Our Frausted Life

BY SYDNIE: I stepped out one evening to go on a walk and this gorgeous sight was waiting for me. I really haven’t experienced sunsets like these. Maybe I didn’t get out enough in Texas. Maybe the trees and concrete I was surrounded with blocked my views. Texas skies are beautiful, and are home for me, but it always seems like each sunset view here is different.

There are always some bright oranges, hot pinks, vivid blues, grays, browns, and some light pinks. I step out each evening in awe. My favorite thing to do in the evenings (I don’t get to every night) is head out from our back door and walk around the neighborhood from the backside. Those are birds that flew into my picture, in case you were wondering.

I always seem to find something new on these walks. (This photo was one of my discoveries.) There is always a light breeze and the air is crisp. If we’re lucky, there will be a spot of cold air. I don’t know where it comes from, but I’m thankful for it just the same.

This last week, I felt I had SO much to write. I get so much inspiration on these walks I take. I think so much and want to share what’s on my heart. It just seems the day to day of this past week has kept me from writing. It was always on my “to do list”, but I never got around to it. My heart would cry to sit and write, but then when I got to the point of sitting to write and update, I would think “What IS IT that I really want to write?” And that would be the end of me actually sitting to write.

On these walks, I think about family, friends, life back home, life here, our future, and more. I look at all the broken and dirty things in our neighborhood (like all the playgrounds roped off for apparent repairs, but no sign of any work being done) and wonder what I can do to help. It was hard enough to get me here along with all our things, I can’t imagine having to uproot family and bring my children here, just to be met with broken playground equipment, or closed courts/parks, and we have to figure out a lot of our “fun” all while navigating this new island life. It really irritates me to the highest. Don’t even get me started on the food conditions here. No, we aren’t starving and that’s not what I’m saying. I mean, you learn quickly that you have to check every expiration date, and even if it hasn’t expired, just know that if you buy it, you risk the chance that it probably is stale or spoiled anyway. AND if you take that risk, you’re shelling out $5+ more dollars for this product than you would in the states. I am not sure how people who actually LIVE here are making it. $5+ gallon gas with ridiculous food prices? I don’t think they are paying $20 minimum wage here. I am finding rent here for anything decent is $3k or more a month. I mean, who is living here that can afford that? Not us. If you find a place less than $2k, it’s a very small place, outdated, and more than likely, in a sketchy part on the island. I just have trouble with this all – and what is crazy, this is only a taste of what the world sees. I’ve been living in my pampered bubble for so long, enjoying the perks and life in America, I would have never had known. While prices rise in the USA, on everything, it is not as bad as here. If you are living in the USA, be thankful.

So, a lot of my time is spent on thinking how I can help ANY situation here. Even it means renting a pressure washer and cleaning signs and beautifying this base. Some of these issues are super easy fixes, and these families deserve a NICE, SAFE, FUN place to live after moving 5k+ miles to get here. And by safe, I mean with the playgrounds and courts. Maybe it only bothers me… I’m not sure. I really haven’t spoken to anyone about it. Maybe I’ll snap photos of what I’m talking about so y’all can see. Maybe letters to folks in congress or the senate or whomever are needed. If y’all know anything about me, you know I really hate when injustice is done, and I think this is a disservice to these families and it needs to be rectified. Enough on that because I could write an entire book about the disservices I feel are taking place…

We haven’t found our home church yet. We visited one on Sunday that we are praying on. We went to lunch with many of the families and even the pastor and his family, and it reminded me some of our home church – OCC. We know we want to go where the Lord needs us and somewhere we can serve. I know that’s a lifeline for me. It’s my biggest form of worship.

We are still waiting on our household shipment. It should be here in a few days. I’m amazed at the things we’ve had to use in place of something else, but you learn to pivot and get really good at it. As seen above, I was making Nik some banana bread, and I used the pie dish as an extra bowl. I mixed ingredients in the big pot and other ingredients in the pie pan, then brought them altogether. I refuse to go buy things we already have that is on its way. Bread came out amazingly, by the way! It did NOT last the day.

I’ve also been trying to make little improvements to our home in the meantime. I painted one of our walls in our living room. Came out lighter than I wanted, but I think once all our furniture comes, it’ll tie together nicely. Our neighborhood/subdivision (?) has been great about giving away pieces of furniture. We got a dresser for the guest room, a coffee table (and I had one in my cart to order – so glad I didn’t!), entertainment stand, and a little side table for FREE. Saved us a ton. We figured after our 2 years, we’ll return the favor and give it all away to the next round of folks moving here.

A Spam breakfast has become our tradition on Saturday mornings. I’m getting good at these “hash” dishes. We’ve tried just about every flavor of Spam there is. Believe me, we’ve got tons stocked up in our pantry.

Just for fun, one of our favorite places on the island to grab a burger. They have amazing sweet potato fries (my fave!). So many different styles and varieties of burgers. Maybe we’ll take a video of our visit sometime to share.

Like I said, I just wasn’t sure what to write. I have a lot I’m thinking about, but not many changes here in our life. I’ll update with our July 4th fun and when our furniture gets here soon. That’ll be a FUN day….. hear that sarcasm? ( I mean, yay! Awesome our stuff is here, but boo for the chaos that will inevitably ensue….) Thanks for reading!