Miranda & Troy

So this adorable awesome amazing couple got engaged yesterday...and I took pics of them today. AWESOME! It was totally not planned at all and just spontaneously worked out and I got over 1,000 pics for my first ever official shoot!

I'm totally pumped and stoked and excited and nervous and encouraged and well...you get the drift.

So I couldn't wait and did a quick edit on a picture that so far is my most favorite of my 100 favorite (I couldn't choose just 25 for realz!)

They are planning on getting married this summer! So they are getting really close to the date but it's going to be beautiful and they are going to be such a great marriage!

Anyways, enjoy this picture and I promise more will come soon...potentially along with the big reveal of our new website which is looking SWEEEEET!

Cuban Coffee or Cortadito

(* Clarification from my wonderful Tia Lisi: Mom and I were just perusing your blog. just a couple of points of clarification. Cafe Bustelo is cuban coffee, not Italian. also we don't usually use condensed milk...we use either regular or evaporated. The "experts" make a "pumita" by steaming the milk so its nice and foamy. me alegro mucho que esten disfrutando las tacitas de cafe!*keep this in mind as you read :-) sorry!)

My husband is half Cuban. His grandparents are Cuban refugees who've been living in this free country for over 40 years. They had a wonderful life in Cuba: an hacienda, careers, extended family, earth that belonged to them and someday to their children. All that changed with the rising power of Fidel. They brought with them few possessions but many memories, traditions and stories.

A few months after Naphtali and I got married a package arrived for us...at the wrong house. Abuela had sent it to the only address of ours she had but we had recently moved. Thanks to sweet retired truck driver Lloyd, we got our packaged. Lloyd is one of those guys who has just a caring heart and happens to be married to the funniest polish woman I've ever known. Lloyd has an illegal CV radio in his house so he can listen to what the Cops are doing. :-) Anyway, Lloyd called us and told us we had a couple packages. One of which was from Abuela which held something invaluable.

She had given us a set of six espresso cups and saucers. She gave us this precious set which she had brought with her to the United States so many years ago when fleeing her mother land. Naph and I haven't used them since we got them because we've been too nervous but today that changed. We made cuban coffee and used these heirlooms. It was delightful!

My sweet man, who I think I shall dub my Rock Star from here on out (we'll toy around with the names..), will be making me a LEGIT blog at some point and we'll transfer all this over there along with, hopefully, a story about these cups..I have to get with Abuela on that one :-).

So in the meantime, if you want to know how to make a "cortadito", or "small one."Here is how you do it.

First a "cortadito" is espresso made with a percolator and then mixed with sweet and condensed milk...which we didn't have any of so we improvised. It was still ever so tasty.

You will need: a cuban coffee maker or percolator, good fine espresso coffee, water, patience, cups that make you feel nostalgic, sweet and condensed milk or 1/2 & 1/2 or whole milk which we used today, sugar-preferably as close to sugar in the raw that you can get (if you are using S & C milk you won't need sugar), and time to enjoy this piece of heaven.

First get a good espresso coffee. We are partial to Cafe Bustelo which is delicious and finely ground, 100% italian coffee

.

Then you pack it into the base of the percolator.

Fill the base of the percolator with water. It should have level marks on it so take it to the highest one if you want a good 4-6 small cups out of it.

Then put the coffee in the base of the percolator.

Screw the to of the percolator on (I know these are in depth but I just got a new camera and I am obsessed...bear with me :-))

Put the stove on Medium:

Let it percolate:

Isn't it beautiful?!

Get out your espresso cups:

Aren't they beautiful?

Add the milk:

And Sugar:

Pour the Coffee:

Then all you need to do next is marry a Cuban:

And enjoy!

New Pictures

I've been starting to take and edit pictures thanks to the help of my darling Husband who has been teaching me Photoshop. I'm really excited and I'm thinkin...I'm not to bad. We got a new pro pro camera. A Canon 20D. We're definitely satisfied right now with it though we can tell we'll definitely want to upgrade. This one has a few glithces and I've not had tons of time to check it out completely.

Anyway I got two great models, Troy and Miranda to let me shoot them after a little birthday celebration for him at a great sushi restaurant downtown. We went out until about midnight and I'm sure I would have had a ton more quality pictures of I knew how to shoot at night but practice makes perfect right?!

These first two, the first is the edited and the second is the original. Vice versa for the second set. My Cuban Rock Star is making me a special website so I can make it a little more fancy looking so for now I'm sorry you have to deal with my technological handicaps. :-)

Stateside Once More

Well we've been back over 24 hours now. Naphtali has just finished the show that we came back to the States for and we're trying to keep our attitudes in check. We've had a hard time transitioning back. We...well mainly I was pretty nervous about seeing the house as we had a little bit of drama with the girls that were taking care of it. But things are generally in order, a few broken things here and there which I guess is to be expected.
Our biggest adjustment has been our attitudes for sure. Now that I know this part of my husband's life, I want to have it forever. I've never had as hard of a time leaving a place as I did leaving Chile. When we arrived in Dallas for our connection flight one of the welcomers said "Welcome Home" and Naphtali just got so frustrated.
But we're starting to reconnect with friends, praying more about where we are suppose to be in life and know that God has a bigger plan than this. I'm trying to keep my tongue in check because I'm still having hard feelings towards these girls and gossip is rampant in this town.
So we're back, we're bitter, we're praying and hopefully we'll be thankful before the sun goes down.
Thanks for prayers!
Lys

Time Flies

I'm dying here friends! I can't believe we only have a week left! Hypothetically of course, because we still haven't gotten our tickets! Hopefully that isn't going to be a problem.
Eric Larsen came down to visit for a couple days on his way back from some conferences he was having in Colombia. Eric and his wife Rebecah are our marriage councelors and life partners. Eric has lead two missions trips that we've been on and there are going to be plenty more. He is in charge of a new branch in MTW (Mission to The World, Naph's parent's mission) called GYFM (Global Youth and Family). He goes to different country and talks to people about the struggles and realities of third culture kids.
It was really special to be able to spend some time with him even though we really missed the rest of the family.
Sadly I got a bit sick and am still fighting a little cold right now. Tonight I went to the music practice at Naphtali's old church here in Chile and had a great time, though now I really have practically no voice.
Tomorrow the kids have a program full of dancing and entertainment at their school because the day after that is the Chilean independence day and through out this week there are tons of different activities. It's going to be quite fun.

I've started having slight epiphanies/obvious revelations. I've been rather attached to this girl with whom I've had a slight miscommunication. Now, though I thought everything was discussed, I'm getting more of a cold shoulder. I've had a rough time with this because for me, it is hard to find good girlfriends who are stable and constant. But after talking to my in-laws and my husband I have a bit more of a peace about it. I've decided not to take responsibility for more than I can. At this point I can only apologize for a few things. Whereas I feel like, just because we are having a hard time, I need to apologize for everything so that we can be friends again.
Naphtali and I were talking a bit about that last sentence a bit today. I tell you it's so good to have a guys perspective on things, it's so different and really refreshing. We are beginning to see how friends are for different seasons, which is really hard for me to grasp.
Some friends, especially when you are at different levels (i.e. someone who is still finding themselves and is single and a few years younger, vs someone who's married and has matured in different areas that come along with that). And especially in these types of circumstances there may never be ronciliation until my friend is in our shoes. There will just never be any comprehension on her part until that happens.
So, yeah it's hard but I'm relying on the Lord to allow me to grow from it, refrain from hurting so much about it and allowing it to consume all my thoughts as they so often do at night and I'm going to try and enjoy my last 7 days here because they'll be the last for quite a while and I need to make the most of it. Obviously prayers are always welcome!

To finish things off I've left you a few pictures I've taken recently. There are thousands so these are just a small fraction of what we've see.











1. The view of the coast from our apartment when we were on our vacation to the coast.












2. A seagull on a fishing boat. The colors were amazing! I got some great shots there I'm going to have to work on a bit.













3. The sunset hitting the mountains. This was taken on our ride in from the coast. A beautiful end to a great couple days alone together.














4. A picture of us. We met this woman at the same place where #2 was taken. She said she had one of these cameras back home and asked if she could take pictures of us. Well she took a ton and they all turned out really great. It was a huge blessing!

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Bueno, life just always throws curve balls eh? Naphtali and I have a hypothetical 2 1/2 more weeks here in Chile. I say hypothetical because now that I don't have a job waiting for me back in Greenville and he only has one show forcing us to go back by the end of September, well we're just really tempted to cancel everything and stay down here for good...or at least for another 2 weeks.

Yes, losing my upcoming job was one of those curve balls. I was going to be taking over a dear friend of mine's maternity leave. We had it all worked out and I pretty much had the job starting this upcoming November. But the school went on a hiring freeze as well as laid off over 30 people while I've been here in Chile...so obviously they denied her request for an external fill for her maternity leave despite my qualifications!

But I have to tell you, when I got the e-mail from my friend I wasn't super suprised. I was actually slightly relieved. Is that bad? I was so thankful for the flexibility. That was when I found out. Now I'm realizing we have no income other than Naph's business which is still picking up and we still have bills in the States, so we have to get back and get some mula at some point soon!
Still, I know that God has a much bigger plan for us. I have several different job opportunities in Chicago that could move us up there much much sooner than March 2010 which is when we were projecting getting up there before. Now we've considered possibly going as early as the end of October or middle of November.
Coincidentally three other band members and their spouses have actually had an equivalent unstable change of plans as well. In fact one couple just moved in to their apartment in Chi-town two days ago. The other couple is still figuring out what they are doing, one guy found out his lease is up in October and can't renew and one is close enough he can drive in. So we are all sensing God has a bigger plans for us and we are trying to be faithful and listen. I feel like this is easier said than done the closer we get to returning Stateside.

Either way this time here in Chile has been going by at just the right pace. Obviously we'd love more time but I think if I was here much longer I'd be ready for us to get our own place and set up house for good! It's been wonderful getting to know Naphtali's family in a new and more intimate way. We've done touristy things and we've done normal every day things too. I've gotten comfy with driving down here, getting myself to the malls, having phone conversations and paying for things all by myself with out feeling like a complete retard. I know that sounds odd being I'm in a Spanish speaking nation and I grew up speaking Spanish, but let me tell you! Even the Chilenos agree that they eat their words. It's rather hard to follow a conversation when they go from word to word in one single breath! But I'm catching on to all the phrases, and in fact, I'm back to that place where I can think a little bit better in Spanish than in English...it's just easier to express myself I think.

It's been really great to see my hubby interact with his people. This is where his life was for 20 years and he has friends here that he's know that long! It's so cool to see him laugh with them and talk with them as if they'd never been apart. I've seen a more "wild" side of him, in a really good way. He's definitely more alive down here, I think I am too. We both know we were made for something more than the American Dream.
Last night Naphtali and I went an asado (a grill out) and watched a soccer game with a family he'd known since he was very young. The whole family was there, the grandparents, the kids, their kids, the maid, it was just like I remember from growing up. It just feels like this is where we are meant to be, investing in other people, participating in their families, making memories with people who hold such value in the families.

It's been an encouraging trip to say the least. Naphtali and I are going to the coast for 3 days to celebrate our 1 year anniversary...3 months later! But we knew this was when we would want to take the time to do that. I mean it does sound pretty cool to say we celebrated our 1 year anniversary on the coast of Chile! It'll be nice to have a couple days of solitude too!

Well, it's a late one as usual. We'd like to get up early and take advantage of a beautiful day after a full day of rain so I'm going to hit the hay.

Waiting for a Sunny Day

I've had really great days, really great ones since we've been here in Chile. It's been two weeks yesterday and we've gotten to see a lot of the City that my husband grew up in. But sadly, there have been events in the USA that have made me just ache to be back there to settle them.

My husband is a great man, I can't even begin to explain. But through this whole emotional ordeal for me, he has decided to take over and be the mediator. He's so great at speaking wisely and swiftly and with out adding in all these sentences of nonsense that I just can't seem to get myself to avoid.

I'm trying to get over it, so I'll leave you with a couple pictures that I've been taking to enhance my photography skills:

A portrait of my hubs, it took quite a while to get this shot...if only there were enough space to show you all the ones that lead up to this













A picture of a man playing chess in the Plaza de Armas downtown













Artichoke, 5 for $2.00













My two Marshall sisters playing Boche Ball