Talking with the Turnbows

I am the Face

2011-11-13T19:18:00.001-06:00

On September 11, 2011 Bryan and I found out that we were pregnant! It was a flood of emotions, but we were very excited and started reading up on being pregnant (b/c we didn't even know where to begin).

We were so excited to tell our parents and other family and friends! The first weekend in October we went up to share the exciting news with Bryan's family and then called both my mom and dad over the phone. We had gotten a cookie cake that said "Baby Bow Arriving May 2012". Bryan's family thought that I had gotten a cookie cake for his b-day (but Bryan actually knew about the cake). When they opened it up, it took a minute, but then it clicked! Everyone was thrilled! We took a picture of the cake and emailed it to my parents, called them on the phone, and told them to check their email. Both my mom and dad were just as excited and VERY surprised! We had been to the doctor once, but he wanted to wait on do a sonogram, but did confirm we were pregnant.

The Tuesday after we shared the news that a little one was on the way I went in for a sonogram only to hear the worst news ever. There were no heartbeats. When the sonographer didn't show me anything, I knew something was wrong. I was having a really hard time so the nurse went to get the doc who confirmed the bad news. He then also told me that it wasn't just one but two. We were going to have twins.....I was heartbroken and as you can imagine so was Bryan and the rest of the family.

The doc wanted me to wait a week before we did anything so that they were 100% sure (a very hard week). The following week he confirmed at which point we had to set up a procedure for Friday.

I share the story not so that people feel sorry for us, it was a life experience, but to let others know that it is common (something I was not aware of). It's hard to understand what it feels like until you go through it and for a period of time you feel like your world has come crashing down. But the more I opened up and shared with people what we had gone through, the more others came out and shared their story.

My friend, Brittany Taunton sent me a website called "I am the Face" which is a campaign to raise awareness about miscarriage, stillbirth and infant death. Going through this experience opened my eyes to how many couples go through this. 1 out of 4 women experience miscarriage. 100% of miscarriages could not have been prevented and majority are due to chromosomal abnormalities. My biggest concern after my procedure was, "Will I be able to have kids in the future?" This website answers some of those questions and brings together people across the world who have gone through similar experiences. While I'm not going to post all about "I am the Face" on Facebook, I thought I would share about it on my blog for those who know someone or have faced something similar.

Bryan and I have grown so much over the last month and are excited to have God bless us with another little miracle in the future!
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Cancun 2011

2011-11-13T19:08:00.001-06:00

It's been a little while since I've blogged! A lot has happened! In August Bryan and I took an AWESOME trip to Cancun! I had never been and Bryan insisted I needed to go and see the best water ever! "Nothing compares!" He was right. It was great and best of all EXTREMELY relaxing! We decided that for this trip, we were going to do nothing except get up and go down to either the pool or ocean all day. We stuck to the plan and did just that! Vacation too often seems exhausting, but not this time. In August, the turtles come up on the beach and lay their eggs at night. We sat on our balcony and watch two HUGE mama turtles come up. It was so neat! We also met some great couples and definitely want to go back sooner than later!

What I know makes me happy

2011-06-10T08:37:00.005-05:00

I knew that going to Brazil was going to change me as a person, but what I didn't realize is how much. It's hard to describe in words (especially because this chic is NOT a writer) the experience I had and how I view things back at home. The best way I know how to do this is to share what I thought made me happy before going and now that I am back, what I know makes me happy.

Things that I thought made me happy:

nice clothes

ipod

iphone

computer

fancy Restaurants

granite counter tops/nice, big house

big screen tv

nice car

(You get the picture) Before leaving I thought THINGS made me happy, as most of do!

What I NOW know makes me happy:

My husband

Dogs

Family and Friends

God

Warm shower

Popcorn and Coke Sundays with Bryan

Laughing

My health (and access to medicine)

A good book

Being back home, I know that THINGS are not actually what make me happy. Things are a temporary high that dies off after a week or two. Think about it, you go buy an ipod. Two-three weeks later you are used to it and it no longer fills that void.

But being able to: talk to my husband regularly and share my day, have my dogs every day be so excited to see me when I get home, play mexican train, pictionary, and cranium with family during holidays, have good friends that stop what they are doing and show up and laugh with you when your car breaks down in the rain, sit around and laugh about memories until my stomach hurts with our friends "the Morrows", all these things are what really fills my cup!

Being in Brazil, it broke my heart to see that the kids I worked with didn't have books in their classroom, toys to play with or a fan to keep them cool. I felt frustrated while I was there because with the language barrier and the lack of resources at my disposal, I felt as though I wasn't contributing anything. Yet in the end the true resource while I was there was ME. I was giving these kids the attention and patience. I was drinking imaginary tea and eating imaginary food. We took turns pointing to almost every item in the room and saying what color they were. We sang head, shoulders, knees and toes in Portuguese every day. These are the things that made the kids happy and helped them learn; that's what filled their cup.

What fills your cup?

Favelas

2011-05-18T15:36:00.002-05:00

Yesterday afternoon we went deeper into the favelas. Favelas are the slums of Salvador. Bruno, our 'tour guide', works with CCS and is there is answer any questions we have.

Questions I asked yesterday about the favelas and the answers I got (Remember this is from one reference):

What percentage of the population live in the favelas?

What percentage of the population is middle class? Upper class?

35%; 5%

Does the government give support to those in the favelas?

Each home get 214 Reias per month per child. The children must go to school in order to receive the support

What do people who live in the favelas do for income?

Men typically work in construction of somesort or have a store front, women do housework and childcare

Does Salvador have any plans for the the money it is going to make from the World Cup in 2014?

The poor areas wont see it.

How does Salvador choose their leaders?

Everyone is required to vote, but the politicians are extremely corrupt;

Why don't they work a little more on some of roads? (Typically improved infrastructure contributes to a better economy?) They do, they have been working on one motorway for 12 years...

Favelas

Above is a picture of the favelas that we went through. Up close the streets are some of the most poverty stricken streets you've ever seen. I wasn't able to take pictures because it just wasn't safe enough. When we drive out of Graca (where we are staying which is considered a middle class area) all you see if favelas for miles. You will see these homes stacked with multiple layers. When someone in the family gets married and has their own family, they build on top of the house. There is no building codes, so they aren't very safe.

We stopped to see a local artist. Prencie! He does art on tiles, a lot of the stuff is so pretty! Of course I bought a tile. It has a quote on it. You will be able to find it hanging at our house.

We stopped at the most famous ice cream shop in Salvador! There are ice cream shops everywhere so, that it is a big title to have! I was thinking how much Bryan would love this ice cream stop! =-)

One of our last stops was at the Bonfim (Good End) church. This was built in the 1700s by a Portugese travler who hit bad weather when he was coming over to Brazil. He was carrying a large statue of Jesus and began praying and told God if he gave him a 'Good End' to his travels and allow him to live, he would build a house of worship in Brazil. He survived and built this beautiful church. Religions come together at this church.

Inside the church

In one portion of the church there is a room filled with pictures of people and body parts (wax) hanging from the ceiling. These came from people who prayed for a 'Good End'. Most of them were suffering from some sort of illness and God answered their prayers. These symbolize their 'Thanks.' It is very interesting to see.

When we visited the church it answered one of the first questions I had when I came here. What the heck are these ribbons for? Here in Salvador you will see ribbons everywhere that say 'Bonfim.' People tie them on their wrist with three knots; for each knot they get a wish. The ribbon must fall off your wrist on its own. If it doesn't then you will have bad luck.

There is so much history everywhere we go! I'm learning a lot!

Tomorrow is my last day at placement, this week has flown by. It's been an eye opening experience!

Tchau for now!

Nicki

Remember the simple pleasures....

2011-05-17T16:13:00.013-05:00

I brought a bag of Dove dark chocolates from home. One of my favorite sweets! I opened one last night and the pharse inside said `Remember the simple pleasures in life.` How fitting!

I can't believe I only have two full days left here in Brazil before I head back! Its been a good time and after this past weekend it is going especially quick! Today at Santa Thersea I brought the kids a picture of a Rockin Lobster from a Finding Nemo coloring book! Yesterday the teachers were all giving me a hard time about my sundburn and our Capoera teacher called me a lobster yesterday. Plus the less detailed pictures I bring the better. They only get one color to use so a Rockin Lobster was the perfect one (They only needed red)! We had a full class today of 19! If the entire class was present there would be 22 kids. I have NO IDEA how Mari handles it all!!

I was able to bring my camera today; the kids went CRAZY and were acting like total hams in front of it! They all wanted their picture taken and then more importantly wanted to see their picture on the camera. Victor, a future futbol star, was the biggest ham of them all! He would follow me around and CHEESE as big as he could! Its amazing how no matter where we come from, how much money we have and where we go at the end of the day it inevitable that we are all happier when we get to do something new, different and exciting. That is what seeing a camera is like for these kids.

Many of these kids don't even have a small TV in their home with 1-2 channels, let a long see a digital camera!

Victor Hugo!

NATALIA aka Nache. Such a doll.

She is shy and always seems to sit off in a corner by herself. I always try to make her laugh and get her involved. I got her to laugh for this picture!

This is the main door at the school

Maria Luiz showing us her Rockin Lobster

Me with some of the kids. From left to right Victor Hugo, Joanna, Nache, Enzo, Maria, Alicia

That is Cecilia. She is holding on to the door of the classroom.

Clearly most of the glass is broken out. I spend a lot of time just trying to keep the escape artist in the room! There is no air conditioning or fan. To the right of the door there is one window. In order to get some cool air and stop sweating we have to get out of the room!

Victor, Nache and Andre

These three have stole my heart! SWEETHEARTS! Andre, on the right, is always smiling and laughing.

Feeding Alicia
There are a couple kids who don't eat fast enough or wont eat at all. I typically feed Alicia while Mari feeds Victor on the end (in the yellow). He is lactose intolerant so he has to get special food. Today they actually got a little bit of some sort of fish with their rice and beans. And of course their farota on top!

Lunch room

Nap time

After lunch day the little ones take a nap. It is honestly pure chaos for a good 10 mins until they calm down. They have mats with sheets on top. This is only half of them in there. Once they have all laid down, the mats are completely full.

They always say pictures speak louder than words....So as you look at these pictures, `Remember the simple pleasures in life.`

Tchau for now,
Nicki

A Day at Santa Teresa De Lisieux

2011-05-16T16:21:00.000-05:00

Most of you know that there are 7 other Lilly employees here with me. Scott Monk lives in Indiana at corporate. He is a research scientist and we have been placed at the same education center to volunteer. He did such an awesome job of describing our placement, so I asked him if I could post it on my blog. Writing is definitly not my talent, but I wanted you all to get a more vivid picture of what I have been doing and where I have been the last two weeks. Scott and I are in rooms right next to each other. He has three year olds, I have two year olds.

"My placement for 2 weeks here in Salvador is assisting at Santa Teresa De Lisieux, which is a child care and education facility in one of the favelas (shanty towns). They provide child care and education for some of the poorest families in the area. My placement is assisting in a class with 3 year olds. As in any class in the US, 18 three-year olds with only 1 teacher is overwhelming. However, layered on top of that is the fact that most of the children are living in severe poverty and do not receive sufficient nutrition or attention at home. It is now late fall in Salvador, which is the rainy season. (It is still quite hot and humid.) When it rains, it creates many problems in the favelas - the streets become difficult to navigate, the steep sidewalks become slippery enough to be very dangerous, and in many areas sewage may wash down the street. Therefore, the teachers never know how many kids will actually make it to the center on days that it rains. Many remain at home, with or without supervision.
Our assignments are for 3-4 hours every morning. My job is to help the teacher in any way I can to keep order in the room while at the same time trying to incorporate some educational time. No one at the center speaks English, which makes the whole endevor much more challanging, to say the least.

I have managed to muddle my way through a few games in which I didn't understand a word that was said, but the kids seem quite entertained just to have another adult in the room that will give them any attention. The kids call the volunteers tia or tio, for aunt or uncle. The minute I tell one child the picture they are coloring is "bom" or"lindo", the cries of "Tio! Tio! Tio!!!!" fill the room with all the pictures waving in the air. "Lindo?!!! Lindo?!!!". In our interactions with the kids, it is clear they many are starved for attention, and only get it when they are at the center.
In addition to playing and some type of education time (practicing letters,usually), the kids also get a shower and meal; for some of them, the center is the only place they will receive either that day. All the kids get rice, and the rest of the lunch is doled out sparingly. Black beans everyday, but some days some of the kids end up with not much more than the juice because there is not enough to go around. There is also some type of meat everyday, but it gets distributed like small pieces of gold by one of the teachers. It does not appear that every child gets meat, but I'm not sure if this is determined based on what the teachers think the child may get to eat at home or if they try to spread it out so that each child gets some meat a couple of times a week. They also receive fortified milk as a "snack" during the day. The problems with nutrition and hygiene that these kids face is very evident, as several of them already have very severe tooth decay, and they are only 3 years old.
I'm not sure I will ever be able to sufficiently describe how amazing this experience has been from day one. It is very intense, exhausting, terrifying, and HOT. It is extremely frustrating at times trying to manage my way through everyday but knowing little Portuguese. But it is also absolutely incredible and I am having the time of my life."

Scott and I have very different teachers. His is very calm and if he asks for something she says the words slowly in Portuguese. I feel as though my teacher (I also have one and 18 two year olds) seems to get somewhat overwhelmed, yet she still tries her best and shows them love as much as possible. Each day I try to bring in something a little different for the kids to do. The one constant is that I bring a different picture to color. Today was a turtle! I also brought in stickers; once the kids went through the rainbow and where able to identify the colors, they got a sticker! (Of course no-one walked away empty handed!) They loved it! Each day I walk in and they are so excited that I returned, they shout "Tia Tia!" I think seeing someone come back and remember who they are makes them feel so loved. At the end of the day that's all that anybody really wants.

Tchau for now!

Nicki

P.S. I asked Mari (my teacher) if I could bring my camera tomorrow. So hopefully I will be able to post some pics of kiddos soon!

Morro (pronounced Moho)

2011-05-15T15:23:00.000-05:00

Well over the weekend we get to do what we want. So myself and a group of 4 other girls went to Morro (pronounced Moho). It was an adventure to say the least!

We left right after we got done at placement (where we volunteer) on Friday. We bought a ticket for 75 Reias which is about $50. It is supposed to be a direct 2 1/2 hour boat ride over there. When we sat down, someone who spoke a little English told us that the boat wasn~t going to Morro like they said it was. I started freaking out a little bit as the boat started backing up. He was talking to the guy that sold us the ticket to try to help us understand what was happening. After about 10 mins of back and forth we finally understood that the water was too rough to take the boat over. So we had to take a 40 min ride to one island, get in a van for 2 hours and then take another boat ride for about 30 mins to finally make it Morro.

This is the are the bus dropped us off at....I wouldn~t have kept going if we didn~t have a guy who spoke English and Portugese with us....

The second boat we took is behind me

A pretty picture I took from the second boat

Once we finally got there, it was worth it. The boat docked and there were guys waiting with wheelbarrows that said TAXI on the side to carry our luggage. I didnt use one bc I just brought a back pack for the weekend. When I saw this though, it was weird. There are no cars on the island.

Taxi on Morro


We saw a lot of donkeys pulling things around


A picture of the beach

The weather was really nice and sunny around 80 degrees. I applied sunscreen all over twice and somehow still got burnt to a crisp...so now Im miserable.

Overall, it was nice to get away for the weekend. Back to placement tomorrow and then Friday I start my treck home. I will be ready to get back and see Bryan and the doggies!

Tchau for now,

Nicki

Farofa!

2011-05-12T11:42:00.000-05:00

So yesterday I posted about Odulum. Michael Jackson actually filmed a video at the very spot I took pictures. (Pelourinho). Regardless of whether or not you like him, the videos gives you a really good idea of what Salvador looks like. It shows the favelas (slums) (shown at the beginning of the video). These are the houses you see stack on top of each other where the clothes hang outside etc. These are the areas where we are spending our volunteer time at.

The last couple days at my placement we have left right after the kids eat lunch. One of the interesting seasonings they eat is called farofa (manioc flour). It comes from manioc root. The children get a bowl with some rice and beans and then farofa on top of it. If we have not put the farofa on it, they will let it set in front of them and ask Farofa! Farofa! Here is a before and after picture. The second picture is what they put on their food.

And last but not least! A group pic!

From left to right: Olivia (from Ireland), Belinda (from England), Carlos (from Puerto Rico), Me, Denai (from Indy), Jess (from Indy), Manuel (originally from Spain now in Indy) and Scott (from Indy)

Tchau for now!

HUGS!

Macarena WHAT?

2011-05-11T15:11:00.000-05:00

I write you from the internet cafe!

Placement:
My apologies for not blogging the last two days. Time flies here b/c there is so much going on. If we arent at our volunteer placement we are learning something about the culture or studying our Portuguese. I am also going to apologize up front for my wrong punctuation. The keyboards are different here and dont have the same keys. IE: aren~t, don~t, can~t should all have apostrophes.

So today was my third day at placement. We had a feedback session after lunch today. Here was my feedback:
Number one challenge is not communication with the kiddos, but with the instructor. Because I am only here two weeks, I didnt want to interfere with how she runs the room and I am having trouble asking if I can get the children do to something. I was/am totally wrong in this thinking; according to Vinny, we are not interfering by bringing in `lessons`. They actually take the ideas we have and use them once we leave. I am working with Mari in a classroom of 18. Prior to coming I thought two things: 1. 18 kids aren~t too bad (THEY ARE 2). 2. We only are at placement for 4 hours a day? Let me just tell you this, CCS has been doing this a long time and they know what they are doing when they place you and for the amount of time they place you. 4 hours a day with two year olds can exhaust anyone out especially when you throw in the language barrier. I do however understand why they need volunteers year round. There just flat out isnt enough hands to go around. These kids need love, hugs, some sort of structure and just attention. One of the challenges I think short term volunteers have is feeling that they arent contributing because we are here for such a short amount of time. NOT TRUE. I asked Vinny what Mari has said about me being there (feedback feedback feedback) and he said that she looked at him and just said, thank you thank you` and `you arent going to leave me without a volunteer right? Overall, I would say that Im forsure out of my comfort zone, but staying patient is key.

To me, the second most important thing they need besides extra hands is the tools to learn. This afternoon when I got back, I got very emotional about not being able to find books to read to them. Books are the key to learning. I looked all over the classroom and there were about three books. They didn~t correlate though with the age range. Even though they didnt correlate, I thought well, lets read anyway. They ran over and just circled around me and were THRILLED to see what was in the book and where trying to point out what stuff was in it. IE: elephant, monkey I was thinking about where I live and the amount of books that are available to kids and not just books, but leap frog, interactive learning etc.As far as toys go, there is a basket with random toys. You might find thre or four random leggos, a head to a doll, a large piece of plastic that came from some sort of playset at one point. This allowed me to see the IMAGINATION the children have. I ate a lot of imaginary food today! My tummy was FULLL!

As an educator here, you have to be extremely creative and use what resources you have. So tonight Im going to use a magazine and cut out categories of stuff like colors, parts of the body, transportation, numbers and paste them to paper. Although I cant leave what I bring (due to CCS rules which are in the best interest of the children), hopefully it will give Mari and idea of something she can do. Ive pretty much planned out the next several days so that things can go as smoothly as possible. The more group activities we involve the kids in, the better the day goes. I think this is a universal concept! =-)

Macarena what?:
Two nights ago we had Capoeria lessons at the house. You might be wondering what Capoeria is. Our pictures do it NO justice. My video isnt loading, so I will have to share when get back to Texas! Capoeria is a type of dancing/fighting. When slaves where brought over from Africa, they practiced fighting, but made it look like dancing so that their owners did not know what they were doing. When they practiced they would `duck` so they didnt actually kick each other, but then when really fighting they would follow through. Its pretty intersting stuff!

Pelourinho:
Yesterday afternoon/evening we got a tour of the Pelourinho. This is where the orginally city of Salvador was at. It was enclosed by a wall all the way around and had a north and south entrance. Today is consists of the upper and lower city. This is a picture of the lower portion. Pelourinho stands for pole. A pole stood at one end of the city and they would sadly tie slaves to the pole and beat them.....

On Tuesday nights the Pelo turns into a different place! This is the night that people in Salvador go out and listen the drums play and dance until late into the night. We only stayed until about 10:00. The story behind is the night life on Tuesdays is that a group of drummers called Olodum, they used to go out in the streets and play music to sell their albums. It grew into a community wide event. Now, on Tuesday nights, you can find the Pelo filled with people and goups of people playing drums everywhere. IT IS AWESOME!!!
This was one of the groups we saw last night. I have video that I will have upload later!

This is a youtube video of Olodum from youtube. This is what you will find at the Pelho on Tuesday nights!(kind of small, sorry!)

This is a church that has over 500 kilos of gold. A rosary was taking place when I took this picture! All that you see is GOLD!

Although Catholic is the main religion here (they have 365 churches alone in Salvador, and I thought Keller had a lot of churches!) Candomble is a also a type of religion that is practiced here. There are eight different God and to find out which God protects you, you roll shells. Below is a picture of the main food for each God. If you see the third picture it is popcorn. When we were standing there as a group I said, `Bryan worships that God!` hehehe...everyone laughed! Love you babe!

Below is a picture of their `Pepper`. They truly only have salt (not that ANY additional is needed in the food!)on the table. If you want pepper, this is what you use! Cammie, I promie this would even be too hot for you to load on your food! lol

Tchau for now!

I really miss my family and friends back home! Love you!

From the Scientists to the Trainer!

2011-05-08T19:54:00.000-05:00

This is a picture that came about after a deep discussion around what each of us do. When we first met we gave our "titles", but then after talking a little more we put the puzzle together on how we each are involved in a different part of getting the right product to the right patient.

From left to right we have Scott and Manuel who are mad scientists in the lab =-), Denai is a statistician that supports health outcomes, Carlos who manages a manufacturing plant in Puerto Rico and then ME! I work face to face with the docs!

Discussing what each of us do and the passion we each have in our roles is awesome! I have a new appreciation for what others do to get the right products to patients!

There is so much more behind a TITLE, ask someone to really explain their role to you within the next week! You might be surprised!
Boa notie,

Nicki

Happy Mother´s Day from Salvador!

2011-05-08T10:34:00.004-05:00

Today I am thinking of my mom, mother and law and all the amazing mom and grandmas out there! Today is your day and thank you for the support and guidance you have given to many of us over the years! If it wasn't for my mom I probably would not be sitting here in this Internet cafe writing you from Salvador today. She is the reason I have been blessed with so many amazing things in my life and made the sacrifices she did to make sure both my brother and I and grew up with solid foundation. She made sure we did everything with integrity and to our fullest potential! Love you mom!

This morning we had our orientation where we went through our volunteer packet placements and discussed out loud more about where we would be. The education center I am at is there to support children whose families are the poorest of the poor. I was looking over the schedule of daily activities and twice they change clothes during their time and we even bath them at the center; this is not a normal routine event at their home. In America we are not thinking about if we are or not going to bath our children but more often which parent is going to do it that night and which cute pjs are we going to put them in once they are all clean? Big difference. We also began going through common phrases that are spoken here and specifically in our volunteer placement areas. I have so much respect for those that learn another language other than that of their native country. Many people here speak no English at all. I took this for granted, as many of the places I have been that are NOT predominately American, majority of the populations learns and speaks English. I´m on Brazilian playing field now and I am trying so hard to make sure I show patience in trying to communicate.

I have tried twice now to load a video of where I´m staying, but having trouble. I´ll keep trying! In the meantime here are some other photos!

I´ve seen multiple areas like this where there is a big fence all the way around a field in the middle of busy roads.

By the beach

A CHOCOLATE DIET.....WOW...if only this was possible!

This is Vinnie. He is our house Director. We were introducing ourselves, I said I was from Fort Worth, Texas....he said "O, I had someone from Texas come and he gave me this!" (and then he proceded to lasso Ronnie) I told him," yes, Vinnie, we all carry lassos with us wherever we go in Texas."

Make sure to give your mom a hug and kiss for Mother´s Day!

Tchau for now!

Nicki

First Reactions in Brazil....

2011-05-08T10:32:00.002-05:00

Well I have arrived! Plane ride went really well and I have had the opportunity to meet most of my "housemate". Everyone is so nice and shows the same enthusiasm that I do. Ronnie, Leigh and Cindy were here before we arrived. They are doing 9-12 week trips. Leigh first went to Cape Town with CCS and then came to Salvador and Ronnie is leaving today to make his next 12 weeks stay in Guatemala. So cool!

My first reactions are WOW....this city has so much history, culture, different types of people, different types of food, the list goes on and on. When we got in the van to go from the airport to home base the first thing we saw were slums, known as favelas. They are stacked high up on a hills and most windows were open with laundry hanging to dry. There are bars on all the windows and around buildings here safety and it is sometime hard to tell when you are going from a "rough" part of town to a "good" part of town. Again, where we are staying is known as Garca. (I spelled it wrong in my last post). Right by home base we have a bank across the street and believe or not, there is actually a Subway and McDonalds here. I'm going to stay away from those, I've got enough of that back home in the states! =-)

I did take a long hot walk around town and down to the beach. (The humidity is worse than Houston and there are no air conditions here) To get down there it is about a 15-20 min walk downhill and to get back a 20-30 minute uphill hike! lol We all went together to a the north end of the beach where a line of "bars" are. It reminds me of a Brazil version of Broadway in Lubbock, McKinney Ave in Dallas or Broad Ripple if your from Indy. My point is, there is a line of little windows that each represent a different "bar/restaurant." Kind of interesting.

Getting around town is pretty easy. We wither walk or take a cab. Most of the locals use the bus system. When we passed by various bus stops there were upwards of 80 people around the stops. The buses all have open windows for air. Reminder: no air condition here. Because they don't have air conditioners you will see shutters on a lot of the building so that in the summer time (this is not summertime for them) they can "shut out" the sun to keep cool.

More to come tomorrow!

Boa noite,

Nicki

City and Beach View

This is Vinnie's car. Brazilian's that have cars typically have one that is small that looks like this. He is getting it ready to sell b/c he said he doesn't really need it. He said it costs 25,000 reias (pronounced heyis). This is approximately $15,000.

Salvador, ready or not, here I come!

2011-05-06T08:51:00.002-05:00

I've read books, I've made a packing list, I've checked it not twice but like 40 times, I've made a photo book
of my family and friends to bring, I've done as much as I think I can to prepare.

For some reason I fee exhausted right now. I think it's all the emotions stirring up in me. Flying isn't my favorite
thing in the world and I'm about to be in the air for nearly 12 hours. I know people travel international all
the time. But, Nicki Turnbow doesn't. The exhaustion also come from saying "bye" to my husband this morning;
I broke down. After he left, I texted him and said, "I always realize how much I love you when I have to leave
you." We all tell our spouses/significant others we love them, but probably more out of routine on a daily basis
because that is what you are used to doing (I'll speak for myself I guess). But, then when you have to be apart,
for me anyway, it reaffirms the feelings I have.

Anyway, overall, two weeks isn't long, but being in a different place, with people you don't know, and with out your
normal "routine" (I'm a routine girl) it can make you home sick. While I'm more of a homebody, I think that this
is going to be such a phenomenal adventure and will allow me to experience another culture, and means of living.
So don't get me wrong, I can't wait to explore, learn, teach, and grow over these next two weeks!

I had planned on bringing my computer, but last night I decided to leave it at home. No worries though, there
is an internet cafe about 15-20 walk from out home base. I'm going to try really hard to share with yall at least
every other day. Plus, I want to submerge myself in the culture. I think it is going to be nice walking to and from
the cafe (with a buddy obviously).

THANKS JEFF FOR THE BOOKS!!

Stay tuned friends!

Nicki

I got my volunteer placement!

2011-04-29T13:05:00.000-05:00

Centro De Educacao Infantil Santa Teresa De LisieuX-Saint Therese of Lisiseuc Eduation Center (That's a mouthful!)

So the official name of my placement is above, in other words, I will be at a community educational organization teaching children, assisting teachers and teaching English.

The center was founded in May 1980 and gives attendtion to children and their families by providing Education, Social Assistance and Spirituality in a holistic view. Upper-middles class ladies and couple from Salvador supply the funds to help this organization run. There are a total of 85 children and 5 teachers.

My activities will include:

Assist teachers by caring for the children and organizing learning activities
Play games with children
Assist the staff with educational programming, including teaching, entertaining activities and creating new ways for children to learn
Organize and develop learning activities for the students according to what is being given in class
Provide individual attention to the children
Teach basic for kids
Organize and develop arts and crafts projects

I could not be more excited. The challenging part of the placement is that the 3 head organizers of the center on a scale of 1-5 in English proficiency are a 1 and 2. And my Brazil-Portuguese proficiency is probably lower than that. While we may not speak out loud the same language, I'm sure there will be multiple ways in which we will be able to translate to one another.

Next steps:
I think I'm going to go to a local Half Price Books and see what I can find. Children's stories, flashcards etc. that will help teach ABCs, numbers, family, body parts, food, animals, greetings, etc. If you have any great ideas, let me know! I'm all ears.

Brazil Home Base Pics!

2011-04-26T17:03:00.002-05:00

I got some pictures of where I will be staying in Brazil! We will be in an area called "Graza" which would compare to a middle class area in America. Our placement areas are in a different part of Salvador.

This is the outside of home base!

One of the bedrooms. The whole "compound" sleeps 40!!!

This is the patio area..

When not doing my volunteer work I plan on being outside at all times experincing Brazil! The house is for sleeping in my opinion! =-)

Myhomebase team! Can't wait to meet them!

210 Languages....The People of Brazil!

2011-04-26T17:02:00.000-05:00

(2nd post from my Lilly Blog)

Oi! (Hello!)

So I have been trying to find just the right book/books to read prior to my trip. The crazy thing with getting this opportunity is that I was offered a new role within the company the same week I found I was selected for Connecting Hearts Abroad. To say the least, things have been crazy in my world, but I am SO BLESSED and glad that God felt I could serve in this way!

After spending time at Barnes and Noble I found A book (yes, just one!). I thought for sure they would have a lot more, but no. Anyhow the book I ended up getting is quit good and I like the way they organized it. It discusses a lot of the cultural/history/religion and then in the back it divides into sections based on major cities and lists various sites to see.

You, luckily, are going to get to learn all about Brazil with me! I feel like if I discuss my learnings on my blog I will learn that much more! (I guess I'm selfishly sharing this with you all!)

Let's get down to it because I keep wanting to read ahead in my book!

THE WORLD'S MOST HETEROGENEOUS POPULATION

I thought that was AMERICA! I was wrong! The Brazilian colonial society was composed of only men that came over from Portugal. Unlike the Puritans of New England who were actually outcasts of their home country, the Portuguese men liked coming to Brazil. For decades is was strictly men who came over and while they were still loyal to their home country they eventually found a new home in Brazil. So why you might ask the "World's Most Heterogeneous Population?"

It started with the mix of the Portuguese men and the "local" females. These people were the first "Brazilians" known as the Mamelucos (White men and Amerindian women). Later, the Cafusos (Amerindian and African blood) and the Mulatos (African and European). In the 1500s there were nearly 5 million Amerindians (the original people of Brazil). Today, there are only 700,000 who are living on government reservations in Mato grosso.

A larger portion of the population is referred to as "Afro-Brazilian" which was a result of slavery from the early 1500s to the late 1800s. The slavery rebellion that took place can be described as both tragic and harrowing. While many lives were lost, by 1888 the Lei Aurea (Golden Law) was signed freeing nearly 800,000 slaves. This was the start of a new begining!

SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

This next portion honestly made me think, "How does the compare to our home country of America?"

Shocking facts of Brazil: (From 2006 Brazilian Census Bureau)

49.9% of the total population and 88.4% of the richest 1% of Brazilians were white....

Over 1/2 of the whites in the 18-24 age bracket (51.6%) attend college vs 48% of population classified as Afro-Bazilian make up a mere 19% that attend college.

It makes you wonder what could that "richest" 1% look like if that 19% looked more like 48%. If others were given the same opportunities that I was growing up, how much different would our world look? I really don't know. Just something to ponder.

WOMEN'S ROLES

Women's roles have historically been similar to those we have seen in the U.S. The biggest difference is that by 2010 2/3 of candidates for presidency were women and on Oct 31, the first female President was elected in Brazil.

210 LANGUAGES

" Around 210 languages are used in Brazil, including an estimated 80 Amerindian languages, and about 130 of them are endangered because they are spoken by groups of fewer than 600. Many are on the verg of extinction, spoken by only a handful of people, mostly elderly." Insights Guide-Brazil

***What was happening in Brazil when Lilly was founded (1876 for those of you who don't know!)?***

The closest historical date I have is 1871, this is when children born to slaves were declared free.

TCHAU for now! (Goodbye)

Nicki

Preparing for Brazil!

2011-04-26T12:10:00.000-05:00

For Brazil, I will actually be using a company blog to post my "travel journal". However, everything I post, I am going to copy and paste in my personal blog so that family and friends can follow if they choose! My first post is below:

SALVADOR BRAZIL!!! I am so excited for this adventure. Just getting the paperwork together and applying for my Visa has been quit the experience! (I finally got my visa in!)

I have been blessed with many volunteer opportunities. I have worked with Children Advocacy Centers, Local Children's Hospitals, Food Banks, Girl Scouts of America in the promotion of "real" beauty, Animal Services, Habitat for Humanity, and my most recent venture involved 60 miles in 3 days for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. My team, Pink Soles in Motion spent countless Saturdays raising funds and training; we were awarded the Top Fundraising Team totaling over $170,000. I've signed up again for 2011, but I want to continue to do great things and find new adventures! Connecting Hearts Abroad is going to be a life-changing experience. I want to serve others, make a difference, emerge myself in another culture, truly understand what it means to live in America and the difference that we as Americans can makes, to be an agent of change, and to enrich my knowledge and global perspective outside of my bubble that I call Dallas Fort Worth. I have an inherent need to help others, to serve others, and to put a smile on face that may have been missing. I hope to share my knowledge and culture with others in the hopes that they can use it to work towards their goals and dreams of life.

Here, I will be able to share my journey!

I have already begun researching Brazil and finding books to read up on the culture along with trying to learn basic phrases in Portuguese. A good friend, Jeff Lopez, was given the opportunity to teach there for a couple years and is sending me some of his reading material!

I have to be honest, I am nervous about my travels, but I am so excited to go lend a hand where I can! Stay tuned!

A post by Baron Batch: When Ripples Collide

2011-04-13T19:44:00.000-05:00

I had to share this...pretty good stuff. Baron Batch is/was the running back for Texas Tech. Every Wednesday he writes a column in the Lubbock Avalanche Journal...He wrote this Blog entry on March 26th, it's long, but you have to get to the end where it all comes together!

Diary 25 (when ripples collide)

Let me start by saying I’m not sure how to convey this story in words. Words don’t do it justice but I’ll try.

Have you ever watched rain fall on a lake? Each raindrop creates its own ripple. When you combine the millions of raindrops and the millions of ripples that each singularly creates, you have a countless number of overlapping ripples that all have an effect on one another. The cool thing about this is that each raindrops ripple has an effect on the other ripples in the lake, even if it’s just in a small way. This is how people operate on a daily basis. We are individual raindrops in a huge lake. Of course each of us has our own ripple, but our lives are primarily made up of other peoples ripples crashing into our own. Many people like to think that our ripples crash randomly into each other without purpose or reason. Maybe that’s true, but then again maybe it’s not true at all. Perhaps I can help you decide. Maybe this story is the result of many ripples just coincidentally crashing into each other. Or maybe each ripple was ordered, measured, weighed, named, and timed perfectly to synchronize with the others to save a life.

The story I am about to tell shows what happens when ripples collide perfectly.

Ripple 1.)

Just about every day someone approaches me and tells me how much they enjoy my writing, this is always humbling because I was never a good writer while I was in school. It’s strange to now be a published writer and have zero writing experience or background. It’s even more insane to get a request to speak to a high school creative writing class! What do I say? “Hi, my name is Baron. I failed English, let me show you my writing skills?" I’m not really sure how things got to this point where writing is such a huge part of who I am. Maybe it’s all a coincidence. Maybe everything is just random, and this is another one of my crazy hobbies that I have picked up; just like the time I watched the Karate Kid marathon and then researched bonsai trees and decided I needed one. Or maybe there is a reason, maybe there is an order, maybe there could possibly be a plan.

Maybe someone, somewhere, at some time, needed to read something that I would at some point write.

Would it be far-fetched to say that there is a reason you are standing where you are standing at this exact moment and reading these words at this exact time? Would it be far fetched to say that a small decision that you see as pointless or routine could save a life? Perhaps we are all far more connected than anyone can see or comprehend. Maybe one day you will save my life. It’s not as far-fetched as you may think. Maybe everything is just a coincidence, but maybe its not.

Get on board, buckle up, and lets take a trip.

Ripple 2.)

Back in August I approached the Midland Reporter Telegram and the Lubbock Avalanche Journal about possibly writing a weekly column chronicling my senior year at Texas Tech. After talking with both papers I came to the decision that my column would run every Wednesday. Maybe the fact that we agreed on Wednesday was simply random. What if we would have decided on a Thursday? No biggie right? Would if be far-fetched to say that this would be a life or death decision?

Ripple 3.)

As the season progressed I continued to write every week. However, it became increasingly difficult to write my column especially after a loss. People said that I wasn’t focused and it was hurting the team. There were weeks I told myself that I was just going to quit writing. I rationalized my thinking by telling myself that I should probably just focus all my attention on football, and that writing was distracting me. It probably wouldn’t have been a big deal if I had missed a week right? Every part of me wanted to quit writing my column. After the Oklahoma State loss I decided I was going to discontinue my column. A friend talked me into continuing my writing by saying “maybe someone needs to hear something you have to say Baron.” I decided not to stop. I’m glad I didn’t.

This is where ripples collide.

Ripple 4.)

Last Monday I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed. It’s not as bad as everyone makes it out to be, so the next day I decided that I wanted to have a steak. As I was strolling through the meat section of the supermarket directly violating the dentists orders to eat only soft foods, something happened that changed the way I will use the word random.

As I was checking out the price on ribeye steaks an older man came up to me with his hand extended and said, “Your Baron Batch and I just want to shake your hand and say thank you”.

I could tell by the look in his eyes that the handshake meant much more than I imagined. The look in his eyes was different than if he was just a regular Texas Tech fan. The man just continued to shake my hand while staring at me; it started to get awkward the amount of time his hand clung to mine. I thought to myself “gees this guy is acting like I saved his life or something.” Finally he let go of my hand but still didn’t speak a word. Of all the awkward Texas Tech fan moments I have experienced this one had been the most awkward for sure. I got nervous when he prefaced his conversation with “I don’t expect you to respond to what I’m about to tell you”

Ripple 5.)

Finally he released his grasp and spoke words that I will never forget. This is what he said:

You saved my life. Five months ago I had given up, I was going to end it all. It was a Wednesday (ripple 2). I felt like I had nothing else to live for. I had my pistol in my lap while I sat at my desk. I had set newspaper out around the floor so I wouldn’t make a mess for whoever found me. I was about to do it. Right before I pulled the trigger I looked down and saw a piece of newspaper that said, “The easiest thing in the world to do is quit.” I put the gun down and started to read more. It was a column that you had written. Your column saved me. Thank you.

I’m glad that he told me that he didn’t expect me to respond because I was speechless. I was in awe. I was stunned. Before I could even think of anything to say back to him he said, “I’m doing much better now. I feel like you just needed to know that you’re making a huge difference.” Then he walked away.

I’m not an emotional person at all but I almost cried in the meat section of the United Supermarket. At that exact moment all of those random coincidences swirled into one beautiful event that made perfect sense.

What if I had chose to have my column run on a Thursday instead of a Wednesday? It would have been a day late. What if I had given up writing my column simply because the season wasn’t going as I wanted? There are hundreds of ripples that if any had been changed would have NOT resulted in the perfect situation for that man to sit the gun down. What if my column had been printed on another page of the newspaper? I was in complete awe, and still am.

I was curious to find out what the exact column the man had read by what he described it said.

Ripple 6.)

This is why I am even more in awe. I went back and found out what column he had read and this is the paragraph he saw.

“The easiest thing in the world to do is quit on something. Quitting takes zero effort. Quitting can even be justified with excuses and legitimate reasons at times. When someone quits at something they can even lie to themselves by saying that what they quit on wasn’t that important. To those people with that mentality this is what I have to say. If it was important enough to start, it is important enough to finish. Don’t quit. Hold on, cling to what is yours until your fingers cramp; and once your fingers cramp switch hands.”

Ripple 7.)

I wrote that column on October 18^th after a loss to Oklahoma State in mid October. There are a few reasons why I find it mind blowing that was the column that the man had read.

Ripple 8.)

I wasn’t going to write a column that week. After the Oklahoma State loss I had decided I wasn’t going to write anymore. The reason I wrote about not quitting in my column that week was because I really wanted to quit and never write again. Good thing I didn’t quit.

Ripple 9.)

The other is reason that its mind blowing that was the column that the man read is because of the date it was actually written. When I went back and looked on my blog history, the date I posted that was October 18^th. So why is that date important?

Let me tell you why, and I’m getting chills as I write this. October 18^th was the date I broke my ankle my freshman year. The reason this date is important to me is because if I wouldn’t have been injured I would have never redshirted and in result would have only played at Texas Tech for 4 years instead of 5; meaning that this past season for me wouldn’t have existed, and neither would the column I wrote.

Ripple 10.)

In all reality the only reason any of you are reading this right now is simply because I was at the wrong place at the wrong time on October 18^th 2006 around 3:30pm and broke my ankle my freshman year. Or maybe the reason you are reading this is because I was at the perfect place at the perfect time and broke my ankle so that our ripples would collide.

This will be my 25^th column and I never would have imagined that it would have morphed into what it has. I never thought I would be known as a writer or be approached to write books. I mean seriously, I was the kid who hated English class and still don't really enjoy reading.

I had to share that story with everyone simply because its blown my mind for the past few days. Maybe that’s all just one humongous coincidence and series of random events that I somehow constructed into a story. Maybe its all luck and chance, maybe you stumbled on this article randomly surfing the web. Maybe nothing we do matters at all.........but....... what if everything does?

God Bless."

Left on Keys

2011-03-28T17:03:00.000-05:00

Just had an awesome weekend with the Morrows. They've become very close friends and its always a lot of laughs when we are with them! It's been awhile since we have done a getaway with them, so in December we decided we would take a trip to Nathan's Dad's cabin in Ruidoso. Thursday night we headed out around 6ish....first mess up was we thought it was an eight hour drive....when we finally took a left on Keys St at 3:30 am we realized "Nope..91/2".....That was the beginning of our adventure. Friday morning we had planned on going tubing down the slopes at a local stop. The internet had said that it was the last weekend for it to be open, when we woke up and realized we could wear sandals b/c it was so warm, it was obvious the slope would be closed and sure enough it was. Next stop...go karts! I clearly was the best driver, however Bryan seemed to get the fastest car and Nathan....well....let's just say we all lapped him a couple times....We did some gambling (and by "we" I mean Nathan and Bryan) My stress level is WAY too high when it comes to gambling. We also had drinks looking out over the lake at Inn of the Mountain Gods (and by "we" I mean Chelsea, Bryan and myself; It was Nathan's birthday weekend, he didn't know his license happened to expire this year...so at an age over 30 which I won't disclose, they would not serve him...hahaha) We left on Sunday and before heading out Nathan couldn't find his keys ANYWHERE (must be the old age getting to him)...the good news was we drove so we were able to get back to Fort Worth, but once we got there we had to take Nathan and Chelsea to their house instead of dropping them at their car in Weatherford (Which is halfway between our houses). WE SEARCHED EVERYWHERE...needless to say Nathan and Chelsea spent today getting the car towed to a dealership so they could get a key made for the car because they didn't have spare..lesson learned the hard way...Overall good time and lots of laughs as always!

Looking out at the top of the mountain

Making a wish in the fountain at Inn of the Mountain Gods!

Me and Chels before going out

The boys playing with fake toys..they think they are cool...

"Don't forget to take a lef to Keys",

NEW ADVENTURES!

2011-02-16T23:11:00.001-06:00

Well goodness, quite the whirlwind of things happening lately. So the ice finally melted hahaha....being locked in the house for four days is pure exhaustion....seriously. So lets just get to it.....; I'm exhausted, but I've commited to keeping up this this blog so by gosh, I'm going to do it.

So last week on Tuesday I flew out to Indy to interview for a position as the South Central Area Trainer. Essentially the role entails working with new reps when they first come out in the field. In addition the Area Trainer continues training and development with these rep throughout their first year. I was very nervous to apply, the job involves A LOT of travel, but Bryan encouraged me and said it would help me to grow and develop and quit frankley I would have become very bored in my current role. SO with that I gave it my all and was offered the position! YAY !!! I got a call last Friday at the end of the day with my offer and was flown out to the management meeting first thing Monday morning. (I'm currently still here) I am honeslty loving it and having a blast! It will be a lot of hard work and travel, but again, I know it was the right choice. So greatful for a supporting husband!

Second part of the exciting news....Back in December I applied for a volunteer opportunity Lilly was giving its employees. It involves going to a foreign country and living their culture for two weeks. "Through your program service, you will gain a deeper understanding of how education, economic opportunity and access to health care all play a role in improving outcomes for people who live in underserved communities around the globe." So incredibly exciting! I'm nervous becuase it is something I've NEVER done before and because I will be away from Bryan for two weeks in a row. However, I think it will be a once in a lifetime experience. My assignment is Brazil!

So there ya go! My head is spinning... =-) Looking forward to this weekend with the in-laws! Going to the PBR....

Cheers!

CABIN FEVER

2011-02-02T15:36:00.002-06:00

What happens when you mix snow on top of sleet on top of rain? THICK ICE! I've now been stuck in the house for two days! We woke up yesterday morning to slick slick streets. The temperature with wind chill has been around -5 (Yes negative!) Around Texas there were about 44,000 power outages and they had to do "rolling outages" where they did intentional outages for around 15 to 30 minutes at a time. CRAZY! Atmos energy has turned off gas at commercial areas to be able to provide service to residents.

Of course, we were told to stay home due to this crazy weather! The first day of a snow day is great! We played Rock Band, watched Secretarian (Which is an AWESOME movie, you should watch it!), baked some brownies, did some computer work I even filed our taxes (which can be exciting when you get money back...we were not excited!)!! Day two is making me a little crazy! I had a decent amount of work I got done this morning, but now I've taken about all the couch potatoing I can. The dogs are going a little stir crazy too! Sarah keeps going outside but can't run around like she normally does b/c it is so slick! I'm really really hoping that we are able to get out tomorrow, but seeing as how it is not supposed to get above 32 for a couple days, I don't know! Bryan had to go into work and quit frankly I was pretty irritated that his bosses made them come in. If he stayed home, he had to use his vacation. Of course noone wants to use their vacation when they don't have that much to begin with, so he went in. So he pulled out of the driveway in his truck and couldn't even get out the neighborhood. We have one big hill we have to go up or a smaller hill, so of course he tried to take on the smaller hill and couldn't even get up that. A few minutes later he was back at the house. He ended up taking my car which made me nervous, but at least it had front wheel drive vs his rear wheel on the trucks! My boss told us to stay home, he's great! (Even though I'm ready to get out of the house!)

As I'm writing this up right now, I'm watching all the school closing for tomorrow already...that's three days of no school and possibly no work. WOW!

Here is a pic of our street! I just went out and took this...not melting at all!

STAY WARM,

Naming our blog...

2011-01-24T20:09:00.000-06:00

Ok b/c I'm going to do better blogging, I've been looking at other people's blogs so I can steal ideas...hehehe...

Fist things first...I feel like we need a fun name that goes with our last name, for example:
1. Talking with the Turnbows
2. Turnbow Talk
3. Telling on the Turnbows
Clearly I'm very UNcreative, any ideas?

2010 in one post.....

2011-01-20T21:19:00.001-06:00

HMM...can this year be different than last? So many things have changed for us in 2010, including a new addition to the family! A FURRY friend that is! ;-) So lets see:

1. Bryan got another new job! But this one is permeant! He is now working for Progressive as an estimator. Essentially, when you wreck your car, Bryan will look over it and tell you how much you will get back. He is loving it! Not as stressful as past jobs, and lots of room for growth! Yay Bryan!
2. Bryan got a new truck...I think I've gotten to ride in it 4 times now. It stays in the garage A LOT. Cool. lol
3. We adopted a doggie from the local Shih Tzu rescue. She was named when we got her and we decided to keep her name! Sarah...it was Sarah Jessica Parker, but we dropped the "Jessica Parker" and added "Turnbow"! She fit right in and it seems like we have had her forever! LOVE HER!

This is typically where they are, barking at school kids outside!

4. We went to VEGAS! Our friends last minute decided to go to Vegas to see the Dew Tour. We decided, "Why not?!" We got a great deal and stayed at the Westgate Resort, part of Planet Hollywood.

5. In November I did the 3 Day. 3 days 60 miles. AWESOME. One of the best accomplishments thus far in my life. Mom came out and surprised along with Aunt Deb! Chelsea and Nathan, some of our friends in Fort Worth came out too! I was so surprised!! It reminded me of the amazing family and friends I have! I'm doing it again in 2011! www.the3day.org/goto/nickiturnbow2011.

6. We redid the Kitchen!!! YEESH...we were dying of fumes for like a week! But it turned out great!

I did the backsplash with the help of my friend Stephanie!

When we moved in....

During the remodel.....

DONE! (Well except appliances...still are going to replace microwave, oven and dishwasher!)

GOALS FOR 2011.....the backyard and master bedroom! =-)

World's Worst Blogger!

2009-08-23T10:51:00.035-05:00

Yes, I am the World's WORST Blogger! Last weekend I got to go see my good friend Jennifer. Unfortunately it wasn't due to the best circumstances, but in hard times it seems that good friends are brought together. Anyhow, during my visit she told me she likes to keep up with our blog and told me "You're the worlds worst blogger.." I couldn't disagree. Tis true. I need Bryan to help out with it!

So again, I guess I will have to catch everyone up with what has been going on at the Turnbow household!

Looks like the last post I had just finished up the bathroom. Since then we haven't done much more with the house except get new chairs so that company can actually sit down!! Maintaining the house alone has kept us entirely too busy! It truly is exhausting. If we aren't working in the yard or cleaning the house we are paying bills, grocery shopping etc...geez.

So lets see...

May:

Bryan got a new job at Scotts Lawncare! He goes around to various areas in the DFW metroplex and does lawn treatments. It was kind of nice when he started because I would get him to come by and spray our weeds! (Which were out of control!!!..Next year we will be here early enough to out pre-emergent down) He likes it, but he is outside all day in the hot heat...No worries though, we got him a big jug to carry water around in....although he still needs to be careful. He has had some funny encounters. Because he has to go into customer's backyards he often runs into dogs. One day he came home talking about how he chased a dog around a neighborhood. I can only imagine what that looked like. He eventually got the dog back in the backyard and locked him in there...Anyhow, he is liking his job, but hopefully he is going to be transitioning to the fire department soon. Irving fire department is looking to take a class in November, so Bryan really wants to get on with them. Keep him in your prayers.

Towards the end of may we had a huge storm come through. One night Bryan and I were sitting at the dinner table and I looked out to the west and mentioned how dark it was out there. By the time we were done eating the tornado sirens were going off. So we grab Sammy and got in the closet. We had our flashlight and that was about it. I tried to call Meredith to tell me what was going on but the call kept getting disconnected. But texts worked! Our electricity went out and it sounded like the hail was going to come through our roof. We are now more prepared if this happens again.Our house stayed in tack thank goodness, but our roof was totaled, and our chimney was yanked up from our roof. Fortunately Bryan was able to get up and hammer it back down until the roofers could get out. Can you believe that after living in the house for two months a huge storm like that comes rolling through? Take a look at some of the pics from our house and neighbors by us!

June:

June flew by! We did however manage to find time to take a nice HOT camping trip with some good friends. We had a good time. We floated the Guadalupe river, which was awesome. Although the water was so low that it took us almost 4 hours to go 1/4 of a mile. The cool thing was that were we got off at was right at our tents. The place we camped at was alright. There were tons of people there though and the camp sites were way too close together. The people next to us were listening to their music entirely too loud. One might think I am an old lady, but seriously is it necessary to have the music up super loud when you are sitting RIGHT next to it! Anyhow, after floating the river we went to the Grismil (I think that's how you spell it). It's a pretty famous restaurant down there. It was awesome. Bryan got a pasta salad entree. When it came out that he was pretty disappointed because he thought it was going to be a hot dish...hehe...so I ended up eating most of it! Overall fun trip and good memories!

The following weekend after camping my Dad, Sylvia, John and the dogs came down. It was nice having family out to the house. Dad brought down all sorts of things to fill my closets. He was thrilled to empty his house of my stuff! haha...Anyhow we had a good time. We went and visited the new Cowboys stadium, grilled out some ribs and hung out on the patio. Dad took time to show Sylvia around our old stompin' grounds since the only place in Texas she has ever been is Lubbock (went for my graduation!)...She really liked it...think we could ever get them to move out here? I don't either. =-) It'd be nice to have some of my side of the family in Texas, but they are only a plane ride away so that okay.

July:

HOT HOT HOT!! Two big things happened in July...1.) Air Conditioner broke...yes, you read correctly...2.) Vegas baby! one small thing 3.) I cut my hair off!

So right in the middle of July our air conditioner breaks. I had some friends in town for a wedding. After going out that night we came home and the house was pretty warm (this was a Saturday evening) We thought maybe just because there were so many of us in the house it just got a little warm. Once we all went to bed and woke up the next morning it seemed to be ok. But then that afternoon it was not ok...our house was hot. So we call the warranty company b/c when we bought the house there was a warranty on it. Well the warranty company tells me they can't get someone out until THURSDAY! ( I called on Sunday) I asked them if they were insane...they had no comment. So I argued with them and they finally found someone to come out on Tuesday. So in the meantime Bryan and I go to walmart and buy fans...we set them up so they could circulate the hot air...haha..Tuesday rolls around and I'm wondering why noone has contacted me to meet them at the house to fix the AC. So I call the actual air conditioning company that is supposed to come out. They tell me that First American Warranty just asked if they had an opening...but they didn't confirm it. I call back FAW and tell them situation and they have nothing positive to tell me. So they tell me that the next time they can get someone out is Saturday. That would be an entire week without air conditioner!! NO WAY!! Bryan and I are so miserable at this point we just call someone else out and pay out of pocket. It ended up being a pretty easy fix. Somehow the wires were messed up so our heater and a/c were running at the same time. Needless to say, our electricity bill was high! In the meantime while the a/c wasn't working we had to send the munchkin to the kennel during the day b/c the house was too hot. I was getting ready one morning and Sammy started hacking like he was choking so I called the vet and they said to bring him in. He ended up getting kennel cough while at the kennel even though he is vaccinated! So again, a nice bill from the vet. ahh...dang a/c. Once he got his antibiotic he was good within a week. Whew, that was one miserable week! Picture below shows that it was 99 degrees!!!!!!!!!!!

End of July we went to VEGAS! It was Meredith's 21st so we celebrated! I had never been to Vegas so we thought I probably ought to check it out! There were seven of us that went. It sure was an experience that's for sure. We stayed at the Venetian, which was beautiful! However, their customer service was HORRIBLE! We got there and argued back and forth with the front desk about getting us into a room. They didn't have ours ready and said they only guaranteed to get us in a room at some point in the night! Not only that, but they didn't have a non-smoking room available for us, which is what we reserved in Feb! So we ended up in a smoking room the first night, which was miserable!! After that though things go better! We went out and walked the entire strip. WHEW...that is hot in July! We went and rode the roller coaster at New York New York, which was pretty cool, but we waiting awhile in line b/c it broke down right before we got on. Never a good sign. The second night we were there we went and saw Le Rev....it was a water acrobat show. They do some amazing things and you are entertained the entire time!!! Bryan and the guys went and rode the big shot. There was no way I was getting on that though! My favorite thing about the whole trip was the Belagio fountains. I probably could have sat there all night and watch them. BEAUTIFUL!!! Overall the trip was fun, we lost a lot of money, and I think if we go back we will stay for two days.....

Last, but not least in July...I cut my hair off! That is a big step for a girl!

August:

Are we really almost done with August? Gosh, before we know it Christmas will be here!

In August we had a housewarming party (5 months after we have lived in our house!!) It was fun, we had quit a bit of people over! We hung out, had some drinks and played ladder ball. I like having people over!!

The last two weekend have been kind of low key. Bryan went with his family to Schiliterbaun. They took his cousin Joe down before school starts on Monday. They had a blast. No pictures from that though because I wasn't there! haha...I ended up staying home and going to one friend's wedding shower and then helping Courtney (one of my best girlfriends) go wedding dress shopping. Meredith was also in town for a wedding. We ended up going to the Rangers V. Redsox game Saturday night. We were invited to go up into a suite. Stephanie, I girl I met through work got a box. It was awesome! I have never been in a suite before, I felt important. hahaha...

Last night we went bowling....haven't done that in a LONG time. Chelsea and Nathan joined us for a little Morrow v Turnbow competitions. The Turnbows dominated! haha....Nathan was really good at coming in last. I guess he wasn't putting on his best game last night. Before we started he thought it would be a good idea that whoever came in last had to do 10 pushups on the actual lane! Well, below you will see him fulfilling his idea...

Nathan 'icing down' his hand...haha

Well, that should about catch us up! I will do better. I won't let three months go by before I blog again! haha...

The Turnbows

The NEVER ending project finally ENDED!

2009-05-03T19:20:00.016-05:00

Eventful weekend. For a month now, I have been working on our master bathroom. It has been a exhausting! Bryan and I textured it b/c the previous owners painted the drywall and it just looked goofy. We also had to take down their gorgeous flower wallpaper. So a month ago (maybe three weeks) we textured it! A week goes by and I decide we need to go ahead and paint it. Well we originally thought we would paint it the same color as our bedspread. (Blueish/greenish color) So I went to Home Depot (They don't call it HOME for no reason, IT HAS BECOME MY SECOND HOME!) and had them color match the bed spread. Went home, tried it out and DID NOT like it. So I went back to the HD and decided I was going to do a tanish color with brown glaze. So i bought all the supplies and came home ready to paint. By the end of the weekend I got the entire bathroom painted the base color (goes under the glaze). A week goes by....I decided I need to finish it up! So I get out the brown glaze and get after it! I get a big chunck done and then STOPPED! It was not looking good AT ALL...it honestly looked like leather on our walls!! HIDEOUS! So back HOME (depot) I go! I decide to get a couple samples of different things...some whites/tans etc. I get back to the house and try some out with some different glazes(see below!) At the end of the day I decided to GO BACK with the original plan(color of the bedspread). So away I go painting the entire bathroom again. The good news was that I didn't have to prime it b/c the color i chose covered up the leather brown! So by the end of Saturday night the base color was down!!! This morning it was time to complete the NEVER ENDING project! I glazed it, touched up, took down blue tape (which has been up this whole time) put our hardware back on the walls, cleaned the bathroom and wa la! DONE! THANK GOODNESS!!! Check out the Turnbows new MASTER bathroom below.....Kind of hard to tell in pics but it is a light green with a pearl white glaze over it. Very calming....(Before, MIDDLE, and afters below!)

The One with the Blue Door

2009-03-21T16:43:00.051-05:00

Well, we are moved! Thank goodness! Bryan and I both agreed, we don't want to do that again for a LONG time! Cammie and Rodney (Bryan's parents) came out to help! That was a lifesaver. So the actual day we moved it decided to be rainy and cold! YUCK! That was just the beginning though of the glorious day....When I moved from my old apt from SW fort worth to the one up north, I used Apple Movers. They did a great job and moved quickly; so, I decided we would use them again for the move into the house. Well lets just say they weren't what we were expecting. 2 guys showed up. One of them needed to take a shower (he says his family calls him the black sheep of the family) and the other really wasn't that bad, just quiet. So after talking our ear off for a little bit they finally got started. Well the Black Sheep seemed to not care very much about getting our furniture loaded gently. He did not wrap the furniture and would just load a piece up and make it go CLUNK CLUNK CLUNK all the way down the three flights of stairs.....I sat their cringing....They took FOREVER, but eventually got everything on the truck and over to the new house. Problem #2....our new carpet...I asked the black sheep if they had anything to lay down on our carpet as they brought in the furniture. He said no, so I suggested I would go lay out some flattened boxes for them to walk on, however, he told me I couldn't do that because "he wouldn't want to hurt himself" he then proceeded to check and make sure we had homeowners insurance in case he did fall....I was STEAMING!!!! I then suggested towels by the front door so they could wipe their feet. He said they would walk over, but not take the time to wipe their feet. I was thrilled they were our movers! We decided that they could place the big furniture in the house and leave all the boxes in the garage and we would bring them in b/c I didn't want them trucking back and forth with their UN WIPED feet over our new carpet! At the end of the day though...we got moved in and we were pooped! The next few days were spent unpacking, painting, cleaning and doing yard work! Below are pics of the extravagant events that took place!

This is what the apartment looked like prior to moving....a disaster zone!

Bryan and I working on the house before moving in...we tried to get most the major painting done before moving in!

Unpacking....

Rodney and Cammie hard at work taking down wall paper! (Left) Cammie locking herself in the closet while painting.....we had to go open up a window in there to make sure she didn't pass out!! (right)

Bryan taking down tape from guest room (left) Cammie using the "low rider" vacuum...I guess Bryan and I are going to have to get a new vacuum that works on carpet that is a little longer.... (right)

The guest bath which is stilled taped off b/c there is some painting left to do! Meredith helped paint this room! I think afterwards she decided she didn't like painting as much as she had initially thought she would! (Left) Workout room without any workout equipment haha (right)

We have extra bedrooms so come visit us ANYTIME!

Family room...Bryan watching sports...go figure! Please note the two camping chairs we have in the middle of the room...yes, we need some additional furniture....that is going on the wait list unfortunately...so for now, camping chairs...

The kitchen and breakfast area!

Master bedroom and bath....bath is going to be textured and painted in the near future!

The really big/awesome backyard! Needs some work, but will be looking good soon!

Couldn't forget about the "little guy"...he helped A LOT with the move! =-)

YAY FOR OUR FIRST PLACE!!!!

Hump Day!

2009-02-25T22:17:00.002-06:00

Well Wednesday=humpday=we are on downhill slide of the week!! WEE!! Tomorrow is Friday for me though! Bryan's Friday was today....so I guess Tuesday was our hump day! Anyhow, good news, the Area Director (my boss's boss) canceled our field ride. =-) LOAD OF STRESS, GONE! So, now Bryan and I can finished getting everything ready for closing day! YAY! Hope everyone's week is going as well as ours!! xoxo

What a week!

2009-02-21T10:04:00.006-06:00

It's been a long week! My weekend is here, but Bryan is working today and tomorrow. =-( He has to work weekends unfortunately! So, Sammy and I hang out together! He's a good bud! This week seemed exceptionally long! Maybe because we are getting all the little logistics for the big day (CLOSING DAY) finished up! So next Friday at noon Bryan and I will be sealing the deal and within a split second spend most of our savings, be home owners and have a mortgage! SCARY! While it is scary, we are both SO excited. We will have a place that we can really say is ours, something that we bought together! I joke with a lot of my doctors about how the "honey-do" list has already started. The good news for Bryan is he can't really start it until we have the money! haha... No, there really isn't that much that has to be done on the house. The biggest thing is the back fence needs to be fixed. There is a hole in the back and we don't want the little guy (Sammy) getting out. Speaking of the backyard, I can tell Sam is going to be VERY excited, considering right now when we throw the ball for him he goes sliding into the wall. He gets his momentum up and then all of sudden he has to stop and BAM! into the wall he goes! haha...He's SPEEECCIALLL....lol. So besides the house we are also working on those darn things called taxes...I think someday I might write a book titled "Everything Noone Tells You About Being a Grown Up!" I think is something that should definitely be a "required read" in college! =-) Apparently after you already pay a lot of money out of your pay check every two weeks, the government likes to collect a little bit more at the end of the year so that way they can bail out everyone else who can't manage their money! (I guess they pay for roads and other necessities too...) Next week is going to be even more crazier then this week! I have my boss's boss (the Area Director) riding with me! Talk about high anxiety! So if everyone could say a little prayer....I'd be appreciative! So Thursday is the big ride along with him and then Friday we close. We take possession of the house Friday, but apparently it is normal to let the sellers have two additional days to move out because they don't like to move out until they have money in hand...whatever...I was planning on having a sleepover...I guess we can scrap that idea....As soon as we get the house we will take pics and post them!!!!!!!!

Grammys......and The Bachelor

2009-02-08T21:02:00.005-06:00

Ok so we had a nice Sunday, lounged around, did laundry...then watched the grammys...I don't get famous people...there were some high points but,....the low point....Kayne West and MIA: HORRIBLE!! MIA was pregnant, which isn't a bad thing, but put something on that is flattering! NOT SEE THROUGH!! Kayne West was sporting a mullet/fro..haha..goofy..The other thing with the grammys is that I felt as though it was all British people...did anyone else feel that way? I was excited to see Carrie, I enjoy all her performances, but she sang and old song and wore a whimsical outfit that didn't fit the song. Overall the outfits were just weird. Girls were wearing fluffy/poofy dresses that looked like a horrible 80s prom outfit. So what was good in my opinion? Jennifer Hudson is an amazing singer and always gives me chills. When she sang the National Anthem at the Super Bowel I couldn't get over how great she is! Sugarland always puts on a great performance and Jennifer Nettles is a little cookey, but I love her! Adelle, Chasing Pavements was also great..she has a different voice and the song just sounded very much like a classic! Bryan's favorite was the 4 rappers...KW, MIA, TI, J-Z, and lil Wayne...go figure... Anyways, can't wait for tomorrow, Bachelor is on and we are going home! For the home dates they are coming out to the DFW area b/c Melissa is from here. I really hope Molly gets cut tomorrow. I can't stand her...she is fake and there for the wrong reasons. She just wanted to be on T.V. The moment I knew I didn't like her was when she already had a rose for the night but still stole Jason away from another girl who was trying to have a conversation with him. Greedy!! I like Jillian the best. I think she's a keeper. We will see what happens!

CATCH UP!

2009-01-31T14:10:00.000-06:00

Ok, so we started this blog during summer...yes summer in the hopes that we could let everyone follow along with the wedding plans...Well, that never happened. So here we are in FEB! But, we are going to get good at this blog (or should we say I(Nicki) will) Bryan probably won't want much to do with it. But, the whole reason for getting it was so that family could check out what is going on with us without having to have a facebook profile. Well, that obviously is NOT a problem anymore b/c it seems as though EVERYONE is getting one! Even so, we will still blog...

So CATCH UP TIME!

Bachelorette and Bachelor parties!

We will start with wedding festivities! The bachelorette and bachelor party were a blast. I had a lot of my good girlfirends at the bachelorette party and my Maid of Honor had us play BAR FOOTBALL! We all dressed in our best Texas Tech outfits and went from bar to bar. Each bar was a "Quarter" and each type of drink was worth so many points. To be quit honest....it all got really confusing after "pre-game" and "1st quarter". It was a blast and Court did an AWESOME job planning, best Maid of Honor ever! Bryan and his friends spent quit a memorable weekend on the lake. His dad even joined them for the late night! Needless to say, at the end of the night some of the guys woke up with permanent marker all over their face...Now, seeing as how they are guys, they didn't take any pictures, and if they did, they never made it to me. Bryan always seems to complain about me taking way too many pics, but he has stated he wished he had pics from that....so no more complaining every time I pull out that camera Bryan! Enjoy the pics of the bachelorette party!

Wedding Day!

September 13, 2008 came all way too fast! Before we knew it, it was time to tie the knot. The wedding turned out great! Everything we both could have imagined. I had all sorts of help setting up! Mom, Cammie, Grandma, my Aunt Debbie, and cousins Sarah and Katie. The actual day of wasn't hectic at all. Things all seemed to fall into place...that's probably b/c of all the help from families and my amazing bridesmaids. (Our programs had a typo in them and my bridesmaids didn't even tell me, they took care of it and got them reprinted at no cost for me! I love them!) About 200 people came, as expected, and I think for the most part all 200 had a great time. The dance floor was packed throughout the night and I'm pretty sure most of all of our guests drinks were also on the dance floor. Oh well, having fun is what matters right? One word of advice to friends who will be getting married in the near future.....enjoy EVERY min of the reception, it goes by WAY to fast!

Here are some pics!!

The honeymoon....Playa Del Carmen!

Well we got off to a rocky start for the honeymoon. Hurricane Ike was our worst enemy! He ran over Houston and caused all sorts of problems for not only people that live in Houston, but also for those individuals (Bryan and I included) who needed to stop through there. So the morning we were scheduled to leave, they canceled our flight....what a drag...we finally got rescheduled on another airline and had to drive to Amarillo to leave. We eventually got there and the first day was a blast! The next day Bryan came down with a horrible soar throat and bad fever. He was like that for the rest of the week until the very last day when he started feeling better. We got him some antibiotics at the hotel "doc". Scary...but they got him back to feeling well. The Royal, where we stayed, was beautiful and had everything honeymooners could want! We will try again another year...

Until next time,

The Turnbows

So the honeymoon.....