Mexicali 2008

This June marked my 12th year with the Mexicali Mission Team, it's hard to believe that it's been that long! I mentioned a bit about the trip in a previous post but I was unable to share pictures at the time. Somebody finally clued me in to a website where team members had been posting their pictures so thanks to them I can now share a few.

Here are the girls digging a ditch to lay pipes for the new bathroom. The previous "bathroom" was just an outhouse and the sink didn't actually have running water. Did I mention it was 118 degrees while those girls were digging the ditch?


As we broke ground for the plumbing ditch we found layer after layer of clay crusted carpet. The pile in the picture isn't even all of it!


The guys worked for hours to raise the roof, here's part of it.


Appartently I just can't go on an international trip without randomly doing the Macarena with a bunch of students. Here we are dancing on the rooftops.


Also holding fast to tradition was the annual banana suturing event.


The girls were "just trying to cool off..."

Amazed

Friday night I had dinner with a friend from nursing school I hadn't seen in quite a long time. It was great to see to her, chat and catch up. We talked for hours about everything from grad school to Africa to Sri Lanka to being nurses. It was one of those conversations where the other person is saying exactly what you needed to hear and your saying exactly what that person needed to hear. I love it when that happens!
Of course she asked about Rwanda, but it wasn't until I started telling her the story that I realized just how truly amazing the whole thing was. God did some pretty incredible things to pull this off. Here are few:
~The Rwanda project was not actually the project I had originally intended on doing. ~I had to change my project 24 hours before my proposal was due.
~The project was approved for the proposal writing stage at 4am, just 20 hours before the proposal was due.
~The approval came about through a series of 16 emails between three people: Myself at work in Seattle, Julie in Rwanda, and my professor who was in Japan at the time. Hence we were all on the computer at the same time.
~When I got the go ahead to write the proposal the professor said "If you feel like God is calling you to do this then go for it!"
~About 8 weeks before my departure date to Rwanda, my computer was stolen with all my work on it. A brand new computer was gifted to me not more than 24 hours after the incident.
~I got an entire month off to go, a major feat when you're a nurse in the midst of a nursing crisis.
~The program was for the most part successful but I think that I was one who learned the most.
~I graduated on time when it looked like I might not!
That whole experience was such a gift from God and the story a testimony of His faithfulness. It blows me away just to think about it.

Chili Chocolate and other Chocolate Fun

I recently stated in a post that I like chili chocolate. Since making that claim I have been asked several times about it. I know that the combination of chili and chocolate sounds a little "iffy" but I think if you tried it you might be pleasantly surprised. I spent an entire 2 weeks in Mexico in search of the stuff once. I recently found it again at an Eastern European market. It's good stuff Maynard!
In my search for pictures of chili chocolate, I also came across some other chocolate fun. Check this out! I've got to admit that it made my night here at work.

Life After Grad School

Mexico
Hello all, I know it's been awhile but I've only just recently returned from Mexico. No, it wasn't really a vacation, I was with 20 teenagers! We were doing some service projects which included building a roof, painting, and bringing indoor plumbing to a pastor, his family, and his church. We also had two different sites for teaching Vacation Bible School. VBS is not really my gifting however, so a few times I was designated to stay and cook dinner for the rest of the group while they were away. Have you ever tried to make 100 tostadas?
Overall the trip went very well and the students learned a lot and had a great time. They were even glad I made them share testemonies in church. By the end of the week the VBS sites had a total of 90 kids in attendance. The plumbing ditch was dug to specifications in spite of having to dig through endless layers of clay caked carpet (yes, this was outside). No one was seriously ill or injured. We returned last Thursday night and believe or not I actually miss the students! Unfortunately I do not have any pictures of the trip as once I got there I found that I had forgotten to take my camera's memory card out of my laptop! I'm hoping some other kind souls will share their photos with me.
A Social Life?
Naomi, Kate, and Julie would be proud... Just before leaving for Mexico I had a dinner party. Of course this required cleaning the house and cooking, two things I rarely did while in grad school. The menu: lamb, buffalo, and rice stuffed grape leaves (dolma), a lovely salad complete with craisins, and two types of home baked (yes, I made them from scratch) bread. I had to make some for a potluck at work anyway, so why not make a party out of it?
I'm not much of an entertainer however and I don't have a Wii or an X-box or anything to make people play Guitar Hero on or anything. I much prefer actually interacting with my guests anyway. We ended up suturing bananas! Actually, these sutures don't look half bad. I think some of my guests may have missed their callings.
July 4th
The Fourth of July was pretty low key for me. I went to mom's house and sewed with her and my sister. I'm excited to report that after 4 years I have finally completed Operation Rescue Ugly Couch! Stop the insanity, I wonder what's next...

Tagged

I was recently tagged for a little survey thingy... I can't say I've ever really done this before but I found it slightly interesting. It forced me to take a look at who I am after so many years of neglecting certain parts of myself and/or blindly running about like a headless chicken. I've started asking myself other questions too, it's been eye opening. Reflection plays such an important role in learning and growing. So Shiloh, here are my answers:

Five Things to do on my List today:

• Go to the bank
• Go to the Department of Licensing to get a a drivers abstract so I can drive the school van
• Pack for Mexicali
• Do laundry so I have clean scrubs to wear to work tonight
• Figure out what I'm going to do for devotional books for 20 kids

Snacks I Enjoy:

• Frozen grapes
• Almond Joy (this was my food of choice for long curriculathons)
• Chili chocolate (yes, you read that correctly)
• Raspberries

Things I would do if I were a Millionaire:

• Pay off my mortgage
• Start a nursing school in Kibogora Rwanda
• Get a PhD and not work at the same time
• Use my millions of dollars to get Shiloah Health Outreach off and running

Places I have lived: (too bad extended trips don't count)

• Des Moines,Washington
• Federal Way, Washington
• Seattle,Washington
• Milton, Washington
• Kirkland, Washington

Bad habits I have:

• Not taking my trash can out to the curb in time
• I'm terrible at making schedules for myself
• Not backing up my computer files!
• Going through life sleep deprived
• Being "anti-social" at times

Jobs I have held:

• Lifeguard/Swim Instructor
• EMT
• Camp Nurse
• Nursing Clinical Instructor
• ICU Nurse

Masters of the Universe: What's Next

The master's degree is finally a reality! I completed my thesis defense on June 11th and walked at the UW School of Nursing graduation on June 13th. I had just come off of a 12 hour night shift so some parts of the day are blur but overall it was enjoyable. The best part however, wasn't parading across the stage sporting my new hood; it was knowing I had the support of family and friends.
So now that this part of my life is over, many people have been asking me what's next. I'm trying hard not to be too tempted to start back in school right away. I'm really thinking that now is the time to gain a little balance, take some time to regroup. In the immediate future: I am leaving for Mexico with a group of 20 teen-agers THIS Friday! We'll be working with a church and their youth on construction projects and Vacation Bible schools. This is my 12th annual trip with this group. In the not so distant future: I am accepting a position at Buntain School of Nursing at Northwest University teaching a clinical group and helping with management of the skills lab. I will be decreasing my FTE at University of Washington but plan to continue in clinical practice to maintain a current perspective on patient care. I am hoping that this will led to a more normal schedule and a better balance.
Ultimately over the next year I would also like to concentrate more on the development of Shiloah Health Outreach as a non-profit organization. Also on my list: clean the house, fix the back deck, write the Mexicali Bible studies BEFORE the meetings begin, sew more, sleep more, and the list goes on... Of course we'll just have to wait and see if God doesn't have different plans...

I'm Back...

It's been a long week. Saturday and Sunday I found myself "practicing" my public speaking in churches and at missions events. All of those things went well but I couldn't help but feel a little guilty that I wasn't working on my thesis.
Sunday night and Tuesday night were perhaps the last all nighters of my academic career. It wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. I talked myself into thinking that these nights were sacred events. I even went down to the store and bought some special coffee beans, a stack of printer paper, a printer cartridge, a new flash drive, and some fruit snacks. By yesterday morning when I left the house for the university, the only thing I had left was a stack of the printer paper. I had used the rest of my purchases completely!
The presentation went well, thank you to everyone who prayed for and/or showed up at my thesis defense. My project was approved for graduation and all my papers were signed. I had a nice lunch with some great friends afterward and then headed home to sleep. I couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate.