What a difference an idea can make!

Looking at this picture one notices the lovely white home with a blue door... but immediately realize that it is a recycled shipping unit like the one pictured next to it! I recently saw these pictures and read about an idea is an amazing idea with tremendous social implications worldwide! This company is thinking 'outside the box' about living inside a box! Below is pictured the basic interior of these amazing homes.


While living here in Mexico my family has been touched by these amazing people that live happy lives in impoverished circumstances. We have done small service projects to help out these families or single mothers with children; yet this idea is a paradigm shifting, life changing possibility! This company wants to take the old, used, metal storage crates and recycle them to create homes for those who are living in muddy, bug infested, rotting shacks. This ingenuity could quite possibly create homes for millions of homeless people!

Visit www.pfnc.net to learn more about this ingenious company! I hope that their idea will inspire you! If you are able to donate please do... and if nothing else sign up to learn how these homes can impact millions of people. What a difference an idea can make!

Giving Thanks

I realize that I am sharing these thoughts a couple of months before the official day of "Thanksgiving" but this morning I have been thinking of some of the more mundane things that I am grateful for.

1. Dishwashers - for my first three months here, in Mexico, I did not have a dishwasher although I DID have wrinkled, peeling skin on my hands, two less hours a day to do other things and lots of bubbles!
2. Medical Advice in your own language - Enough said!
3. Monitored Security Systems - With all that is going on in Mexico at the moment I wish I had BRINKS watching my house when I'm not there.
4. Bicycles - Our kids really miss their bicycles! It will be nice to get home and be able to buy some... they are about $170 USD+ here!
5. Crisco or Vegetable Shortening - They don't have that here - a friend just did tell me about it in an 'American' store but the price was over $15 USD for one tub!
6. LDS Bible References - No, Spanish Bibles DO NOT have our cross references. (I hear the church is translating and working on it though.)
7. Target - Yes, Target or any other store that has reasonably priced, cute clothes. I have not bought any clothes for our family here in over a year! (We do our shopping only at Christmas and our quick, summer trips back!)
8. Casual Conversation - To just 'talk' to other mothers or friends requires so much WORK when you are translating everything! (Although, now it is much easier than it was!)
9. Family - We miss you all!
10. Right to Bear Arms - I so wish we could have a gun in the house down here... in fact, when I come home Rey, Michael, David and Jimmy - will you teach me to shoot? Then I can give Angelina Jolie a run for her money! Seriously, I wouldn't mind knowing that I can protect my beautiful children in any given situation. They do make cute, designer guns, right?

Those are the things I am grateful for that I miss having. There is so much in our lives that we take for granted and I am learning first hand what we really need and what constitutes wants! This experience has helped me see how happy people truly are when they have little more than family and friends. It has given me a new appreciation for the tremendous blessings I took for granted everyday.

Take a break today and kiss your dishwasher and your family!

A Gal with Gumption...

Gumption: –noun Informal. 1. initiative; aggressiveness; resourcefulness: With her gumption she'll make a success of herself. 2. courage; spunk; guts: It takes gumption to quit a high-paying job. 3. common sense; shrewdness.

Sarah Palin seems to be a principled woman who is taking the spotlight and the nation by storm! She is articulate, beautiful and brave. She is standing as role model for women everywhere and I LOVE that she is defending her decisions regarding motherhood and pro-life! She is truly giving back to women (in a public way) the choices the feminists pulled away... the innate choice to CHOOSE to be a mother!

Many in today's society look down on the choice to be a mother because it is a 'waste' of talent, resources, time blah blah blah... in fact, I have even been personally asked, "Why did you bother going to college for your degree when all you do is stay home and waste it?" YES, I was actually asked that question!

My answer is - I am here, as a Mother, because that is what I WANT to be. I could be a great many things but foremostly I will be a wife and mother! If women truly have the right to choose anything they want to be then the choice to be a wife and mother is not only defendable but commendable! In this day and age when the world is an open door of opportunity I personally applaud those who choose Motherhood first and truly make a difference!

I am grateful that such stellar, female role models are on the national stage at this time and they have put Motherhood first and then they have fulfilled their roles in the community!

I applaud Sarah Palin and hope we will see more of these women speaking up and coming forth to support the idea of Family First even as they fulfill community roles!

It must be added that I do earnestly hope that her morals, values and principles are as solid in her personal life as they appear to be in her public life. I hope the best for this VP candidate and I hope that those women who are looking to her as a role model will find that their confidence in her is well founded.

¡Bautismo en Mexico!

We celebrated our daughter's important decision to be baptized at the end of August! She chose to have her service in Spanish and her Dad learned the necessary words to perform the ordinance in another language! What a wonderful experience it was - she invited many of her school friends and their families and she enjoyed the support of her grandparents (Grammie & Gramps Smith) being here as well!

The talks were given in both Spanish and English by her parents (who were nervous - but made it through the bilingual talks) and our little Ballard Bunch sang a musical number in English.

Overall, the baptismal ordinance was the same... but the service was unique due to the language differences! It was a spiritual and memorable experience! We are so proud of our daughter's decision!

Afterward she received some special gifts including her first set of scriptures and her first journal with all of the testimonies of her parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins that were sent just for her special occasion!

She is a special, young lady and we are grateful to have the privelege to have her as a part of our family!

"Bitten"

I have not blogged for a while... but, to be honest, I have not cooked, cleaned, remembered to do anything useful or been of use to any of my family members for the 4 weeks before my parents visited... and "Why?", you ask... because I have been 'bitten' by the "Twilight" Series books by BYU graduate Stephenie Meyer!

A family recently moved here from America and they just happened to have the first three books in the "Twilight" series. So, I casually borrowed the first one on Friday - Saturday was busy and I didn't get to open it... but, it was a story about vampires so really, I wondered how good it could be? Then, after a full Saturday I opened the book and read from 8pm to 3am Sunday morning! HOLY COW! I found myself in love, enthralled and enjoying the story! After church Sunday I read the entire book, AGAIN! (Seriously, my husband thought I was a bit insane; he didn't get a 'real' dinner on Sunday!) Then, on Monday I reread my favorite parts in between housework, appts., etc.

Yes, I was officially hooked! I read "New Moon" and "Eclipse" on our family trip to San Antonio (twice each) and then finished "Breaking Dawn" for the 3rd time the other day! I have thoroughly enjoyed the books and look forward to seeing the 'Twilight' movie it comes out!

In an interview with one of the actor's portraying a member of the Cullen family on the film set it was stated, "The message is clear, you can choose morality or death!" I love that this is an interpersonal story on love and what it truly can be like... plus, I love the fact that the main female character longs for eternity with her true love! It makes me grateful that I truly have, "FOREVER"!

We Wish You Were Here!

We are enjoying time with my parents who are down visiting from the Boston, Massachusetts area. We will update the blog when we have some time! We miss you all and wish you were here!

Tip of the Day!

It was this past Sunday afternoon and I was directing a two ward (church congregation) choir; we have been preparing for a new building dedication in September. Their were many wonderful church members at there including the Bishop of our ward.

We practice many of the new songs sitting and then I have to ask everyone to stand - well, the word for 'everyone stand' is 'pararse' - I had made numerous mistakes over the past two months trying to say this word I would say 'pasarse' (everyone pass) or 'pusarse' (doesn't mean a thing)... and THEN, I got it! Finally, I said "Parase, por favor." I was so excited and the choir was cheering (I have seriously slaughtered their language, obviously) and so jokingly I said, "Finalamente, Soy caliente!" which I thought meant "Finally I got it, I'm hot." Well, they ALL just started laughing HYSTERICALLY and wagging their fingers at me and some of the men had incredulous looks on their faces... NOT GOOD! Noone would tell me what I said... just that it wasn't too good - which I could obviously gather from the look on the men's faces and the women laughing and wagging their fingers at me...

So, that brings me to my Spanish class yesterday and I was explaining the entire situation to my Spanish instructor. She just laughed and laughed and then explained that "Soy caliente" means "I am hot" but in an extremely passionate sense! So, my bishop probably got a real kick out of that one! We'll see just how long I stay in the Relief Soceity Presidency!

So, the Tip of the Day is: Unless you are speaking to your spouse, don't say "Soy Caliente"!