Guatemala, here we come

Well, since i told you I would keep you posted about our trip, I am so happy and humbled to share this with you. Skyler and I have a payment due on March 1st of $200 each. Today the Lord provided that exact amount for both of us. Yep, our 1st payment taken care of. You know who you are, thank you so much. To know that you are excited with us means more to us than we can tell you. We love you all.
Today was Family Sunday Dinner, and yes, i missed church again. Next month, no excuses, cause Jean Ann is making the main course.But today, I made the fried chicken, which was a cinch compared to the rest of the meal, I mean the part I was supposed to make, but thought someone else was bringing. I was supposed to make the potatoes, which really, who wants fried chicken and gravy with no potatoes, you gotta have em, right? But leave it to me, I lost the menu and assignments again this time around, so got mixed up and thought I was supposed to do the corn on the cob, and Jean Ann was making the potatoes, when she was doing the corn, and I was potatoes. Well, we had used all the milk to make gravy,(shout out to Linda--great gravy), and when i ran to the store to get the good kind of instant potatoes, did I get milk???NO!!! So then I had to race to express lane for milk, and Jean Ann made the potatoes. Which were great too, couldn't tell they were instant at all, and only a spoonful left!
Todays whole menu was fantastic...Fried Chicken, forty eight pieces, with only about 10 left over; potatoes and gravy(see above) :); green beans--real from the garden, great flavor, could have eaten the whole pot; corn on the cob; salad my sister makes that I can't get enough of...and homemade macaroni and cheese that my mom makes, and no matter how closely i follow her recipe, i can't make it as good. Rolls, and red velvet cake for dessert, it doesn't get any better.
We missed Jon and Bec, Dennis and Carolyn, and Chuck, but you were all in our hearts.
So, another week begins, and I hope it is a great one for all...today has certainly been a great start to mine.

Who are the people in your neighborhood

So ever wonder who your neighbors really are? I do. We have nick-names for some of our neighbors. Scary guy who never wears a shirt lives a few doors down and on the opposite side of the street. In the ten years we have lived here, I've seen him outside with a shirt on twice. And he is not even great to look at. I mean, if you're never gonna wear a shirt, at least look good doing it. Then we have the overloaded lawn ornament family next door, who make it nearly impossible for skyler to sleep at Christmas time. Then we have the yearly renters, who live across and one over, the people only stay around for a year or so, and then off they go...lease up! But my favorite by far is dead ladies house, she wasn't really dead, we just noticed one day a few years ago that she hadn't come out of her house for a long time, car in the drive, no movement. So, we began to wonder if she was dead. Then, suddenly, there she was. Alive and well, but she never did tell us what she was doing in there. BUT NOW, she has moved and her house is a rental. AND I AM PRETTY SURE IT IS A SAFE HOUSE. No, i am not kidding. She sold it about 3 years ago, and ever since, people move in for a few weeks, or a month or so, and then gone, vanished into thin air. There one morning, gone by the afternoon, and never being out much the time they lived there. So, yup, it's a safe house. I mean, what better place to put one? No one else but an avid reader like me is gonna suspect a safe house in this crappy neighborhood.
(Well, okay, not crappy, persay, but it sure makes the sentence funnier) Now, this is not to say we don't have nice neighbors, either. They are very nice for the most part, except the ones in the safe house...they don't talk.

BABIES, BABIES AND MORE BABIES

I have the exciting opportunity to go on a missions trip to Guatemala in June. Our church is taking a group of high school and college kids to the Eagles Nest, an orphanage run by our missionaries, the Boggs. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love kids. Now, rest assured, I am not planning on having any more children of my own, but I love, love, love, everyone else's babies and kids. I am so excited to be able to go to an orphanage and love on so many children, and at the same time I am already wondering how I will leave them. My sister, who has visited an orphanage in the Philippines, says I will leave them, but they will always be in my heart.
I have never been on a missions trip, never been out of the country, and honestly, I am not really thrilled with the thought of the plane rides. But that is a small concern compared to being with my daughter, who also loves children, for around 10 days, with the only goal being to give ourselves away to these missionaries and children. We will also be doing wordless dramas in some schools, maybe going to a park to witness, teaching the wordless dramas to kids there, and maybe even light construction work...lots of fun, and having to get out of my comfort zone.
I have seen many of our friends go on missions trips before, and honestly, this is the first time I have felt like the Lord is telling me "I want you to go." Now i find myself saying "okay, I'll go, but how?" That's why we are posting this link to the website and online donation page. Maybe the Lord will lead you to give toward me or Skyler going. Maybe he is going to lead you to pray for us while we are gone. Maybe He is going to provide the funds in some way we have not even imagined yet. I am trusting in Him to provide, because I feel so strongly that He wants us to go.
So, I will keep you all "posted" on my blog about the progress, and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

To my best friend, on your birthday

38 Reasons I love being Hillenblogs Wife:

• the way you smile
• the smile that is just for me
• your laugh
• you are hardly ever in a bad mood
• you love me when I am in a bad mood
• you snuggle in your sleep
• your snores...really
• you let me put my ice cold feet on you
• you laugh when I snore(which I don't)
• you are a true servant...
• you like the fair
• you are a hard worker
• you let me read, all the time
  
• you are patient, usually
• you keep our secrets
• you pick out great cards...every time.
  
• you married me, even tho you didn't have too
• you eat food sometimes that you don't like, and still compliment the cook
• you let me get extra add-ins at Andy's
• you go grocery shopping with me
• you are an amazing kisser (sorry kids)
• you tell me I am beautiful, and make me believe you
• you like to take my picture
• you dream big
• you love the Lord, and our church
• your blue eyes
• perfect lips(that the kids got from you)
• your eyebrows
• your "man" hands
• you still want to sit with me in the chair-and-a-half
  
• you let me keep a water purifier on the faucett, even tho you can't taste a difference
  
• you love New York
• you never meet a stranger
• you hold me when I cry
• you look like Patrick Dempsey
  
• you are younger than me, but not by much
• you have loved me forever

Happy 38th Birthday, Mark, I love you. You truly are my dream come true, the one I didn't know I was looking for...but am so, so glad I found.

old habits die hard

So, obviously I am not any better of a blogger now than I was last time I blogged and said I'd try to do better. Way long time since my last blog.
A lot has happened in the past week and a couple days.
I had a muscle spasm on Monday. The most horrific pain I have ever felt...way beyond childbirth, which the Lord so graciously wipes from our minds so we can love the children who just caused us so much pain. At first I was convinced I was having a heart attack, so I looked up the symptoms while I dialed Mark and then hung up. Then I dialed again, and hung up. Then it still hurt so I called him for real. Went to urgent care, where they gave me a shot and some happy pills. I am now so much better, and I really hope that never happens again.
Tuesday, work. Wednesday, work...snow so no church. Thursday, oh, wondrous Thursday!!!
Oliver came home! The airport was packed, the tears were flowing, and he was so sweet, so pleasant, and we were all so happy to see him.
Friday, took Barrett to the Doctor to do a scoliosis screening, because he had noticed a curve in his side. Sure enough, he has it. For now, baseline x-rays, and a check in six months. No restrictions on sports, good news.
Saturday, Kent and Ethan spent the day and night here...they are quite a pair. Both so smart. Kent wrote a book about superheroes, Ethan helped, and they did these really cool wooden model kits. I'm not sure who enjoyed the models more, the boys or Barrett.
Sunday was church, you gotta love that Jerry Thorpe. Great message, and goes along with the Daniel bible study I am in. I am afraid we have gone from giving Satan too much credit and power to completely underestimating him.
Today was another day that God has shown his love and mercy for his children. Hayely Queen who is sky's bestest friend had a brain tumor removed today. She is doing so well, God has gone beyond even all our prayers. Keep praying for her...and her family. She means a lot to us at Hillenblog's home...we love her very much.
So, tomorrow work...going to see Hayely,
Wednesday, i gotta gig at KCBT in Kansas City...I think I am gonna end up driving up by myself, because Barrett has basketball tournaments, Mark is staying for those, and Skyler cannot miss fashion design again...and since rehearsal is at 5, I can't wait until after school to take off.
Well, that's it in a rather large nutshell...have a great week.