The semester's coming to a close

The thought that this semester is almost over brings welcome, might I add needed, feelings to my heart--feelings like peace, relief, and joy! It does help that this is the Christmas season and "the most wonderful time of the year." I don't know who is more elated, me or Mark. We had been warned beforehand that accounting school is consuming but there really are no words to describe how crazy it has been. You would think that the big texting days are over now that we're married and the dating life is more than behind us but I hear his phone going off multiple times in the middle of the night from people in his little assigned group asking questions or collaborating for a project. I told his group that they are more of a wife to him than I am because I never get to see him! It's a good thing that his toughest year in accounting happens to fall during my last year in college because I don't notice it as much because of how busy I am. ONE MORE SEMESTER AND I'M DONE.

I finally got most of the christmas stuff up and here's how it looks.

My mother-in-law got me this nativity and I love it! It is by far the prettiest nativity set I've seen.

I love decorating Christmas trees! If I could I would change my tree and theme every year!

Harry Potter Halloween

Those who know me know I LOVE HARRY POTTER! In one of my classes we were discussing why some people are able to enjoy books and movies and why others can't...it all has to do with your ability to suppress reality and limitations. If you find yourself saying quite frequently during movies or books, "there's no way that can happen" then you my friend have a problem suppressing reality. I, on the other hand, have the complete opposite problem, I am unable to bring myself back to reality after experiencing a particularly good book or movie. Usually the spell that the most recent story has on me will wear off little-by-little after a few weeks, but the wizarding world of Harry Potter has never worn off; I am convinced that somehow my owl got lost on its way to bring me my acceptance letter to Hogwarts. It has been my dream to dress as Harry Potter and Hermione for Halloween since I read the first book AND IT FINALLY CAME TRUE! I lucked out to marry someone who resembles Harry Potter(though a much hotter version), and we were able to impress everyone at the party we went to. I love Halloween--really I love any holiday that gives me an opportunity to get a break from the everyday goings of life. The best part about these costumes is that we will be wearing them for the 7th movie part 1 that comes out November 19!

Time for a change

Every time I read my friends blogs I'm envious of the visits to the park, library, zoo, etc... I'm jealous of the cute and often funny experiences they share with their children, or of the success and freedom that having a career brings. Don't get me wrong I'm grateful for everything I've been able to do thus far in my almost quarter of a century lived it's just...I've had about enough of school, never having time to cook a real meal, not having a clean house, never playing the piano, and not enjoying my husband. Everyone tells me life only gets busier as you get older but I don't understand how that could be true? I leave every morning at 7:00 for work, after work go straight to school, and don't get home till 8:00 p.m. at which point I do my homework. Maybe it's true that life will always be this busy--and truthfully I wouldn't want it any other way--I'm just ready for a different type of busy, that's all.

Jessi's wedding

My cousin/best friend Jessi got married September 3rd....I know I'm a little behind on my blogging. I didn't have my camera with me most of the day so I only have a couple pictures from the reception. The place where they had the reception was incredible! It was up hobble creek canyon and was serious my dream property.
I was a bridesmaid
All of us bridesmaids!
My sexy husband
This is the only picture I have of them. What a handsome couple!

Where were you on Sep 11?

I mentor a little spanish girl named Jacqueline and each week I take her out to do something and spend time with her. She's from Mexico and is still getting used to the U.S. She told me that her teacher said that we will never forget what happened on September 11 and that it is one of those events where everybody will remember where they were and how they felt. I believe that's true.
I think for generations much older than mine it joins a list of others: pearl harbor, atomic bombs drop, cuban missle crisis, President Kennedy assasination, man landing on the moon etc...
My list is probably Princess Diana's death, Oklahoma city bombing, Columbine shooting, with September 11th having the biggest impact. I remember I was listening to 94.9 zht getting ready on my bed it was about 7:50ish and some listener called and said "I heard a plane ran into the space center! Why haven't you announced anything on the radio?" The announcers scrambeled then found the information being received and so I ran to the TV and was shocked at what I saw. I couldn't get another tardy for school so I had to run but my first period was honors history and we just watched the TV and saw when the second plane hit the other tower. I remember thinking "how did this happen we're the United States!" All that day and the next the nation was glued to the TV as the different tragedies and heroic events were brought to light.
I truly can say I am proud to be an American! I was proud before, but I think that after living in El Salvador for the summer and seeing just how lucky we are compared to most of the world I am more than proud and also blessed to be from the United States. Maybe Obama is leading us to destruction but even with him we're still a whole heck of a lot better of than most.

I love little kids

Mark and I work in the nursery and I love asking the little kids questions and hearing their answers. I got my inspiration for doing this from the movie made in the 70's by the church called "From the Mouth of Babes." The following was my conversation with 3 yr old Eli.

"Eli who is Jesus?"

"(thinking for a second) um I think he is a prophet!" He says this very excited and proud of himself.

"Good job Eli! And what does he do?"

"He teaches the little kids things"

"What does he teach you?"

"He teaches me Spanish and French, that's what the prophets teach"

"Oh, what sorts of words has he taught you"

"Well I actually make up most of my words because I can't hear him very well because he's in the sky. But, the one word I have learned from him is vamanos ya. That means come on yeah."

I had to hold back my laughing because he was so serious and matter fact about all of this.

City Deals

So I've been getting these e-mails from city deals but never looked at them. Then they sent me one for Lazer Assault for a 25$ gift certificate only costing 8$. Seeing as we love lazer tag there I bought 4 passes that value 100$ for only 32$. Sorry if this sounds like some sale pitch because it's not. Just thought I'd share the wealth with others. There's a ton of restaurants or activities with like 50% off. here's the link if you want to look at it. It's only in Utah :(

http://www.citydeals.com/?ref=CDUMTIyNDIy

Civil War

It's crazy that when I say "civil war" in El Salvador I mean during my lifetime. The war here was from 1980-1991. The war resulted because of the extremes in economic situations here. There are a few very wealthy families that have governed El Salvador since El Salvador really began. They kept getting richer and richer while the poor got more and more poverty stricken. The poor started protesting against it in the 80's but the government feeling threatened began killing. They started killing the protesters and even the arch bishop here in El Salvador for speaking out against violence. The protesters then escaped to the mountains and formed their own guerrila army. The government then forced all the boys to go into the military and begin killing the poor civilians. If they refused then they themselves were killed. Our guide told us that he was forced to join the army on the side of the government but after he found out he was forced to kill innocent poor people he escaped into the mountains and joined the other side. The war went on for 10 years turning into a blood bath for the poor ill-equipped rebel army called the FMLN. The pictures taken are off the weaponry and the main hideout of the rebels. They told us they'd searched the place for mines placed but I'm not sure I believe that so we didn't leave the trail much.

The saddest part of the war was the massacre of Mozote. The battalion of the government went down to the remote village of Mozote and separated the men, women, and children into three different houses. The men were all murdered and their bodies burned, the women were raped and murdered, the girls 10-14 were taken up on the hill and used as "toys" for the men until they killed them before leaving, and the little children and babies were used as bayonet practice. One woman escaped when she was at the end of the line to be killed and a guard looked the other way. She told the story of what happened. It wasn't until just recently that the U.S (who was involved in the war and trained the soldiers that did the massacre) or the Salvadoranian government even recognized what happened. The memorial there is of the children and you can still see their blood stains on the bricks. It was quite a humbling experience to be there and to see something so sad that happened during my lifetime. The soldiers said that they did it to make a point to the rebels that this is what would happen to them if they continued.

Hostels

This was the hostel we stayed when we went and toured the civil war sights (1980-1991). I always thought I was one of those rugged people who loved traveling so much that it didn't matter where they stayed......wrong. After staying in so many hostels like this I decided I am a luxurious traveler-I wouldn't even say luxurious necessairly more a bathroom with a toilet seat, sheets that have been washed, and a safe environment. The lady told us we had the special "suit." Just look for yourself and tell me how special it looks.

This was the door right next to our room????? Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
See how our door closes-a rebarb, see how much space is under the door for anything to get it-gross!
It is all cement. Those blankets on the bed had not been washed in a couple years and I think they'd wrapped the blankets around a tree because there were little sticks coming out of it all over the place.

All done with murals

So we finished our last mural yesterday, hip hip Hoooray! I decided I love painting it is so relaxing and fun. When I graduate I want to take those community classes and learn all the tricks. I feel like they turned out pretty dang good though, especially for us being novices! It was so cute because in each room that we painting we would have an audience of workers, nuns, and 5-6 kids just sitting there watching -no pressure right.

Transportation in El Salvador

I don't think I've dedicated the time to really explain one of the craziest things about El Salvador...transportation! This post is designed to tell a couple crazy stories and help you understand how we get around. The transportation goes from the biggest to the littlestThis is the bigger buses. They come from the United States and are basically the buses 15-20 years old that couldn't be fixed enough to pass emissions so they send them here. All over the bus are signs about Jesus and then wierd cartoon characters and American artists.
Every time I sit down I look to see if my name is written in the back of the seat from elementary school. The driver on the buses makes $12 a day and the money collector makes $8. Apparently that is doing good here!
This little beauty is called "el microbus." Because we live up in the mountains they have the smaller buses up here. These are basically a normal van crafted to fit as many people as possible.

Normally this vans with regular seating would fit 8 people...here in El Salvy with seats facing both ways and people standing up they fit 16 people and I don't know how we did it but I counted 21 the other day!!!!! In all the buses there is the driver and the money collector boy. The money collector boy hangs out the door yelling at people as they pass by and telling the driver when they need to stop by either wistleing or by saying visa visa. Then as soon as your first leg is on the bus the driver says "dale" and the bus starts. They do this to save time and to transport as many people as possible in one day. This scared me SO bad the first time because I just about fell. It's crazy to me how these old people and little kids do it without blinking an eye. They're half hanging out the bus and it's shooting down the hill. Typical price is 20-25cents.

A step down from the micro is this truck that's fitted with a tarp and a couple roughly constructed seats. They have these in more remote locations. We took this to get down to Mozote for a tourist site.

Riding on the buses is always a fun event! Here they really do understand the concept of fast food because at every stop a group of sellers starts running for the bus so that they can be the one to sell their goods. The come plowing through the isles even when the bus is packed full selling

PARTY NUTS, cut up mango with chili and salt, PUPUSAS, fried elote, WATER IN BAGS, coke, CANDY, gum, COCONUT WATER, newpapers, TOOTHBRUSHES, key chains, BAGS OF FRUIT, flashlights, RANDOM CREMES. The list goes on and on!

Sometimes they don't get off by the time the bus starts moving and they are either forced to jump off(which is what the little kids do) or they are forced to stay on and ride it out.

This is what happens if you're one of the later stops along the bus route. We had to stay standing up for 45 min! before getting a seat. Imagine the people selling the things pushing in through us with baskets on their heads!

The other weekend we totaled 14 hrs on a bus

These were the people we saw

• An old man in his 90's got on the bus and with no teeth played the harmonica. I'm not sure the song even really existed I think it was some harmonica he found on the street and thought "Hey I can make money with this!" He then walked around hunched over asking for money.
• A man got on the bus and stood in front for 10 minutes talking about a creme that he made. He had this little bottle of it and was trying to sell it. Funny thing is Mark almost bought some of it.
• A man got on the bus and handed each person a sucker that had a whistle at the bottom. Then he stood in front and did a sales pitch for 15 min!!!! I have no idea how he had enough material to talk about a sucker. In the process of it he bartered himself down from 80 cents a sucker to 2x25 cents. He described in a lot of detail every part of the sucker. Then he walked down the isle looking each person in the eye before he took the sucker back
• A preacher got on the bus and prayed for us and I thought he ended his prayer about 20 times before he actually did it. He was on there walking the isle yelling for 30 minutes. He then told us we needed to pay him tithing or we wouldn't have safe passage and if we did the windows of heaven would be opened.
• A man came down the isle selling 4 toothbrushes for a dollar. I looked at Mark and his eyes were wide open as he contemplated how much a single toothbrush costs in the states
• The normal array of food venders got on the bus all throughout the trip
• A blind man got on the bus and after groping a girl on accident took a little megaphone and yelled at the people saying it's our duty to give him money and prayed for us all
• A man with a bright orange Boise State shirt got on the bus

I could go on and on about the buses and crazy experiences!

5 down!!

The superhero pictures show them not finished but we have finished them now

I don't think the lighting does the superheros justice I'll take another pic later.

Our space mural is finished. The volunteers put more stars than I would have liked but considering it's for the kids the more lights and colors the better it holds their attention

Us starting on the Winnie the Pooh mural

I've already shown a picture of this one but I wanted to include it in the set because it shows all the ones we've done. We've finished the sand now

The other side of the space one. For all those astronomers out there I know that my space mural is by no means correct. If I could go back and switch it I would-not because the kids would now any difference. So I was painting this room and being very detailed on the green saturn and they roll a kid in and I asked if he was blind and they're like yeah he is. Then the next kid is rolled in and he's blind too! I promtly said why in the heck am I painting in this room if they're all blind!!! They started laughing and told me there are two in the room that aren't blind.

More murals

I don't remember the last time I've done my hair-poor Mark

Our space mural with Maria Antonia painting. I'm so horrible I have them all help then as soon as they leave I go in and fix it! Hey at least they don't know I do it and they come back thinking they did some pretty good painting.

This one would definately be finished by now but I'm waiting for the kids to be all back from school but at the same time not have people sleeping in the room because this is something I can let them do without panicking too much

Murals

We've been trying to think of a project we could do to help the kids here even after we've left. We chose to target our project on the kids who don't ever receive attention because quite frankly some of them are quite intimidating. These are the kids who spend most of the day in their rooms locked in cages, due to their lack of interaction and overall sense of fear that comes with being disabled they are usually screaming or hurting themselves. After some research and prayer we found information on the benefits of art stimulation on the disabled, apparently it not only affects them mentally and psychologically but physically as well. We've started on our first building (5 rooms) and we have them base painted and with the drawings put on the wall.

Mark tracing one of the drawings we found

Me painting the boat on the sea mural we're doing. I have to admit I'm a bit obsessive over the details with the murals because I want everything to be perfect. BUT Mark has reminded me of our experience this past Christmas when we had a timed ginger bread house competition and we lost because I was so obsessive with all the details and we ended up not finishing the house. Hence forth I have to remind myself that this is not the sistine chapel and I can delegate to other people and trust them.

We've gotten pretty for with this one we still need to finish the sand, bottom creatures, and the sea weed coming up. I think it'll be pretty cool and I'm proud of us especially since this is my first time with anything like this.

scary/ funny story

Before I start my story let me explain something.
I am the biggest scaredy cat alive.
Every night I make Mark check the doors are locked
and then I have to go look myself.
If I ever here a noise then I won't be able to sleep for hours.
If it's dark outside I won't go outside unless someone's with me.
I cannot watch scary movies or I'll have nightmares for a week.
Sometimes when we pray I have to sneak a peak and make sure no one has come in the room.
Now having said that I can tell my story, I just wanted everyone to understand that so they can understand what I went through.
Mark and I were sitting on our bed playing games and I was closest to the door. Mark then started telling me how he was a little freaked out earlier by some random girl who went to the catholic mass who was wandering around and just stood there looking at Mark.
I of course was a little freaked out by this when all of the sudden
I see someone small standing in our bedroom doorway!!
I immediatley scream and continue to scream for 5 seconds untill I register who it was.
Mark screamed also-just not as long:)
No one ever comes to the house so to see someone there and especially in our bedroom without
warning freaked me out and I think my heart stopped.
She (maria) told us that we needed to change our clothes (we were still in dress clothes beecause it was Sunday) and get down the hill to celebrate her birthday with the nuns.
We went down the hill only to find out
1. it wasn't her birthday
2. the nuns knew nothing about what Maria was talking about.
Maria is considered the enforcer here and is always reminding us when we need to be done with
activities and is always getting after the kids.
Some of the time the things she says makes no sense...this was one of those times.

Maria is the one on the top

Who doesn't love sidewalk chalk!

Some of the volunteers from the other group in San Salvador came up to spend the day with us. It was so nice to have help around that could spend one on one time with the kids. Most the time I'm running from person to person telling them how beautiful their drawing is as they are all calling out my name. I think a lot of them ended up having more chalk on them than the actual sidewalk!