a few more days...

our days in the states are coming to an end.  we are flying out in a little more than 4 days....which seems weird...but it hasnt even hit me yet!  the bed is full of things to be packed...and we just moved out of the cabin and that stuff is in the garage.  we will wait to organize soon :)  

it has been a great summer with friends and family.  we have been blessed beyond we have imagined and prayed for, yet we always can have great expectations with God.  he knows our needs better than anyone, and that has proved itself over and over.  all of our needs have been provided for in one way or another...which is quite amazing because at the beginning of the summer we had few ideas of how we would get a car or make money.  

God has really been preparing us this summer for what is ahead for us in costa rica.  we have a couple ideas of where we might live or how to buy things etc...but we know God will provide because he has proven himself to be faithful.  we are very excited to this continued journey.  ever since we got together about a year ago, we both knew we would be involved in missions, and it is finally here.  even when i was a missionary in ecuador for 2 years, i "told" God i wasnt coming back to the mission field unless i was married....and here ya go :)  

this past year i have been enjoying looking into making homemade things.  i was introduced to it while i was in ecuador because we didnt have access to as many food items and pre-prepared items.  one thing i have continually made is peanut butter.  here is the finished product.

all you need is a small food processor (or any size you have)...well, actually, this is more of a chopper...but it works.  
then, you need some kind of oil.  i like peanut oil the best.  
next, the most important ingredient: peanuts.  you can buy shelled or unshelled peanuts.  it is faster to buy roasted peanuts as well.  all you do is put about 1 cup of peanuts in the food processor to get them chopped as fine as they can get.  add about 1 tbsp of oil to mix the peanuts until it becomes smoother...you can add more oil as needed.  depending on the way you mix, it might have a crunchier texture.  next, you can also add a sugar or honey to the mixture as well.  just mix until the texture is to your liking and put it in a jar.  yum.  it goes really well on banana bread :)
i dont know if i have mentioned this before, but jared has introduced me into a whole knew genre of games.  kind of like games with lots of strategy and complexity.  below, is one game i bought jared, thinking it would like playing these types of games more if i picked it out, called carcassonne.  i wont take time to explain it....but it has been enjoyable.  the other day, jared said we needed more complex games.  so, he got one and was very patient with me as he taught me the game step by step.  we eventually finished it (prob 5 hours) and i did enjoy it.  
it has been hard to say some good byes before we leave, but it has been encouraging as well because we have so much love and support.  thank you all.