"Be Prepared" and "Lately..."

I feel like I should start every one of my blogs with "Today we had an adventure," but that would get repetitive and boring, and since I'm teaching the kids about writing, I know that would be not entertaining to my audience. See, I'm learning just as much as I'm teaching! Despite the fact that I'm learning about good writing, I feel this entry wouldn't be starting right without those words. So...
Sunday we had an adventure. We got up and got ready to go on a hike with Brett. Preparation consisted of putting on clothes we didn't mind getting wet in, lots of bug spray, and climbed in a car with Brett Emerson, Mark Kennell, and Ryan Richardson. We drove a little out of town, climbed out of the car, and started hiking up a gentle slope of a mountain. The group reached some water, passed it, then turned back to follow the stream close on the bank. As we started on our new path through the corn field, we had a little mishap.

A few Wet Ones later (I come prepared!), we hiked back to the truck to doctor up Bethany's freshly-cut-on-a-corn-stalk foot. She had caught a stalk between some of her toes and sliced up one of her toes really well. I was super concerned about infection, because getting a cut on your foot is not good anywhere, but especially not here in Africa where we wear flip-flops and Chacos when we're not barefoot and it's humid, and muddy, during rainy season! When we got back to the truck, Brett pulled out his first aid kit and I doctored up Bethany's foot- because her foot needed doctoring and I needed busy hands!

Her toe is doing much better now- she has kept it clean and covered (when it needed to be) and open when it has been safe to. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, and we are thankful for that, and the speedy recovery is quite a blessing, too!!

The first part of this post was started on Sunday immediately after the incident. The rest of the post is from today- sorry I don't get things posted as often as I want to, but know I am stockpiling stories all day every day!

Now starts the blog entitled "Lately..."

I miss lots of people. According to my dream last night, I miss American Eagle, too! I woke up this morning laughing at myself because of a dream I had where I came home for the weekend and went to the mall and Starbucks and Jimmy White’s condo for a youth group event (which is funny, because he is a missionary here in Kara, too!). The next morning, I had to get back to the airport for my plane back, but then I couldn’t find my ticket and passport... it was amusing. Then, I woke up sweating, because it’s SO warm at night!!!

There’s my little piece of information about my night last night. Now I’d like to tell you about my days! On Thursday, my girl, Michal, went home with a fever and turned out to have malaria and an amoeba and an infection... she’s a little sick. So, it’s just been me and the boys for the past few days, and will continue to be until my beautiful little Michal recovers from her horrible sicknesses. I told the boys the other day that they cannot continue to use me as a crutch- “I’m a human being, not a chunk of wood, so you can’t continue to use me as such!” The primary words that exit my mouth are, “Read the instructions and YOU tell ME what you should do next.” It’s great... but really, I love teaching. It’s quite fun!! My goal is to have the basics of reading directions and following them, as well as basic spelling down before I let them graduate on to fifth grade. Those of you who know me know that I’m stubborn enough to reach this goal! However, I will most definitely be held up on my feet by our Wonderful Savior, so prayers would be welcome and appreciated.

I’ve loved reading the comments I’ve gotten- Facebook messages and blog comments make my heart soar. My life has taken a turn for the even-more-interesting-than-it-was-before with the way I experience life. I miss Harding a lot, and I miss my friends all over the world. Even today, Aidan wore his Haka shirt that he got from Andrew. And I'm trying to teach the boys to recognize the States and be able to name them on our "Markable Map" (brilliant teaching tool) and I keep thinking about who I know in each state.

Please know and understand I'm not unhappy- I love it here. I love the missionaries, I love the kids, and I love the way I learn so much about the simplest things every day here! For example, did you know that to make brown sugar, you just take normal sugar and add molasses? Maybe you did, but I sure didn't. I've learned that goats are herd animals and Peter Dexter would be much happier with a friend. I've learned that goats really don't like baths, even with 2-in-1 shampoo that smells like cherries. I've watched half of Kingdom of Heaven (we stopped at "intermission" of the director's cut to be continued at a later date). I've learned the difference between all of the blocky states in the Western US. I've re-learned how to write a business letter. And I've learned that I will never be finished learning.

For those of you who don't know, I love animals. Our house at times in the past has been quite the zoo. One constant in the Breuer Zoo has been Chewbacca, our little Pekingese-Yorkie mix who we got when I was in fifth grade from one of my classmates (Adam Thompson!). On Wednesday after team worship, I called my mother and discovered that Chewy was hit by a car that morning. That's not easy ever, but being across the world makes it that much harder. I also got some other news that night, of the personal nature, that made it a hard night. However, enter lesson two... it didn't make it a bad night. Bad events do not make bad nights, they make choices. So, I chose to look at the blessings in my life- we had our first successful ballet/tap class that afternoon, I downloaded chapel, the team loves me and I love them, there are beautiful people in my life here, I have so many opportunities to learn about life, and I have a loving Savior who will never forsake me.

Am I always happy? Do I always have a smile on my face? Am I always a ray of sunshine to those around me? No, unfortunately, not by a long-shot. But, I'm trying. Goodness, I'm trying. Please pray for continued strength as I become the woman of God He has called me to be.

I love you. I'm thinking of you.

This is a picture of Coke's marketing in Kara. This is a man putting up a sign at the bar near our house where we go to get sodas. The man who runs the bar speaks English, which was a cool discovery the first time we went there- we're making friends!!