turning the page

tomorrow we will be embarking on a new adventure as a family. for the past 2 1/2 years we have lived on the border of Mexico in deep south Texas doing activism work across the border. we have had a wonderful time and many incredible memories to cherish. we are traveling back to our home state of Michigan for a time of rest but looking forward to pursuing new and fresh vision. the clean water project is very much heavy on our hearts and believe we can make an impact in this area around the world. as we leave the border we will miss our life here. we will miss our friends. but even though we have left, the vision for clean drinkable water in Mexico lives. there are several good people who will carry this vision and make a tremendous difference in this area. we are greatful for our experiences and all we have learned during this season. as we turn the page we are excited for the future and the many new memories that will be made.

Palm Trees and Ocean

I was looking at a palm tree recently remembering how I used to be in such awe of them. Still am sorta. When I was little, we traveled to Florida several times (I had 2 different grandparents living there). I was so excited to cross the Florida state line and would begin my palm tree hunt. It was agonizing b/c it would be a long time before seeing one! LOL
So the other day when looking at a palm tree, I stopped and thought....wow, I can look at these trees, that many people dream about escaping to (a place that has them, that is), whenever I want. I love hearing their big palm leaves blow in the wind and rustling against one another. They are pretty messy trees though. They HAVE to be professionally maintained. I thought, wow I can look at these trees, see them whenever I want! But not for long, and while that seems a little sad, I'm far too excited about many other things about living in "up north" Michigan! :-)

I will, however, REALLY miss the ocean!!!! But I remind myself that we will be close to Lake Michigan and it has waves and long, big beaches just like the ocean. It won't have shells and the wildlife you'd see at or near the ocean but it will definitely suffice! (and won't be salty!) We'll also live near my grandmother (about an hour away) who LOVES to go to Lake Michigan! So it'll be nice to call her up and have her meet us over there. She hasn't even ever met Owen!

I do want to soak up as much of the ocean as possible before we leave! I'd like to go every weekend if we could! LOL We'll see! :-)

God is so good!

"Can't Wait!"

Aaron made the mistake of telling Owen that we're moving. Owen is so excited! Aaron's been sharing stories of things we'll be able to do and Owen simply can't wait to move and refers to it nearly everyday. He's always talking about taking such-n-such to our "new" house, etc, etc. He's very excited to go fishing, hunting, swimming in the lake, exploring in the woods, sledding, snowmobiling, but especially fishing and hunting. Yesterday he got our all of our suitcases and began "packing." He went around the house and starting collecting things he thought we should bring. It kept him busy and he was having a ton of fun, but it was a mess to clean up! LOL

I've had some ebbs n flows to my emotion toward moving. I go from super excited to are we doing the right thing? Sometimes I can't wait to go and think about the things I WON'T miss and wish we could go now, but other times I think about all the things I'll miss and feel sad (mostly related to anything affecting my kids). Seems this is all normal and I'm glad to have much time to process and plan and have closure. God is good and always provides and takes care of us so there's nothing to worry about, yet I still do. :-) It's my nature, I'm a worrier!

Logging (or blogging) a new journey...

It's been a long time since I last blogged. I've spent more time on Facebook and have kept in touch with many friends and family that way. However some family and friends are not on Facebook and also there are many friends on Facebook that I do not wish to announce some things to.

Anyway, we are embarking on a new journey. There is never a dull moment with us. When I look back over the 8 short years we've been married, soooo much has happened! It's been an incredible adventure! Moving to Ohio, adopting Otto and having Owen just 10 mos later, traveling to Guatemala numerous times including going to language school there, moving to Texas to do mission work in Mexico, traveling deep into Mexico to deliver water filters, are some of the highlights. Now we begin the planning stages of a new journey....

Aaron started school this fall toward a social science degree (history) in order to teach high school. We are planning to move back home to Michigan in May 2010 until Aaron finishes school and then move to wherever he finds a teaching job (maybe staying in MI, Lord willing). We are sooo excited about this decision for multiple reasons.

Traveling to Mexico has become increasingly dangerous by ourselves. It's much safer in groups. We've had a couple incidents and with the increased violence due to the drug cartel we had decided to change gears a bit. Instead of driving into Mexico ourselves to deliver water filters, we decided to visit churches here in the states that go to Mexico or other places in the world where clean water is scarce and show them how to make the filters. But then after further thought, we realized that we could do that anywhere and the reason we moved here was to travel into Mexico but now we weren't going to be doing that anymore. The Rio Grande Valley is not a place we would choose to live and raise our children otherwise. Aaron's parents have very unselfishly allowed us to occupy their cabin up north so we're going to camp out in their vacation cabin up north Michigan on Higgins Lake for the next couple years while Aaron finishes school. We are so excited for the many activities we can do with the kids that we have been unable to do here. I will miss the ocean and my friends and the kids' friends (that will of course be horribly sad to say good-bye), but am excited to be nearer to family and experience milder summers and beautiful autumns and yes snow! (although I'm sure after several months of snow, I'll not be too excited for it! LOL) All the while continuing to spread the word and knowledge of how to make these very cheap and very easy to make water filters that can change a family's life for up to 10 years!

Delivering Water Filters

This was an incredible weekend for me. I was blown away by how these people live. Each house we delivered to, we were invited into their home. One teenage boy we delivered to, his mom wasn't there. She was in town in the hospital b/c she was sick from the water, they told us. Unbelievable. What a blessing these water filters will be for these people. Even as I look at these pictures, I can't believe what I see and I was there! It was crazy. We drove 5 hrs south into Mexico, past the Tropic of Cancer, into the mountains. It was so beautiful! The village we visited was nestled in the middle of the mountains and it was breathtaking!

There was electricity coming into the village but not all had it. None had running water, no sinks or toilets, only outhouses. Mostly dirt floors, but some had a cement floor. Unbelievable.

The boys had a blast! One house had kittens and Owen was loving it! The boys gave their toy gun that was in the car to this little boy (below). He was so scared looking and shy (in fact Otto just walked right up to him and put his arm around him and touched his head to the boy's and just sat like that for a minute, to die for!) The boy wouldn't even touch the gun, but as we were leaving, I looked back and he was holding the gun with a big smile on his face waving to us! I wished I had brought more stuff, I had nothing else in the van and couldn't believe I didn't think of that. Darn. Next time we'll bring clothes and stuff.

The 1st day, we arrived and all the men of the village were having a meeting at the school. So Aaron went over there and introduced himself and explained to them what we had for them. He said at first their faces were like, "what the heck is this white guy doing here and what does he want?" Then after a little explanation of why we're here and what we've got, he said their faces changed and looked more like, "hot dog! sweet! no way!" They all wanted one so we passed out 6 that day and then planned to come back the next day with the rest. We obviously didn't have enough for everyone in the village but encouraged them to share with one another and that we'd be back in a couple months with more.

The little girl in the red shorts....the 1st day after we delivered to her house, she asked if she could come with us to deliver the rest. Then the next day, a school day, she came on her break and found us delivering more and hung out for her recess time. She was a doll, Silvia.

We took a little swimming break on the 1st day and swam next to a huge cliff! Awesome!

Update on the ND!

It's been a month and a half since consulting with an ND (Naturopathic Doctor) and making all the changes she suggested.  

For Otto, all hyperness gone, solely do to diet!  Amazing!  We cut out all sugar, white flour, preservatives, and artificial anything.  All ADD meds we've tried have not worked for Otto (and we've tried a ton!), they all gave him terrible side effects.  So we've just lived with the extreme hyperness along with the other issues he suffers from....anxiety, moodiness, etc.  He is still on a med for these other issues, but our goal is to get him off of it.  The homeopathic remedies we tried last month helped with many, many symptoms that he deals with but didn't help a few.  So we are trying a new remedy this month.  

I have had extremely good results also!  My lump has shrunk!  In addition to diet, I have also been doing hydrotherapy to my lump as well as castor oil packs to my lump, liver, and ovaries.  I also had other complaints which have all improved except for a couple.  I have extremely irregular periods and last month received one!  I have always suffered from headaches (migraines and other).  I was taking 4 motrin a pop everytime I'd get one.  Those have significantly decreased and when I have had one, I only took 2 motrin and it worked.  I was on Lipitor for high cholesterol and took myself off of it and the ND ok'd it as long as I increased my fiber (via flax seed) and fish oil and limited my carbs to 3 servings a day.  The ND said today that she is confident the lump was probably noncancerous since it responded so quickly to treatment (decreased in size).  I was so relieved and excited by her saying this!!!!!

In addition to this change in diet, Aaron and I have started visiting a gym that has free daycare!  LOL  Chance to continue this quest toward health together and have some "us" time.  :-)  He's already lost 14 lbs in 2 weeks and I've lost about 12 lbs since I started the diet a month and a half ago.  Only been working out for 2 weeks.  I praise God for my lump b/c it has led to all of this!  

Alternative Medicine

I have been enlightened into the world of alternative medicine.  It all started in January when we discovered a lump on my thyroid the size of what my ENT described as a golfball.  At the same time in January, I learned that I would be losing my insurance coverage Jan. 31^st.  We tried to rush in a biopsy but was unable to do so.  I had one done in early February at my own expense.  $4000 later, we learned that the results came back “negative for malignancy” (praise God!) but the ENT wasn’t happy with the sample that was taken and therefore wasn’t comfortable telling me I was out of the woods.  Thankfully the hospital covered the hospital cost (praise God!), but we still have to pay the radiologist/ultrasound tech bill and the lab bill.  The ENT suggested either another biopsy or surgery to have the lump removed.  He told me that biopsies are only 90% accurate so the possibility existed that even if I had the biopsy redone, it may be false info.  If I opted for surgery, they wouldn’t just remove the lump but the whole left side of my thyroid (where the lump is located) so as not to disturb the lump if it is in fact cancerous.  The thyroid may continue to function normally, but if not, I would have to take thyroid pills for the rest of my life.  Either of the choices, redo biopsy or have surgery, would not be covered and would have to come out of our pocket.  Also, all of this…..and it may not even be cancerous!!!!!

So this was a big dilemma.  We talked with several people, prayed about it, mulled it over and over and over.  And after talking with a friend, the idea got sparked in me again of alternative medicine.  I say “again” b/c over the years, I’ve known people who are pretty into it and have crazy stories to tell.  And when Otto was diagnosed with ADHD and it was suggested to me to put him on medication, I researched alternative methods b/c I did not want to put him on meds.  However, researching alternative medicine on the internet is a daunting task b/c there is so much!  How do you know which sites to trust, etc?  So I used the networking tool of Facebook and put the question out there…..”Does anyone know about alternative medicine?”  I got great feedback!  Some suggested sites turned out to be very informative and I learned of many people curing their own cancer and getting rid of their lumps.  I also remembered someone I knew back in Ohio whose dad had prostate cancer and got rid of it in 6 mos on his own without chemo or radiation or surgery.  I began trying a couple things on my own to try to “shrink” the lump.  But wanted a trusted expert’s opinion on what to do, how much and what to take.  A friend from high school on Facebook said she consulted a Naturopathic Doctor and also sought a DAN (Defeat Autism Now) for her son who was on the Autism spectrum and now ISN’T anymore!  What?!  The thought was resparked in me to consult an ND (Naturopathic Doctor) for Otto too and all his issues.

I visited a website for the American Association of Naturopathic Doctors to find one near me.  Called a few up to compare prices, etc and learned that they actually go to medical school!  This made me feel very good and very excited to talk to one.  Of course insurance doesn’t cover them usually but I didn’t have any anyway!  Their philosophy is to treat the whole person, not just the current ailment and not just to throw a medicine at it and send you on your way.  It was an incredibly enlightening several conversations.  I learned a ton and was given several suggestions for both Otto and I.  First and foremost, Otto and I are on a “whole foods” diet meaning no refined sugars or white flour, no additives or preservatives.  Only fruits and veggies, whole grains, and protein.  After only 2 or 3 days, Otto’s hyperactivity reduced significantly!!!  I could write so much more detail about this but this is already sooooo long!

My lump has already shrunk considerably!  In fact, I really have to feel around for it to find it and have a hard time anymore!  I wanted to include a picture of my lump when I had a cold.  My glands were all swollen, the lump was swollen, and it was enormous!  Unfortunately I can't find the pic, bummer!  It was crazy!  If I find it, I'll post it!  Now, like I said, I can barely find it when feeling around!  I could write so much more detail and maybe I will in some other posts.  But for now, just wanted to share our miracle(s)!  I pray it continues to go away completely!