King's Birthday and Water Festival

This weekend is an extended weekend. Friday the Kingdom of Cambodia celebrates the King's birthday. It is also the launch of some big festivities known in this part of the world as Water Festival. I am told this is the equivalent of our New Year's celebration in the States. It is called water festival because people through water on one another as part of a cleansing for the new year.

Water Festival is celebrated all over South East Asia. In Cambodia, I hear crowds of people come to the city for boat races. Above is a picture I borrowed from online featuring the crowds at our riverfront. I will be in country until Sunday, then headed to Thailand for meetings a few days to celebrate their holiday festivities.

Today I am 33

Today is my 33rd birthday. My life has turned out nothing like I had planned. I have experienced unexpected highs and unexpected lows. Overall, I am content. There are still unrealized dreams - like having children. With each passing year I wonder if it will ever happen. But, overall, I am blessed beyond my wildest dreams and wake up each day excited about what lay ahead.

What are my plans for today? Nothing special. I am going to language class in the morning. Then some colleagues and I have to drive to a nearby province to meet with the ministry of health about a maternal health project we would like to do in order to reduce infant mortality. We will return to the city late. I expect I'll be exhausted and fall in to bed ready for a deep sleep at the end of a busy day.

I've been asked what I want for my birthday as far as gifts. I'm not just saying this, but I trully want nothing. I have more than I need. I have a wealth of unbelievable experiences. I have people to share the journey with. I want for nothing.

So, here's to all the wonderful people in my life who have made living such a joy. On my birthday I want to celebrate you!

rested

Kenyon and I had a great vacation. This was the first time in years that I was on holiday and didn't think about work once. It helps that I am starting a new job and my responsibilities are still quite limited.

We went to an area near the coast known as Sihanoukville. It is quieter there than in the city - dogs barking and traffic noise are replaced by the calming sounds of water. We spent one day snorkeling, another day just lounging on Otres Beach. What a vacation!

When I returned to work on Monday one of my colleagues who I have worked with for over a year said to me, "Sheri, you look so rested. I don't think I've ever seen you so rested." I haven't felt so rested in a very long time.

Now that I am back, you should be hearing from me more often. However, my internet access is still limited so it may not be consistently.

What is the most relaxing vacation you have ever taken?

Independence Day

This year, for the 4th of July holiday Kenyon and I are traveling to my hometown - Santa Fe, New Mexico. I'm looking forward to eating loads of green chili (not the stew variety most are familiar with, but the authentic chili's). I'm looking forward to the sunny days and cool nights that New Mexico offers. I'm looking forward to time with family. It will be precious time since we are moving to the other side of the world in a few short weeks.

How will you be spending your holiday weekend?

Mi Madre

This is one of my favorite pictures of me and my mom. It was taken a few years ago when she was my date to a wedding of one of my high school friends. That's what moms do, they show up as your date when you'd rather not attend alone.

Since I was a little girl my mom has encouraged me to be a strong, independent woman (poor Kenyon!). She told me since I was a little girl that I was destined for some divine purpose. In my early adult years there were many hurdles to climb and my mom was always there cheering me on. She believed I could do it, so I bothered to try and then found that, in fact, I could.

We may not always agree, but she will always be my mom and I am indebted to her for the woman I am today.

Love you, moms! Happy mother's day!

Easter report

We had a great time at the second annual Warren Easter Egg hunt. Last year I hid 133 eggs, we found 124, so 9 eggs went missing. These are eggs of the plastic variety filled with candy. I assume some animal ran off with them. This year, I hid 124 eggs, 121 were found, 3 went missing. Are missing eggs just part of the Easter tradition?

My husband had a question that made me laugh out loud, "what do bunnies laying colorful eggs have to do with Easter?" He went on a rant for about 10 minutes about how that doesn't make any sense. I agree. I did an online search and discovered that there isn't a clear answer. In Germany, they claim credit for these traditions according to their paper Deutche Welle. I found an article on yahoo that said many people are conducting the same yahoo search, with mixed results, including explanations counter to the one above.

So, I ask you: "what do bunnies laying colorful eggs have to do with Easter?"

Found Tamales!!!

This weekend we returned from Africa. Sunday afternoon I hear a knock on the door. I go to answer it and it is our neighbor's son, Kyran. What does he have? The missing box of tamales!! One of the people I had called to help with the tamale mystery was my neighbor up the hill, she had said she was at work and couldn't help. But, she had picked them up on her way home and put them in her freezer. When she saw the car in the drive and knew we were back in town she had them delivered to our doorstep by Kyran. Hallelujah! The tamales have been saved and are now in my freezer so I can enjoy them in the coming weeks (okay, let's be honest...days). Kenyon doesn't really like tamales so this is a treat I get all to myself. 

We also have some Christmas presents waiting for us at UPS, so it's kind of like Christmas all over again. I like it. I think this year we are celebrating 30+ days of Christmas, we've been on the Christmas party circuit since Thanksgiving. This will be the last ho-rah, but I have enjoyed it thoroughly. It is, after-all, my favorite holiday.

Greater Love

I don't make New Year's Resolutions. Instead, I choose a theme for each year - the themes are related to character traits I am hoping to develop or a goal I am hoping to accomplish. The theme for this year is love - greater love.

I'm not talking about romantic love, the kind we see in movies or read in story books that usually end with a "happily ever after." I'm talking about the kind of love that God calls us to, the kind that is self-sacrificing and enduring. The kind of love that changes lives. The kind of love that has changed my life.

The work that I do is challenging. It takes everything I've got...everything. Sometimes I long for a normal life, a normal schedule, a normal routine. But, that isn't what God has called me to. In this work it is easy to get jaded. Real life stories don't always end the way we want them to - the way they do in fairy tales or Hollywood. In real life, the drug addict often relapses and goes back to using drugs. In real life, it is more lucrative for a woman to make money by selling her body than running a small business in a resource poor area. In real life, the shackles of poverty are strong and erode the spirit making one believe they cannot overcome their circumstances. In real life, marriages crumble, children are abandoned, people suffer. In real life, I visit the bedside of people dying of AIDS. In real life, I meet thousands of orphans with limited options for the future based on prejudice and injustice. In real life, I grow tired and weary of hearing the same tragic stories again and again. In real life, I only have so much time and energy and there isn't much left over for my family when the work day is done.

I have found myself chanting a prayer from Mother Theresa this year. It says:

Sweetest Lord,

make me appreciative of the dignity of my high vocation,

and its many responsibilities.

Never permit me to disgrace it

by giving way to coldness, unkindness, or impatience.

Mercy does not come naturally to me. It just doesn't. My natural inclination is to tell someone to buck up, get over themselves and do something. I have worked at developing mercy and compassion over the years. I am convinced that I cannot be effective in this work without it. I must continue to expand my capacity to love. The day I stop caring is the day I should stop doing the work. As in Mother Theresa's prayer, I never want to disgrace my calling by becoming overwhelmed and succumbing to coldness, unkindness or impatience.

Years ago I had a pastor that equated spiritual growth with a single question: "how are you doing on loving people?" I often ask myself this question. When I'm walking closely with God, in vital connection with him, I love people easily - it is not a chore, but comes naturally. When I am living on my strength I find people's problems irritating and my compassion is limited.

Love, true and authentic love, changes lives. It is the only thing I know that does. We can use all the best practices or spend endless amounts of money in public programs, but the most effective, inspiring, life-changing thing is to know love. Genuine love changes lives. When we feel loved, we can conquer the world. When we feel loved, we belong. When we feel love, we find the courage to keep going. Love is a powerful and necessary tool in overcoming difficult circumstances, the kind of circumstance I encounter in my work. I need to continue to grow my capacity to love.

My favorite scripture on the topic of love is below:
I Corinithians 13: 1-3, 13
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing...and now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Without love, my efforts are useless and empty. This is the year of "Greater Love."

Lord, grow my capacity to love people, genuinely love them. I don't believe love is a limited commodity, but it is one not found often enough in our fallen world. I want more love in my life, the kind of love that changes lives for the better. Amen.

Twelve days of Christmas: Day Twelve

The case of the missing tamales
My mom sent me the best Christmas gift a Hispanic girl living in the South could get - a case of tamales from Posa's. Unfortunately, we had a miscommunication in when we were leaving for Kansas City. According to the tracking number the tamales arrived at our home in North Carolina on the day we left to KC. I called two neighbors and a friend to see if they could pick up the tamales from our doorstep and stick them in the freezer so I could pick them up (and enjoy them) when we returned Christmas Eve. My friend Athalia has done some exceptional detective work and discovered that the tamales were delivered to the wrong house, but the home owners of the incorrect address didn't have them. UPS didn't have them. They have gone missing. I am incredibly disappointed. Though we visited many places in this holiday season (Virginia, North Carolina and Kansas City), we did not make it to my home town of Santa Fe which is absolutely the best place in the world to spend the Christmas season.

At the Christmas cookie party one of my friends asked, what are your holiday traditions? I told her about tamales and posole and just thinking about it made my mouth water. My mom sending tamales was like an answer to prayer - or maybe my mom has telepathy. I can just imagine enjoying the tamales on Christmas day...too bad they seem to have disappeared without a trace.

Athalia and her husband Travis have decided this case of the missing tamales would make a good children's book...maybe someone can get some benefit from my heartache.

Twelve days of Christmas: Day Eleven

Lunch with the Warren's

I have a good friend Elaine Warren. She was one of the first people I met when I moved to Kansas City because we worked together. She has been such a good friend for so many years. We used to live near each other (but on different sides of the state line) and when my grandpa died in New Mexico, she rode her bike over to my house to give me a card. That is when I knew we would be good friends. She was with me through so many highs and lows of life and she gave me the most amazing opportunity to witness a miracle. I was in the delivery room when her son Will was born. I will cherish that experience forever. Elaine is a friend who is as close as family. When I decided to marry Kenyon we even laughed that we will now share the same last name. I love watching her kids grow. I love talking with her. She started as a colleague, but she will be a friend for life. We met for lunch at the best little pizzeria, D'bronx in Westport. In the summer we would order a pizza and enjoy it on a lawn somewhere at one of the many community events.

In the evening we had dinner at the home of another good friend, Theresa. I met Theresa in grad school. We spent a lot of time together over the years and she even attented our wedding in India. She was our first visitor to come see us in North Carolina. Her daughter is a musician and gave us a mini-concert in their home after dinner. She has her own website complete with you-tube videos. Our Christmas present was one of Nicolette's CD's. She should have a new relsease coming in 2009. Check out this up and coming musician: Nicolette Paige.

Twelve days of Christmas: Day Ten

Kenyon's old stomping grounds
We traveled to Kansas City the week before Christmas. The trip would not be complete without visiting the people and places from my husband's past. We saw the house he grew up in. His foster mom still lives there. His cousin Wesley now lives next door with his family - wife and five kids!

We attended his uncle's church. In fact, we spoke at the church. Kenyon did a phenomenal job of speaking on the work we do around the world. In his neighborhood, not many people escape the confines of poverty, but he did. He is a black man that never went to prison, never fathered a baby out of wedlock, never dealt drugs, never did drugs. He has dedicated his life to doing what the Lord desires. God brought him through so much. He is a success story and I am so proud of him. He started his talk with, "I am from this neighborhood..." and he finished it with a challenge to pursue dreams because with God's help all things are possible. I pray it was inspiring to some of the young people in the audience who are making choices about their future. With God, all things are possible!

In the evening the church had a Christmas play that we attended. It was a great time. The children sang songs. His aunt Pam had directed a modern version of the Christmas Carol story.

It was such a pleasure to hang out with Kenyon's family and I am so grateful to them for raising the man who is my husband. They opened their home to him and his brothers when they didn't have to, they protected him in difficult circumstances and they challenged him to be the best he could be. They love him and are cheering him on as he joins me on the great adventure of life as my companion. It was so good to spend time with them, they made us feel so welcome.

Twelve days of Christmas: Day Nine

A Christmas Carol at the Rep

Kansas City has a fantastic community theatre at the UMKC campus known as "the rep." Hands down this is our favorite place to see theatre productions. For about 20 years they have offered A Christmas Carol during the Christmas season. I think this was my fifth time seeing it and I was still amazed, I would go back again next year. Confession...each time I watch this story I cry. I don't know what it is about the story but that ghost of Christmas present gets me every time.

Following the show we had dinner with Kenyon's good friend James and his wife Nicole. We met up at the plaza (of course) and enjoyed their company for a few hours. James has known Kenyon since he was a boy. They were roommates until James got married. I joke that they are like an old married couple - they finish each others sentences, they can practically read the others mind. Though we've moved away they talk nearly every week...and boy can these two talk! I always know when James calls it will be a good hour at least before Kenyon is off the phone. I love that my husband has friends whom he has known for so long. Life long friends are precious commodities and there are some, like James, who are closer than friends and are more like family. By the way, James hates taking pictures but he was willing to comply with my request. I'm sure he will be less thrilled to know I posted the photo on my blog...

For the faithful readers, James was featured in a previous post on boxing...this is the guy, and yes, he is still competing...and yes, I am still glad he's on our side. It's good to have friends with skills.

Twelve days of Christmas: Day Eight

Happy Hour at the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City
One of the things that make Kansas City such a special place is the Country Club Plaza. It was designed in the 1920's as an urban shopping experience and it has only gotten better over time. The inspiration for the design is Seville, Spain. Each Thanksgiving they have a plaza lighting ceremony. I always loved the plaza at Christmas, so on our recent visit we just had to go to the plaza.

We met up with our good friends Darlene and Ruben (known to Kenyon as Big-T) for Happy Hour on the Plaza. What could be better than good friends, good conversation, good food at a great location? Ahhh, I miss KC and all the people who made it feel like home!

Twelve days of Christmas: Day Seven

Candlelight Tour of Mount Vernon (Virginia)

During our holiday visit to Virginia we had a unique experience - a candelight tour of Mount Vernon (George Washington's home, the first President of the United States). They had a camel on the grounds. I could not figure out the significance of the camel. Then one of my friends texted me the answer. George Washington had an affinity for the exotic, he bought the camel to entertain guests since so few had seen one before. Things that make you go, hmmm...

The home is beautiful. It is worth visiting if you haven't before and happen to be in the area.

The tour was led by actors dressed in costume. We met many characters along the way; Ms. Washington, slaves, grandchildren and those who served with him in war and office. I have no idea how the actors repeat the same script time and time again with such enthusiasm, but it made for a memorable experience. Even the Christmas carolers were in costume, it was like stepping back in time.

This was a fun, and educational, holiday event.

Twelve days of Christmas: Day Six

Decorating a Christmas tree (Virginia)
Last year Kenyon and I went to one of the many tree farms in our area and picked out a tree. This year we are hardly going to be home so we didn't even pull out our decorations from storage. (Yes, we hosted a Christmas party with no Christmas decorations. It obviously didn't detract from the fun.)

We may not have a Christmas tree in our home, but we did get to decorate a Christmas tree with our friends in Virginia. We spent Thanksgiving there and helped them put up their tree. This picture is from last Christmas, but it is the same tree and the same decorations, just a different year. It is so good to have good friends close who we can visit for the holidays!

I can just hear the Christmas songs in the background, can't you?

Twelve days of Christmas: Day Five

Company Christmas Party

Last year my team had their own Christmas party with a pictionary game that was so much fun!

This year I have a new boss so he had all of us, plus the rest of his team to his house. It was good to speak with people we might not interact with on a daily basis, but the group was too big to play games. Next year my vote is for a department only party...the boss can come is he wants, but we want to laugh! I did get to unload the cookies from the previous party, that's a plus, because I certainly didn't need to eat them all.

Twelve days of Christmas: Day Four

Christmas cookie party
One of the people I work with had a Christmas cookie party. We all brought a cookie recipe and some ingredients, then we baked up a storm and even made a couple ginger bread houses from scratch. I feel so domestic!

I baked my Tia Nita's recipe for Biscochitos. These are the traditional Christmas cookie from my homeland...New Mexico. One of the guys at the party described them as cinamonny goodness. They are my favorite Christmas cookie, to me they just taste like Christmas (I'm sure that is a subjective opinion, but this is my blog so if you have different opinion you can get your own blog).

We had cookies galore to share (and about 1000 calories in a few hours!). I had something to give to neighbors and something to take to the rest of the Christmas celebrations.

Twelve days of Christmas: Day Three

Warren Christmas Party
Kenyon and I hosted our first ever Christmas party. It was so much fun! We invited people from work, church and the university.

The best part was the gift exchange. There were nice gifts like candles, a back massager, gift certificates and Christmas ornaments. Kenyon didn't pick any of those gifts.

What did he get?

That's right...Kenyon picked the grannie panties gag gift that Courtney brought. Just wait, those will be showing up again at the party next year and someone else can bring them home!

Twelve days of Christmas: Day Two

Nuncrackers the Musical: Asheville Community Theatre

On our trip to Asheville Kenyon had planned for us to see a show. One of our favorite things to do is to go to the theatre. I'd never seen the Nuncracker before. It was hilarious. We laughed a lot...especially when making fruit cake with rum. The cook immitated Julia Childs and really enjoyed the rum! There was a man behind us who enjoyed the show even more than we did, he laughed so loud the whole time.

Twelve days of Christmas: Day One

Kenyon and I will be traveling for the next few days in Kansas City. I thought I would add some photos and stories from the Christmas celebrations we've been having in North Carolina.

Asheville Holiday Parade
We had been apart for a month. When Kenyon got back he planned a surprise for me. We had a weekend for just us. We had a hotel right downtown and it just so happened to be the weekend of the big holiday parade. We watched for an hour, then went to lunch. It was a fabulous way to begin the Christmas season.