Save My Movies!

I’m trying to distract myself out of a full-blown panic attack. All of my videos have disappeared from my computer AND YouTube is showing that I only have 9 videos on my profile!!! However, the YouTube videos that I have embedded on here are still present, so they are still somewhere in cyberland.  I have no idea what happened to all the ones on my computer though. Josh was able to find some of them somewhere else on the computer (I think they are all the Iphone clips.)

The primary purpose of posting today was to share a severely adorable clip of Sim and I conversing. However, YouTube won’t let me upload, saying that the “server has rejected my file.” NOT THRILLED WITH YOUTUBE RIGHT NOW!

So, instead I will have to post what’s been on my phone lately. When I posted about making my own yogurt, I said that I was going after a copycat Jimmy Dean recipe. We hit the sausage jackpot! It’s a great recipe, the ingredients are all easily available, and pork is cheap here, so we’re thrilled! I whipped up 2 lbs of pork sausage and made breakfast burritos with most of it. I kept some aside to make biscuits and gravy for Josh one of these days.

So I think I made 25 of them, threw them in the freezer, and now the kids can just nuke them in the morning. It’s so great and I love knowing that they are getting something hearty for breakfast. I could be an extra on The Walking Dead in the mornings, and I used to just mumble something about toast to the kids. Now I can still walk aimlessly around the house, mumbling, but the kids know not to listen to me and just have a burrito!

However, the don’t last long because Josh often gets the late-night munchies. He even used the homemade yogurt as a substitute for sour cream the other night!

This guy enjoys his hearty breakfast too!

My orchids are blooming! This is sitting right outside of my window. They only blooms once (maybe twice) a year, and require zero maintenance, so I’ve been enjoying these plants for 10 years now!

I caught Simeon and Daddy in a sweet little snuggle the other night.

What goes right along with a post about flowers and babies and burritos? A big ol’ lizard who was crossing the street when I pulled into our condo the other day. I wish Deacon and Caleb had been with me. They love critters!

Ugh, we have another super-typhoon headed our way. They are saying that this one is trying to be as devastating as Yolanda last year. In Tacloban, the hardest-hit area where they are still recovering from Yolanda, they are evacuating and praying that the typhoon changes course and loses intensity.

PPD #6

I know I’ve taken pictures from this spot before. It’s high up on a hill-that-feels-like-a-mountain-when-I-run-up-it. Anyway, it has one of those binocular deals set up, so you know that the view has the potential to be pretty amazing! On this day, though, the pollution was so thick, I couldn’t even see the closest skyscrapers! Sick.

I also found myself in the middle of a parade during that run. It definitely made the run more interesting!

I probably won’t take very many photos during a run anymore, because….I have my Garmin back!!! After months of struggling with a humidity-damaged watch, I sent it into Garmin, and they sent me a replacement to use for the marathon. They weren’t able to repair mine, so they just let me keep the replacement! Thank you, Garmin!

I love hands-free running, and if I could wine and dine my Garmin, and buy it a summer house in the Hamptons, I would do it in a heartbeat. I finally got to see the details of my marathon! Did I ever mention that my Garmin clocked me at 26.42 miles? I didn’t feel like I weaved too much, but I know I didn’t take corners as efficiently as I could’ve, and it adds up! I have to say, when my watch hit 26.2 and I STILL had another quarter-mile to run, I was pretty ticked! Check that out – I burned over 3000 calories. If I could just do that every weekend…

During my marathon recap, I said that my Garmin went berserk on the Queensboro Bridge due to its coverage. You can see the blip on the blue graph. At the largest discrepancy, it said that my pace was 59:00 miles! I’m not even sure I could walk that slow!

I have a puzzle kindred spirit in Miss Bella! She loves doing puzzles with me and she’s pretty good too! Remember the Coke puzzle, Mom? I was sneezing the first night we worked on it from all the mold or dust or whatever had accumulated on the pieces over the years. Unless my mom did this puzzle in the last few years, we figured out that the last time it had been done was when Josh and I came for Christmas before we were married!

While Bella and I were working on the puzzle, Caleb found some paint,

Look at those hands covered in black paint!

This is why I LOVE having an iPhone! Someone delivered this to my house, and I had no idea what it was. Josh was out of town on a ministry trip, so I took a picture, texted it to Josh, and got a reply in seconds. It’s a replacement piece for our generator that Josh sent down to Tacloban to help with typhoon relief, so it needed to get down there ASAP.

Josh and I LOVE cranberry tea. In fact, I should probably have a tag labeled, “Serenitea,” for all the times I mention it in my posts. Anyway, I saw this at the grocery store, so I bought it, took a pic, and sent it to Josh to make him smile. It’s good, not Serenitea good, but good.

Here I am, trying to pick out the right accessory for a fancy night out. Too much?

Reaching Out

I can’t imagine anyone not hearing of the devastating Super-typhoon that rocked the central islands of the Philippines last week. (The NYC Marathon will forever be linked with super-storms for me! Last year, Sandy devastated her way through the US Atlantic coast the week prior to the marathon, and this year Haiyan/Yolanda wreaked extreme havoc on the Philippine Pacific side of things the week after!) But in case you haven’t heard, this is said to be the WORST storm to ever make landfall! There as an estimated 10,000 deaths as a result, making it the worst disaster in the Philippines. In addition, this is happening just weeks after the devastating earthquake that hit central Philippines!

My mind is having a hard time fully absorbing the magnitude of devastation going on in those areas, and an even harder time trying to put myself in the shoes of those who have lost everything, including loved ones. We have Filipino friends with family in Tacloban who they have yet to hear from! The lines of communication have obviously been destroyed. We also missionaries serving in those areas who are trying to be a light in their community, while also dealing with their own losses.

Josh has taken Buhay Sports basketball teams to Tacloban.

There are 2 significant ways that EVERYONE reading this can help!

1) PLEASE pray for the Philippines!

– Comfort for those who lost loved ones

– Relief for those who have lost their homes and possessions

– Wisdom and guidance for the leadership of the country

– Safety from the looting and similar desperate actions.

– There is another storm (Zoraida) on a very similar path that is going through the central Philippines as I type this. Please pray for safety!

– Salvation for those who are suffering. If they come to know Christ, they will spend eternity in heaven, where they will never suffer again!

2) GIVE!

– We have First Love missionaries (Dan and Tori) serving in Boracay, whose ministry buildings have been destroyed or damaged. At the moment, they have hundreds of poor Filipinos taking shelter in their 3-story ministry building who are in need of food, water, dry clothing, and a bed.

– Another FL missionary who is on furlough in the US this year, is planning a relief trip.

This is his email….

I am asking you to partner with me on an important trip. I have been given clearance and blessing from our Mission Executive Director, Tom Clinton, to book a trip, to bring relief supplies to some very hard hit areas. I NEED YOUR HELP. I will leave Chicago on Dec. 7th and stay for 18 Days. This enables the cheapest available flight near the Holidays, and I will be able to have direct hands-on direction to dispersal of funds. We would like to “go deep” with our help of people, so that it is not just a one time gift of a small amount of food, but a deeper commitment to assist as many as possible to get back on their feet over the long haul.

I am hoping to connect Faith Academy Students/Staff and organize a trip at the beginning of Christmas Break to go to one of the affected areas.

I have a personal goal of raising $25,000 for this Relief Trip. This will take a supernatural effort to raise in 25 Days. Will you give serious consideration to whatever you could do? Any Amount will help!
The fastest way to donate, is through our website, But PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU DESIGNATE TO “MACKAY TYPHOON RELIEF” and let me know so I can keep track of donations.
We will purchase supplies on the ground in Manila and bring them down to the Affected Areas.

Please Pray! Please Consider Joining Me on this Trip! Please Pray that God would be honored despite this terrible disaster.

*****You may make out your check to First Love International Ministries and mail it to: PO Box 15836, Loves Park, IL 61132 and write: “Typhoon Relief” on the memo-line of your check or you can make a credit card donation if you wish by logging onto our website at:  www.firstloveinternational.com and clicking on the donate button. Thank you!

Rain, Rain, GO AWAY!

I’m sure I have at least one post each year with this title, but it’s more applicable today than ever! We’re going on our 5th full day of almost non-stop rain.  I know I got nothing on Noah, but I can start to appreciate how he must have felt during his 40 day rainy cruise.

The news said that Metro Manila got 30 days worth of rain in one day, which is saying a lot since it rains almost every day during rainy season! Unfortunately, with all that rain comes a lot of flooding.  Josh and I went running down this road in the rain on Monday. We dodged puddles without problem. This is what that same area looked like on Tuesday! This is one of our major access roads to the rest of the city, so needless to say, we’ve stayed home all week.

I feel like our condo is decaying around us! I knew it was coming, so I’m not letting myself get bitter or whiny about it. Anytime we have a lot of rain, it seeps in through our living room wall. Apparently, every condo on that end of the building deals with it, but they assure us that there is nothing that they can do. The last time we painted, we paid extra to put a few  coats on of water sealing paint, and it helped some, but the water is getting through the seam between the wall and the ceiling. Sigh.

This is what it does. It trickles down and pools in one little area…

Gravity does it’s trick, and the water keeps moving, leaving a wrinkly wall in its wake. So attractive right? It all dries up, still wrinkled, during hot season and then we start it all again next July.

We also have some leaks in our bedroom, but I am determined to remember what a blessing this condo is! When others have had their homes literally washed away in the flooding, I’m so thankful for our 5th floor condo that keeps my family dry and safe. (well, mostly safe. We really aren’t totally sure about the foundation of this building….)

When we woke up and saw that school was back on and that it wasn’t raining, I thought we were good to go! But a few minutes later, it started pouring again and hasn’t quit. I can’t imagine where all this rain is coming from!!! I’m wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt, which is is usually unheard of, but its 77 degrees – brrrr. It’s also hard to be motivated to do anything. This is perfect napping weather!

 

 

Josh hasn’t been able to do any of his work due to the heavy rain and flooding, so today he’s passing out food and relief to those affected by the floods.