Surprise!

So last night was quite the surprise. You may remember me saying that Zach's aunt Penny was coming to visit. Well they were setting up the back yard so that people could come over and visit with her. I noticed there was a lot of preparation going on, and that seemed strange.

Turns out, it was a surprise going away party for us! Zach knew about it, but I didn't have a clue. It was really nice to have the friends come over to say goodbye.. Even the Circuit Overseer and his wife came. That made me really happy. And yes, Aunt Penny did come, and we did get to visit.

Here's a picture of the cake they got for us.

It seemed a shame to cut it, but how can you pass up Costco cake? It's the best!

I didn't cry, in case you were wondering. But I did want to.

Topic Change I:

We finally started the packing process. It's a good thing we did. Somehow, we have waaaaayyyyyyyy more stuff than I thought we did. I have repacked about 6 times now, and it's not getting any better.

We said we would only bring 3 suitcases to Honduras, since we will be traveling a lot. Well, I have two perfectly packed suitcases at 50 lbs each, one suitcase at 80 lbs, and a week worth of clothes to still fit in there. Yeah, I've done the math and it just does NOT work. I thought I'd purged a lot already.... Guess there's more to do. But it's worth it. 

Once we get on the plane and are on our way, we totally won't even be worried. But there's still a week left, and I think I might just freak out for that time. 

Topic Change II:

Still need to sell:

2007 Dodge Caliber

Playstation 3

14 pc. Ryobi Tool Set

Snowboards/Bindings/Boots

Dining Table

If you hear of anyone who needs/wants those sorts of things, please let them know what we have.

Topic Change III:

Excited!

Good night. 

Videos

I promise this post will be more cheery than the last one. I got a mostly restful night of sleep so that should help.

Yesterday was exactly one year since we came to California. I don't know how to feel about that.

Yesterday was also my last day at Mira Loma. I didn't take any pictures, because, well, I know what the outside of Mira Loma looks like and that isn't going to change.

Today is my fourth to last day at Norco. It does change, so I am taking pictures. I don't know why, I will have nothing to compare it to, since I highly doubt we will be at an Assembly here any time soon. That's ok though, most of my pictures are of people. Some of whom you will see below, yay!

It is a little sad knowing that these are the last few days we will see these friends in person. But when you're going to live forever, there is always time to run into them again!

At the convention, I took a video of the crowd singing. It was so special to see almost 10,000 of Jehovah's servants coming together with one voice. Well today, after lunch, the little group of volunteers came together to sing as well. This time really brought tears to my eyes, but that might have been because of the song.

Here's two videos. You will have to ignore my off-key singing in the background. Something about being in a big crowd makes me think I can sing really loud, but no.

Here's the pictures from today:

This sister has family in Honduras, including a cousin who is going to be serving in La Ceiba in the ASL congregation. Such a small world.

This used to be the dining hall.

Is that a maze? No, it's just what remains of several walls.

The old kitchen.

This is the new kitchen, fully functioning

This is a flower; in the background you can see some of the demo work. It was good I got this picture when I did, after lunch a sister came along and picked it for her hair.

A cute little kitchen sister. I'm pretty sure she was staying in the same hotel as us for Convention, but she was wearing a dress that day so I'm not sure. 

Two sisters being interviewed during lunch.

The brother conducting made sure even his tie was safety green. Have to be safety conscious at all times!

That's all for now!

Can't Sleep

It's 3:40 in the morning and I cannot fall asleep. It's nice and quiet, and the trailer is actually cool for once, but no sleep comes. So here I am.

Tonight I had a girl's night in, and had a bunch of sisters from the congregation and RBC come over. I was super excited because I was going to make some Indian desserts that I have not had in forever. Unfortunately, there's a reason I don't cook in the trailer, and I was reminded of it today when nothing I made turned out even slightly edible. Anyway... It was really nice to spend time with everyone, I don't know if I will see them again. That's a sad thought, we may never see these friends again. I honestly don't know if we will ever come back here. I assume we will at some point, but right now it's not in the plans. What makes this harder is, genius that I am, I didn't actually take any pictures of anybody tonight. Grabbed out two cameras, but didn't use either of them....

Another thought I'm having trouble with, is knowing that I won't see my cat again after we leave. She's old, and she's been getting sick a lot lately. I don't want to put her through the stress of traveling with us, even if it were easy to get her through customs. She's going to live with my parents in Colorado, but there's a very good chance she will die before we settle down and can have her come stay with us. I know it's just a pet, but I am rather attached to the fuzzball. The things we sacrifice for Jehovah, I guess. This is actually the only thing I feel like I am sacrificing by leaving.

Every one was asking tonight, "Have you started packing?" The answer is no. I really, really want to. After all, we only have 15 days until we leave. But we intend to pack super light this time, and I'm afraid if I start packing now, I will begin to justify bringing things we don't really need and we will end up with a bunch of suitcases. I know that is impossible since we only have three suitcases in our possession, but I'm still afraid it will happen. I figure if I wait until the last minute, I can throw stuff in, throw everything else away and run out the door to the airport without getting too bogged down.

There are 5 more days at the RBC, and 5 more meetings to go to. Saturday we are pouring concrete in the backyard and Zach's aunt is going to be visiting us from Venezuela. There's a million things to do before we go, and a million more I want to do. The last burger at In-N-Out. The last long car ride with the windows down and the music up. All simple things, but still things we won't be doing again for a really long time. And it just occurred to me I may not see snow or experience cold weather for a while either. Now I'm really bummed out.

I don't mean to sound depressed/ing about all this. I'm really not. I am looking forward to getting back out into the field and traveling and seeing the friends again. It's just... some of the realities of wanting to stay gone forever are hitting me. I'm sure once we get to the airport, it will all fade away.

Well, on that cheery note, I'm going to try to go back to bed. We'll see what happens.

District Convention

This weekend was our District Convention in Long Beach. We went down early on Thursday and stayed at a nice hotel. The places the rooming department gets for us are really nice. This place had a free breakfast, nice pool area, super comfy beds and a shuttle to the convention center. All for really cheap too!

Plus, we had really nice neighbors. Right as we were checking in, guess who pulls up? An Overseer from the Norco project with his wife. And at breakfast, there were more people from Norco. It was really weird seeing people in suits and dresses, when I usually see them in hard hats and safety green. The nice thing though, was last year I didn't know a soul at convention and this year I knew everybody.

The program was good, of course. Since we had already gone, I was most looking forward to hearing the different experiences and interviews. There was one that made me cry, it was so beautiful. A brother walked on stage with some difficulty, and had to use arm crutches. He was asked what blessing he most enjoyed, and he shared how he is part of the RBC even with his disability. He said he most looks forward to when he can help actually build houses and roofs for the brothers in the new system. It is so wonderful the way Jehovah can use all of us, no matter our limitations and abilities.

On Friday we went out to dinner with our hotel neighbors. It was so encouraging to hear their experiences, and how they started into the substitute circuit overseer and assembly hall construction work.

The Persian convention was being held at the convention center at the same time as ours. This was exciting because the brother who married us is Persian, and we were hoping to see him and his family, because we have not seen them in many years. So on Sunday, we went downstairs and sure enough, they were there! It was so wonderful to see them again. I did feel horribly old though, because their kids are so big and I remember before they were born.
In a couple weeks, there is going to be a Persian language class in Colorado, and he will be teaching it. They are hoping to be an official group soon. It is so amazing how the preaching work is expanding.

So we are back home today. I finally managed to drag myself out of that nice hotel bed, but I was so sad. The first day I have had to sleep in in a few months, and I woke up so early...

Tomorrow I will be back at Norco. I hear they were demolishing the kitchen area Saturday, so that should be interesting to see.

We leave in exactly 3 weeks. Still haven't sold the car or some of our other stuff, but I know Jehovah will take care of our needs. Besides, I still need the car for those three weeks.

Anyway, here's some pictures from the weekend.

I'm particularly proud of the last picture. I caught on camera the fabled line to the men's bathroom. I've heard of it, but didn't think it actually existed.

That's all for now.

Today's Post Has a Very Special Appearance By...

Today we have some more photos of the RBC. And who do we have in the first picture? Is that? No, it can't be! 

Why yes, that is none other than the oft-mentioned but rarely heard from or seen Zachariah.

We don't get many photos of him, so in case you had forgotten what he looks like, here's a refresher.

 (He's the one in orange. Do you see him now?)

This used to be a Kingdom Hall. Now it's a safe place to keep all your old insulation and drywall.

This is my department. Don't they look hard at work? Yeah, I didn't think so either. It's a rough job but someone's gotta do it. 

A very sad thought occurred to me today. I may never actually see the finished product here. The project won't be over until at least February, at which point we intend to be in El Salvador. If we ever do come back to California, we aren't assigned to this Assembly Hall. 

So, it seems quite likely that I will miss out the completion. Unless one of my dear readers would like to send me updates. Cause that would be cool of you. 

At any rate, I hear the kitchen is coming down before we leave. That will be fun to see. 

RBC Update

Today I am back at the Assembly Hall project. Well, not exactly "back at" cause I feel as if I never leave. I'm really kinda upset we didn't move our trailer down here. It would be so much fun. When we were in New Orleans, my biggest goal in life was to live in a trailer on-site. Sigh...maybe next project.

Anyway, here are some photos of the progress today.

The Safety Department moved in next to our tent today. It's nice to have neighbors with a constant supply of cold water.

 This used to be the front of a Kingdom Hall. You can totally tell, right?

This is what the lunchroom looks like right now.

Sister hard at work making dinner...

And this is where the kitchen will be moving to in two weeks when the real demo starts.

The sea of trailers

The last photo is a brother on the kitchen crew. He has been all around the world with Disaster Relief and Construction work. He was interviewed at lunch a couple weeks ago, and it was very encouraging to hear. He said the reason he has been able to do so much is availability. He has never said no to an invitation and Jehovah has always given him the circumstances to make it work out. I thought that was a great example for us. How often do friends say they wish they could do something, but they don't have the circumstances? Sometimes you have to take that leap of faith, and Jehovah will work out the details. 

Status Update:

34 and 46 days til Colorado and Honduras respectively.

Still have to sell the car. Or total it. You know, whatever works.

I'm actually trying to learn Spanish. Hablo espanol un poco y entiendo muy poco.

We might start taking a TEFL course so we can teach English online.

I'm currently on a Southeast Asia kick. Trying to convince Zach but...one project at a time.

I think that's it.

It's dinnertime on-site and everyone has disappeared into the dining room. Must be something good. It always is. 

Visa Problems

We are way too busy. But it's all for good reasons, so it's working out.

Right now, I am doing double-duty at two Branch projects. I work Monday/Friday/Saturday at one project, and Tuesday/Wednesday at the other. The Assembly Halls are like 10 minutes from each other, which will be good next week when Zach goes back to work for his department. He's going to have to drop me off at one location, go to the other, come pick me up, go back to the other, then go home at some point, which requires passing by the first Hall again.
I want to move our trailer down to the site, but..you know....that involves effort.

It's amazng how many friends come from all over for these projects. There's a ton from Colorado, but that makes sense, since the Aurora Assembly Hall just finished, those friends already know how to get things done.

Right now, Zach has some side jobs going, just that extra little push right before we leave. Plus, he has to finish his Scuba certification before August. We are going to take a trip to Roatan this time around, I'm making sure of it.

I am feeling a little less stressed about my to-do list than last time I posted. We have our plane tickets to Colorado, plane tickets to San Pedro Sula, and bus tickets to La Ceiba all bought. We have a ride from the bus station to our house, which is good since it will be really late at night when we get there. So getting to Honduras is figured out. Getting to El Salvador- not so much. We are waiting to get a recommendation on which congregation we should visit there, and after that I can start planning our border-hop. However, we do know what is happening after our 180 days, when it is time to make the visa run. Hello, Costa Rica! I was thinking a week long vacation would be nice, but now I'm starting to think we might just need to spend three months there too.

At some point, we should probably consider settling down...But thanks to the awesome lack of visa-getting information, I don't think that will happen. Here's the deal. Every country will let you stay about 90 days. Some will let you extend on a per-case and exorbitant fee basis. After that, you have to leave the country if you don't have a visa that says you can stay longer. So I say "Great, I want to stay longer, how do I get a Visa?" The embassy tells me "You are an American Citizen, you don't need a visa, you can stay 90 days." Ok, but I want to stay longer. How do I get a visa? "You don't need a visa." Yes, I do. "No, you don't"
You see where I'm going with this?

The other problem, is a lot of these countries also require you to know when you are leaving ahead of time. So if you go to immigration and say "I would like to stay for 6 months and I have not bought a plane ticket home because you people won't tell me for another three months if I can stay here or not" they may decide not to let you enter the country at all until you can prove you're leaving.

Now, where this gets extra confusing is when you try to travel between El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala. See, those countries have a pact to "make travel between neighboring countries easy" where you can pretty much border hop as much as you want for 90 days. Once those 90 days are up, however, you have to file for an extension- which you may or may not get- or leave all four countries for 72 hours. What that means, is we have to go all 90 days in Honduras, and on the very last day, get to the border of El Salvador and plead our case so they let us in. If they don't, we have to immediately buy a plane ticket to someplace far away, so that we don't run the risk of staying in the country too long and getting deported.

And I'm probably missing something important in all that.

Right so... 49 days until we leave for Colorado. 61 to Honduras.