We made it!

We arrived safely in Kazakhstan and are adjusting pretty well to the time difference. Some of our things are arriving today and I'm excited to start getting settled in. The weather has been good, mild and a little rainy. They tell us that rain is odd during the summer and we should be in the 90's right now. I'll share more pictures once I have all our new bedding washed and the rooms put together.

This is the panoramic view of the morning sky from the boys' room, living room and office.

This is the view from our kitchen and master bedroom.

Nikolas is ready to get off the plane.

Joshua is ready to land.

Good morning from above the clouds, just before we landed.

24 in 24

This is a list of goals that I would like to complete in the next twenty-four months. This will be the two years that we are in Kazakhstan.

1. Crochet a blanket.
2. Finish my associate's degree.
3. Finishing reading through the Bible (I'm using the ESV Chronological Reading Plan in YouVersion).
4. Learn to make jam or jelly.
5. Teach myself to can jam or jelly.
6. Perfect my snow/ice driving skills.
7. Make an exercise goal for six weeks and stick to it. 
8. Speak some Russian and do it confidently. 
9. Visit Israel.
10. Prepare a traditional Kazakh meal. 
11. Use Motivated Moms and keep up on housekeeping. {affiliate}
12. Customize blog (background, header, button, etc).
13. Art journal once a week for six weeks. 
14. Paint once a week for six weeks.
15. Do six DIY projects from Pinterest {from here or here}.
16. Try six new recipes from Pinterest {like these}.
17. Master (not like the Cake Boss or anything) cake-decorating.
18. Use a meal plan system for six weeks and like it. 
19. Build my Scentsy business.
20. Complete 30 Days to Becoming a Woman of Prayer.
21. Pray for Jason for thirty days.
22. Pray for Joshua for thirty days.
23. Pray for Nikolas for thirty days.
24. Pray for adoption for thirty days.

{For affiliate disclosure policy please scroll to the bottom of my blog.}

Friday Foodie: Chili Max

I may have missed a Friday. I am a little busy with this international move... I'm trying to keep up.
I have made chili-mac before but I made this one a little different. We love the Bush's chili starter but it is hard to find. The Bush's is the seasoning, beans and sauce (easy to make if you can't find the Bush's). When you make chili with it you just add meat and tomatoes. With this recipe I just skipped the tomatoes because 1) I didn't have any, and 2) the boys don't really like them. I also stopped using Kraft Mac n Cheese because it is pure junk food [that is another post for another day]. And I named it Chili Max because that is what Joshua calls it. Love that kid! This is easy and kid friendly. It made enough for four of us to be full with three good lunches left over. This would be good with hot dogs (nitrate free!) or some steamed veggies, too.

• 2 Boxes Mac n Cheese (I used Back to Nature but Annie's is good, too or even better from scratch!)
• 1/3 C Milk 
• Butter (whatever the mac n cheese calls for, you can skip it or half it like I do)
• 1 lb ground meat (I used lean ground turkey)
• Shredded or chunked cheese (I use Colby-Jack or cheddar)
• 1 can of Bush's Chili Starter (read note above for info on this)

Brown meat in skillet. Prepare mac n cheese as directed. Add chili starter straight from can to the mac n cheese. Add extra cheese and cooked meat. Mix well. I also top with shredded cheese. See, I told you it was easy!

I was stuck in a rut...

Have you ever felt stuck? There are lots of ways that you can feel stuck.

• In a relationship, with a friend or family member, or a significant other.
• In a job or career, or on unemployment, or in college.
• In a rut... Doing the same mundane thing over and over.
• In your finances. Can't get ahead or pay off those debts. 
• In your faith-life. In your prayer-life. In your fellowship. 
• In all of the above.

I was attending a community college and I was growing more and more frustrated with the education that I was receiving. Each class began teaching the opposite of what I believed. Anthropology, world history, physics, even art history. I have a Biblical worldview. I believe that God created the world, everything around it, and on it. Every class that I found myself in taught the opposite. There was an itching or maybe it was an aching inside me every time I started a new class and I read "big bang" or "evolution" or "evolved". I don't know how, I don't know why, but I do know that God made it all. I have faith and each of these classes exhausted me from day one because I was always on the defense. Well, I finally made it through 33 units and decided to transfer. After feeling stuck for over a year. Every class would make me question why I was going to school and why was I wasting my time learning all this that I didn't believe, why was I praying that I'd pass these classes that didn't align with my beliefs? Why am I stuck? I took this last term off because I wanted to study Russian (which didn't really happen) but instead I realized that God was pointing me in a different direction. God was reaching out his hand to pull me out of rut that I was stuck in. God rescued me from being stuck in the same battle being fought over and over again. He led me to a different university, a different course of study, refreshing faculty and, best of all, courses that align with my beliefs. He even took care of the costs and all the small details. I know where God wants me and I know that He only showed me after I asked Him to! 

Are you stuck? Wherever it might be... Ask God to help you out? No matter how trivial or extreme you may think it is. God loves you and doesn't want you to be stuck. I recommend reading Hebrews 11 and Jeremiah 29.

God had planned something better for us 

so that only together with us would they be made perfect. 

Hebrews 11:40

Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them," declares the LORD. This is what the LORD says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, 

I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then 

you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD, 

"and will bring you back from captivity. 

I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "

and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile." 

Jeremiah 29:7-14

I will be attending Liberty University Online starting in August. Say a quick prayer for me, would ya? This is going to be a challenge but I know it will be worth it. God led me to it, He'll get me through it.

Third Culture Kids (and perhaps their parents, too)

This was a good post that another family abroad posted on Facebook. I had to share it because it is so true!

Click on the picture to read the article.