cruisin'

2 weeks ago, ismael got a bike. here's what it looks like. this isn't it but it is very similar. the back tire on his bike is thicker than the one on this bike. we can't ride together yet because his bike is missing the foot pegs for the passenger but they have been ordered, so you may see us riding around GR pretty soon (hopefully we can take advantage of the weather before the cold comes!!!)

busy

phew, it has been a crazy busy couple weeks for me. work has started in full swing (prep for Fridays, hiring tour guides, hiring hosts, etc). grad school has started for me again but this is my last semester, I'm writing my thesis this semester and I am super excited about that!!! students have moved into the house and it has been an amazing experience, our retreat went really well and we all seem to be getting along great. ismael has started classes again as well, one at GRCC and one at Calvin and he'll be going full swing at Calvin in the spring =) God is good, he has blessed us with so much in the past few years. we are in awe of how much He has done for us!!!

looking ahead, work will continue to busy and schoolwork will be keeping us busy but we are looking forward to the week of thanksgiving: going down to orlando, fl. we've also been talking about going to miami for a week and to pennsylvania for a week at christmas break. ismael's cousin, cynthia had back surgery and is awaiting her next surgery (has been in the hospital for a couple months now) and we really want to try and get over there to see her. PLEASE keep her in your prayers that her back is healed quickly and that she does not become restless in her hospital bed.

thanks for keeping up with us!

life as a child

it's amazing how the years pass by. there are days where i wish i could return to my childhood but then i realize that we're all headed in the same direction and that God has an individual plan for all of us. memories are a wonderful gift that He has given us. enjoy the moments while they last.

camera

today i decided that my camera must be in my purse at all times. we were driving home from the mall in grandville and saw the most beautiful sunset EVER. i'll attempt to describe it here but my words won't be enough. to my left the sky was dark (like nighttime) to the right the sun was setting (awesome shades of red and orange) with some light and dark clouds. the moon was out while the sun was setting and it was the thinnest crescent moon i've ever seen, if you would've blinked you would've missed it. beautiful. this is why my camera will always be with me from now on.

vanessa

is summer almost over?

summer is by far my favorite season. i also enjoy fall and spring (not winter so much) but absolutely LOVE summer. this summer we traveled to the bahamas and the dominican republic and have taken some trips to lake michigan, which i've come to appreciate much more this year. in past summers, i haven't been very fond of swimming in lakes but this summer was a blast. this past weekend we had project neighborhood mentor training at big star lake. here's the beautiful sunrise:

i am super excited for what's ahead in the fall. project neighborhood. finishing grad school. ismael begins engineering program @ calvin. thanksgiving. christmas. orlando. disney. miami. pennsylvania. road trips. can't wait.

chipotle!

on wednesday i didn't bring a lunch to work and i didn't like the food they had on campus so i decided that i would go to chipotle for a burrito (2nd time i've been there!). let me back up and say that i was wearing my calvin admissions cardigan that day. so, i go to pay at the register and the manager starts commenting about how students are coming back soon and then he offers to give my student team free burritos. of course i was like sweet, but what's the catch? so he said they just want publicity, so i gave him my business card to set it all up. he called after lunch and said he wants to do this free lunch thing next week but my students don't get here until september so he asked how many people were in my office....and that's how i got 50 FREE burritos for my office for next week...all thanks to my lucky admissions cardigan...

you learn something new everyday

today, i went out to lunch with some fabulous ladies from work for pupusas. here's a picture:



it is a traditional meal from El Salvador and very tasty! loroco is one of the fillings you can get in pupusas but we didn't get a very good explanation of what it is from our server, so i found it here:
http://www.worldcrops.org/crops/Loroco.cfm

if you've never tried pupusas, you need to go NOW!
2046 Division Ave S
Grand Rapids, MI 49507

if you're even more adventurous, try one with cheese & loroco...happy eating.

good times

we took sasha to the dog beach in muskegon.




woke up to this on saturday morning:




and drove to holland to see the sunset. it rained. we saw a rainbow.


what a fabulous weekend.

mmmm Flan

I've made 2 flans in the past 2 days and just thought I'd share the recipe...it's sooo good and easy to make!

6 eggs
2 cans evaporated milk
1 can condensed milk
1&1/2 cups of sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla

preheat oven to 375 degrees

take 1 cup of sugar and melt it into caramel in a pan on the stove. once it's all liquid pour into a glass 9x9 pan bakeware. it will harden.

beat the 6 eggs then add the milks, 1/2 cup of sugar and vanilla. pour into the glass 9x9 bakeware.

put it into a "baño de maria" which means put about an inch of hot water into a metal baking pan and put the glass bakeware in the water. bake for about an hour and 15 minutes or until you can put a knife in it and it comes out clean.

let cool and then put in fridge...it tastes best when it's cold!

Enjoy!

Battle of the Bands

Ismael played in Battle of the Bands at Byron Days in Byron Center this past weekend:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_LBlGDA4WA&feature=related

Good laugh

I got this email from Vivy this week and thought I'd share it here. It's cute and funny. Enjoy!

Three little boys were concerned

Because they couldn't get anyone to play with them.

They decided it was because they had not been baptized

And didn't go to Sunday School



So they went to the nearest Church.

But, only the Janitor was there

One little boy said,

'We need to be baptized

Because no one will come out and play with us.

Will you baptize us?'

'Sure,' said the Janitor.

He took them into the bathroom

And dunked their little heads in the toilet bowl,

One at a time.

Then he said, 'You are now baptized!'

When they got outside,

One of them asked,

'What religion do you think we are?'

The oldest one said,

'We're not Kathlick, because they pour the water on you.'

'We're not Babtis, because they dunk all of you in the water.'

'We're not Methodiss, because they just sprinkle water on you.'

The littlest one said,

'Didn't you smell that water?!'

They all joined in asking,

'Yeah! What do you think that means?'


'I think it means we're Pisscopailians.

Back home

I think that we are both finally adjusted to being back home. In the DR (Dominican Republic) it was hotttt so the cold showers felt good and it was nice just to relax. The 2 weeks we were there went super fast but the days were long (which was a good thing!) i think mostly because we weren't working or stressing about being somewhere at a certain time. Coming back to GR was a bit of a shock because it was cold (in July!) and Ismael had to go back to work the day after we got back =(
I've posted some pictures of our vacation here but to see more go to: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=15301638&v=feed&story_fbid=553220724224#/album.php?aid=2077695&id=15301638

Nothing too exciting has been going on other than the trip to the DR. Ismael's sister is due any day now so our niece, Analise, should be arriving to the world soon =) Our friend Ana is also expecting a little girl, Isabella Sofia, at the beginning of August and Helen is expecting a baby boy for mid October so lots of little babies around here. Work is starting to get busier with Fridays at Calvin coming up in the fall, so I've just been gearing up for that, getting profs lined up and rooms reserved. The house is great, 7 weeks until the students move in so we're also excited about that new change coming up in our lives.

We've also been trying to eat healthier, and it is expensive! but I'm sure it's worth it in the long run, we'll see how long we can keep it up...

Ismael & Vanessa

Sweet Vacation

Well, I don't think I'm very good at keeping up a blog but I'm trying... =)

The last couple of weeks have been pretty uneventful and have gone by pretty slow because we have our vacation to the Dominican Republic vacation coming up on Monday! Other than settling into the Project Neighborhood house, we've been doing A LOT of shopping for our trip to the DR. While preparing for this trip I've had some deja vu from preparing for our trips to Cuba years ago. You make a list of family and friends that are closest to you and buy them a shirt, a pair of pants or a pair of shoes. Then you wrap them with tape and put their name on that so that when you get there it's easy to distribute all the stuff. We have 2 bags packed and ready to go and those bags are full of things we're going to give away. I am really excited about being able to help some people in this poverty stricken country. I'm also really excited about meeting the rest of Ismael's family! For those of you who don't know, I met his parents 2 days before our wedding so it will be nice to spend some more time with them as well.

Being gone on vacation means we'll have to leave Sasha with friends. This weekend we are dogsitting for the McPheeters. Sasha and Pele are going to be best buds this summer. We have Pele this weekend, then Sasha will go over to his house for a couple of weeks and then we get back and we'll have Pele for 1 week. So fun! Last night we had a huge thunderstorm here in GR with heavy rain and we had to let the dogs out to relieve themselves. Well, Ismael thought it would be a good idea to tie Pele to the post of the porch but as soon as we did that he ran off into the backyard and snapped his collar =/ Sorry Heidi and Scott, I'll buy him a new one today. Needless to say, it was a mess. 2 dogs. lots of rain. thunder. lightning. towels. drying. they were pooped and slept all night! success! In the future when we buy a house, I would really like to have another dog to play with Sasha...they are so fun!

By the way, about a month ago Berenice had her baby! Benjamin Sayid Mejia. 9lbs 12 oz. 21 lbs. big boy.

I'll try to update the blog while we're in DR but I'm not sure what kind of internet access we'll have down there.

Welcome!

Hello friends,

So, we decided that we would start a blog. I am not much of a writer but have always loved to keep journals, diaries, etc. We'll use this to update you on things going on in our lives, vacations and much more.

Here's what has happened in the last few weeks:

At the beginning of May we went on a cruise and we definitely recommend a cruise if you're looking to plan a vacation. If you're trying to decide which cruise line you should look into Carnvial: www.carnival.com the FUN SHIP =) The cruise we went on was Carnival Imagination and it sailed out of Miami and to Nassau, Bahamas. In Nassau we went to the Atlantis resort, which was pretty much AMAZING! 3 aquariums, the beach, a waterpark and beautiful weather made for a great day there.

This past week, I went on a young leaders retreat with my coworkers and it was great. We biked 60 miles (I couldn't have done it without their support! Thanks friends!), camped, went to Mackinaw Island and had some great conversations.

In a couple of weeks we take off to the Dominican Republic for 2 weeks. We are very excited especially because Ismael hasn't been home in 9 years!!!! He is so ready to see everyone again. I am excited to meet the rest of our family. Ismael's sister is pregnant and is due in August so we are bringing her a bunch of baby stuff...our first niece (my brothers don't really want kids...)

Another really great thing that has happened is that we are going to be Project Neighborhood mentors. Project Neighborhood is a program at Calvin College. They own 5 houses in the Grand Rapids area and at each house there are 6-8 students that live there. For more info visit: http://www.calvin.edu/admin/housing/pn/

We'll post some pictures of the house soon!

Vanessa