Nicaraguan Sister

For the first time since we left Nicaragua over a year ago, one of our Nica family members has come to us! Ena is the pre-school teacher at Colegio Havila, the school we taught at for a year in 2008. She is up here in Seattle for two weeks learning the ways of Excel, practicing her English and learning the ropes of what taking responsibility for the Sponsor-a-Student program from the Nicaragua end will look like.

It was so wonderful to have a direct connection to the people we came to love while living there...not to mention that we had an entire evening speaking in Spanish! I don't think either of us knew just how much we have missed speaking daily in Spanish till we spent the evening doing so. It has also gotten us excited about our potential trip to visit in February at the beginning of the new Nica school year...more to come on that I'm sure.

A couple of my favorite moments with her were as follows:

-Picking her up for our dinner and telling her we need to stop by the grocery store. She promptly said to me, after I parked the car, "Mari Franci, can I stay in the car? There is so much rain and it's so cold!"

-At dinner we miraculously had some Coca-Cola in our fridge. If you ever spend any time in Nicaragua, you will quickly find out that Coca-Cola runs in Nicaraguan's blood. It is their drink of choice and is consumed at any hour in the day with gusto. As Josh excitedly offered some to Ena at dinner the conversation went something like this:
"Ena! We have Coca-Cola! Would you like some?"
"Noooo, Josh! It's too cold for Coca-Cola!"
"What?! But you love Coca-cola! You're Nicaraguan, how can you say no?"
"Josh, Coca-Cola is for when it is hot!"

She did however happily take some orange juice. Not sure how the two are that different but there is obviously a time and a place for Coca-cola and it is not in Seattle!



Ena, our dear Nica sister. Carrying on with the cold theme we took her to Coldstone at the mall. Josh was not thrilled about the idea of going to the mall, but Ena quickly put him in his place when she told him that she needed to see everything she could cause this could be the only time she ever comes to Seattle!


Ena and Me





I'm sure Ena is think to herself "Oh the crazy things the gringos make me do!

Numbered days

Normally, I am not one to make New Year's resolutions. I generally find them tiresome and silly because it seems like everyone makes the same resolutions, sticks to them for the month of January, and when the dreariness of February sets in they are forgotten altogether.

This year is different. I've made a resolution that I only have to keep till May and I don't have to keep it by myself! The thought occurred to me the other day, that life as we know it has an end date to it! Our days are numbered, it's no longer just a saying, it's actually true! Josh and I have resolved together to take spontaneity by the horns and enjoy the simple things of life to the fullest before our son comes in to the world. Now, I'm not saying that we won't have fun with a child in tow. In fact, some things will become even more fun as we re-see the norm through fresh eyes. But....going to the movies, out to dinner, or popping over to hang out with friends will become more complicated. So while we eagerly look forward to meeting the wee-one, we are determined to also enjoy these last days as just the two of us.

So, this weekend we took advantage of a lovely warm winter weekend in Seattle and walked around Discovery Park with my brother and sister-in-law. Discovery Park holds a special spot in our hearts as it's the place where Josh proposed to me 4 years ago and it's just as beautiful as it was back then. The day was topped off by a gorgeous sunset on the Seattle waterfront as we waited for our table at the Old Spaghetti Factory.







Rain boots and puddles...a match made in heaven.


Elias and Theresa - Spontaneity partners in crime








Sister-in-law whom I love!

Spontaneity...check. Hanging out with people we love....check. Resolution accomplished once over.

Preggers and 2010

2010 = Looking forward to a new adventure of becoming parents!

New Years was pretty low key for us this year. We spent it eating great food, watching awesome entertainment (Avatar for the boys, The Blindside for the girls) and watching Josh get super excited about seeing the fireworks exploding over the Space Needle from the comfort of our apartment patio. Okay, so our view of the Space Needle is pretty microscopic, but if you glance back and forth quickly enough from the real view to the view from the television you can almost mix the two up enough to trick yourself in to imaging the "real" view is pretty awesome! Here's to the New Year and all that it holds for us!


Oh the joys of awkward pregnancy pictures.



From highschool buddies to soon-to-be mommies!