Born in northern California and then proceeded to live in a lot of places (Southern California; Japan; Guam; Hawaii) because my dad was in the Navy. Moved to north-central MN when I was about 6 and was raised there. After graduation I lived one year in Louisiana and then a year in New York City (LOVED it!). Moved back to MN and got married and had kids and lived there until 2005 when we moved the family to Guatemala. We have now lived here for 6 years (only traveled back to the US for about 8 weeks during that time) and it feels exactly like home. Except at Christmas when I would love to be with the rest of my family.

I was just glad it was between Melanie and Josh! I LOVE Josh!!!! He'll have an amazing career as well. Congratulations to Melanie! She truly is so extremely talented.

So this year Christmas is for us a little bit late since we usually wait until we know that we have the cash to order anything and this year it came kind of late. I ordered about 2 weeks ago from Amazon and all but 2 things have been delivered to my friend who is returning from the US and will be bringing it all down for us. She's in St. Petersburg FL. Anyway--I just checked and it said that one of the things has been in St. Petersburg from the 17th but doesn't show it delivered yet. The other departed Orlando on the 17th but that's all it says. It's DHL delivery. What are the odds that it was already delivered and doesn't show it yet? My friend leaves tomorrow and hasn't been online all day to tell me whether or not they have arrived. Anyone have any experience with DHL? Does it usually not have things updated too much?

Can't wait!!!!!

Sounds to me that for years she's loved being the center of attention and when someone gets that much attention it's hard for them to come back to reality. There's already drama so not wanting to create drama is a moot point right now. I would call her and ask her what her plans are. You can wait until after Christmas to confront her about her attitude toward the family and your mom and to set up some kind of boundaries with her: "We all need to help mom out. I need you to be available one afternoon a week to help her run some errands since I have her living with our family I think that is reasonable." You've been trying to be a good sister to someone who isn't interested in being a good sister back. That will eventually ruin your relationship with her completely. If you don't want that to happen--put down some boundaries with her.:grouphug:

bump again!

bump I want to make sure everyone sees this! This is an example of the spirit of Christmas! Blessings to you!!

I do enjoy being a stay at home mom! I feel like it's been a great choice for me. When my oldest dd was a baby I had to work and it was so difficult to organize everything! I love being able to pour my energy into my family. I don't feel like I had to sacrifice anything. I have plenty of time to do what I want to do but I only have a few years to really build my relationship with my family. That comes first. I have worked and homeschooled and it was tough but worth it. There was a time when we just needed me to work a few hours a week to get that little bit of extra money to give us some wiggle room (paying bills and also having a bit of cushion for emergencies if necessary). I only needed to work 20 hours a week and it was fine. Now I'm home and homeschool and I love it! When my dc were little I pretty much was at home and activities (play groups etc) with other moms. Now I can do a bit more because they're teens. They participate in our mission here in Guatemala and that makes it so much fun for us as a family! I do want to say that the decisions you make now will effect your ability to stay home later. We never got into credit card debt and we have chosen to live simply so we could pretty much make it on one income. We never owned a home (the mortgage wasn't prohibitive it was maintenance and upkeep). We never had a new car--we paid cash for whatever we drove. We only bought with cash and never had new furniture. We did however think that regular family days and fun days were important so we would budget for that! Being a stay at home mom meant that part of my "job" for my family was to be frugal--coupons; thrift stores; garage sales--it's amazing how inexpensive a family can live if you put time into saving money! I think it's wonderful that you're thinking of this now so you can make good choices later!

Thank you!!! I see an amazing graduation gift for my soon to be graduated dd! What a great thing for her to bring to nursing school!

My son was like that. I didn't make a special meal for him and he was required to take a bite of everything before he left the table. If he was hungry he could have non-sweetened cereal with a banana or something like that but I wouldn't make him something. He grew out of it. Partly because we moved here and he saw people who were hungry and glad to get whatever they could and I think it made him realize that he needed to change. He doesn't always eat everything--but he will definitely try it and he never complains anymore.

It does depend on where you are. Here in Guatemala it also depends on how educated you are. Less educated people say "jo" and more educated people say "zho" (kind of a soft z or j sound).

:grouphug:I'm so sorry you're struggling right now and under so much attack.:grouphug:

Looks great! Wish I had one!!!

You won't regret it! They are wonderful. Another thing about those is keeping them clean (the filters). We usually just take a syringe (the kind you use for medicine for babies) and fill it with a little bit of bleach water and flush them out about once a month. That works!

Forgot the mosquito net! Absolutely need that!!! Also a hat for working outdoors--the sun can be oppressive! Also--on the luggage size--our general rule is they bring what they can carry on their own with NO help on a very fast walk through the airport. They don't want anything too big for sure. Also--they should check with the mission to find out what kinds of clothing they are wanting them to wear. I know our girls had to bring skirts (LONG skirts) and only were able to wear jeans and capris on their days off. If any of the boys have tattoos (or girls!) they needed to be covered at all times. Anyway--that's what I remember from last year and this year getting our team ready to go. They were there for 5 weeks this year and 8 weeks last year. They were able to do laundry in the sinks so some laundry soap is a good thing to bring as well.

Britta is for taste--not for purifying water that may have harmful bacteria in it. Unless they've changed it since we lived in the US it's not meant for 3rd world countries to purify their water to drink. You would definitely need that in Haiti (and Guatemala for that matter!)

When my dh was there last year it helped that he brought lightweight luggage on wheels as well as a waterproof backpack. Also--LOTS of sunscreen and a water bottle with a filter (not britta) is a must. Something like this. Snacks are important in SEALED individual bags because there really isn't a lot of those kinds of things there. Also--if there's a way for him to bring some cipro or something in case he does get sick that's a plus. Will they be doing malaria meds before they go? DH had to do malaria meds. Bring toothpaste and things like that in sealed ziploc bags to keep out ants and bugs! The things you have to think about!!! :001_smile: Where is he going?

I absolutely would!!! What a great experience! There would be a lot of chaperones and boundaries. This summer my 15 year old is going to California for the summer (which is technically in a different country) to attend a youth program and YWAM Chico. She'll be gone 8 weeks. My oldest did it this past summer and had such a great time! She came home so confident and mature (more than when she left).

:grouphug:BTDT--you have no idea. In Nov. we had to leave the country for 3 days to renew our visa so we headed up to the little Mexican boarder town we usually go to only to find that our last visa got mixed up and we owed over $450 in fines!:001_huh: We also had to pay for the regular $600 it costs to stay in the town for 3 days and all the transportation fees. There goes our savings. The very next week we took our car in for an oil change and brake job (usually about $150) and found out that our steering and front end absolutely needed to be worked on as well if we didn't want our steering to all of a sudden go out! We drive on mountain sides so we needed to do that and it cost another $400. There goes the cushion we had gotten that week for an offering. Then this last week our electricity bill came in and it was HUGE! I had just paid it the week before so I couldn't understand what the situation was. When I went in to the electric company to figure out what had happened they informed me that they had been reading our meter wrong for several months and were billing us for the extra we hadn't paid. What's more--we had to pay it that next day in order to stop it from getting turned off! UGH!!!!! So that was another $500! Literally EVERYTHING we had in our account. It's been a tough week needless to say and we are depending on donations to survive and it's Christmas. I thank God we had the money we needed and I need to remind myself that God told us to pray "Give us this day our daily bread". That's become so real to us!

I came across this video and I wanted to share it. I'm sure many of you have already seen it--but I just know I needed the reminder and thought maybe someone else here could use it as well! Merry Christmas!:)

American living in Guatemala!:D

It depends on what I know about them. Sometimes people put stuff on there and I think to myself that it's all a show because I know that they don't live like it! Sometimes people put stuff on there and I'm encouraged because I know that they are living it and I know what God is doing in their lives. It's encouraging to me to see Him work.

:grouphug:I am so sorry.:grouphug:

Let your friend know you are willing to help--and EXACTLY how many days a week and what would be the appropriate times to drop off her kids. I would be uncomfortable sitting for someone who doesn't have a phone or any way I could reach them in case of an emergency. I would let her know that a pre-paid cell phone is a reasonable way to budget calls but it would also make you more comfortable taking care of her kids if she would get one. You aren't a bad friend--you just need boundaries.:grouphug:

See now--you ladies would be the kind I could really hang with! :D They're wonderful ladies in my group but seriously--most of them are retired here and have a steady income. I just don't think they're the kind of women maybe that would "get" the slippers!;)