Monday

Atenas' Snowcone Equivalent, much more delicious and rich!

Breakfast. We've never tasted a more delicious pineapple!

Just one of the very different plants that abound.

Our bungalow at Poco Cielo Resort.

The infinity pool that we are yet to visit here at Poco Cielo.

Phew, what a packed day yesterday was! We hit the ground running and fell into bed exhausted. The good news is that we feel like we are getting a good idea of what the area, schools, housing options, people, EMI office, and churches are like. Of course, there's always more to learn!

A few fun facts:
- An iguana running on a metal roof sounds like nothing you've ever heard before. If I had to guess, the one we heard was LARGE (but they're harmless).
- Geckos chirp, and chirp fairly loudly. Those "monkeys" I thought I was hearing? Those were geckos. Funny, because we heard them chirp while traveling in Africa and they weren't nearly as vocal.
- Costa Ricans call themselves Ticos/Ticas. So most everything around is referred to as Tico Style.
- Language school would actually probably take us A YEAR not six months. We should know more after our visit to the language school in San Jose this afternoon.
- Speaking of San Jose, there's a great sign we saw as we were driving around looking at homes. One arrow pointed toward Los Angelas, the other arrow toward San Jose. Are we in California?

Thanks for following along. We are enjoying the adventure this trip has been, and we thank everyone of you for your support, prayers, and interest. We couldn't do this without you!

First Impresssions

We're here!!!!!

Poco Cielo Resort's Pool Area, courtesy of PocoCieloResort.com

We arrived in San Jose, the capital city, well after dark last night. Getting through customs was a snap, and before we knew it we were being wisked away into the night by three of the four full time staff members of EMI, America Latina.

Poco Cielo Resort is gorgeous to say the least, and will make a fine home away from home as we visit.

As we turned in for the night, the trees were alive with sounds: birds, what I'm assuming were monkeys, and insects. About three in the morning the roosters started crowing as they anticipated the rise of the sun which occurs at 5:30 here! And can I tell you that one of the roosters crowing reminded me of a young boy entering puberty? It's cock-a-doodle squeaked through many an octave as it practiced it's crow!

On today's agenda:
- Appointments at two different elementary schools in Atenas to foresee what schooling options abound.
- EMI office tour and time of worship while there.
- Women's lunch at a staff member's home.
- Tour Atenas neighborhoods with a staff family.
- Dinner with a staff family.

Since the sun rises at 5:30, the day, too, begins at that time for most. And once the sun goes down, around 5:30 p.m. the day ends and most folks are in bed by 8 p.m. So we've started early and will turn in early tonight!

Much love to all and we covet your prayers! And please forgive any typos. The spell check is in Spanish and is indicating that just about every word is wrong. Feel free to spell check as you read and offer grace accordingly! :O)

Atenas, Costa Rica, here we come!!!!


This photo of Atenas is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Zack and I depart tomorrow morning for our much anticipated peek at what our future life may look like, Lord willing. Pray for our time if you would. We'll be gone April 3rd-9th and the kids will be home with my mom.

And I hope to have at least a couple posts brought to you by yours truly while there. Be watching for them because it could be nearly like you're there with us, right!?!

Adios amigos!

Top 5 in the Universe

Beach play during our recent San Diego trip

Said the bigger of the two to the littler, "Ashlyn, name your top five things in the universe."

And from the mouth of the littler came:
"Jesus, school, dogs, Kalli (her "best friend forever" in her own words), and nachos," in that order.

FAT

This boy?

This boy is a fount of wisdom. He gets it. He lives it. Sure he's my son, and surely I'm biased, but I am so proud of the young man Garrett is growing into. And yes he's a work in progress but aren't we all?

Tonight at the dinner table, shortly after a heart-to-heart teachable moment that included a reprimand, Garrett shared a nugget of truth that revealed his heart to do right by the Lord. I was so encouraged by what he'd been thinking on after our aforementioned discussion, and I was downright encouraged in my own walk with the Lord as well.

"Mom," he said. "Mrs. C [his fourth grade teacher] is always reminding us to be FAT."

"Fat?", I asked, never having heard the acronym and assuming his teacher must have meant fat on the Word or something of the sort.

"Yeah, Flexible, Adaptable, and Teachable. And really? I think that can be used in every area of our life."

Oh how right you are, son of mine!

Me...on Vanity

This is me (with my dashingly handsome husband):


I like this photo, for many reasons, but you want to know the three biggest reasons?

1) I've got big ol' sunglasses on.
2) The stocking cap is nice, too.
3) It's perfectly zoomed/zoomed out.

Weird reasons, right?

Let me explain. A photo such as this is perfectly benign because it saves you from seeing what I saw the other day when I leaned in to pluck my seemingly ever-bushy brows. It was upon leaning toward the mirror that I spotted them. They and vanity are ever butting heads. They make you shudder and feel all of your 32 years. They caused me to pluck and wax. They had to show up glaringly on the same occasion, didn't they?!?

Suffice it to say, goodbye mustache and wiry, gray hairs!

Vanity wins again but oh does my pride suffer!

Fields of Green

We live in a winter state. Winter as in 9 months of the year we've got snow on the ground. Winter. Winter. And more WINTER. Did I forget to mention that it's snowing as I sit and type away? Winter.

Living in a winter state is hard, but it's also beautiful. Beautiful, excepting when the snow blends with motor oil, begins melting and is splashed upon every surface within the spray's reach. But never mind that, we're not even to the melting stage.

And snow is beautiful excepting when the long winter months have caused your 30-something body to go into hibernation mode and pack on a few "survival" pounds. And it's all the snow's fault, really! I'm sure there's some biological data out there to support this hypothesis of mine.

In any case, and really I do have one, the vegetative color green shows up only in supermarket produce isles. And you know what? That's good! Very good in this case. Because when produce gives you greens, oil them, add salt and pepper, and turn it into chips! And these chips? They'll only help the poundage issue that is a directly linked with snow.

Kale, oiled with salt and pepper, ready to be baked.

Not only are these beauties simple, delicious, and healthful but your family will love you for them. And you'll feel like a superhero for giving your family the nutrient punch that comes inherently in kale chips.

The finished product, baked to crunchy perfection.

And the best thing about these? Brace yourself.... The best thing about kale chips is the lingo you can teach your family to go along with them. I made up and coined the following phrase, so much so that all I have to do is look at my kids and say, "Remember, treat your colon..." and they finish with, "like you wear it on the outside". Think about that one folks!

Kale Chips

1 bunch of kale, preferably organic
about 2 T. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Wash and dry kale completely. Tear leavess from stem, so as to avoid the chewy lower stalk. Set leaves on a large baking sheet and drizzle with oil. Massage the oil onto each leaf and then spread the leaves out on the sheet so that they don't touch . Salt and pepper to your taste.

Bake for approximately 10 minutes, but be sure to watch them closely because these babies go from done to torched in mere seconds.

Enjoy, and always remember to treat your colon like you wear it on the outside!

Conquering the world one colon at a time,
Jennie