Sunday Sneak Peak

I am starting a new thing where on SUndays I put up a picture of some interesting part of my life. So if you have questions or want to see something in particular, let me know!!



Today's picture is of one of my best friends with her mother-in-law. She was the first person I met here. When we were walking around looking for a place to live she called down to us from her balcony and told us about the apartment across from her. It was locked so she had us come in and look at hers to get a feel for what it looked like. Her name is Dilek and she totally took care of me early on. She would show up at my door, say come on, and take me to visit friends. I jokingly called her my agent because she introduced me to so many people and watched out for me so much. She was not scared of the fact that I didn't speak the language. She was truly a God-send. Her friendship has been such a blessing!!

We decorated for Christmas today. It took 15 minutes!!! No kidding!

My Latest Email

Hey Guys!

I cannot tell you thank you enough for the cute card and chocolate!!! It came yesterday. Can I just tell you that NEVER in my life have I tasted anything as wonderful as those Butterfingers!!! I forgot what I was missing. Good thing I guess!!!

But now there is no turning back! I made a pact with myself and God that this summer while we are in the States that I will eat a king size Butterfinger EVERY DAY in hopes of being burned out on them by the time we return. I swear, never have I tasted anything so good. Sweet mercy! You are my Santa Claus!!!

The kids can have their fill of the Reese's Peanut Butter cups. They are dead to me now that I have tasted the heaven that is known by the name Butterfinger!

YUM!

Dare I say it again?


YUM!!!

Love,
Elizabeth

Gün

My neighbors are finally making efforts to get to know each other and me. I am so happy!! Most of them have lived in this building for about 10 months. So, they've had time to settle themselves in, and now they are looking to make friends.

We have started a gün every other Monday. Ladies get together in the afternoons, rotating whose flat we meet at. Everyone brings 50 lira and gives it to the host. It is the way women here save up money. Since none of them work, they can skim a bit from the budget to pay into the kitty every other week. When it is their turn to host they get 550 lira! They either use that money to buy something big (appliance, mattress, etc.) or a piece of gold.

Also, it seems like a gün is your chance to show off your cooking. The women make so much food!!! So we just sit around talking, eating, and drinking tea for 3 hours! It is so fun. 12 women in one room! Whew!

PLEASE!!!!

Lucy: (yelling) This food tastes terrible!!!

Me: Lucy, please don't speak to me that way!

Lucy: (still yelling) This food tastes terrible, please!!!

The Best Part of Christmas

The best thing about Christmas for us is that we get to choose our own traditions. For everyone else here, it is just a normal day. But we keep the kids out of school, I skip school, we lock our door, and we hide from the world. We stay warm in our jammies, open gifts sent from America, eat yummy food, enjoy each other, and celebrate Jesus. It is extra fun because it feels like we are playing hookey.

I am so looking forward to Christmas this year. This weekend we will pull out our little "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree and put out a few decorations. The kids are so excited. It really is so fun to experience Christmas with them.

School

The next course that I need at my language school has opened up. So it looks like December is going to be a busy month!!! My classes start on Wednesday. At least we know what to expect this time.

Christmas Quiz

What family traditions do you have for Christmas?

If you could do anything for Christmas what would it be?

What is the best gift you ever received for Christmas?

What is your favorite Christmas song?

What is your favorite Christmas memory?

What is on your Christmas list?

Thankful

Today I am feeling thankful.

I have a lovely and safe flat to live in. My family and I are healthy. My husband loves our children and me. My kids are wonderful little bundles of personality and weirdness (in all the good ways). We have so many people that love, support, and encourage us. We have a Savior who numbers the hairs on our heads. He hears our every word and walks with us in this journey.

Life is good!

Gökan

I am tutoring a friend of mine's son in English. We get this request a lot, and for some reason I felt like the Lord wanted me to finally say yes to this family. They are so sweet, and I really love helping them.

So, if you ever meet a guy from this country who has a perfectly beautiful southern accent on top of his foreign accent, you will know you have met my Gökan!

Bandits

Most days a motley band of robbers comes down to torture me while I am doing my housework. They sneak up on me and try to scare me, shoot me, or snatch something of mine without me noticing.

I cannot survive these constant attacks any longer.

PLEASE, if you see these bandits contact your local authorities. They are heavily armed and assumed dangerous!!

Around Town with Mom

I forgot to post these pictures from sight-seeing with Mom.


We took Noah and Callie to a really neat museum while Mom was here. It was a transportation museum and it has all sorts of planes, trains, boats, cars, trolleys, bikes, carriages, etc for people to climb on and learn about.



Here are some other beautiful things from around our city.

Sacrifice Holiday

Today is the first day of the Sacrifice Holiday.



Adios Mr. Cow!!



****Edited to add: Callie and Noah were riding their bikes in the street. When she saw me watching her from our balcony she screamed up, "I saw it's head! It was cut off!" I hollered down, "don't ride your bike in the blood!" (I bet your Thanksgiving didn't include such lovely statements!)

Call to Prayer

NEW CREATION ADHAN
(*Allah is just the Arabic word for God.)


God is most great, God is most great.

I bear witness that there is no god but Allah.

I bear witness that Isa is the Word of God,

who sendeth forth the Eternal Spirit

proceeding from the command of my Lord

Isa the Messiah, His Word,

the ransom of all Ibrahim's heirs,

and our momentous sacrifice,

raised to Allah

as a warning of the day of meeting,

that he might put away our flesh

and bring a new creation,

even righteousness by faith alone.



Come ye to prayer.

Come ye to the good.

Prayer is better than sleep.

Allah is most great, Allah is most great.

There is no god except Allah.

Martha Stewart Would Have Croaked

A few weeks back the neighbor in the apartment below us came up and asked if I was free the following Monday. The women in my building all wanted to come up and welcome me. Immediately I said that I was free and we set up a tea date!

As soon as I shut the door I remembered that I would not be free because we would have out of town guests here. So I (cowardly) sent Noah down to tell her and ask if we could to do it another time.

After our (wonderful!!!) guests left, I was hankerin' for some time with my neighbors. So when I ran into one at the market I explained that I wasn't free last time, but I would love for her to come this Monday. She politely agreed, but people always do that, so I didn't know if it was a firm commitment or not. The next day I went down to my neighbor below us to invite her. She seems like the leader of the pack and I figured she'd spread the word. She wasn't home so I explained the whole thing to her sister-in-law and invited them for Monday. The next day she came up, but I wasn't home. Justin understood her to say that we could all come to her place on Monday.

I showed up at her place on Monday with a little box of cookies. She looked a bit confused but thanked me and invited me in. After we exchanged pleasantries she told me that they were all planning to come to me today.

WHAT!!!!

I quickly excused myself, ran home, and promptly had a heart attack!! When ladies come over in the middle of the day, they bring their appetites. They don't want a few nuts, they want some F-O-O-D!!!

I called Justin to freak out, but just as I was really about to get going there was a knock on the door (lucky boy). Arzu (my neighbor) had come up to see if she could help me get things together. I embarassingly admitted that since I misunderstood and thought we were going to be at her house I hadn't prepared anything!! She took a deep breath-trying to hide her shock- and said she could bring the cookies back and another neighbor was bringing some food as well. Arzu assured me that I only needed to make the tea... everything was fine!

SHE HAD TO BRING BACK THE COOKIES THAT I HAD JUST GIVEN HER!!

What a dork I am!

She was gone for a bit. I am quite certain that she went around to a few of the other ladies and asked them to bring whatever food they could find. So when it was all said and done several of them brought food and it was plenty.

Here's the other bit of craziness... since I was not prepared to host 12 women, I had not ordered any water. We cannot drink the water from the tap and have to get water brought to us in big bottles two at a time. One was empty and the other had just a tiny bit in it. I used it up making the first round of tea. So when I had to make another pot I had to use tap water!!

TAP WATER!!

I reasoned that at least it had to boil in the process and that our water wasn't brown today.

Everyone survived and it turned out to be a lot of fun. I was so glad that I didn't have too much time to panic beofre the ladies showed up. It made me laugh to think about how in America when it was my turn to host bunco (12 ladies for a meal) what I huge production I turned it into. All you really need is a pot of (contaminated) tea, some food cleaverly cut into halves, and a bunch of women to talk and laugh with.

I was really thankful that the Lord gave me this opportunity. I had been feeling like the women in my building were never going to include me. And also I was feeling lonely in general since our string of guests are gone and June feels like such a long way away. I had just written a post about being lonely a week ago. The Lord heard my cry and look what He did for me!!! Truly He is good.

Witnessed Recently

-man hit by car (gently) when getting off the minibus without looking

-man going crazy on the bus and banging his head against the window till it bled

-kids spitting on each other at the park- almost like they were playing tag... but with spit

At the last parent meeting for Callie's class the teacher made a long speech to everyone about how well Callie is doing and its not even her first language. He asked me several questions in front of all the parents (at least 50) that I had to answer on the spot. YIKES!! Then they all started thanking us. I am not sure what it was all about, but I sure was proud of my girl!!

Lucy hit a woman's hand away when she tried to pinch her cheeks

A lady at the bus stop today was so profoundly illiterate that she could not work her telephone because she could not read the numbers! She asked me to help her. I cannot even imagine!

So Proud

The pride I feel about my kids is abundant! Take, for example, these lovely pictures taken by some friends who came to visit:






A momma's heart swells with joy at the preciousness!

Every Mom's Battle

Today Noah wanted to take his American football to school to play with at recess. His teacher told him he could teach the class how to play American football. I didn't think much of it until he got to school. He pulled it out of his bag and was showing the other kids from his class. I panicked. I so want him to be who he is, and exactly the individual that God made him to be. BUT, at the same time I don't want him to be too different. There are already so many differences and to highlight another one worries me! Kids can be so cruel!

I know so many moms walk this line, so my struggle is not unusual. I want my kids to be unique and who they are, yet all too often I want them to be like everyone else! It feels especially difficult since we are here, and not like anyone. We feel it so acutely sometimes- the differences can be exhausting. Interestingly enough, at other times it doesn't feel like there are so many differences after all.

But the reality in all of this is that I most want God's heart for my kids. I want them to be happy and content in their relationship with Him, and confident in who He made them to be. That's all that really matters- not what anyone else thinks, right?!

My heart was so happy before I left the school-yard and saw Noah playing catch with about 4 other boys. He can really throw that ball! (Tim Tebow watch out here comes my boy!) The boys were laughing and playing so I felt reassured. It was the first time they had gotten their hands on an American football, and I couldn't help but laugh at how crazy those boys throw the ball. If only I could hide in the school yard and watch Noah teach his class how to play! I bet that would be interesting!!!

A Sure Sign My Kids Watch Too Much TV

Noah: You're an Einstein!

Callie: What's that, even?

Noah: I think its a number or somethin'.

Callie: Yeah, I bet its more than a thousand!

Let Them Eat Cake

This is my precious Luby-dooby-do with her birthday cake. She chose to eat at Burger King- a big treat for us- for dinner. Then we played at the arcade a bit more and came home.

Lucy could not wait to eat the cake that she had decorated! She had been asking about it all afternoon! She was quite proud of herself.

The cake was so good!!! YUM-O!

Horsey

The plan was for Mom and I to take Lucy to the arcade at the shopping center near us. Justin would pick up Noah and Callie and meet us for dinner at the restaurant of Lucy's choosing. When we got off the minibus Lucy began talking about the riding ring that they had put in the parking lot. So we took her over to see the horses. She said she wanted to ride. Well, we were with Gamma, so what Lucy wants, Lucy gets- especially on her birthday! I figured she would freak out as soon as they put her on the horse. She had been such a grump at school just a few minutes earlier!

I could not have been more wrong!! Lucy let the man take her from my arms, put a helmet on her head, and put her up on the horse with no problem. She was so happy. She found her smile again. She sat up straight and proud, with a huge smile, and even waved at us a few times. I think it was the highlight of her birthday!

What is the funniest movie you have ever seen?

Its My Party and I'll Cry If I Want To

Lucy's big smile from the pictures of her decorating her cake did not last long!! She went to school and had a party there with her school friends. They told Mom and I to come back at 3:00 for the party. When we got there they had decorated the schoolyard with balloons. The weather was beautiful, so they moved the little tables and chairs outside and did the whole thing out there. It was lovely... well, except for Lucy's attitude! I think she didn't feel well, but I don't know. Whatever it was, she sure wasn't happy!



Remember this happy girl?



She quickly turned into this.



All of Lucy's school friends waiting for cake.



Very sad birthday girl!



Not happy about the crown her teacher made for her.



Lucy picked out an animal themed cake. It was so cute.



Make a wish!



Lucy's teacher gave her the cutest little doll. It had blue eyes and blonde pigtails just like Lucy!



Showing off her doll.



Riding the "horsey" at school. This is her favorite thing in the play yard, and the closest we came to a smile the whole afternoon!!

Lonely

I have more adorable pictures of Miss Luly-Belle but they will have to wait a bit. I have a cold and even worse I feel cruddy. Not just sick, more like sorry for myself or lonely.

When I went to school to drop off the kids, I looked out over all of those people and thought, "not one of them knows me. Like, really knows me." They recognize me as the foreign lady, or the lady with all the kids, or the lady who smiles at them. But I bet not one of them even knows my name.

We pay a monthly fee to our building manager to cover things like having the hall cleaned, electricity, maintenance, etc. On our receipt it said Amerikalı Komşu (American Neighbor) where the name should be. How can they not know our names?!?! We have lived here for 5 months. When Justin went to pay the fee she said that she had wanted to ask him something but couldn't because he did not speak the language. Again, WHAT?!?!? He was standing there talking to her. We have had several conversations with them, even shared a meal with all of our neighbors during Ramadan. Why are people so stand off-ish with us? Why won't they give us a chance?

I want friends! I want to be around people who get me, and I get them. When I make a joke I want people to know its a joke and not a foreigner mistake that needs to be corrected! Will I ever be normal? Will I ever have friends that feel like home?

The rainy season has started and walking the kids to school in the rain hasn't helped my morale either. UGH!!! I need God's perspective on things!!!

Birthday Cake

My genius Mom brought a cake mix and can of frosting with sprinkles for Lucy's birthday. Can I just tell you that frosting from a can is the best tasting substance on earth. It awakened my sleeping taste-buds and has left them yearning for more ever sense.

(Dear Betty Crocker, YUM!!! SIncerely, Elizabeth)

Um... yeah. So any way back to Lucy. I baked the cake the night before her birthday while Mom wrapped presents and Justin longingly sniffed the frosting. But we saved the little packet of sprinkles and let Lucy put them on before she went to school. She was so thrilled to get to decorate her own cake! Big hit!!! Of course, Callie was quite the helper, too!

Lucy's Birthday

My Mom got here just in time for Lucy's 3rd birthday. Lucy was so excited. She has been asking for her birthday to come for about two months. So for the last few weeks we had been telling her that her birthday would come after Gamma got here. It was so fun for Mom to get to celebrate a birthday with Lucy.


Lucy warmed right up to Gamma. She was so happy to have her here!



Our birthday tradition is that the kids get to pick whatever meals they want for their birthday. For breakfast Lucy picked her favorite- a taco! Lucy's taco is a tortilla with cheese and mayo rolled up.



Then it was present time. I was able to find some wrapping paper, so I was happy that Lucy actually got to unwrap gifts.



She's got that crazy look in her eyes. She caught on to the present thing quickly!



Callie made her sister the sweetest card.



Uncle Paul and Aunt Melissa gave Lucy a Belle princess dress, bridal veil, and pearls. I think it was her favorite gift.



She made Daddy help her put it on instantly.



Rushing off to admire herself in the mirror.



Opening more presents.



Grandpa Tom and Grandma Deb gave Lucy a Bitty Baby. PawPaw and Gamma, and Uncle Sonny and Aunt Joyce gave her doll clothes. Lucy is really into baby dolls right now. So those was a big hit, too!!



Reading her card that Aydin made.



Opening her Snow White movie. We LOVE Snow White!



Biddy Baby came with a backpack carrier, blanket, bottle, etc. Lucy was thrilled!



Uncle Sonny and Aunt Joyce sent Callie some new clothes for her baby doll and Noah a new Nintendo game. They were so happy!!


I'll post the pictures from Lucy's party at school tomorrow. They are comical!!!

That's A Fine How-Do-Ya-Do

Some sweet friends were passing through our city and added a few days onto their trip to be with us. As we were on our way home with them Lucy was sitting in Claire's lap in the car (normal here). Lucy quickly fell asleep. After awhile sweet Claire, super calm and without a hint of complaining, leaned over to me and said, "Lucy just wet her pants." Lovely! What a great way to welcome our guests!

Arabian Nights