Maryann's Musings

Say hello to the new additions to our family!! Shnuggles on the left, Cuddles on the right. Cuddles is mine, and Shnuggles is my little sister's. (my mother commented with wide eyes when she saw the above picture, "THAT is the perfect picture. They look so tame! Just the opposite of a crocodile.") Cuddles is I-don't-know-how-old, weighs next to nothing, is very calm, easy to hold and carry, and loves (so far) nothing better than fresh clover blossoms. :) Shnuggles is also I-don't-know-how-old, weighs next to nothing, does not (much) like being  picked up, eats just about everything, and loves my sister's bed's quilt.... Thank you everyone for worrying about our crocodile! But those days are gone and cuddly, shnuggly rabbits have taken their place. (And don't worry. They don't bite. But they haven't had their shots yet... :)  )

   (For those of you who don't know, AWOL stands for Absent WithOut Leave) When I first woke up yesterday morning the first thing I heard was my father and two brothers talking outside my window. Their words started me out of bed. "He's gone. Go inform the seminary guard."  .....this could mean several things. One of my brothers had run away.   ...no Our night guard was missing.   ...it's morning; he's our night guard. He's usually gone by now. Something had happened I wasn't informed of.   .....VERY possible..... OR our crocodile had escaped.   ...bingo   Yes, we have a crocodile. His name is Tic-Toc, he is approximately 4 feet long, and weighs about 16 pounds. We were crocy-sitting him for another missionary family who were on furlough in the US. He loves fish and shrimp (but if it is raw fish, will turn up his nose) and eats three times a week while other captive crocs are feed once or twice.   I stumbled out ...

This Blog is Family Friendly and has no disturbing images or photographs. Today is 9-11, the day when America was attacked by the terrorist Al Qaeda, facing the most severe terrorist attack on them at that time.  The attacks resulted in the deaths of over 2,996 people. 246 of these were from 4 planes of which there were no survivors. Also 72 law enforcement officers, 55 military personnel and 343 firefighters lost their lives.                                                                                                                                                         ...

   I have been asked A LOT, "What's the difference between and MK and a TCK?" They only ask me this when I introduce them to the term, and it's usually the first time they have heard them.  This is the difference between them: MK stands for 'Missionary Kid.' I've heard people define it as 'a missionary kid that lives overseas', but there are MK's in the US too.  TCK stands for 'Third Culture Kid.' This is because they have three cultures. The culture from their native country, the country they are living in, and the culture that they themselves make by combining these.  Most MK's are TCK's, but not all TCK's are MK's. God has called all of us to be missionaries wherever we live. This is why not all MK's are TCK's, since you can be a missionary where ever you live. If that clears up the confusion, I'd like to say that being a TCK / MK is awesome!! Some people struggle wit...

 MK's just don't really get 'normal' mail like some of you do (depending on where they live...). When we get mail, it is few and far between, not to mention either partly stolen or obviously sifted through. *   My family once got a package that had been sent to Ghana by accident. When we finally got it and went through it, we had a several children's dictionary's in Slovak with the picture of a family in what looked like Moscow. Along with all our other stuff that had been torn open and gone through, rifled through, and tossed unmercifully back into the box with a bunch of other jumbled items for an innocent missionary family who was trying to learn Slovak. * Mm-hmm. Remember that the next time you try to send me mail! It may take three months to get me, and I'll probably only get half the letter! So I don't get mail. Pity. But I am okay with that now. *names and occupations are withheld to protect the guilty

Jim White & family McFarland USA 's story was one I wasn't prepared for when I first watched it. Truth be told, I was surprised at almost every turn. Jim White is fired from his position as a football coach; he moves to McFarland with his wife and two daughters. McFarland is a primarily Latino town and  very poverty stricken. When White sees incredible talent in his high school pupils, he decides to start a track team. At first the team isn't serious, but he pushes them to the top. They call him 'Blanco', Spanish for 'White.' Competing.  The team     The seven boys he trains soon rise in the ranks. The family gets their real scare on the oldest daughter Julie's quinceanera (15th birthday) when the parade of cars with her inside is attacked by gang members who are targeting the driver of her car, one of their former members. The story of McFarland was based on an actual story of an actual town of the actual peop...

Okay, for all of you who don't want to hear about the end, this isn't for you. But just for a warning, I will be discussing the end in the book and comparing it to the end in the movie. SPOILER ALERT. Not exactly a spoiler, cause you knew there would be kissing, right? The end in the book is unique. I will tell you why. They don't kiss. "Unorthodox romance story!!!" you say. Let me say something. I don't think that there has to be kissing in a romance story. The end in the North & South had kissing. Definite kissing. A LOT of kissing. (my mom thinks that Richard Armatige liked the actress). Personally I like the book ending better because she puts her arms around him the way she did when she protected him from the riot. It was very unique. Not saying the movie ending was wrong or that I don't like it (actually it was pretty romantic :] ) just that I like the book ending better.  DEFINITE SPOILER ALERT   For an extra spoiler you can see the...