A Delicious Thanksgiving

I think of all the best blog entries while laying in bed late at night when I wish I were sleeping. The problem is, I forget what they were when I get up the following morning. I sometimes wonder if they really were good ideas for entries or if maybe my sleepy mind just thought they were. We will probably never know since I don't remember the ideas any better than I remember most of my dreams.

Thanksgiving went over without a hitch. My nontraditional feast was quite tasty, if I do say so myself! I made a rib roast, baked yams, mashed cheesy potatoes (actually, Brad made those), a big salad, sweet dinner rolls, a loaf of bread, spinach dip, and several pies (pumpkin, apple, pecan, etc.). For dinner I made BBQ shredded beef with more potatoes and salad. My sister, Mariah and Mom joined us for the holiday, which was wonderful, although they didn't get to stay for dinner (everyone was still too full from lunch and snacking on pie, spinach dip & bread). After our big, yummy lunch we took pictures, played Scattergories, and just hung out. It was a nice, relaxing day.

Our Thanksgiving lunch.

Madeleine with some flowers she "saved" from the thrift store bag that I was going to take to town the day before Thanksgiving. She wanted to show my mom and Mariah her "new" flowers and ended up getting a picture of herself taken with them.

By the way, Madeleine's new bangs were the result of a "self" done haircut. She got the idea in her head that she wanted bangs one day and gave herself some. She did a pretty good job... I just had to straighten a few sections, but it was nowhere near as bad as other haircuts I've had to fix! I also gave her a haircut in the back, but you can't tell in these photos of her.

My mom, me, and Elizabeth.

A sweet photo of Elizabeth and my mom.

My sister, Mariah and Robbie.

Madeleine wrapped up in the afghan her grandma gave her.

I'm going to truly miss being close enough to visit my family when we're in Nicaragua. The thought of how much I'll miss everyone can be overwhelming at times, so I keep shoving that thought out of the way for later. I figure there's no reason to grieve my future losses! And who knows, maybe it won't work out in Nicaragua or maybe my family will join me. I don't think I'll be able to talk my friends into moving close, although that would be great!

On the subject of Nicaragua, someone asked me recently what our departure date is. We don't actually have our plane tickets yet. We're waiting on Madeleine's passport. We're also in the process of getting Ethan's birth certificate, then we have to get his passport. Our departure date is going to depend on how long all of that takes. It may not be until February that we get to leave with how long things are taking!

Tickets

Well, there has been a change in plans. The children, Brad, and I will probably all fly out at once. I found a deal where we can fly from Missoula, MT to Las Vegas, NV for $39.99/per person. A couple of months ago I stumbled upon Spirit Airline where they have tickets going from Las Vegas to Managua, Nicaragua for about $200/per person (they still do). So, it looks like we can get to our destination for about $240 each. There's no doubt that adds up with needing 5 tickets, but it's a lot cheaper than if I were to buy tickets going from Missoula, MT to Managua, Nicaragua (right now each ticket is about $985). The thing I haven't looked into is how much luggage costs to take over. I've heard that's where they "get" you nowadays. I'm hoping it's not too expensive.

I looked up the weather prediction for this week in the area of Nicaragua that we're interested in and it's supposed to be in the upper 70's all week. That sounds so much nicer than what we're expected to get here this week - mainly 30's. That part of this adventure excites me. I sure am going to miss my friends and family a whole lot, though.

A Little Red

I felt like doing something different, so I had my hair dyed red. I never dyed my hair before, so this was certainly different for me. It's nothing damaging and will wash out within 6-8 weeks. It looks like Elizabeth has some natural red on her head!

It has been fun having something new to play with. For some reason my hair is now extra smooth, silky, and tangle free; so running a brush through it has been easier than ever. :)

More of Why Nicaragua

The reason we chose Nicaragua over any other Central or South American country is for two main reasons:

1. Nice year round climate. The temperatures are consistent year round, and are based on elevation, so there are a lot of micro climates - from hot and humid at low elevation to cool and rainy in the mountains, and everything in between. This makes it possible to grow crops year round.

2. Nicaragua is the poorest Central American country, which makes everything more affordable.

Off the top of my head the reason I wouldn't want to live in each of these Central American countries are as follows:

Mexico - Politically speaking, this country is dangerous.
Belize - Way too much rain here. They get more than double the amount of rain that Nicaragua has, which causes fungus growth issues for farmers. Also, Belize has more English speaking citizens, which cause prices to be higher than in Nicaragua.
Guatemala - Too much rain.
Honduras - An unstable government.
El Salvador - I may need to read more about El Salvador, because at the moment I can't think of any reason this wouldn't be a good place to live. I know some areas of El Salvador are too warm and get too much rain, but it looks like some areas have consistent 70's weather and a decent amount of rainfall (not too much, in other words).
Costa Rica - A touristy country - the prices are higher here than in Nicaragua.
Panama - WAY too much rain (about 130 inches a year).

We didn't look into South America before choosing Nicaragua, but with what knowledge that I do have of South America most of those countries have more seasons, which isn't as good for year round farming.

A Housekeeper and Garden

Getting a housekeeper in Nicaragua is completely affordable. For $2.50-$5/day you can have someone come in and do everything from dishes to laundry to scrubbing floors. She may even help with meals. Most likely I will continue to be my family's cook even though it would be affordable to hire someone to do the cooking as well. In Nicaragua it's uncommon to know how to cook as many dishes as I know how to cook. Also, since most homes don't even have a refrigerator, they're used to throwing everything into the dish they're making (to prevent spoilage). With as many things as I keep in my refrigerator, that could be a pretty disgusting dish!

I'm looking forward to having some of my time freed up from cleaning. I'll have more time to concentrate on cooking good meals and homeschooling my children. Oh, and lets not forget: more time for doing my arts and crafts. Maybe I'll actually have enough time to keep up with my scrapbooking!

I plan on taking some seed packets with us to use during our 6-month-long trip there and have a little garden. It's hard to find lettuce in Nicaragua and when you do you don't know what kind of water it was grown with, so I'll be growing my own salad stuff. Since we're not used to certain things down there that most Nicas are used to, we have to be more careful not to get stomach ailments. Until my lettuce grows, I know I'll be missing my salads! Cabbage is basically the replacement for lettuce down there and I've never been as fond of cabbage as I am of lettuce.