"Je taime... un peu... beaucoup... passionnemente... pas du tout."

"It should get there by Friday," she said.

"Friday?" I asked.

"Yeah, I think so... I Fed-exed it," she replied.

"Well... what is it?" I asked again.

"I guess you'll just have to wait and see! And... see what shape it's in..." she laughed.

Little did I know...

I opened the box, and to my surprise (and delight) found heart-shaped rose petals, chocolate kisses, a real red rose (admittedly dead and molding... but beautiful nonetheless), and four numbered cards proclaiming my certain death if I didn't open them in order...

Inscribed in these cards were beautiful lyrics, verses, and sentiments that (had I not been in a roomful of people) almost caused an immediate overflow from the tear-duct system. However, I managed to tape my emotions together, and locked the happiness deep inside to pull out and examine every time I need a dose of mis hermanas...

Thank you, Tif... what a delightful box to receive!
I love mail, I love chocolate, I love roses, I love hand-written notes, and I love you... siempre.

The New Kid on the Block: EDUARDO!!!

Who also goes by the name of "Edi"... and sometimes "Cesar"... and sometimes "Lalo"... and sometimes "El bebe"... and sometimes... well, lots of different things. If this 14-month-old kid doesn't have an identity crisis by the time he's two, I will be surprised... ;)

"Happy and smiling" - 15% of the time...

"Crying and screaming" - 85% of the time...

"Adorable anyway" - 150% of the time... lol

Michael in "the red hat." I have a feeling this is going to become one of those items that years later we will look back at pictures and realize that every single person at CVE, at some point, (whether knowingly or completely unwittingly) made themselves available for a blackmail photo, and took a picture with this on... lol

So... this is what happens when you leave your freshly-purchased-exquisitely-wonderful bagels in an open sack in the back of your slightly-dirty-rusted-out-red-ish-pickup-truck, and return fifteen minutes later to discover that ravenous, domesticated beings have literally ripped into your slice of heaven.

No, not the kids... the campus cats.

(insert frustrated meow)

Blanca's birthday dinner:

I truly love this girl! Wearing a rainbow hoodie, hair falling down, cake covering her face... and one of the most beautiful smiles (and caring hearts) on the face of this earth...

"I Like Peanut Butter, Creamy Peanut Butter"

I love peanut butter.
Let me rephrase that... me encanta cacahuate (essentially, "I am fascinated/enchanted by peanut butter").
Peanut butter is pretty much the source of all happiness, joy, and fulfillment in my life.

Besides God (#1).
Maybe family, also (#2).
We can't forget coffee (#3).
Well... it's almost the source of all happiness, joy, and fulfillment in my life.
But anyway... back to peanut butter.

This soft, creamy, tub of goodness comes from many different companies... but I happen to prefer Peter Pan Peanut Butter... so much so that I purchased a small container from one of the mega-soul-eating-superstores that I loathe so much, but use because I am poor, it's convenient, and I have yet to search out smaller, quality stores in my new location that don't gobble up millions of dollars a day, trampling small, individually-owned businesses completely into the ground by selling everything from hardware to face powder and then some.

Don't worry... I berate myself enough over this.
Anyway... back to peanut butter.

So, I purchased this exquisite container of euphoria with its yellow, plastic top, and dainty Tinkerbelle adorning the side, and jauntily headed home, dreaming of a toasted blueberry bagel, layered with a thick spreading of peanut butter, accompanied by the hot, black taste of Arabic coffee.

Life was good.

The next morning I got to my office on campus, opened the sealed container, scooped out a large spoonful of peanut-buttery-goodness, and swallowed it down with gusto.

And that evening... I got very, very sick.
I won't go into the gory details... but it's the sickest I have been in YEARS.

Figuring I had a touch of flu (it was over in 36 hours, although my stomach muscles ached for three days), I let the incident pass from my mind, registering somewhere in my memory as "The January Sickness of '07... Cookie Tossing in the New Year."

And then yesterday... the phone rang:

"Hey, Steph! It's Mom & Grandma Mildred... you haven't called in three weeks... blah, blah, blah..."

"Yeah, I know, Mom... I've been buying peanut butter... blah, blah, blah..."

"Hey, did you know that Peter Pan Peanut Butter has salmonella??? Blah, blah, blah..."

(INTERRUPTING) "What???"

"Oh yeah... and Great Value brand, too... wasn't that it, Mom [Grandma Mildred]??? Blah, blah, blah..."

(INTERRUPTING YET AGAIN) "Hold on... I have some Peter Pan Peanut Butter... how do you guys know this?"

"Oh, they're having a huge recall... it's all over the news... with #2111 on the top... does yours say #2111 on the top??? You better check because you could die, and what a stupid way to die through eating peanut butter of all things, and... WAIT... did I send you peanut butter in that care package??? Did I??? Well... I... I can't believe it! How does that sound??? Me trying to kill my own daughter... oh dear... blah, blah, blah..."

"NO, Mom... I bought the Peter Pan stuff... you got me Skippy..."

"Oh, thank goodness... you better get rid of that other stuff right away..."

(INSERT LIGHT BULB CLICKING ON IN MY BRAIN)

"Hey! You know when I got really sick??? THAT was probably the reason... I ate the peanut butter that day!!!"

(INSERT MOM & GRANDMA MAKING SYMPATHETIC CLUCKING NOISES WITH THEIR TONGUES.)

"Well, darling, that's probably true... now, just go throw it away... blah, blah, blah..."

When I got to my office this morning, I glanced sadly at the jaunty, little poison-filled bottle of death housed in my Peter Pan Peanut Butter container... and I almost cried as I read the numbers 2111 on the top.

Life for me will never be the same... until I have salmonella-free Peter Pan Peanut Butter's soft, creamy goodness back in my diet. And who knows when that will happen if people are actually dying from it...

How unfair.
How piteously unbalanced.
For really... what is life without Peter Pan Peanut Butter???

Hearts, Tears, and Kidlets...

These past few days have felt like a Lisa Frank folder (thank you Amy for the comment and subsequent reminder of middle school days)... hearts, tears, vibrant colors with swirling patterns, and always, always... unicorns jumping over rainbows. Maybe it's just that our emotions make us receptive to these images...

This happens frequently to all of you too, doesn't it? ;)

Yaneli holding up her heart for Bill... the girls kept asking those of us in the kitchen to run back and get chocolates from the kitchen bodega (pantry) to fill the inside...

Servant heart, my foot... lol. Okay, okay... pun completely intended. But I had to "laugh" since I figured nobody else would when they read it... ;)

Nicole & Katie snuggled up on the couch during our fiesta on Feb. 14th...

VALENTINE'S NIGHT

Wow... what will eight girls do when they're eating lots of sugar, no boys are around, and it's Valentine's Day??? Well... most of that will have to remain a secret, but suffice it to say that our "party" was fun, and that I had no idea that candy hearts with sayings had the ability to be prophetic... lol. Everyone was pretty drained from the past week, so it was a lovely time to relax and have some fun with just the ladies. We eventually progressed to foot massages, and then dragged ourselves home to bed... literally. I believe everyone is coming to realize why parents hit the sack earlier... especially when you have 22 kids. Props to our mentors and Jenna once again... you guys are my heroes/heroines!

The banner we hung from the front gates before Jeff left early Wednesday morning. The brain-child of Jenna, the sheets read, "Goodbye Jeff... we love you!" And in the right-hand corner, "Shhhh... just go!" I think it brought a smile to his face on the way out... =)

The single staff after just finishing a meal from Momo's Taqueria. It's sort of a tradition (gracias DaBID) for whoever is leaving to buy Momo's for everyone else the night before they head out...

ADIOS, OTRA VEZ, NUESTRO AMIGO

We had a good night sitting around the table laughing in Jenna's kitchen, still ignoring the fact that a member of our family was going to head out the next morning. A few of us stayed up pretty late playing "Settlers of Catan," which Jeff managed to win with 12 points... he told us it was the first time he had ever won with that many points (Jenna and I later discussed how it probably wasn't his mad-Settlers-of-Catan-playing-skills... but probably his opponents inadequacy... lol).

However, it was a bittersweet goodbye in that we are all so very happy that Jeff is going where he feels God is calling... but we are going to miss him a ton. Jeff, gracias otra vez por todo, y ojala que tu puedes regresar bien pronto para visitar. Dios te bendiga, amigo... vamos a extranarte mucho, pero sabemos que Dios esta contigo en todo que vas a hacer...

Joe, Jenean (the newest member of our staff), and Gloria watch the sprinkler rain down on the newly planted garden...

The latest addition behind the kitchen. We also have all kinds of flowers, vegetables and a compost pile started...!

THE NEW GARDENER IS IN TOWN

Welcome Jenean Schambach!!! After being here only a week or so, Jenean has already gotten CVE underway with her garden behind the comedor (which we are betting we will have to protect from dogs, kids... okay, and mentors, too...!).

I love the fact that Jenean is here working... and I really feel that this is propelling CVE into a new era of agrarian living. Strawberries and peppers today... why not recycling tomorrow??? In fact, I feel that the rest of the staff is really coming around to ideas that circle around unity with the land, kindness to the flora (perhaps more than the fauna), and an overall desire to just be "environmentally friendly"... especially Joel. In reality, I think he maybe regrets his hasty tag of "tree-hugger" for me, and now wishes to join my environmentalist club. I promise to let him join this club that is full to bursting with one member (namely me), if he will let me take a picture of him clasping a tree's hand in friendship... we shall see.

I was very touched by the kindness of everyone in the staff meeting about these environmental tendencies of mine, and apologize profusely for any harm that came from the throwing of pens at people's heads. It really all comes down to these quotes:

"It's okay, Steph... some of my best friends like trees."

"No... it's okay, Bill... some of my best friends are trees."

hmph... carnivores... ;)

Timi and Andres playing "train"... which actually vacillated between "hangman" and "giddyup-horsie"!!!

Yaneli (I know... again... but this picture is too cute not to post) in her pajamas, modeling her new hair band she got for Valentine's Day, and the glasses of one of the work team members...

WE HAVE THE CUTEST KIDS

Okay, I may be a little biased... but don't you agree? I love these little people with all of my heart, and every day I just have to say thank you to the Lord for letting me know them. One of the brothers on the latest work team told me tonight, "You know, we go back home and get into our regular routine... but you down here are just giving of your time and love, and there's such a blessing in that." I don't want to disagree with that completely, because I do think it's true to an extent... but I feel that what we are learning and receiving is so much more than what we can ever possibly give. And one day we will realize (thanks to Denise for this wisdom) that God always had this planned so that we could certainly help spread His word to others, but maybe more importantly so that He could change our lives and our hearts to serve Him to an even greater degree... and we have our wonderful CVE kids, and this Magdalena community to thank for that.

Thank you all for your prayers and love, y Dios les bendiga!

February 14...

"A day to celebrate the unholy alliance between overpriced plant life and saturated fats."

You know, sometimes Hallmark comes up with some winners... lol ;)

p.s. Even though da-VID has yet to respond... the challenge is not over!

Meet da-VID...

red-haired, bucket-hog man

needs serious saving from

being tan desagradable

(subtitle in haiku form, translates "too obnoxious")

IMPORTANT OMISSION FROM LATEST NEWSLETTER

PLEASE READ FOR MORE INFORMATION

Yesterday, February 11, 2007, an important comment was posted to this blog which detailed the omission of a certain Mr. da-VID Sceggel from the recent pages of the January CVE Newsletter. This was, in fact, quite an erroneous error in that said Mr. Sceggel posed for a photo under the STRICT stipulations that said photo would appear in the January issue of the newsletter, with appropriate homage paid to his intelligence, wisdom, spiritual qualities (such as humbleness)... and, of course, good looks.

He was deceived... in more ways than one.

We do indeed regret the absence of a 4-6 page spread with Mr. Sceggel as the center focus, but must break it to said individual gently that "giving the people what they want"... may not involve just pictures and information about him. However, I am willing to put this to yet another "stupid vote/contest," in lieu of recent developments.

If said individual - Mr. da-VID Sceggel - will commit to starting a blog (from his infinite store of wisdom) for the information and entertainment-starved workers of Casa Vida y Esperanza... we promise to reciprocate with a free plane ticket down for the summer. This, of course, is dependent upon the quality of the blog, quantity of posts, and general enjoyment level while reading. And... if the enjoyment level is high enough... others here at CVE may be inspired to join the ranks of the blogging world. To quote one individual, "OUR blogs? Where's HIS blog?"

Ahem. Point taken and duly noted.

To the wider audience... where doth your opinion lie?

And to Mr. da-VID... will you accept our challenge?

Let the sparring begin...

Eclecticality or Randomocity... Whichever You Prefer

At this time I don't have one or two amazing stories to relate... I have six or seven. Hence, I have decided that this post shall be a sampling of the various pictures/story ideas I could have written a post about... but eventually decided nobody would want to read a twenty-page summary... except for maybe Mom... =)

The battle continues...

Despite tactics by Jenna to have the girls rip off Joel's arm bracelet... we still have two contestants! Who will win? Who will lose? I would like to have our dear readers place a vote for one of the two in the comments section...!!!

Proverbs 31???

I have nothing more to say...

This wonderful friend...

of the CVE family came down and delivered boxes of chocolate to all the single ladies... commenting that he figured the guys down here wouldn't do it... lol. Muchas gracias "Bash," and you are officially invited to the "fan club!"

P.S. (They are rather fabulous with the coffee... lol)

P.S.S...

(Perhaps the reason the guys down here won't give us chocolates... way, way, way too many side-effects...lol)

The original...

"BICYCLE REPAIRMAN"!!!! What think you, Dad???

Last night we had a slideshow...

for Jeff to commemorate his leaving... here, we have the "crown" for "King of the Cena (Dinner)" that Federico fashioned. The girls had a song they had written for him, and Amy & Gloria acted out the lyrics to the delight of the rest of our CVE family... good times!

Gabriel has this habit...

of shoving as much food as possible into his mouth and then sitting there staring at you like a little monkey. This is all good and hilarious until he gets tickled and food suddenly explodes out... gross.

All-Star in action...

a.k.a. Andres skateboarding. This little guy amazes me... whether it's skateboarding with the older boys, riding a "big-boy" bike, climbing up fences, trees, and buildings, or whatever else may strike his fancy... he does it like a pro... and not like a 3-year-old!!!

Carissa and I had a surprise visit...

in our house this morning... clowns! Matt and Meghan Ricketts took turns putting on Meghan's "clown outfit" that she had to wear to school...!

The weather has been warm and sunny around here lately, and the green grass is just starting to fill in... everyone is trying to spend lots of time outside in the sunshine! We have a work team coming this afternoon, so that will make this next week a busy one... but always a welcome fellowship time... =) Have a fabulous weekend, make sure you vote for who will win the "wristband standoff"... and don't forget that the commercialized love holiday is just around the corner...!

(Now, was that my personal opinion coming out?!?)

A FUNtastick Day...

Thursday was our "celebration that Jeff is leaving" day... oh, wait... was that what you said, Jenna??? =) In reality... quality time to spend with one of our "family members"...

Nine of us jumped into the 15-passenger white van and headed up for a day of fun in Tucson...

I think I'll call this... Joel & the Ladies. As you can see, he is thrilled... lol

There is probably a reason that "we don't get out much"... maybe it's just that "they don't LET us out much"... lol

We went to Sam's Club and Jeff discovered a recliner... much to our surprise, he didn't immediately cash out... =)

Everyone gazes on in horror at the VERY HIGH blood pressure readings... but we're pretty sure it was off a little, since we all had readings that told us we were either dead (without a pulse) or about to spontaneously combust...

Ready to begin our "playtime" at Funtasticks... there was a contest to see who could wear their wristbands the longest after we returned home... I would just like to say that the people still winning are the ones who DO NOT SHOWER... lol

There was some serious competition out on the go-kart racetrack... here we see one of the fierce competitors showing her game face...

I'm pretty sure the "no bumping" signs that were everywhere were only for "selective reading"... I wish I could post some of our videos from the races, but I'll just leave you with one quote: "That jerk just cut me off!!!" We have decided that perhaps it would be a bad idea to show the kids exactly how "enthusiastic" their mentors can be in go-karts... lol

The "time for fun" is apparently only at 3:00... =) Thankfully we had a little bit of sun during the afternoon to ward off the blanketed chill of rainy skies...

Getting ready to miniature golf... with an overwhelming display of green. I think Tif & Chel might be right... green is the AC travel color... lol

Laser tag was definitely a good time... when else can you feel totally jubilant about runnning and screaming toward someone while shooting them with a gun??? Mr. Rinkenberger (top right) was the overall winner... maybe because of his hours of pratice shooting people in video games??? I don't know... just a guess... =)

Thursday was a great day for the single staff to sit back, relax... and shoot each other with lasers... lol. As we drove into Tucson, our conversation consisted mostly of reading every single billboard and business sign... no really... EVERY single one... lol. It was a linguistic marvel to hear and participate in... maybe this is a natural result of beging "deprived" (a relative term) of billboards in English for long periods of time... or maybe it has something to do with the fact that we're just weird. I think I might support the latter option... ;)

It was fairly cold and a little rainy outside, so we basically had the Funtasticks grounds to ourselves for a few hours... and we were like a group of little kids let loose... go-karts, miniature golf, laser tag, bumper boats (which we vetoed since we didn't want hypothermia, oddly enough), and laughter... a pretty good send-off, I think... ;)

Muchas, muchas gracias to our "adults" who stayed behind and watched the kids while we had a day of fun!