Snake in Our Yard!

Owen noticed this snake a few days sneaking under our gate to where we park the cars.  Our day 'guard' Ernest killed it by throwing rocks and hitting it.  I was very impressed!

Ernest threw it over the fence onto the road so these pictures are after a few cars have run over it.

And here is our boy Ernest who killed the snake!

I thought Ernest told me it was a cobra but later he told John it was just a brown snake.  But it probably neared 6 feet long!

John Made Me Do It!

Looking back on these pictures it kind of grosses me out that I did this, but John thought it would be funny.  We put peanut butter on my lips and let Bess have at it.  That cat will eat anything! (Don't worry... I washed my face and lips after!)

I Don't Have Malaria!

A few weeks ago Owen got Malaria... :(

He started out with a tummy ache, nausea, and a fever.  His bout with malaria convinced me to take a few weeks worth of malaria prophylaxis before I return home for my maternity leave even though I hate putting any chemicals in my body that might negatively impact the baby.  However, I'm only taking 1/2 a dose and, even so, no malaria prophylaxis is 100% effective.

Yesterday after breakfast (which I wasn't even that hungry for) I got a tummy ache, some nausea, and a mild fever of 99.8.  All day I only ate breakfast and 2 saltine crackers in the evening.  That was unusual for me because the last time I got food poisoning and anytime I am sick, I usually still have an appetite.  That is another reason I thought I might have the dreaded malaria.

Thankfully Chad was in town and picked me up a malaria test kit and some pregnancy approved treatment in case it was positive.  I wanted to catch it early, because Owen's was not caught early.  He started feeling better after his initial symptoms until the next evening (a day and a half later) when his fever spiked to 104!  I decided at that point, any time John or I get a fever here (this was my second fever, John has had 3) we would just take a test and rule out malaria.  In that case, if its caught early the symptoms don't get as bad. 

Chad gave me a blood test (he became a pro while working with the Willamette Medical team that arrived almost a week ago) 

And it was negative! yay! The line you see is the control line.  If I had 1-2 more lines it would be positive for 1-2 different types of malaria that it tests for.  I was happy for me but also happy because Anabelle (9 yrs old) and Owen (almost 5 yrs old) started having the same symptoms.  It must have been just a bug that is going around?  Or we all ate something bad?  Which I hope not because Robin and I have been doing the cooking at home and are very careful in food preparation and water filtration.  And poor Dwight (almost 12 yrs old) presented with similar symptoms this morning.  Luckily the team that has been staying with us has been healthy so far.

So praise God for not having malaria, and thanks to you who knew about it and were praying for me! Last night my fever did go up a bit to 100.4 but I feel a lot better today.  Still some mild stomach upsetness, and my appetite has not really resumed, but my energy is back so I can continue with meal preparation while the team is staying here. 

John's Comfort Food

     So, the one thing I don't like about eating here is that we end up eating a lot of prepackaged and processed foods.  But even so, I try to cook as healthy as I can with the foods I have.  I originally made this prepackaged recipe on Valentine's Day evening with no real intent of impressing John with it due to the holiday.  (He's not a huge fan of the holiday but I got him a card anyways!) 

     I had it ready when he came home from work and he said he wasn't really hungry because he had a late lunch.  After the first few bites he said "Kaysie, you HAVE to blog about this, it is soo good! Take a picture of me eating it!" lol! I told him I couldn't because I didn't take any pictures of the process.  However, I remade it a few nights ago with a slight variation so I could share it all with you.


Tuna Noodle Casserole

Ingredients

8 oz whole wheat pasta (any kind will do)
1/2 cup milk (I used powdered milk + water)
1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne
2 small cans of tuna (I used chunk light because it is the recommended tuna for pregnancy- low mercury)
1 15 oz can of sweet peas
1 cup crushed saltines

Directions

1.  Boil pasta to packaged instructions and drain
2.  Heat milk, yogurt, cream of chicken, salt, and cayenne until mixed thoroughly 
3.  Mix pasta, heated mixture, tuna, and peas together and put in casserole dish
4.  Sprinkle crushed saltines over surface (I only put these on 1/2 the casserole cause John likes it better than I do)
5.  Bake in oven at 350 degrees until heated through and up to 30 minutes


Pictures

Variation:

The second time I had it, I had no yogurt or sour cream so I added 1 cup of water and added 3 laughing cow cheeses and it still tasted delicious if not the same!  With the laughing cow cheese, it is a completely prepackaged/processed meal lol!  Not something I am super proud of but it was quite good if I do say so myself! :)

Half Way There!

Ok, I'm 20 weeks preggo... Here's some nice belly shots to celebrate!

Sorry about my dirty mirror! It didn't look that dirty until I saw it in the pictures lol! 20 more weeks to go!!!!

Friday Special: What You Won't Hear In America

"Can I bring my monkey to work?" asks John Barry.

A Tribute To Amy Campbell and the Destroyer

When I first met John and and his sisters back in 2006, the girls were both working at a restaurant in Flagstaff called Casa Bonita.  They liked working at a Mexican Restaurant so they could keep up their fluency in Spanish (or meet their husbands in one of their cases lol)  We would often eat there because they had seating for a lot of people and we would get to hang out with Amy and Melissa while they worked.

Here is Amy and I celebrating her brother's (my now husband) birthday party months before we were dating at Casa Bonita.  Yes I used to have blond hair lol!

Anyways, Amy used to make the cooks fix her up a special burrito that wasn't on the menu.  It was a chicken burrito with a spicy queso (cheese dip) poured over the top of it.  She dubbed it "The Destroyer" because *ahem* it destroyed your insides the next day if you know what I mean.  But by her testimony and mine... TOTALLY worth it!

To add to the story, the Destroyer or also often called Amy's Burrito was gaining in popularity first by all of her friends, but then to people she didn't know started to ask for it at the restaurant!  When I had the chance to make the Destroyer here in Sierra Leone, I jumped at the chance!

The Destroyer

Ingredients

8 tortillas
6 chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
1 tube of velveeta cheese
1 can of Rotel (tomatoes and green chilies)

Directions

1. Assemble chicken burritos
2. Warm up chicken burritos in the oven for ~10 minutes at 350
3. While burritos are warming up, heat velveeta and rotel on stove, stir often
4. Serve out burritos and pour queso dip on burritos individually

 Pretty sure Velveeta is like cancer in a box but it was a gift from a missionary friend that was leaving and so I had to make use of it!

Queso dip all ready to go!  Amy does this not look like the destroyer topping?  John and I dipped some chips in it and it tasted exactly like it!

Unfortunately, I did not follow my own instructions and I poured the queso mixture on top of the burritos BEFORE I put them in the oven.  While they were still tasty, it was NOT the Destroyer.  It was a little dry for my taste.  So follow my instructions and they will do you no wrong!

I Got Plaited!

I was with the dental nurses today at one of my last days of clinic for a while (we have a medical team coming next week, so I will be helping with that).  We had a great day!  I cleaned Augusta's teeth, then I cleaned my own (lol!).  Then I let Alice practice cleaning my teeth.  She was soo brave!  I remember the first time I had a scaler in my hand I was so nervous about hurting my fellow classmate.  She definitely went at it!  I had to even slow her down! 

After lunch Alice and Augusta 'plaited' my hair.

In Krio, its is "Alice en Augusta don plait mi yai"  and then when I was ready to go show off my new 'do' they say "yu go bluf" meaning "go show off"  I told them I was planning to cut my hair short when I return to the states to give it to Locks of Love they said they would prefer it if I brought my hair back to them so they could use it.  Lol!  I love those girls... I will miss them during my maternity leave.

Here are a few more pictures of my traditional Salonean hair

We left work early to go walk the streets of Jui to my house.  Its about a mile of transport (taxi) and maybe two miles of walking.  I am about to go jump in the shower now, but wanted to take these pictures before my hair is ruined.  Hopefully it will stay!

Modest Baby Campell

PSYCHE!!!!!!

Unfortunately, we did NOT find out the sex of the baby at this appointment :(  The ob/gyn said the ultrasound equipment is from the 1980's.  We couldn't see any particular man parts, but it wasn't very clear either.  I am thinking its about 70% chance its a girl and 30% chance its a boy.  I will have to wait till we get back to the states when the equipment is better and Baby Campbell isn't being so modest!  She takes after her mother (lol!)

Things we DID see:

1. A healthy heartbeat and rhythm
2. Two arms and two legs
3.  He/she waved at us! (literally we could see it!)
4.  Baby Campbell is super active


Things I have to work on:

1. Increasing the IRON!
 * My Hemoglobin was 10.4 which is slightly low.  They would rather see me at 12.  They gave me some iron pills which I hope aren't going to make me constipated.  I am going to try to get some Floradix (a liquid iron supplement) to be delivered with the next team or maybe just to take when I get back to the states!  Its supposed to work really well and not constipate you.


Here is a profile picture of the baby during the ultrasound

Praise God for a healthy baby (boy or girl)!

A Day in the Life of a Hobbit

Today's post revolves around this quote from the Lord of the Rings:

Pippin: What about breakfast?
Aragorn: You've already had it.
Pippin: We've had one, yes. What about second breakfast?
[Aragorn turns and walks off in disgust]
Merry: I don't think he knows about second breakfast, Pip.
Pippin: What about elevenses? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them, doesn't he?
Merry: I wouldn't count on it.

Last week I noticed a huge jump in my appetite.  Today I recorded it:

Breakfast:
Bran Flakes with Raisins added, the milk is powdered milk + water
(Its okay my only complaint is that I am too lazy to go get cold water from the Courtney's fridge so its 'warm milk')

Second Breakfast:
2 whole wheat bread slices made into French Toast using 2 eggs.  Then lathered with peanut butter and syrup.

John and I have been making this since we've been dating.

Elevenses:
Cucumber topped with Laughing Cow Cheese with a slice of tomato on top

Luncheon:
Open-faced sandwich with 2 wedges of Laughing Cow cheese, tomato, cucumber, salt and pepper

(this is one of my favorite lunches.  I bring it with me the days I work in the clinic, but then I slap another slice of bread on top for traveling ease.  Sometimes I eat two!)  PS is it bothersome to anybody else that Laughing Cow doesn't have to be refridgerated?

Afternoon Tea:
Watered down Raspberry Lemonade Crystal Light.

 I gave up my soda habit cold turkey when I found out I was pregnant.  I didn't want to introduce any unwanted chemicals (aspartame, caffeine, and whatever else they put in it) to my baby.  However, this expat at the clinic is leaving to go back home today and he gave me a few packets of crystal light.  I do feel a little guilty having it because I know it has aspartame... but something other than pure water is sure tasty! 


Dinner: 
Watermelon wedges, 2 slices of pineapple (not pictured), and 3/4 of an Apple Pie Larabar
Sooooo refreshing in the heat.  It sure is starting to heat up here!

Larabars are my favorite protein/snack bar

Supper:
Leftover ground beef and bean enchiladas with my homemade guacamole.  Not pictured... some delicious salsa I lathered on top based off my beloved Carolina's Mexican Food in Phoenix's hot sauce.  I will share the recipe soon! Sorry it doesn't look as pretty as the other food... we have to reheat on the stove so it gets a bit mangled!

OK... Truth be told... I didn't eat the food in this order!!!! BUT... I am not sharing what order I DID eat the food :)  However, I did eat it all!  Just like a hobbit!  and my belly is growing to show for it! 

Alright tomorrow I will let you all know if its a boy or a girl... the consensus so far is Boy, but we shall see!

No-Bake Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Raisin Balls

On Sunday, John, Emily, Robin, the kids and I ventured into town for the International Service.  After worship and a small message there is always a potluck. So these little morsels of goodness are what I brought!

No-Bake Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Raisin Balls

Ingredients

1.5 cups old fashioned oatmeal
1/3 cup of almonds (or you can use any nut)
1/2 cup of raisins
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup of honey (or you could use agave)
1-2 TB of coconut oil
1/2 cup of peanut butter (or any nut butter, I bet almond or sunflower seed butter would be delicious!)


Directions

Grind down 1/2 of oats in a coffee grinder or blender.
Chop almonds till really small (or grind in coffee grinder)
Mix everything together well
Roll into small balls and refridgerate or freeze for a few minutes

I bet these would be delicious right out of the freezer on a warm summer day (aka any day in Sierra Leone).  Too bad we don't have a fridge or a freezer lol!  It probably doesn't sound AS good to my friends and family back home that can't stay warm at all!

To be honest I've been making up a smaller portion of this (minus the grinding of the oats and no almonds) for a snack and then just eating it with a spoon!  MMMMMM!!!!!!!

I'll let you all know how my appointment goes tomorrow!  John and I are SOOOO excited!

Stylish Blogger Award

 Thanks to the lovely new mama Megan Sosa from Mrs. Beach Bride for giving me my first blogging award called the Stylish Blogger Award!  I won't mention that I am super biased towards this lovely lady because she is my cousin and pseudo-sister.  She actually lives the closest to me of all my family (in West Virginia)... still thousand miles apart... but we are and will always be close in heart!

Here are the rules that go along with this award:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers.

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award!

So here are 7 things about myself:

1.    I felt the baby move in my belly for the first time on Sunday!  I was 18 weeks to the day.

2.    My favorite snack here is apples with peanut butter

3.    I’ve never like cats but found myself loving our kitten Bess

4.    My guilty pleasure foods are anything Mexican food (particularly Nachos) and Pizza Cookie from Oregano’s

5.    John and I have just started studying the book of Isaiah together

6.    I quit running here because it felt wrong with my belly starting to get bigger with all the bouncing and such, but I long to run another ½ marathon someday

7.    I have another doctor’s appointment on Friday to find out the sex of the baby! Yay!

Any guesses????


I have a slight mother's intuition of what its going to be but I'd love to hear what you guys are guessing it to be?  Then on Friday we will all find out! (as long as the baby is not trying to hide anything that is!)

Other Blogger I think deserves the award:

1.  Emily from Sierra Leone or Bust!

Okay okay... I know I'm supposed to pick 15 but I just have not been reading blogs around that much and Megan and Sally already GOT the award!  So check out Emily's blog, especially if you want to see John fishing a Q-tip out of Emily's ear.  We thought we lost it down in there! lol!