Happy New Year!

A few years ago I came across this blog - http://kimchimamas.typepad.com/.  For those who don't know, kimchi is a traditional Korean dish made of pickled vegetables with varied seasonings. So as the name may allude, the blog is written by a group of moms who are either Korean-Americans, are partly Korean, are married to Koreans or Korean-Americans, or have adopted children who are Koreans.  It's mainly about parenting, the struggles and joys of raising kids, and also about viewpoints and opinions on various other topics from the perspective of "Kimchi Mamas".

Although I myself am of "Korean decent" (notice I didn't say "Korean" or "Korean-American" because I am actually one of those confused "third culture adults": born in Korea, grown up in Brazil, lived in the U.S. for most of my adult life, and have moved yet again to Australia in 2006), in the early days when I started reading the blog, I felt like an "outsider", almost like an "intruder" because at the time I was childless and felt like I was trying to get membership to a club I clearly didn't belong.

Nevertheless, I continued following and reading the blog on and off, but never leaving any comments.  Okay, maybe I DID leave one or two comments, but when the writer(s) never replied to my comments I REALLY felt like I was intruding and never bothered to comment again. Until...

...about two weeks ago, on the last day of 2010, one of the writers did a "giveaway" which I participated in!  Although I had been a silent reader for a long time, I no longer felt like an intruder since I have...

...this little one in tow. :)

I have NEVER won anything in my life.  The only time that I ever came close to winning anything was when about the first or second year of our marriage, Jim and I went to some boat show. Towards the end of the show, we sat through some kind of presentation at the end of which they were going to give away a week-long trip to Hawaii.  There were only seven couples including ourselves sitting through that presentation. We were number 4. The winner was number 5! Yup! Even when the odds were low, we didn't score.

By the way, this was a very memorable boat show because Jim always cracks up and tells everyone the story about how much I embarrassed him when I spotted a celebrity and yelled "Look! It's Patrick Swayze!" as he walked past us, when in fact the actor was Kurt Russell! 

So back to my original story!  So I entered the giveaway just for fun, without putting my hopes too high.  It was a fairly easy giveaway to enter.  I simply had to comment on that particular day's post, by a certain deadline, telling them what are some of the traditions in my family when celebrating the New Year.  Easy-breezy, right?  So I did just that.  Then, the day before the deadline, I noticed that only forty some people had left comments! 'Not bad!' I thought.

A couple of days after the deadline of the giveaway I get an email from the writer, and this is what it said:

Hi Claudia--

Congratulations!  Your name was drawn for the ______ giveaway!  If you still would like the girls size 2, please reply with your mailing address.

Thanks,

Julie from Kimchi Mamas

I was stoked! My FIRST time winning something! Yay!  

Here's what I won!

This is a child's hanbok - a traditional Korean dress worn as semi-formal or formal wear during traditional festivals and celebrations such as New Year, weddings, or babies' first birthdays.

A Happy New Year indeed!

New Year Resolution

Although I'm not much into making New Year's Resolutions, I decided that starting this month I want to post more on this blog.  I follow a few blogs that are really interesting and I always wish I was as creative, articulate, interesting, and intelligent as some people out there in the blogsphere are...

But, it doesn't matter 'cause, more than anything, I want to be able to record some special memories we are making with our bundle of joy - aka Eleanor - in our lives (personal and ministry).  I don't want this to be a baby-blog per se, but she is a HUGE part of our lives right now, and I don't want to regret not recording the sweet moments we will treasure forever.

There is way too much to catch up on what's been happening since Eleanor was born (maybe I'll update on my next post), so for now here's a summary in pictures. :)

 August 2010

 September 2010

 October 2010

 November 2010

December 2010

A Korean-Brazilian-American-Aussie is Born!

We still can't believe this little munchkin came into our world!
How do I describe the joy of holding our very own Eleanor after 11+ years of hoping and waiting? It's hard to understand why God would lavish us with so much love when we were so content and thankful for His amazing grace we experience in abundance everyday.

She is the tinniest thing ever, but surely the biggest gift we've ever gotten from God (since our gift of salvation, that is)!
She's only five weeks old but it feels like we've had her for a while. We can definitely see a little bit of personality coming through.  For one, she's very opinionated! She grunts like no other when she doesn't like something; she's done that from the very beginning! I never new a baby who's a few days old could be so "vocal"!

Another special way she let's us know how she feels is by kicking her long, thin, and big-footed legs! Ever since she was in my womb, she's been a kicker. She'd kick me day and night. So much so that we nick-named her "Happy Feet".

I think she'll definitely be a girly-girl.  She's got these long and delicate fingers, beautiful curly eye-lashes, and almond shaped big brown eyes. Daddy's going to have his work cut out for him trying to keep all the grisly boys away from her. :)

But besides her temperament or looks, we do hope and pray that she'll have a heart of gold full of love for the Lord and for His creation.  Lord grant us the wisdom to raise one of your own for your glory!

Gotta Love It!

It has been a little over two months since we've found a new place and moved in! It seems like so long ago that I was whining and complaining about how hard it was to find a place to live. It really was a humbling experience because I came to realize how easily I get focused on myself instead of the big picture of God's plan for my life. I'm like the Israelites who were being led by God through the desert to the Promise Land, but they were constantly complaining...HUGE lesson learned!

So the place we finally rented came with its challenges (btw, we got the doggy-smell-house; refer to previous entry) but I won't go into all the negative details because, in the end, it turned out to be the best fit for us and then some! We couldn't have asked for a better location, better lay-out, better size, etc., etc., etc. We are still amazed at how the Lord provides for us in abundance. We can definitely say that the house is a lot better than what we were looking for, but at the time we were looking - given the circumstances - we felt that this had to be it. It actually worked out great since we'd be using it for many purposes: to hold Sunday worship (which we did stop since finding an outside venue for our church!), to gather for Bible studies and ministry meetings, to hold dinner parties for friends, to host a myriad of guests who have started to come through since May, and finally to begin life as a family of four (including our first "baby" Buddy). So after weeks of cleaning and organizing, we still have boxes left to unpack and pictures to hang, but all in all we praise God for His goodness.

One of the things that we did not forsee was all the construction work going around us. I kid you not, there's construction work going on in each of the four houses around us: there is a new house being built right across from us, the neighbor to our right is remodeling his house (adding a second story), there's a townhouse/condominium being built right behind us, and the neighbors to our left decided to chop down all the tall trees in their front lawn! It gets noisy around here ALL day! I'm just praying that most of the construction will be over by the time we have our baby! Yikes.

Oh, in speaking of construction work, I'm reminded of a couple of the things that I LUV about Australia. First it's their "Tea Time". It is taken seriously here. Regardless of where you are, whether at work, at school, or at a conference, etc., morning tea is usually at 10 a.m., and everyone will stop dead in their tracks to sip tea and have some buiscuits (cookies) or cakes. In the afternoons it is usually between 2 and 3 p.m. Colloquially, tea time can be referred to as a smoko, which in times past was understood to mean a cup of tea, maybe something sweet or a sandwich, and a cigarette. This term is commonly used by tradesmen and the building industry. I kid you not! At 10 a.m. on the dot, all the noise around our house will stop, and when I look out the window, I see all the tradesmen (with their fluorescent vests and hard hats on) drinking tea (or coffee)! Which leads me to the second thing I love about Oz: everyone uses actual ceramic tea-cups or mugs, none of that disposable stuff, even the construction workers! Don't you love that?

Anyway...until next time!

Rental-Hunting Saga

We've been house-hunting since the first Saturday of this month and...NOTHING, ZILT, NADA so far! Some of you may find it hard to understand why it's taking us so long. You may even be thinking "they must be really picky" or, as Jim has once put it, "they must want champagne on a beer budget".

Well let me tell'ya, finding a place in Sydney is madness! First, you have to spend hours on end on house-hunting websites looking for places that match your criteria (which by the way, you learn to compromise because you realize you really CAN'T get "champagne on a beer budget"). Then, you make a list of the places you'll be "inspecting"- as they say in Oz, and do your best to organize your list by the time of "inspection" for each property. You see, each agent only gives you a 10 to 15 minute time for each property, so sometimes you barely have enough time to make it to the next property; and if there are two properties you like that are showing at the same time, then you're basically "scr---d".

Jim and I have become pros at this thing: we have our handy list on a sheet of paper with room to write in descriptions or notes about each place, some water to hydrate ourselves 'cause we know we'll be at it for the next 3-4, and possibly snacks 'cause God only knows whether we'll have time to stop for some lunch! We even have an understanding that we'll move in quickly, look at the place, schmooze the agent so that he/she can have a good impression of us and remember us should we end up applying, and get out and move swiftly to the next property.

On the way to the next property, of course we are constantly talking about the places we've seen so far. It can get pretty confusing as we're moving FAST. So inevitably, we end up using nicknames for each place based on certain... characteristics of the house that "stands" out.

Here's a list of some of the most "memorable" houses we've inspected (and nicknamed) this past Saturday:
- Doggy-smell house
- Granny-house
- Wharf-house
- Cockroach-house
- Box-in-a-box house
- Crooked-house

- Dungeon-house
- Greasy-Korean house
- White picket-fence house

Are you using your imagination to picture what these places might have looked like? Based on the names and your imagination, which one would you have picked to live in? Can you believe we applied to 4 of them?! We'll see what happens this week. Praying hard with fingers crossed! On my next post I'll reveal which ones we've applied for, and let you know if any of our applications got accepted. Stay tuned! Hopefully this drama will end soon!

So the naming begins...

I have been called by many names in my life time, but "a dancing humpty-dumpty" is by far the most...interesting (for a lack of better words). Who called me that, you might ask? None other than the hubs.

We're in the Land of Oz!

So we've arrived in Sydney, Australia this past Wednesday aboard the new Qantas A380, the much talked about jumbo jet. The flight was uneventful and there were no hiccups whatsoever, unlike the very first time the A380 flew from the U.S. to Australia (we know a couple of "culprits" who cost the airline thousands if not millions of $s).

We were over jet-lag in a couple of days and Jim was running non-stop from the get-go. We were so blessed that our dear friend and teammate let us stay in her apartment while she's in the U.S. for the entire month of March! We love the spirit of community and family that we have among our church-plant team, as well as with our circle of friends here. The apartment is in the city, with an awesome view of the Sydney CBD's skyline and Darling Harbour. It's also very close to the very first place we stayed in when we first landed in Sydney at the end of 2006!

Right now, a couple of things are our number one priority for us during this early stage of transition back into Oz: finding a place to live, and finding a good maternity hospital and doctor for myself. The last couple of days I've been busy researching online, making phone calls, etc.

Today (Saturday) we spent all morning visiting potential rental homes in/near the area we lived before. It was a hot and long morning, but because we had done it before, it wasn't so bad. Actually, we ended up really liking one of the places which we feel would suit us, and we're are putting together all the paperwork so we can turn in the application on Monday. Please, pray we us so that the owners/agents may look at our application favorably. Also, please pray that I may be able to find just the right doctors/hospital. :)

Tomorrow is our very first worship service with our church family. We are so grateful for how the Lord is leading us. Despite the hurdles and trials we face, we feel His hands in so many areas of our lives. We may be bummed about one thing but then realize that He's granted so many of our other wishes and dreams. I am also looking forward to re-joining a ladies Bible study I've been attending about 6 months before I left for the U.S.

One of my biggest prayer requests as I have returned to Oz is for the Lord to show me day by day how He wishes me to glorify Him by my serving others and by my letting Him known through my life. It is shameful to admit that somehow I feel it is easier for me to think of living my life that way here than it was while I was in the U.S. Thinking back, I remember being busy moving around from place to place and being flooded with things to do and people to see (not to mention being sick and uncomfortable for the first two months while I was going through morning-sickness). Did I serve others or let God be known to others in my daily life in the past four months?... Can't say for sure.

But I am grateful for and cherish all the face to face time I've had with many people, including some surprise visits with people I hadn't seen in years, and encouraging new friendships! I am grateful that we got to spend a lot of time with family, especially celebrating Thanksgiving, Christmas, the New Year, and many birthdays together! I am grateful to have found out we'd be parents and were able to share the news and celebrate in person with family and friends! I am grateful that we were able to see and hear about the amazing things the Lord is doing in and through the lives of so many of our loved ones!

In the end, God loves me so much more than I love Him! This is a great lesson I learn everyday. :)