Kelsey: Stellar week

I am sitting in my kitchen and reflecting on what a fun week this has been. I am in my paint clothes probably getting smudges of paint on my mothers kitchen chairs. But its fine because she stole them from me.

Denis and I are redoing the family room. It takes my mother about a year to decide on paint colors. I came  home and sped the process a bit. So it was only about 7 or 8 months in total. The butt ugly brown shag carpet from the 1970s is being replaced, sadly. But fun for us because we are messy painters. And we are too lazy for drop cloths. What a horrible combination! Don't worry we are obviously planning on starting a very successful husband wife painting business.

This week I convinced a 3 year old that he should not stick his hand down the vents on the floor because a dinosaur will bite it off. I thought he would giggle and tell me I was being silly. But instead he looked at me with big eyes and asked, "really?" Should I lie to a 3 year old? This flashed through my mind before I answered, yes absolutely a very hungry dinosaur lives under the floor. Every day since then we have looked into the vent to check on the dinosaur but we make sure to never stick our fingers down there.

Proof that you should always lie to your children.

Tomorrow I get to end this splendid week by seeing my best friends, Becky and Robyn, who are both in town for other reasons but we can pretend they are here solely to see me. I lie to myself as well. I also hope to get out of painting tomorrow and curl up with some blogs. Here is what I am reading:

truth finds grace

- My friend Joanna write this blog. Joanna is practical and funny and inspirational. Basically the person who I would go to for advice on literally any subject. So its very handy for me that she is writing it all down in a portable searchable format. She is basically writing this just for me.

The Rileys in Uganda

- The Rileys are a family living in Uganda working on adoption in an incredibly important way. They are asking the hard questions like should kids be adopted? What impact does international adoption have? How to encourage adoption within the native country. How to adopt internationally responsibly. Adoption can be a miracle or it can literally be stealing a child from an economically challenged family. I think this is probably the most important blog I read. I heard someone say that if you don't believe in abortion then by default you have to believe in adoption, you need to be ready to adopt some babies. I have always viewed adoption as an extra. Something cool and extra that some people choose to do. What a challenge to think of it as something we are called to and have to do. This blog stirs lots of conversation in my house.

Stef's blog

- Today I got to see my awesome friend Stef. She is one of my favorite people in the world. Her blog is incredibly entertaining. My favorite blog post of hers is from years ago when she had a dream that she was at her dead grandma's funeral and grandma jumped out of the casket. Like surprise! I came back to see you! It was not a morbid or creepy thing not was super joyful. Like last night I had an awesome dream that grandma jumped out of the casket! Awesome. I feel like reading this blog is a rare chance to get into the mind of a person who sees the world very differently from the average American.

Stef and Kels. BFF.

What are you reading? I always need more blogs.

Sarah: Big Year

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

I took an unintentional leave of absence from the blog for the holidays I guess. It certainly wasn't planned, but I'm glad it happened. It was nice to just take a break and focus on on the holidays, my husband, & our families. 

For both Christmas & New Years Eve, we just chilled out at home. Everything was low-key, lovely, & perfect.

2011 was a big year:

I made a commitment to take care of my body & followed through on it//I finished up my degree & graduated college//I helped Kels pack up her stuff & move to Uganda//I ran my first 5k//I watched as my sister gave birth to my first niece, Luisa//My husband lost his job & we made a really big decision//Frank & I traveled to Uganda & I met my in-laws for the first time! And I love them//I saw the source of the Nile//My womb was blessed by one of my husband's aunties//We packed up our cars & moved across the country//We almost moved into our cars while living in San Diego//I became an official Californian//I had a big personal revelation//I got new glasses//Kelsey & Denis came to the US//Kels & Deno got engaged//

I think 2012 is going to be an even bigger year. Bring it on.

Kelsey: Road trip stats

Number of miles driven: 2287

Number of Mcdonalds stops: 3

Number of healthy food Denis refuses to eat: 23

Number of Hippie sightings: 409

Number of people who have wandered in front of our car (pedestrians really have the right of way on Boulder): too many

Number of times we came within a mile of running out of gas in the middle of nowhere and I cried: Only 1, Thank God

Number of giant checks received: 1, who needs more than 1?

Number of times it has snowed: 4

Number of mountains seen: Tons! I love the mountains!

Amount of elatedness I feel at seeing my little sister: Unmeasurable. So happy. 



Here are some pics of the drive to Colorado.

Sarah: Oldies but Goodies

Look what I came across today! These pictures of Kels & I were taken by my good friend Margaret. She took them for her photography class my junior year (so about 3 years ago--wow! three years?! time flies...).

Look at Gordon! That picture captures him so well as a kitten who was incredibly playful, curious, & loved water. These photos were taken during the 9 month period Kels & I lived together & shared a room. Really, where our friendship was cemented. This is where we first got Gordon, battled a crazy roommate, & discovered our kindred spirits. As you can see, things have changed since then. Kels went to Uganda that January (and met Denis & is now engaged!), I got engaged that March & married in August, we both graduated college, Kels moved short/long term to UG, I moved to San Diego...I'm thankful to have these photos to look back & remember these times. Thanks, Marge.

Oh! By the way, Happy December! I love this time of year. I've been listening to Christmas music nonstop : )

Kelsey: A week in instagram

Really its more like a couple weeks. So we arrived and we were all yay America! And then I got malaria. And then I got better and then we got engaged, yay engaged, and then I got bronchitis. Denis has been extremely patient with me being sick for like 3 weeks straight. He has been busy learning to drive on the right side of the road. Tonight we cooked Ugandan food for American family, made me so homesick for Uganda.

Flowers are still in bloom! We arrived early enough in the fall to see the colors. I love the colors! When we first arrived and were landing in Newark the forests were completely red. It was beautiful.

Hello beautiful backyard. Do you want us to play soccer on you?

Family photo fun.

There we go, everyone looking the right way except for Will.

We made a spur of the moment one day road trip to Michigan and got to see Stef!

Guys. You might think that you have had good waffles. But you have not. These waffles are a Todd Little specialty and I do not think I am exaggerating when I say they are the greatest thing in the world.

Obviously only to be enjoyed with real maple syrup. If you have fake maple syrup in your fridge you walk over there and throw that in the garbage right now. Then you hang your head in shame. Only real maple syrup is acceptable!

Gordon's name means handsome, but we should have named him "looks sweet but is actually pure evil." This cat has been terrorizing large dogs, including Becky's adorable puppy!

I pretty much love all large bodies of water, but there is a special place in my heart for Lake Michigan. 

Denis and Santa have really gotten close lately.

Becky's super sweet puppy Daisy! She is very excited!

Grammy and Pop-pop. I found this old picture of my Dad's mom and dad. They were pretty amazing. 

Why do people drink real champagne? After Welch's invented fake champagne I see no reason to ever suffer through the real stuff. I love me some sparkling grape juice. 

Thanksgiving! My aunt and cousin set a beautiful table. So warm and cozy and thanksgivingy.

I might be taking a lot of pictures of my ring. I keep thinking I will not be that girl... and then I am. I have been engaged for a week and a half and I have so far gotten chocolate and paint all over my ring.

There he is. :)

Kelsey: Announcement

I have some news...

Denis asked me to marry him!


And I said, Yes.


:)

Sarah: Arrival

The Ugandans are coming! The 

Ugandans are coming!!!

Kelsey and Deno, that is. They arrive in country today!!

This is a big day for all people who love and know Kelsey. Since I won't see

her in the flesh for a while,

I'm going to celebrate the day with a glass of wine.

Later of course--it's only 7:50am here. 

Kelsey: The Lord's Resistance Army

I hate to post negative things about Uganda. I mean I love to complain about the mosquitos and the oily food. But I don't like to share sad things. I feel like a lot of what we in America see about Africa is sad news. In the media it is portrayed as though Africa is a desperate. sad, war torn, cruel, poverty stricken continent. And it does have all of these things. But more than those things there is life and joy, hard work and community, strong bonds and pride in their nation. There is perfect weather and gorgeous land and very happy welcoming people. I hope that comes through when I write about Africa.

But today I feel like I have to share about some of the sad things.

I was on CNN's website today and I saw a story about a woman from Northern Uganda who had a message for Rush Limbaugh. Recently Obama decided to send 100 troops to Central African Republic to help put an end to the terrorist group the Lord's Resistance Army. The LRA has been terrorizing the Acholi tribe in Northern Uganda for 26 years. Denis' family is Acholi and they moved to the South to Jinja basically to flee the LRA. Families who had more money were bigger targets. Denis has crazy stories about visiting the village and having to run from the LRA when he was a kid.

Apparently Rush Limbaugh is under the impression that the LRA is a Christian group who is fighting against oppressive Muslims. I have no idea where he got that. The LRA are not Christian and Uganda actually is Christian, not Muslim. Anyway Limbaugh criticized Obama for sending troops and said we should be on the side of the LRA. We should be on the side of the terrorist group who captures children and forces them to kill their families and friends, who rapes young girls and kidnaps them into sex slavery, who cut off people ears and nose and mouth. Yes. We should definitely be on their side. They forced an entire tribe of people, hundreds of thousands, to flee their homes and live in IDP camps. The Acholi were refugees in their own country. But we should support the army because they have the word "Lord" in their title.

Disgusting.

I dont know if this is really getting press in America. I found this article about the story. Definitely worth reading. People in the media should be held accountable for the crap that spews out of their mouths in the 24/7 news cycle. America ignored the war in Northern Uganda for over 20 years. Now we support the terrorists?

Pray for the people of the Acholi tribe today.

Kelsey: Little Racists

When Denis was a kid his favorite movie was Rambo. Apparently he was obsessed and he would watch it over and over. The other day he told me that until he was like 6 years old he thought that every white man he saw was Sylvester Stallone.

This kind of makes me wonder what kind of white guys were hanging out in Jinja in the late 80's? I mean I know all white people look the same but come on, this guy?

But funny story, until I was 5 I lived in New Jersey and there was a really sweet black man who lived across the street from us. I am sure I must have interacted with other black people but for some reason I really thought this man was Gordon from Sesame Street. I mean I referred to him as Gordon. I assumed he went to Sesame Street everyday and then came home and slept in his home on my street. The man looked nothing like Gordon, nor were they even close to the same age. But they were both black...

So in conclusion Denis and Kelsey both super racist as little kids. 

Elmo should have taught us better.