Six Years!

Yesterday marks six years married to the best husband in the world. The last 6 years have been great, but I think this last year has been the best yet.

I am so grateful to have such a wonderful, Godly husband. As much as I loved and appreciated Dave when I married him, there’s no question that I love him and appreciate him even more now. I don’t know what I would do or where I would be without him.

In honor of six great years, here are six things I love about my husband:

1) He has such a servant’s heart. There is no question that Dave is a servant: in the church, in our family, in his work. He is the one who will do whatever it takes behind the scenes to make things happen and he shows his love so well through acts of service.

2) He is cool, calm, strong, and consistent. Not much fazes him and he is amazingly steady. He is my anchor.

3) He is always willing to entertain my crazy ideas and then to really make them happen.

4) He’s cute and his blue eyes sparkle when he smiles. I’m so glad he’s mine to have and to hold.

5) He has a fun sense of humor. Sometimes I can only roll my eyes, but he makes me laugh often and he loves to hear me laugh.

6) He loves me unconditionally, as I am, not despite the way I am. He helps me to be the woman God made me to be and he shows me Jesus every day through his unconditional love.

I love you sweetie. I appreciate you very much and I’m so proud of you!

My House!

I found my house in Kenya on google maps! Dave was looking at Kenya and Tanzania on google maps and realized that they had more detailed images with new roads and towns labeled. So he zoomed in to the area where I lived and we looked closely and found my school, church, house and lots of local landmarks. This is a very rural area and they had satellite images in great detail! I could hardly believe how much I could see - what fun!

My house is the one that's almost T shaped in the middle of the image:


View Larger Map

Summer Nights in the City

I’d forgotten how interesting summer nights in the city could be. I remember last summer hearing firecrackers going off, cars zooming down the street and people out making noise, but it’s a little hazy in retrospect. It’s all back again – and this week in force!

On Tuesday night, we woke up at 4:30 hearing a pretty loud and intense screaming match up and down the street. Some sort of domestic dispute, if you can call it that when it’s a physically intimate but short term and casual relationship as evidenced by the content of the screaming. Part of me really wanted to shout out the window, “People are sleeping! And do you really want the whole neighborhood to hear your business?” (And all of *those* details that you’re screaming at the top of your lungs?)

Wednesday was the fireworks downtown (and I still don’t understand why they do them in June, but that’s another story), so at 12:30 we wake up to major firecrackers going off on our street. The kind that shoot up and make lots of light and noise. As we were startled awake by the noise and the lights, Dave and I were sure that someone was setting them off in front of our house and that the sparks were going to catch our whole block on fire! It turned out to be quite a ways down the street and eventually we went back to sleep. This was after waking up at midnight to more people screaming at each other because someone had left a car in the middle of the street while they ran inside and somebody else wanted to get by.

Last night was the revelry down at the Motown Museum in remembrance of Michael Jackson (who I realized had died through facebook of all places, from everybody’s comments and status updates). Around 10:00 or 10:30, we heard crazy firecrackers or something and then horns honking and people yelling. We finally figured out that it was down at the museum (at the end of our street). A ton of people had gathered and when people would drive by and honk – and I mean h-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-n-k! – the crowd would explode again in yelling. Our neighbor said we should expect it all weekend.

Our neighborhood is usually pretty calm and quiet, albeit with a little more street noise at night. Most of the time, it’s not a big deal and if it gets too loud, we close our window. But this week it was so hot and we so desperately needed the cool air that we left the windows open and just tried to laugh at it all! Definitely easier to do in the morning, though, when we’re fully awake! ☺ Nobody said life in Detroit would be boring.

Hot!

I think it is officially hot. It's around 90 outside and 80 inside. Not so bad with a fan, but there are only so many fans in the house to go around :) At least I've learned not to leave the windows open during the day!

The cat's pretty much been sleeping most of the last few days. Last night I found him sleeping in the windowsill in front of the open window in the bathroom! I don't think I'm extra hot from being pregnant, just hot because it's hot. Dave suggested going to the DIA or the library where there's air conditioning, but I think I might be more inclined to go down to the basement, chill on the couch and finish a movie I started recently. Maybe with some ice cream. I'm feeling a little tired to be on my feet around the museum. And the exhibit I want to see will still be there another 3 weeks.

Dave said it's okay to take a siesta in the afternoon on hot days like this, as long as I don't check out for the rest of the summer! He reminded me that last year we had hot weeks and then it would cool down again. It's supposed to be more in the low 80's later in the week with nights in the mid 60's to help cool the house back down a bit.

I think mostly my system's just a little surprised that the heat really did come. It's been so cool through most of June that I'd started to wonder if it summer was really on its way!

Yum!

Dave and I love Indian food (well, just about any good food), but we haven't had much lately because we hadn't found an Indian place we liked and I hadn't made time to cook anything at home. We've found great Thai, Ethiopian and Mexican nearby, but Indian has been hit and miss. On a friend's recommendation (thanks Nishba!) we tried another place yesterday and had a fabulous dinner. The dishes we had were really good (I just had leftovers for lunch!) and Dave and I had such a sweet time together. I don't remember what all we talked about, but it wasn't all baby stuff, and we had a really great relaxed time just sharing and laughing together. Good times for sure.

32 weeks

- The baby has been hiccupping. It’s interesting to feel the difference between hard core kicks and punches and the light, rhythmic bouncing of hiccups. At my appointment this week, we could hear the hiccups along with the heartbeat on the Doppler. That was pretty sweet.

- I’m definitely more tired than I was in the middle of pregnancy. Even though I knew that energy levels tend to go down in the third trimester, I don’t think I believed it would really happen! It took me a bit by surprise and I was a bit bummed that I was getting tired so easily. I appreciate more that I’m done working and can take things slow and rest when I need to.

- Even though it doesn’t always seem bigger to me, my belly is definitely growing. Lots of people at church have been commenting and I have lovely purple lines all over my belly to show me it’s true! ☺ It’s also getting a little less comfortable to bend over or lean forward.

- We have some cloth diapers in the house!! We’re borrowing some newborn size Kissaluvs from a friend. I’d still like a few of several other types, but I was thrilled to have some diapers and I called my mom the day I picked them up just to tell her we have diapers in the house! Honestly, there have been some days when I was looking at cloth diapers that I was just as excited about them as I was about the baby, though I’m definitely more excited about the baby now that we’re getting closer.

- On that note (getting closer and more excited), I’m feeling very comfortable and confident about the birth. At our last Bradley class (a week and a half ago), I was still feeling like we’re so not ready, but after having a number of random conversations in various contexts about birth this week, I realized that we do know our stuff and we are very well prepared. There are still more things we’d like to do and practice, but overall I’m very comfortable with the choices we’ve made, my birth team and our ability to do this well. We picked a doula this week too, which definitely helps me feel more prepared. We have some specific things we’ll be working on with her.

- We have a stroller! I took the cat for a ride around the house the day we unpacked it and he lasted about 3 rooms before he jumped out. I went walking with a friend this morning and pushed her (almost) 3 year old in it. It was great and he loved how far the sunshade came down.


- I’m done working and can really focus on getting ready for the baby and getting the house in order. I’m also hopeful that I’ll be able to squeeze some more exercise and sleep into my schedule. Dave moved his desk and computer and I’ve been making some small progress on going through papers, piles and the like.

- I slipped and fell on the stairs a couple weeks ago. Definitely the crying because I’m scared way more than because it hurts thing, just like kids do. Dave heard me fall and came running, comforted me and helped me breath again. Aside from a few days of sore neck, back, hips and head from hitting the stairs, everything was fine. I’m grateful for lots of good cushioning around the baby.

- I hula-hooped recently. My cousin had an adult sized and weighted hula hoop and once I got over the worry of putting too much pressure on my belly, I did pretty well and it was a lot of fun. She said they make ones designed for pregnant women too, but I don’t think I’ll pursue it ☺

- That’s all (ha!) I can think of for now. I don’t have any recent pictures, but we’ll see if we can take one tomorrow.

Last Day

Yesterday was my last day at work. It’s a little bittersweet since I’ve enjoyed what I’ve been doing, but I’m also really excited about this new season that’s coming. We went out for a farewell lunch yesterday with the core staff at CDC (We went to an Indian place with a lunch buffet, which some people enjoyed and some tolerated ☺)

I started out writing a series of posts in the fall about what I’m doing in Detroit. I wrote about the tutoring program and about hanging out with kids from my neighborhood, but I never got to the main parts of my actual job. I should probably use this post to reflect more on the transition and what I’ve learned in this season, but I want to tell you about what I’ve been doing.

The biggest component of my work in the last year has been helping start a fruit and vegetable market in the neighborhood. There are not very many grocery options in the neighborhood and since half the residents don’t have access to a car, they end up buying a lot of food at convenience stores, gas stations, and liquor stores. We also have lots of lifestyle related health issues in the neighborhood. In response to request from people living in the neighborhood and our own experience trying to access fresh and healthy food living in the neighborhood, CDC (Central Detroit Christian Community Development Corporation) decided to start a produce market. You can read more about all of that here.

The idea was to open the store first and then add a produce truck that would go around the neighborhood selling fruits and vegetables. But construction always takes longer than you think and city inspections, permits, etc. take forever, even when you’re in a better functioning city than Detroit ☺. We had a small grant to get started, so we bought and fixed up a truck to start selling around the neighborhood last summer.


In the meantime, I’ve work a variety of hats as it relates to Peaches and Greens. I’ve done the produce purchasing, served as manager, put operating procedures in place, worked in the store, led cooking demos with teens and adults from the neighborhood, been the go-to person when things goes wrong, been the liaison with a group from MSU working with food desert issues, etc. It’s been an interesting process: usually crazy, but almost always fun. It’s really good to see people’s enthusiasm about having fresh produce in the neighborhood and it’s good to see how far this has come. It’s also good to know that we’ve seen some problems and are doing something about them.



The other big part of what I’ve been doing is coordinating our community garden efforts. We have a children’s garden that’s in its fourth year and a new garden that is just starting this year. Some of the produce is going home with the people working in the gardens and the rest will be sold to Peaches and Greens as a way both for people to earn income and to get more locally grown produce in the store. I worked with kids in the children’s garden all last summer and fall. I’ve worked with them to get everything planted this year, but have now (mostly) passed it on. You can read more about the gardens here.


Ways to pray for these endeavors:
- Committed people from the neighborhood to continue working in the gardens
- Several people who are able to make a longer term commitment to the children’s garden
- That these initiatives would make a difference in people’s health and wellbeing
- That the kids working in the garden would see God’s hand in creation and in providing for their needs
- That the gardens would be a safe haven and peaceful space in the midst of a somewhat chaotic neighborhood
- For each of the employees at Peaches and Greens - they all deal with a variety of issues in their own lives, but are working so hard to grow and are committed to the store.
- For an increase in customers at Peaches and Greens that will make the store viable and profitable in the long run
- For favor in partnerships with various organizations that want to help the store grow and increase access to fresh and healthy foods around the city.

Check out my rocking chair!

Check out the rocking chair we got off Craig’s List yesterday for $5!!


I really wanted an old-fashioned rocking chair and had put it on my baby registry/wish list, but I happened to be on Craig’s List yesterday and did a quick search for a rocking chair and found this one just a few minutes away for only $5. I’m SO excited about it.

In other news, we had a fabulously productive weekend. Dave was off all weekend, so we worked hard to get some bigger projects done.

We’re having a yard sale with our Financial Peace group in a couple weeks, so we made major headway on gathering things up to sell. A lot of these things were sitting in the basement waiting for me to finish my thesis so I could go through them to sell or give away. But then I started working, then was pregnant and tired and it never really happened. There’s still a LOT of cleaning and organizing to do in the basement (and we’ve only been here 2 years – holy cow!) but getting all these items gathered up was a huge first step.

We also cleaned out both of our cars yesterday afternoon – got rid of the trash and vacuumed. I didn’t realize how bad it was until I was up close with the vacuum cleaner. And we don’t even have kids yet. If my car wasn’t so old, I’d probably take it to get detailed, but I don’t know if it’s worth the money for just the next year or two. I think I can make enough progress without spending money if I get out there with some soap, a rag and some good old fashioned elbow grease.

We finally decided where the baby will go once he or she outgrows the co-sleeper next to our bed. We thought we’d put a crib in the blue room (where the rocking chair is pictured), but we measured again yesterday and it just won’t fit with the bunk beds that are in the room now and I really don’t want to take them down. It would have been a little close to the window and blinds anyway for me to really be comfortable with a toddler in there. So we decided (we’d been debating for a while) to go ahead and decorate the room that’s been our office with some of our Africa stuff and put the baby there. We’re going to put up this batik that we bought in Tanzania and decorate around it.


That will also force us to go through the office and pare down books, papers, etc. and really get it cleaned and organized. It’s been the last room on my priority list for keeping neat since we don’t use it as much anymore and we just keep the door shut. I’m hoping that if I can spend 15 minutes every day in there, I’ll make some good progress. The first step is to get my desk cleaned up and cleaned out so we can put it on Craig’s List. It’s a wonderful oak desk and I’m sad to see it go, but we don’t need it and we don’t have room for it anymore. If anyone local might be interested, let me know.

28 weeks

I can’t believe we’re into the third trimester, even though I feel like I’ve been pregnant for a long time. I’ve been so blessed to have such an easy pregnancy. I’ve been feeling great and having a lot of fun. I’ve been a little more tired this week, but I think that has as much to do with not getting enough exercise as anything else. Maybe fighting a cold too. I’m just now starting to have moments here and there where I feel a little uncomfortable – reaching for things, putting on my shoes, etc. but nothing too bad yet. I went to my first La Leche League meeting last week, which was a lot of fun and will be a fabulous resource.

I’m obviously pregnant now and I get random comments everywhere I go, though I have yet to have a stranger touch my belly. Even people I know haven’t been overly touchy. Maybe as it gets bigger? The baby is moving around like crazy and it’s really funny to watch my belly move.

It’s hard to comprehend sometimes that a whole new person will be entering our world in a couple months. I can’t really even imagine what life will be like with a baby – radically different but amazing, from what I hear. I’m trying hard to soak in these last couple months as a family of two and to fully enjoy the time I have with my husband (who’s wonderful, by the way!) I think I’m ready to be a mom but we’re totally not ready in a practical sense to have this baby. I’m working through the end of May and then I’ll have a little more time to prepare.

So there’s your update filled with many scattered thoughts. Here are the pictures. They’re not the best quality but they showed my belly the best.

I thought I’d heard it all

I thought I’d heard all the reasons for not being able to come to work: illnesses, funerals, car problems, problems with the kids or other family members, even being too angry to come to work. Yesterday morning I had a message from an employee saying something had come up and that she wasn’t sure she would be able to make it. I called her back, wondering what it was this time. “Sarah, some man came up on my porch and died.” WHAT!?!? Never, ever, ever expected that one. Apparently some man had stopped to sit down on her porch or her steps (there’s a lot of night activity near her house) and just fell over and died. So everyone at her house was stuck there until the police finished their report and told them they could leave. I know it’s not funny, but all I can do is laugh at the craziness of the situation. After living in Africa and now living in the city, I’ve learned that you’ve NEVER heard or seen it all. There are too many crazy possibilities out there. At least it keeps life interesting.