News & Links

There just are not enough hours in the day to do everything that should be done, to say nothing of things I WANT to do. Like write on my blog. That's had to take a back seat as work on the house proceeds. But after another insomnious* night, I decided to use the "extra" time to share some of the interesting things I've been reading/seeing online in the past few weeks, as well as catch you up on what's happening here.

A lot of what I find is via links that friends post on facebook. Some people, in particular, always seem to write or ferret out the best articles! Three of the links I'm sharing today are from a missionary friend in Romania, a prolific reader who tends to put thoughtful -- and thought-provoking -- links on his status.

Like this vimeo about a marriage in the midst of difficult circumstances.

Keeping with the theme of marriage, I'd also highly recommend these posts by The Daysman (a.k.a. Dr. Wally Metts) titled "Seeking Sanctuary". and "The Mid-Wife Crisis".

Have you ever articulated why you believe in God? The author of this article about why he believes had me doing a double-take with his first line. But read the whole article and you'll get his point.

My husband, an MK (missionary kid), was in his 30s when he read "Third Culture Kids" and finally understood his unique position. Since then we've seen a few articles on the subject, and just this morning our friend in Romania linked to a great vimeo with some TCKs sharing their thoughts on "So Where's Home?"

And speaking of home... my Pinterest addiction has abated somewhat (mainly due to lack of time) but I did find a great space-saving DIY canned food organizer project there:

It's from the Classy Clutter blog and those girls have other great DIY projects, too. I'm not sure I'll use this idea, but I pinned it just in case.

Another home project which I'm already working on is a quilt. I've joined the Patchwork Prism Quilt-Along hosted by Sweet Diesel Designs, utilizing a new pattern by Anna Maria Horner. That's why you see the pretty new button on the right side of my blog. I've chosen my fabric and hope to start cutting out pieces later this week. This is my first qal (quilt-along) and I'm pretty excited to have suggested deadlines to help motivate me. At this point my plan is to make this a wall quilt, something for the main living space in the new house. We'll see how it goes.

As far as progress on the house, the crew from our home church helped us get the walls up for the garage (as well as some work on the casita) before they left last Thursday. Ivan and Charlie are still working on getting coats of cement on the walls, working away at it as they can. Looks like it will take a couple rough coats and then one smooth one to do the job. Since this is a new-to-us type of construction, we're learning as we go, and you know there's always a learning curve!

Over the weekend we took a few days off from the house project to make a trip to Sta. Rosa to return beds and mattresses, and to visit our trusty mechanic once again. This time he replaced a cracked radiator for us. And we got two new tires at a gomería (tire shop) owned by good friends. It was a productive time, as I cleaned and sorted through bed linens to make sure we're set for some folks who'll be staying there a few days this month (a group of university students from the U.S. is coming for a cross-cultural experience). We fit in a few walks, too, enjoying the peaceful countryside and perfect autumn weather.

Besides continuing to plaster the garage walls, this week work also begins on the fence along once side of our lot and the front (the other side already has a fence, as does the back). Getting the property more secure is a priority.

I've got a dozen must-get-done-very-soon items on my "to do" list... everything from paperwork to sewing to cleaning and organizing. Which is why I'm not online very much any more. It's not for lack of desire! I miss blogging on a more regular basis, and look forward to having more time down the road. But as anyone who has ever built a house knows, this kind of project has a life of it's own :)  Meanwhile I get on when I can, write when I have time, and read blogs during my "breaks" from housework and paperwork.

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*Had to look that up... thought it would be "insomniatic" but no, the adjective form of insomnia is insomnious. Your fact for the day!