Boys in a Box

So Paul and I were cleaning out a closet upstairs today when I discovered a box of letters and mementos from various people.  Boys, mostly.  I had no idea I had kept them.  But since I did, let me share them with you.  Because it's sweet.  And Kate and Will were just married and my anniversary is in a few days and I'm feeling romantic and sentimental.

 Tony Dobson.

Our parents were friends when we lived in Wisconsin.

When I was age 2-4.

That's the last time I saw him.

But for some reason we wrote letters and sent pictures through my senior year of high school.

I had a huge crush on him and

so hoped to marry him one day.

On one of his envelopes I wrote,

"I love this envelope."

Then on his letter I had circled his closing, "Love, Tony."

Ha.  I wonder if he still has my letters.

He's married now.

He should really throw them out.

 Ted McCrummen.

My first kiss, I'll just tell you.

On the front steps of my house.

This is the rose corsage he gave me.

It looked better eighteen years ago.

Can it be eighteen years ago already?

He surfed and wanted to be a marine biologist.

I think.

I haven't seen him since 1994.

 Bret Taylor.

I was totally surprised to find these letters from Bret.

Sorry, Bret, but I have no recollection of corresponding through mail with you.

He was a college friend who was going to ask me to the formal Spring Banquet,

but guess who asked me first?

Mr. Love of My Life Paul.

We were not lost in love at this point though.

Maybe he was.

A bold freshman asking out a senior.

We had a lovely time.

Paul's mom has a framed picture from that night on her bookshelf.

Anyway, apparently Bret and I wrote the summer

I lived with Aunt Phyllis - 1998.

The summer Paul and I were beginning our romantic relationship through letters.

Phyllis used to prop up my letters from Paul against a vase of flowers on the dining table, waiting for me to find them.

I don't know how she gave me Bret's letters.

I don't remember getting them.

The last letter I have from Bret is dated October 10, 1998.

A month and 4 days before Paul and I became

"Paul and I."

Nice guy.

He's happily married.

To not me.

 David and Carly.

My dear younger siblings wrote to me in college.

I found a few letters from them.

Here's a birthday card when I turned 22.

David wrote, "Get your foot gooder!"

Carly said, "I hope your foot gets better because pain is painful.  He he."

I guess I had just had surgery.

Thanks for the love.

 My Mom.

Did you wear these hair clips in the 80s?

I remember my mom making these.

I loved how the ribbons dangled in my feathered hair.

These were the school colors of

San Mateo Christian Academy.

I went there in Kindergarten and first grade.

I prayed with Miss Brian, my kindergarten teacher,

to become a Christian.

The little Bible she gave me is also in this box.

 Bye bye boys.

So, I shared these letters and stories with Paul.

Then told him how lucky he was to have me.

Then I put the boys' letters in the recycle box

and the flowers in the trash.

 Paul Tyler.

This hat box

(as if I have a hat)

contains gushing words of affection from my betrothed.

We became a couple five weeks before I graduated college and headed to graduate school.

For a year he lived in So. Cal. and I lived eleven hours north.

We wrote letters.

Lots of letters.

I barely used email in 1999

and I'm so glad because now I have this collection

of precious words.

When we hit a rough spot in our marriage

I come to this box and remember the foundation of our relationship.

We were so cute.

"...and thereto I give thee my troth."

In the Ministry!

He's in the Ministry!  Aha!

Which means that the Ministry of SomethingImportant in Korea now has Jae-min's paperwork in front of them.  They hold the power of granting him an Emigration Permit - permission to leave Korea.

For Reuben, this was processed in six days.  I don't know how long it will take for Jae-min.

Once he gets his EP then he needs to have a physical and get a visa.

Then they call us!

And we come.

What a surprise.  It looks like we are on the early side of this 4-8 month wait.  We have waited two months so far.

We'll keep you posted!

Want to see his picture again?  I do...

Shot in the Leg

The boys got shots yesterday.  Six between them.  And I am exhausted.

Paul held a screaming, terrified Reuben down while I wiped his tears and circled the room.  The nurse said his legs were so tense and therefore would hurt for a few days.  He is.

Peter woke up with a 101 fever last night and moaned and tossed in our bed, on my pillow, for a couple hours.  Still has a fever today.  School canceled.  Which is a bummer because we are three days away from being done.

I am exhausted.  And my legs hurt as a result of my tenseness in reaction to Reuben's agony yesterday.

Seriously, I told him, "The Odles didn't cry when they got their shots.  Relax and it won't hurt as much.  And we'll go to McDonald's afterwards."

He heard none of it.  He was screaming too loudly.  "McDONALD'S, REUBEN.  WE'LL GO TO McDONALD'S!"  We never go to McDonald's.  Yet he loves it.  It wasn't working as I had hoped.

So today.  Peter requested watching Anne of Green Gables.  And now they're on to How to Train Your Dragon.

And severe storms are coming in this afternoon.  After my man leaves for a road trip.  Alone.  Without us.  We'll be in the basement.  He'll be at McGurk's with his college buddy.

Lucky.


Have fun, dear.  I love you.

Love that John Denver

So it's a good thing I didn't give into myself and buy those plane tickets I really wanted to buy to get myself to sunny, warm California.

Because, I just bought tickets to Colorado.  Which is also a nice place to visit.  Just minus the beach and the family and the friends.

We were invited to fly out to a company's head quarters to wrap up the application process of joining their organization.  This org will help us move to and thrive in T.

The boys are not required to attend this event, so that means an extended date for Paul and I.  Yahoo!

And whenever I go to Colorado, or talk about it, really, I think of John Denver and the great music he made.  So wish he was still alive.

Take me home, country roads, to the place I belong...

You fill up my senses like a night in the forest...

I'm leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again...

 Such a romantic song.

Click here to see the whole screen at YouTube.
Then go dance with the one you love.

So Close

These are the papers we've been waiting for...

The I-171H and his cousin the I-171.

Ahhhh!!

The American side is done!!!

My fingerprints were accepted!!!

And I was found to be free from whatever the FBI was looking for!!!  (and Paul too)

And the United States has approved us worthy to adopt Jae-min!!!

This is it.  We're almost done.

NOW...

it's all on the Korean government.

Which could still take two to six months.

But, let's just celebrate!

Oh, so many things could have gone wrong with the stacks of paperwork we submitted to the United States Immigration and Homeland Security people.

But nothing did!

Come on Korea!

These Days

Our new Amish alarm clock...

Every morning at 7:00am.

They are replacing the church's sidewalks and steps.

In an early morning noisy jackhammer fashion.

Reuben had a fabulous idea of popping corn,

melting chocolate and mixing them together.

 

It was a rare afternoon when it was just us at home.

 

 It turned into chocolate therapy for my sad fingerprints.

 Um, Monday.  I was upstairs cleaning out a closet

when I heard Paul yelling for me.

 I ran down the stairs and found him at the back door

leaning over with blood dripping off his head.

Reuben and a friend were playing King of the Castle in the treehouse and trying to keep Paul from coming up the trap door.  Reuben wacked him on the head with one of his favorite sticks.  (They are all his favorite stick.)

See the evidence?

 Thus causing a generous one inch gash

in the center of Paul's head.

I was very nurse-like and cleaned him and offered to call a nurse friend we know to get her opinion about stitches.

And then I went all weak and light-headed.

That's all I could give him.

I'm so lame once the emergency is stabilized.

Paul and Reuben made up.

Paul deemed himself King of the Compost Pile

and they tilled some golden compost into our garden plot.

Last night we spent a couple hours in the church basement

protecting ourselves from

'rain-wrapped tornadoes'

as the radio man described them.

I'm tired today.

The boys are currently throwing African spears at each other.

They've been making them as I've been writing here.

 They're peaceful African warriors.

For the most part.

Turkey Day

It's Pray for Turkey Day.

Four years ago today, three Christian workers were murdered in Turkey.

To remember them and to pray for this Muslim nation, the Christian world stops today...

...to pray.

This video shows a few Turkish pastors and the widow of one of the martyrs.



You can read more about it here.