland, Ohio (near Warren) and José is the Pastor of Missions Ministries at North-Mar Church. http://www.northmarchurch.com/

We are enjoying getting to know Cortland, Warren, and Howland (the surrounding city/townships) and adjusting to the north.

We LOVE the straight roads, they form a grid actually, and so there's virtually no getting lost once you learn a few major roads. Very different from the tangle of roads in Asheville.

We learned that instead of Ingles, we will be doing grocery shopping at Giant Eagle.

But a few things remain the same: 24-hour Wal-Mart, Aldi, and kind people who are helping us transition.

Thanks for the emails and notes of encouragement. We'd love to hear from you. Contact us if you need our address/phone/email, etc...

Back in the US

Well, after a quick week full, but restful vacation in Guatemala, we're back in Asheville. At least for the day. We flew into Charlotte airport late on Sunday evening, spent the night with good friends in Charlotte. Monday, we began our trip back home to Asheville. We stopped in a little town along the way to meet/reconnect with Brenda, a missionary Melanie worked with in Paraguay, who was in NC attending a conference.

After we got home, we unpacked, did laundry, and ran errands.

Our house is completely packed up since we are leaving for Ohio on August 4th (Monday). We leave today (Tuesday, July 29th) for Summer Camp with the Spanish Eastern District Youth in the Christian & Missionary Alliance. Camp ends Saturday, so we will once again, unpack, do laundry, and minute errands. Sunday is Melanie's neice's 1st birthday, so we will celebrate with her here at our place and have a day with the family (grandparents too, hopefully), before packing the UHAUL on Monday and heading up to Ohio.

We will include more pics of our trip to Guatemala, and of Camp when we get a chance. Thanks for stopping in. And if you remember, you can pray for us at camp with the 20 youth we're taking! We are now accessible by cell phone, so if you need to contact us, that is probably the best way.

The Family

Last night we decided that since we would have extended family visiting this weekend, that we would make tamales, well Rosita would make them and we helped. Here's the biggest wooden stirrer that I've ever used. We had to make the filling and cook it first. Then we cut the string (actually it's a vine that is smaller than what you use for baskets) in order to tie up the banana leaves after we put the tamales inside them to cook. We also played with Andrea (6 yrs) and Ashley (11 months). Jose's brother, Romeo, lives two blocks away, so we have been able to visit with them every night after they get off work.
We are also including a video of Panchito, the guard parrot, who goes crazy when Jose Luis arrives home from work, and a video of how to make a tamale. Enjoy! (They were great, and we're planning on eating more of them on Friday night when the uncles & aunts come over to see us).

Guatemala at last!

We're finally in Guatemala! As we were driving to Jose's parents' apartment from the airport, I was thinking, there are some things you forget until you come back. Like the smell of diesel and exhaust. Like baby cucarachas (I've seen two so far, and that's enough for me). Like the taste of the restaurant, Pollo Campero (Country Chicken). Like coffee and sweet bread at 11pm with the family (and lots of conversation and stories). Like the taste of eggs with chirmol (a typical tomato salsa-- http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/55/Chirmol-Guatemalen-Tomato-Sau87993.shtml ) and fried plantains with cream and cheese for breakfast. YUM! Like Panchito laughing because he LOVES cold showers (it's rainy season here. Also, the water is off from 7am-around 9pm and most people fill up tanks to use during the off time, but unless there is pressure, the water heaters don't work.) Anyway, we are having a ton of fun, we got to meet Jose's 11 month old niece, Ashley, and see Jose's brother's family (Romeo, Heidi, Andrea & Ashley) and of course his parents, Jose Luis and Rosita. We included a video of Panchito enjoying his cold shower in this morning's downpour.

Flying, Vacation, Moving

Well, we are leaving Asheville in 3 hours for Charlotte in order to fly out tomorrow morning to Guatemala for vacation and to see José's family.

Hopefully we will have finished packing the house, and the suitcases, and well we won't forget anything like our toothbrushes or the dog (just kidding, Sofía is staying with my parents this month during our travels).

We'll be in Guatemala for 3 weeks to see family, and have a vacation before a huge change in our lives begins.

Once we arrive back in the US, via Charlotte, we will hopefully catch up with a few friends on the way to Asheville on Monday the 28th. Then, we unpack, do laundry, and pack for Camp on Tuesday with our beloved Middle Schoolers. Needless to say, there's not much time to breathe from now until we leave for Ohio on August 4th.

We get to celebrate my neice's first birthday on August 3rd, and then we pack the UHaul and drive to Ohio on Monday..... We will do short posts with pictures between now and then, but that is a general idea of what this next month entails for us.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks!