Breakdown Blues

Let me start out by saying just how blessed we have been by our sending churches-- aside from the love and support, the encouragement and "standing with us" has been key to our time here in the states. Our sending church here in MN has continued to pour out blessings, searching for a house for us to live in, trying to find a car for us to use, providing a place for us to work, giving us multiple opportunities to share... and had given us use of their handy church van... for our entire time home! We can't believe just how giving they are!

Unfortunately, this absolutely wonderful mini-van started having some transmission problems... as in it can only shift up to 2nd gear... darn! (Honestly... how fast do we really need to go?) We'd hoped for the best, that it could be easily fixed (ummm... transmission... not so much), but realized the worst and started seeking out other options. We borrowed cars for a few weeks- many thanks to all our generous friends! And then, finally, after much deliberation... bit the bullet... and decided to tap into savings to purchase a used car for our time here in the states. We hope that our selection was wise and that we might get some (most??) of our money back when we sell it in a few months... we'll see! But with a baby on the way and a MN winter looming large in our near future, we felt it wise to have a somewhat reliable mode of transport.

Eddy's soccer team has hit a bit of a plateau, witht their record 2-3-1 (w-l-t)... We're hoping for a few more wins this week, 3 games! The tricky part has been motivation. Some of the girls are just absolutely, completely unmotivated- not showing up for practice, being disrespectful, putting forth zero effort... Needless to say, Eddy has his work cut out for him- but I can't think of a person better suited for the challenge! Go Eddy! Go Orioles!

I've hit the 36 week mark- hooray! I'm feeling good and it seems that my belly has started "dropping" a bit... which is great for eating- less indigestion and heartburn... but a bit tricky on the nerves- think: sharp shooting pain down the right leg, leaving me temporarily incapacitated... who needs to walk or stand when they want all the time? BUT, honestly, I'm still feeling great and truly can't complain!

Photos: The poor ol' church van... Our "new" 1999 Honda CRV... Eddy and his JV soccer team... Some crafts I've been making during this "nesting" phase (purses and key chains... to name a few!)...