On counting down...

10 days. 

Just typing that brings up a lot of emotions. 

My mind flies back to last night at family dinner. The house is alive with laughter, the wonderful smells of moms cooking and all things that say "We are a family."

I think to my newest nephew, holding him in my lap and him deciding "Auntie, your lips look good enough to taste" and so he does. My heart expands when I think of him, his wide blue eyes and amazing smile. 

I think to the smells and sights of home. Mom bustling around, dad puttering in the garage. Family stopping by to chat, grab a bite to eat, drop something off. I think about driving around, knowing where Im going (well..mostly), being able to read the street signs. Having my bestie within a few minutes drive, being able to linger over a cup of coffee and look into people eyes. 

I have loved having deep, meaningful, faith-challenging conversations. I love seeing people in their new roles as parents, at work or in their spiritual life. I have been blessed with incredible friendships and connections. I am grateful, so very grateful, for each moment I have had with these amazing people.

And now, as our time in Canada comes to an end, we are so eager for the next chapter to begin. Living away from our loved ones is hard, but Gods grace has always been enough to help us through that. 
We are so excited to see what is next, to live in one place for more than 3 months (Will my TCK heart love it?!) and be immersed in a different culture and language. 

There will be challenges, most certainly. 

But the rewards of living a life fully abandoned to the One who created the moon and stars, they are everlasting. 

And so, next week, we are off. First to Oregon for a week, then Davao City for 2 weeks, then Manila and, after a delightful overnight bus, we will reach our desitination in Tabuk, Kalinga!

(Just don't ask us how packing is going!)

New website!

Just a quick note to my thousands (ahem...more like 20) of readers. 

We have a new website! We would love for you to check it out, it has tons of info about our big move to the Philippines, they why and where and whens! 

www.andrewandedolbina.weebly.com

Enjoy! 

Jumping Around the World!

I keep telling myself that "I will blog today". But then the day passes and fills up with paperwork, planning, visiting, and living, and another day goes by with blogging silence. 

Im fine with that, since Im having a tough time putting into words how the past month has felt. 

So today, I thought I would do a fun post! 

I shall call it "Jumping around the world!". Which you already know, since you probably clicked on the post title to get here in the first place. Moving on. 

You might have noticed that I took a LOT of jumping pictures while travelling. Im not sure how that started, but it just seemed to happen. Thankfully I have a husband who is patient and great at taking jumping pictures. Sometime I was even able to pursued him to jump for a picture too! 

So here you go, some pictures and excerpt of jumps around the world! 

That time I jumped and this kid snuck in to join me, and I didn't see him and I punched him in the face accidentally. Oops. Luckily he laughed it off!

Ankor Wat, Cambodia. 

Rosh-Hanikra, Israel 

At the Lebanon Border. It isn't perfect but we couldn't chance a second attempt! We took this and ran! They "frown" at border crossing pictures.

Old City, Jerusalem.

Phang Nga, Thailand. 

Masada, Israel. It was SO hot, I couldnt muster up enough energy to jump a second time! 

Petra, Jordan. 

Malaysia. 

Petra, Jordan.

India Gate, New Delhi.

Taj Mahal, India! 

The Red Fort, India! 

Ayutthaya, Thailand. 

Chelsea, NYC.

Brooklyn Bridge, NYC.

Central Park, NYC.

Greece. 

Tel Aviv, Israel. 

Haifa, Israel. 

Mt Carmel, Israel. With some of the kids from the refugee centre! 

Akko, Israel

Phew, my knees hurt just looking at them all! I love them though, I think they are a fun way to capture special places!

Happy Anniversary!

3 years have passed already. 

How has it already been 3 years?! 

How has it only been 3 years! 

Andrew you have taught me so much about myself. 

You have shown me how to be better, to serve God more wholeheartedly, how to be more selfless and generous. 

We have grown and struggled with "you" and "me" and boundaries and walls, sin and joy. 

It has not been easy, but I feel as if we are in a new place now. As if we are more content to be one. 

I sink into you, you sink into me. 

We don't (always) fight it, we just are.

You surely didn't know what you were getting into, marrying me. But you are steadfast and loving, always praying for me and us. Your patience and strength give me strength. Your faith is beautiful and I love watching you step out more and more into Gods calling on your life. 

The past year was one of great adventures, many sights and much movement. I pray that the next one will find us sinking our roots more and more into each other. That we would learn, even more, that security doesn't come from a place or job or country or government. That Christ alone would be our security and that we would follow Him faithfully.

Happy Anniversary Andrew. 

You are my best friend, the best part of me and my favourite part of every day.  

Recently.

Sorry for the silence lately! 

We have been back in Canada for 2 weeks already. 

And a busy, amazing, sweet, chaotic 2 weeks it has been! 

My amazing niece sweetly decided to wait for me to get back to canada, before being born! She was born just 32 hours after we got off the plane! I was so honoured to attend the birth, which was intense and quick!

Rebecca Lynn was born in the caul at 6:20am weighing exactly 7lbs. Mom and baby are both doing beautifully! 

Squishy baby!

He is such a proud uncle! 

I got to re-meet my nephew and quasi-niece, who are both hilarious and gorgeous! 

Mr Cody enjoyed showing B her nose! So precious! 

AND I got to meet me amazing nephew, Declan. I love him. He is so squishy and cuddly!

And this little man? Well, I have been soaking him in. He is so smart, funny and cute! And this head tilt? Kills me! 

It has been an emotional couple of weeks. Jet-lag and culture shock has been making me pretty exhausted and a bit foggy, but we are so thrilled to be here during this time! 

And coming up this weekend? My baby brother is getting married! That certainly deserves its own blog post, so I will save the mushiness for that! 

Back in the great white north!

We are baaaaaaccccckkkkk!! 

Thats right, we are on canadian soil! 

It was 28 hours of travelling (plus some wait time) and over 52 hours with no sleep. 

Ill say that again.

52 hours with no sleep. 

Well, granted, I did pass out for a few minutes in a Chinese airport. I woke up in a panic when someone walked by and I thought they were stealing my passport. 

Arriving in Canada was so so sweet. I had been (almost) able to contain my excitement up until we got off the plane. Then, walking through that last stretch, to where my parents were waiting, I thought I was having a heart attack. Literally, I grabbed my chest, turned to Andrew and said "I think Im having a heart attack!" He told me Im fine and we kept going. 

We only told our parents when we were arriving, so it was quite the thrill to surprise people! I love their reactions and hugs! 

So here we are, me, bundled up, attempting to acclimatize my body. Andrew, overjoyed at the amount of food around him. 

We are so thankful to be back in this beautiful country, with our family and friends. Those fears that I was talking about? 

Well, they were just that. 

Fears. 

I know the culture shock will hit, I might weep in the pickle aisle (like a friend of mine did) but for now, life is extra sweet. God is so so good. 

Yerba mate around the world...

I started drinking yerba mate while I was in my mothers womb. 

At least, thats what Im told. 

I do have memories, sitting with my brother in our little chairs, in Paraguay. We would use lemon aid instead of water, passing the guampa back and forth. 

It was always a social thing. Someone would stop by for a visit and my parents, no matter what they were doing, would stop and prepare yerba. We would sit together, chatting about life, passing it around. To me it speaks of family, heritage, community and togetherness. I always loved how my parents made time for people, making them feel valued. Yerba mate is an extension of that. If you have spent any amount of time in my parents house, you have been offered to partake. Hopefully you accepted! 

Thankfully, I married a man who loves the horn. He starts every morning with mate (the hot version, terere is when we drink it cold) and reading his bible. 

I love it. 

We have shared mate in many countries across this beautiful world, and I thought I would share some of those memories with you. 

No matter where we are, mate always makes us feel at home.

Recently the kids here in Thailand have been drinking terere with us (well, once we are have drank enough that its weak! We do want them to sleep at night!) Andrew has been teaching them the "rules" and they love participating! They sit patiently and wait their turn. Its adorable. 

We enjoyed it in Jordan, especially in the evenings, on the rooftop! 

In Israel we shared the love with all we met. Our roommates loved it. We would prepare terere, then they would make arabic coffee! An awesome (jittery!) exchange! 

In India we drank it a lot. It was our connection to normalcy in a difficult season. We hooked our friends in Dehli and they have since requested that we send them their own guampa! 

In Halong Bay, Vietnam, it was the perfect way to wake up on the ship! The scenery wasn't too bad either! 

I love this picture. It captures Andrews travelling style so much. Relaxed, bible close-by, yerba in hand.  We enjoyed drinking away many hours on buses and trains! 

A trip to the beach is never complete without terere! 

In Phuket, we celebrated Andrews birthday on the beach, our faithful guampa by our side. 

There were many times when I (now) wish I would have captured moments of us drinking yerba. In Greece in our tiny rented apartment. Walking the streets of New York City. On the longboat in Laos, watching elephants pull logs.

 We brought 5 kilos with us and have been sent another 5 by our parents. 

10 kilos in 14 months. Awesome.

There were times when we were about to reach the end of a bag and we would just pray, "Please make it last another week!" and it would! 

It was awesome. 

Maybe it was God, maybe it was good portion control. Either way, we have immensely enjoyed drinking yerba around the world. It has started conversations, hydrated us, kept us sane, bonded us together, and made us feel "home" wherever we are. 

A friend once told me, while in Australia, "If I can drink tea, I am home". 

I laughed at the time, but now I couldn't agree more.