The Great Floreen Roadtrips! Part 5

Our last day and a half in Lynden, and more opportunities to connect with friends! These pictures actually comprise the end of Day 7 and all of Day 8 – Canada and back.

Road Trip 1 Day 7-8 1
Justin and Brandi Bailey met us for coffee Tuesday afternoon. We talked philosophy of ministry and were very encouraged by many of the things they’re thinking through. Thanks for taking the time to hang out Justin and Brandi!

Road Trip 1 Day 7-8 2
That evening we had dinner with the Jacobsen family. The Jacobsens and Floreens go way back, so it was fun to catch up with them and get to know the kids better. Deb gave each of us journals with instructions to record God’s faithfulness to us in the coming years. Thanks Deb – we couldn’t think of a better gift or encouragement!

Road Trip 1 Day 7-8 3
Wednesday morning was just beautiful, so we stopped to take some pictures on the way to Canada.

Road Trip 1 Day 7-8 4
This is my little camera’s interpretation of what I’m sure will be a fabulous photo from Matt’s camera.

Road Trip 1 Day 7-8 5
You know, Canada looks awfully similar to the USA. This is our one picture in Canada. We went up for two reasons: 1) to get a stamp in our passports so that our international insurance will be activated, and 2) to eat lunch at WhiteSpot. The passport was easy, and lunch was delicious! Last time Matt was there – quite a while ago – he got the kids’ meal, which comes in a pirate ship. We went the adult route with our menu selections, but we did look longingly at a pirate ship that passed our table…

Road Trip 1 Day 7-8 6
On the way back from Canada we stopped to visit John and Jeannie Bargen at Cedar Springs. They have a beautiful log home that they build themselves, and they run a retreat center at Cedar Springs. Their very evident love for us and their testimonies to God’s faithfulness and goodness to them were truly encouraging to our hearts! Thank you for your kind hospitality John and Jeannie!

Road Trip 1 Day 7-8 7
We took a few minutes to look around Cedar Springs while we were there. It was beautiful in the winter, but I imagine it would be absolutely stunning in the spring and summer!

Road Trip 1 Day 7-8 8
I found a cute boy at Cedar Springs, so I took a picture with him! Matt told me that if we had lived in the Lynden area, Cedar Springs is likely where he would have proposed to me. So he asked me to marry him while we were there, and I said Yes! =)

Road Trip 1 Day 7-8 9
Continuing on our way back to Lynden, we saw more of the beautiful countryside. There are lots of farms in the area – mostly cows, or evidence that corn was grown there.

Road Trip 1 Day 7-8 10
Find the Matt. Ah yes, more picture opportunities!

Road Trip 1 Day 7-8 11
We had the wonderful opportunity to spend time with the Cummins family over dinner. Bill discipled Matt while he was growing up and learning to make decisions, so has made a significant impact on Matt’s life. And a number of people have said they’d like to come visit us in Malawi, but the Cummins family is one of those that I really think just might do it! (And we would LOVE that!) Bill, Michelle, and Stephen all had to run after dinner, so we only got a pic of Adria, Ashley, and Aiden. We’re looking forward to seeing them in Africa to get a picture of the whole family.

We’re back on the road now! We left Lynden this morning on our way to Seattle for lunch and dinner plans, and then on to Portland to spend the night with friends. More to come soon!

The Great Floreen Roadtrips! Part 4

We haven’t finished day 7 yet, but I have so many pictures to post that I need to do it now – because it’s SNOWING!!! We’ve continued to meet with lots of people here in Lynden and have been so blessed by new and old friends here. Take a look!

Road Trip 1 Day 6-71
This picture is in honor of Todd and Colleen Likkel. We had forgotten our camera battery charger in California, and when our camera finally went the way of the uncharged, the Likkels loaned us their camera until Monday when we could get to their store – RadioShack – to buy a new charger. Thanks Todd and Colleen! We really appreciate your practical and timely ministry to us!

Road Trip 1 Day 6-72
Mark and Catherine Nonhoff have been our hosts here in Lynden. They are a fabulous couple whom we have loved over the years and are now very much family to us. Our schedule has filled up so quickly here that we had to book a lunch with them in order to get some extended quality time with them! We are so blessed by their friendship and love to us, and encouraged by their faith and their testimony of God’s faithfulness. Thanks so much Mark and Catherine!

Road Trip 1 Day 6-73
On the way back from lunch, we stopped at Lynden’s little town park. So cute!

Road Trip 1 Day 6-74
In between hanging out with people, we took a couple hours on Monday to write some notes, catch up on email (kind of…), and Matt was able to file all his sales taxes for the photography business. Yay!

Two missing photos here… and I told you I would do better. =( We had a wonderful evening with the Stuart family, talking missions, marriage proposals, cultural adjustment, and good stories. We were very encouraged by them, and our hearts were warmed by laughter and fellowship.

The second missing photo is one that everyone present is probably ok with having missed. Matt had a chance to get together with a bunch of guys who have a small group meeting at Starbucks at 5:30 in the morning. That’s a little early for a photo. But Matt had a great time of fellowship with a group of guys he’d grown up with, getting to hear about their lives now and how they can encourage one another.

Road Trip 1 Day 6-75
And then it snowed! That’s our car right behind us – it kind of blends into the rest of the white.

Road Trip 1 Day 6-76
Matt cleaned the snow off the windows so that we could drive, using the southern California version of a scraper – a squeegee.

Road Trip 1 Day 6-7 1
Downtown Lynden covered in snow and cloud-cover.

Road Trip 1 Day 6-7 2
Ah, that’s a better picture of the windmill!

Road Trip 1 Day 6-79
Loving the snow!

Road Trip 1 Day 6-710
We took a quick drive out to Berthusen Park to see the snow, and the drive itself was amazing!

Road Trip 1 Day 6-711
It’s been about 5 years since I’ve seen snow fall. It’s beautiful!

Road Trip 1 Day 6-712
Yay! Still loving the snow!

Road Trip 1 Day 6-713
We know who our most faithful blog readers are – this goes out to both of you! =)

Road Trip 1 Day 6-714
The real photographer got ahold of the camera and we got some extra-beautiful snow pictures!

Road Trip 1 Day 6-715
After our park and snow adventure, we had the opportunity to meet Delaine and Emily Bailey for coffee/tea and some quality time with them. They hadn’t been able to make it to the presentation on Sunday evening, so we were able to share with them about Malawi and some of the things we’re thinking through about ministry and plans. It was a great time of stories, sharing, and encouragement. Thanks for taking the time to encourage and spur us on Baileys!

Road Trip 1 Day 6-7 3
When we got back to the car, it had started snowing heavier. There’s a quiet, heavy sensation to thick snow – so peaceful and so fun!

Road Trip 1 Day 6-717
Matt started his day at Starbucks with the guys, and we find ourselves back here now, waiting for another friend to show up.

We’re getting together with more friends this evening, and then tomorrow we’re off to Canada. Stay tuned!

The Great Floreen Roadtrips! Part 3

And the Roadtrip continues! Matt gave the grand tour of Lynden (which Rachel loves!), and we had a chance to see more friends and then share the ministry in Malawi with the church Matt grew up in, Grace Baptist Fellowship in Lynden.

Road Trip 1 Day 4-5 1
Downtown Lynden. Not the best angle to take a picture of a windmill, but trust me, it’s an impressive windmill!

Road Trip 1 Day 4-5 2
The house on Front Street. Fond memories of falling out of trees, secret window signals with a friend down the street… all kinds of good memories here. =)

Road Trip 1 Day 4-5 3
The house on Main Street. Well, the play house on Main Street. The real house is there too, but this is an awesome play/tree house. The look on Matt’s face says it all – it’s a very Calvin and Hobbes face… so innocent and yet so mischievous!

Road Trip 1 Day 4-5 4
Harv! Rachel finally got to meet the friends. Harv took a break from homework to come and hang out with us for a while.

Road Trip 1 Day 4-5 5
And then we had the wonderful opportunity to have dinner with Tim and Melissa Tabert. It was so fun to hear the guys catch up on the years and to meet their beautiful daughter Bethany. Thanks for a great evening Taberts!

Road Trip 1 Day 4-5 6
Sunday morning and we spoke in the Jr/Sr High Sunday School class. Suffice it to say that a presentation on Malawi that is given to 12-18 year olds does highlight a few more reptiles, bugs, and edible mice…

Road Trip 1 Day 4-5 7
After church Harv was our chauffeur and tour guide as we went to see a couple more houses the Floreens lived in, and met up with some friends for lunch.

Road Trip 1 Day 4-5 8
The cool kids picture. Though entirely unintentional, this is probably something like what Matt and Andrew would have posed if they were trying to look casually cool. And looking casually cool is a speciality for Matt, Andrew, and Tim – just ask to see their Jones Soda pic.

Road Trip 1 Day 4-5 9
The cast of characters – Matt, Andrew, Tim, and Harv. With Rachel and Melissa, just for fun. Andrew drove all the way from Ellensburg to see us – thanks Andrew, it was so good to see you. And we missed you Kelsee!

Road Trip 1 Day 4-5 10
Andrew’s family used to own the restaurant where we had lunch. At the time it was called Dunny’s, but now it’s a Mexican restaurant, which Andrew dubbed “Dunny’s Del Mexico.” There was a suggestion that someone put a sombrero on the chicken now.

Road Trip 1 Day 4-5 11
On Sunday evening we had the opportunity to share the ministry in Malawi with about 80 people at Grace Baptist Fellowship. We were so blessed and encouraged by these people, and were so grateful to share with them about Malawi and what our plans are to be involved there. The room was full of people who love the church and who joined in our excitement for what the Lord is doing in Africa!

Road Trip 1 Day 4-5 12
Special guests for the evening were Rachel’s Uncle Don and Aunt Joan who drove over from Birch Bay to join us. We got to spend a little time with them before the meeting, and it was so great to catch up with them! Thanks for coming Don and Joan – it was a huge encouragement and blessing to us!

After the evening meeting, we headed over to a dessert gathering with a group of friends, some of whom hadn’t been able to make it to the meeting. We enjoyed the time so much that I forgot to take a picture! I’ll try to do better… =)

We have meals with a number of people in the next couple days, and then a trip to Canada to have our passports stamped to activate our international insurance. In the meantime, we might have snow! It’s 24 degrees today, and the southern Californians are cold but loving it! More to come soon!

The Great Floreen Roadtrips! Part 2

Day Three of the Roadtrip! After spending the night in Portland, we headed up through Seattle to Lynden, WA, almost on the Canadian boarder. For a couple of southern Californians, the scenery and weather was so refreshing!

Roadtrip 1 Day 3 1
969.6 miles: Fairfield Inn at the Portland Airport, the beginning of Day 3.

Roadtrip 1 Day 3 2
Somewhere around 975 miles: Mt Hood!

Roadtrip 1 Day 3 3
Somewhere around 1000 miles: look at all the trees!

Roadtrip 1 Day 3 4
1112.1 miles: Lunch with Austin and Heather at their apartment in Tacoma, WA. Heather and Rachel worked together at the college, and Matt did photography for their wedding about 5 months ago. It was so great to catch up with them!

Roadtrip 1 Day 3 5
1117.3 miles: stop for a fill-up at the Port of Tacoma

Roadtrip 1 Day 3 6
1147.5 miles: The father of a good friend of ours – Sarah DeWolfe – is in the VA hospital in Seattle, so we stopped by to say Hi. He had JUST left for an appointment though, and the nurse said it would be a while before he came back. So we missed him. =(

Roadtrip 1 Day 3 7
1157.1 miles: On a whim, we stopped by to see the Sound and Pike’s Place in Seattle. It was cold!!!

Roadtrip 1 Day 3 8
1157.1 miles continued: Pike’s Place. Just for fun, we bought a couple honey sticks here. =)

Roadtrip 1 Day 3 9
1157.1 miles continued: We found a large and fascinating antiques store near Pike’s Place. Among other things, they had quite a bit of antique photography equipment…

Roadtrip 1 Day 3 10
Our final tribute to Seattle – a pic of the Space Needle. It quickly grew dark, so that was the end of the pictures for Day 3.

Day 4 is Rachel’s first introduction to Matt’s hometown, and Day 5 is Sunday and our presentation at Grace Baptist Fellowship in Lynden. Stay tuned!

The Great Floreen Roadtrips! Part 1

The Great Floreen Roadtrips have begun! We have had a great couple of days on the road, covering a lot of highway, and connecting with some great friends. Here’s our pictorial journal…

Road Trip 1 Day 1-2 1
141.3 miles: Our first stop on the trail – a visit to the Exxon tiger.

Road Trip 1 Day 1-2 4
330.9 miles: End of Day 1 and beginning of Day 2 – Our second stop was to spend the night with Adam and Shannon Chiappelone in Walnut Creek. We love this couple and so enjoyed spending time in their home again! Shannon and I worked at The Master’s College together, and Matt and Adam were roommates years ago, so we go way back with these two!

Road Trip 1 Day 1-2 5
450.7 miles: Seems to be a reoccurring theme already… we needed more gas.

Road Trip 1 Day 1-2 6
But! At this gas location, as the sign informed us, even your dog likes it here!

Road Trip 1 Day 1-2 7
515.8 miles: Lunch!

Road Trip 1 Day 1-2 8
530.6 miles: Now this was an interesting stop. You can see from the shiny pavement that it’s been raining. It rained all morning and a couple hours into the afternoon. Ah, the Northwest! But this little building is the Australian hat outlet. There was a big kangaroo sign on the freeway advertising it, so we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try on a few Australian hats. =)

Road Trip 1 Day 1-2 9
771.2 miles: Dinner at Taco del Mar!

Road Trip 1 Day 1-2 10
959.1 miles: Our last stop for the day – Dan and Karina Franklin’s home. We had all over lapped at college, so it was fun to catch up with this great couple and hear about the ministry they’re involved in now. We were blessed to hear about the church they’re at and encouraged by their prayers for us! Thanks Dan and Karina!

Off to the hotel, and end of Day 2. That’s all for now – more to come soon!

An All-Nighter!

Over dinner tonight, Matt and I decided that tonight would be a good night to pull an all-nighter. Because… the movers are coming tomorrow! They’re doing the packing (so that they can certify the contents as a third-party); however, there’s still a lot to do! Things like…

1. find all car titles/registrations/etc. so we can sell our cars, all 2008 tax info, all identification, passports, and tickets – don’t want that paperwork to get shipped to Africa in the containter!
2. set all liquids aside to be packed separately, and definitely remove all flammables
3. back up Matt’s hard drives (so all those of you who have pictures with him can know that there will always be a safe copy here in the States)
4. pack in our 4 “suitcases” what we want with us for the next 3-6 months while we wait for the container to arrive in Lilongwe
5. hide in the closets all items that we don’t want the packers to pack up and clearly label the closets “DON’T SEND TO AFRICA!!!”
6. inventory everything we own for insurance purposes

That’s all that I can think of off the top of my head, but I’m sure there’s more to do!

And here’s what it looks like around here right now…

1
Storage items, office supplies, sewing projects, photography equipment, and then everything else you need to make a home a home! It’s a mess mostly because we pulled everything out of the closets to use those as storage for items not being shipped in the container.

2
What we’d like to keep with us for the next 3-6 months, so will need to “hide” from the packers. Figuring this out was a little complicated, as we’re traveling in the next couple months to Washington State, Kansas, and Colorado – so we need cold weather clothes – and then we’re moving to south east Africa – so we also need hot weather clothes!

3
Meet the ActionPackers. These containers are just barely under airline size regulations for what you can check as luggage, and being simply made of thin but very durable plastic, they’re really lightweight. Bottom line: you can max out on weight and size with these containers. We’ll pack 4 of them full of whatever we’d like to keep with us here in the States and then travel with us to Malawi.

4
And no, this is not how Matt is getting to Malawi. =) But this nifty little “Pelican case” will carry his hard drives in the container. Pelican cases are rated to be guaranteed forever in every circumstance, with the exception of three circumstances: shark bites, bear attacks, and children under the age of 5. Hmmm. Just to make sure, when the case arrived, Matt threw it on the ground and stomped on it. Good to go!

We’d appreciate your prayers in the next couple days as we move out of our apartment and life becomes very different for us. The changes are all good, and we’re excited to walk in faith these coming months, but we know that your prayers are important! Pray for our faith and endurance through this move, and pray especially that we would learn to love and serve Jesus more because of it! We’re excited to have you partner with us in prayer through this adventure, and many more to come!

We Liked It So Much That We Stayed a Little Longer…

Those of you who read this blog carefully will remember that the October 15th post made mention that we came back a couple days after we thought we would. And yes, there’s a story there…

Brian dropped us off at the Lilongwe airport on Saturday morning, all packed and ready to fly back to the States. When we handed the tickets to the clerk at the counter, he looked at them for a minute and then said “So, you were supposed to fly yesterday?”

“No, today.”

“No, yesterday.”

“No, today.”

At this point, all we could think was: This is not looking good! We’ve collectively traveled to over 40 countries, and this had never happened to either of us. Was he serious? Was our ticket for yesterday, for Friday?! Yes, it sure was.

The clerk was very kind. He pointed out that the schedule we had received was confusing, and he understood why we had misread it. But the fact still remained: we had missed our flight by 24 hours.

Airport 2

So off we went to the little office in the airport that services Kenya Airways customers. I should point out that all of our travels up to this point had been perfectly smooth – no lost luggage, no significant delays, and even good food! I was starting to wonder what the deal was with people talking about African time, about things not working, and about needing to adjust my expectations for a slower life. All of a sudden, beginning in the Kenya Airways office, all of the Africa-ness of our trip caught up with us, in a three-part adventure.

Adventure #1
We had definitely missed Friday’s flight, but it was possible that we could still get on that day – Saturday’s – flight. It would cost $50 apiece to change our tickets, and the clerk said that we would have to be on a waiting list for the flight from Nairobi to London. We thought about this for a few minutes. If we didn’t get on the flight out of Nairobi, we’d be stuck in the Nairobi airport for about 35 hours. Between the cost of a visa, the level of crime, and the general state of nothingness in the airport, 35 hours is a really long time to be in Nairobi. We decided to go for it though, to at least get a start on our trip. Twenty minutes later, between an ATM without internet connection and a full airline waiting list, we realized that we weren’t getting anywhere that day. I grinned and told Matt: “I actually like adventures like this.” He grinned back: “Me too!”

The clerk told us that we could get all the flights from Lilongwe to Nairobi to London to LA if we booked them for tomorrow and found a place to stay overnight. He couldn’t book them for us though, and told us we’d have to get to the Kenya Airways office in the city to do that, and the office was to close in 2 hours, at noon.

Adventure #2
Brian was our only hope for both of these problems. If we could get in touch with him, we could ask to stay another night and see if he could help us find the Kenya Airways office in town. Our first task was to get in touch with him. Brian had made sure that we had change with us when he dropped us off, just in case we would need to use the pay phone to call his cell phone. We confidently took off in search of a pay phone. We found one, but it only took phone cards. After a little investigating, we discovered that no one in the airport actually sold phone cards. Hmmm. Matt eventually found a nice lady who let him use her cell phone to call Brian. Brian, of course, was so gracious to turn right around and come back to pick us up. (Thanks again Brian!)

Adventure #3
Our last adventure was to make it to the Kenya Airways office in time to make the ticket changes. We drove straight to the city and eventually found the office complex. Brian loaned us the cash to make the changes, and we had it all taken care of with 15 minutes to spare before the office closed! All the changes had been made, and we were set to fly out on Sunday, only a couple days later than we were supposed to.

Airport 1

As embarrassing as it is to admit that we missed our flight by 24 hours, we’re so glad we did. We were able to spend more time with the Biedebach family, to go to church a second Sunday, and we had some of the best conversations and connections with people in those 2 days we “weren’t supposed to be there.” God knows what He’s doing, and we’re so glad He does. We’ll take those adventures any day.

I love a good map

Taking a quick break from the Malawi 2008 trip stories, I want to share a few new maps I’ve found. I have several boxes of printed maps, so it’s not surprising that I collect digital images of them also. Here are my current African favorites.

Map of Africa Political
First of all, find Malawi. It’s yellow, small, and in the south-east. Most prominently you can find the capital, Lilongwe, where we’ll live.

Map of Africa Geology
This map, highlighting the geology and terraine of the continent, reminds me that Malawi is not predominantly sand.

Map of Africa 1771
The caption is hard to read this small, but this is Africa in 1771. I didn’t realize that Upper and Lower Ethiopia covered so much territory then!

Map of Africa Weather
This map is dedicated to my dad, who really should have been a weatherman.

Map of Africa Lights
This is the map that started the African collection. Matt told me that he’d see a map of Africa at night and that it was fascinating. He found it again on a NASA website for me, and I’m truly fascinated! There is actually a dot of light representing Lilongwe, so this must have been taken when the electricity was working!

Into the Wild

We’ve had a couple weeks to recover from jet lag, and time to catch-up on life here at home. Now I have to catch up on blogging! I have lists of categories to blog on now, as our recent trip to Malawi gave me so much to think about, and so many things I want to share.

First of all, wildlife. Everyone knows that animals and bugs are different in Africa from what we’re used to in the US. Here are a few of our friendly (and some not-so-friendly) encounters:

Wildlife1
Mosquito netting. No mosquitos in this picture, but the netting tells the story. Every night we untied the little slip knots to let the mosquito netting down around our bed. This makes for grand entrances and exits, and you do kind of feel like royalty. But the best part: sleeping soundly knowing that you won’t be awakened by annoying mosquitos buzzing around your head!

Wildlife4
Yes, they do eat mice-on-a-stick. Matt asked a Malawian friend what was left when you finished eating the mice. The friend looked confused, so Matt offered suggestions: bones, teeth… Oh no, not quite. “Just two sticks!” They eat the whole thing: teeth, fur, tail – all of it. To help you feel slightly better about this, I should tell you that they do boil them in salt water, remove the intestines, and then let them dry in the sun until they’re essentially jerky. My favorite part of the picture is that Brian pulled these mice out of a pizza box in their freezer. Thanks Brian, but I’m going to be a little hesitant if you ever offer me frozen pizza!

Wildlife3
There are quite a few cows and goats wandering around. There is always someone watching them, but they do seem to wander where they like, including on the roads. She looks like a nice cow, though. Maybe I could get a cow! Hmmm.

Wildlife2
This is the famous “chop-chop” spider, as it’s called in Malawi. We spent quite a bit of time trying to find a more official name for him, and the closest we could get is the huntsman spider. They’re fast, they’re large (that’s a regular sized piece of paper!), they’re hairy, and the ones we saw had pinchers. We killed 4 or 5 of these… my husband is so brave!

Wildlife5
And last, and least, the infamous water buffalo. This is a hard post for me to write. I have bad news. There are NO water buffalo in Malawi. In addition to being brave, my husband is also very sweet. He ran back to a little curio shop on the side of the road and bought the above pictured water buffalo for me. So, I do have a water buffalo, just not one that will assist in the cheese-making process. I think he’ll be my new cheese mascot.

Vote Yes for the Buffalo!

I want a buffalo!  It all started a couple months ago… Matt was talking to Brian Biedebach, mentioning that both Matt and I love pickles, so we might need to plant some dill and garlic in Malawi to make our own pickles.  Brian said we’d be better off making cheese than pickles.  What?  No cheese in Malawi?  Well yes, they said, there is cheese, but it’s really bad.  Uh-oh.  How are we going to make pizzas for the youth group?  And what about Mexican food? So we started thinking about cheese.  Somebody has to make the cheese, so we should be able to do it, we figured.  After seven gallons of curdled milk down the toilet, we finally had a pound of good mozzarella.  Visions of gouda and colby jack cheeses… But mozzarella was a good start. 

Now to make it the best mozzarella.  Ever heard of Mozzarella di Bufala?  Yep, that’s buffalo mozzarella, and it’s good!  If you look in a cheesemaking book here in the States, they pretty much say “Oh, it’s good.  But you can’t make it here because you can’t get a supply of buffalo milk.”  BUT – they have buffalo in Africa!  Water buffalo. 
The Wildlife & Waterfall Tour 1141

So began the desire to get a water buffalo.  And here are my additional circumstantial justifications:

1)      The African Water Buffalo is on the endangered species list, so someone needs to look out for them.
2)      I could sing the Veggie Tales song and it would be true, so long as mine is slow.  But I can only sing it to you if you get your own water buffalo, and yours is fast. 
3)      I think it would be great for making friends in Malawi! 
4)      Matt and I are both lactose intolerant, so we can have buffalo’s milk, but not cow’s milk.

5)      They can fight off lions.  Really.  National Geographic said so. 

I keep telling Matt that these – in addition to cheesemaking opportunities – are great reasons for getting a water buffalo. He’s not convinced. Yet. But he said maybe I should get some feedback from the blog. So now it’s up to you. Yea or Nay on the water buffalo?