Las Aventuras de Vane

Hey guys, 

It's funny how sometimes something drastic has to happen to value our life. 
FAMiLY is something we should never take for granted yet it seems to be the 
thing we neglect the most without recognizing it. 
Today I'm grateful for the wonders of technology and the easiness it gives us to 
Skype with our loved ones far away. We've been able to talk to our family, 
helping us feel "close" to them from miles away....

As I was washing dishes today,  the title of today's entry came to me: "las 
aventuras de vane" (vanessa's adventures).  

You see right now one of my duties is to keep Ry informed of...life and it's 
current events! Haha.... 

Yesterday we went to get new SIM cards for our iPhones, one would think this was 
a quick process with no complications...well in reality it is...well if u 
understand the system! :) for some reason I just could NOT understand. We must 
of been there for what seemed like 45 minutes... Ry would look at me and say 
"well, what's the deal?" and all I could say was "I'm sorry I can't explain it 
to u bc I don't get it". :). Imagine his frustration... I remembered reading in 
my morning devotion, "if u need me call my name." As soon as I said the name of 
Jesus everything  became immediately clear and I got it.  Now I know it wasn't 
about the phone plan.  It was about my NEED to call on Jesus!  It was just his 
sweet reminder to me. 

Later that day we went to "Walmart" ( it's a Walmart owned company). We were 
like children in a candy store. It's not very large ( maybe like the size of 3 
baby stores put together) but it has a large selection compared to  other 
places. We got a few things we needed and a few more we wanted..Ry got Oreos and 
I got a few of my childhood snacks.  funny how somethings make our heart smile. 

********  ********

Today we were able to set up our Costa Rican bank account, God answered our 
prayers. We were treated with patience and respect as u can imagine all the 
questions we had. it also helps when ur uncle knows a guy at the bank! :)
I can't complain about anything. God has promised to be good to me and I've seen 
it over and over. 

Our adventures will continue as we make new memories. We live with my aunt 
Ileana, her husband Ever and their 3 sons, Andy, Daniel, and Jonathan..all 
awesome young men in college who love the Lord! I love how special they have 
made me feel. I love how they will all four (3+Ryan) will pick on me, we all 
have a good time. There's lots of laughing going on around here...especially 
when I forget how to say things in Spanish... The latest one was spider. Yes, I 
forgot how to say it... So now at random times of the day I shout out "araña", 
so they know I remember! :)

Spider at Grandma's garden!

A few yrs ago---ry, andy, jonathan, daniel

Find me on skype at Vanessa.martin31

Love u guys! Vm

New Chapter-Page 1

Hey Guys, 

Wow what an awesome day!! God was TOTALLY in control of today!! everything went soo well. 

Check-in at the Atlanta Airport is always fun!! HAHA but we made it...can u imagine us with 7 bags (5 gorditas---big bags) and only 4 hands to carry it all....thankfully we only had a fall out once...(when we were getting on the train all 5 of the gorditas fell off our pushbuggycart-thing and went all over the place...kind strangers...(mostly men with 1 carry-on)  were quick to help and off we went again. Ry and I were just glad to know the bags would be turned in momentarily at the counter! :)

I'm so blessed! Although today was sad at times, I know i will definately look back on today and know that it was a great day!

We are here in Costa Rica...we don't know what exactly we are doing, but God does. HIS Plan is better than mine, so today I chose to embrace that.

The temp is about 68* F, opened window, fan blowing......................happy!

Pictures coming soon!

Good night!

Las 5 Gorditas

Turn my sadness into Joy

When u really think about it at times change requires u to make selfish decisions. And once u make those decisions it doesn't necessarily mean that following through with it is going to be easy. I'm not going to lie, TONiGHT I'm struggling. I can see myself in CR, yet right now I can't bare the thought of saying bye, getting on the plane and being happy about leaving my family and friends behind.   I pray that Jesus makes my heart feel better, right now and the next days to come. I want to be happy, to enjoy being around the ppl we love and excited about those we are getting ready to see. Transitions are hard... But this one has to be the hardest. I imagine it's a struggle of 2 desires... The will to follow God in the way he's asked or the desire of my human nature to not rock the boat and stay here...out of selfishness? Fear?
But as I type this I'm reminded that my treasure is in heaven and that I do...really want my life to count for his kingdom.

I'm blessed that I can call my sweet husband to come cry with me, it reminds me that it will be a team effort. To be each others cheerleader when times get tough.

Keren and David, I love u with all my heart. I will miss seeing your babies grow up... I will miss our conversations and late night card games. But I know that our love will keep us together (and Skype). Please Don't let ur babies not know their auntie vane, that is one of my greatest fears. I love u.

Emotional night but still trying to count my blessings through it all.

Ticos TRUSTing God!

Thanks for checking out our blog!

I decided that this will be a great way to share with you about our New Aventura!

For those of you who are wondering why "Ticos", well it's what people call Costa Rican's... instead of saying "poco"(small/a little) ...we say poquitico... as in just a little, little bit... For example: my name is Vanessa, then it goes to Vane, then Vanessita.  Ticos add "ita" "ito" to everything! Now we will work on making Ryan 100% TiCO! :)

Wow,  I can't even believe we are less than a week away from being in Costa Rica (CR). It's like a reoccurring dream we've had..one day in the near future we will be moving to CR..now it feels like a reality.
Words can't describe the anticipation in our hearts! Could you imagine moving to a place far away from everything you are accustomed to?! One thing we cannot take for granted is having family waiting for us... my sweet family.  Now it's time for us to be there to rebuild relationships with those whom I've lost touch with or... those we don't even know. My (immediate) family has been in the states for 16 years... that's a long time to not have birthday parties or even Christmas with my family in CR.  It's all about to change!

Ryan and I are truly trusting God in this new step in our life. We do not have anything figured out or some big eliaborate plan.  All we know is that God has asked us to GO, to seek him and to give him all that we are and HE promised to take care of us, and as a reward he was going to answer our heart's desire! Pretty Cool! Huh?! ..TRUST....

We fly out Wednesday night (8/24) !!

Looking forward to sharing our stories with you.
We love you!
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CR-the Road to Poas