Turkish food!

Today I took a half-day field trip with my Mom, my Aunt Jan, and her daughter Cara. Cara lives in Knoxville, so we drove to Knoxville (about an hour away), had tea at Cara's house, and then went to have lunch at a little Turkish restaurant: Turkish Market & Deli. I quickly asked the lady there if she spoke Turkish and it was immediately evident that she and her husband did! The food was delicious, and they had a little store in the back that I could get Turkish pizza and Manti to make at home. What fun! He had even been stationed near the Base and had hosted an Incirlik reunion (as you can see in the one photo I took.)

I am feeling a bit under the weather so going pushed me a bit, but I am SO glad I did. It was lovely. Now, my parents are taking the three oldest to youth group, my Pomegranate is being brought home by Aunt Hannah at some point, and I am sitting in my house just by myself.

It is an incredibly rare day that I am sitting in a completely silent house. Noise never bothered me, but lately, I crave quiet and time without questions. I know I will miss my children terribly as they grow, so I don't wish it away. And yet, I do love the break from the chaos of life. 

June on the Farm

June on the farm is BUSY.

Not just a little bit more BUSY. A LOTmore busy.

Like, a lot.

In addition, my body is fighting off a run with anxiety and depression.

Today, I filmed this video describing the crazy day we were having here. 

But this friend was here with me ...

I wrote a post documenting this friend's involvement in my life back in 2017. 

She is such a gift to me.

I am blessed with such amazing people in my life. And each of them has a different role, a different strength, a different gift. 

"Stebbs" gets me when the anxiety of life takes over. She knows how to talk me down off cliffs. She can be brutally honest with me. She can call it like it is.

In addition, her young William is one of my Sidge's best friends. He was here with Sidge this week. My Sidge, who is in his own hard times. And we watched as Sidge healed while he was here. Belly laughs. Big smiles. Peace. Even momentary.

I am so blessed to have her in my life, and so blessed to have had her with me these last few days.

Life is now going to take her from the Washington D.C. area to Nebraska as her husband finishes up his time in the military.

I'm not sure when I'll see her again, but this visit was a great BIG God hug.

Welcome William

From 2010-2012, we lived in Turkey where my two little boys became fast friends with William. Here is a video I found of Sidge and William from way back on our Turkey porch:

We have stayed in touch well over the years and the boys have been able to stay buddies (which is so awesome to Sarah and myself!) This past week, William actually came to the farm by himself to spend five days here with Isaac and Sidge. We had SOOOO much fun with him here. William and Sidge were together nearly every second of the day, never fought once, and came up with so many fun things to do. Isaac did a lot with them as well! Here are some pictures from his time here:

Holding one of our new puppies!

Playing board games!

Collecting berries!

Eggs!

Working on the sheep paddocks

The boys introduced William to Calvin and Hobbes. 

Packing for a hike on the farm.

Trying some of our fresh fish from the pond. (He loved it!)

My Two-Item Bucket List

"If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves." Thomas Edison 

I don't have a lot of dreams. I never really did. I wanted to be a mom. I wanted to follow the Lord. That's really about it. I grew up without a lot of money. I never dreamed of traveling the world or doing all kinds of money-requiring things. 

But there were two things that I had always wanted to do. 

(1) I had always wanted to learn a language. 

So in 2010 we moved to Turkey, and I decided to dive into Turkish. I definitely learned the language -- although I am far from even sort of proficient at it. I even stopped studying it for a number of years. But when our Turkish wwoofer, Duygu, came to the farm, I was amazed at how easy it all came back to me. Since she left last year, I have been studying Turkish every single day on Duolingo and trying to keep my skills up. While I have a long way to go, I am really proud of what I've accomplished with learning this language. 

(2) And I had always wanted to play the piano. Specifically I had wanted to be able to sit down and play Christmas carols for my family. When the kids started taking piano lessons in 2015, JB suggested I take lessons too. The teacher was already coming to our house. Go for it! While I consider quitting every week since I really don't have time for this, I've stuck with it, and this year I was able to play my first real Christmas carol:

What's on your "bucket list"? I know it seems like we don't have time for it, but I encourage you to give it a try. Why can't a mom with four kids who lives on a farm speak Turkish and play the piano?!

 

A visit from our Turkey buds

Oh how they grow. Oh how time flies. My boys' very first friend was a young man named William. I became good friends with his Mom, whom I affectionally call "Stebbs". Once upon a time they were very small. Today, they are in their 9's and 10s.

William came out to help us move the sheep. He did an amazing job and lasted longer than my boys!

Five years ago, Stebbs and I got pregnant about the same time. Her Graham is now five -- about six weeks older than my Hannah.

Graham and Hannah accidentally twinning it in American t-shirts at Yoder's.

We took the kiddos to one of our favorite places in Greenville: The Greenville Green County History Museum where the kids are able to have a blast in their "pioneer days" play area. 

We adults had just taken an awesome downtown walking history tour with our friend Ruth Kross the day before. I meant to take pictures of this but forgot ... again! John took some of the knowledge back and was passing it along to the boys during their imagination adventure.

Duolingo

Duygu being here reignited my desire to study Turkish. I've been using quite a few programs ... one of them is Duolingo. Sometimes what it teaches me to say makes me laugh. 

Like this one:

This ...

From left: Ryan (holding Graham who is six weeks older than Hannah), Stebbs (with 9-year-old William and 8-year old Sidge in front of her), me and 9-year old Isaac, and JB with the girls who are 4 and 6 now.

... makes me sooooo happy. 

The Stebbins family dropped in for a quick visit on the way to their Thanksgiving with family in Alabama. This family has a permanent spot etched in my heart. We lived by them and were family during two years in Turkey. Here are some photos of our boys -- the three buddies -- during our time in Turkey:

Turkish Talk

With Duygu (pronounced Dewey-goo) here, we are very busy practicing Turkish and English together. I remembered that the boys knew all their colors and numbers when we left Turkey. I managed to find this video. I had made this for Hatice when we were shipped to Germany. (They thought I was in labor at 31 weeks so I lived in Germany for three months.) Hatice was very worried about us, and I wanted her to know that we were all fine.

How cute are these little guys? And Isaac's colors were really good!!!!

Feels like Turkey

Duygu came with a few presents: rakı (very famous drink John loves), Turkish çay (tea), and locum (Turkish delight) .... feels like Turkey around here again. The girls are having çay with Duygu each day.

Abigail is SO funny to us. She was the one who was "born and raised" in Turkey. Hatice often gave her tomatoes to chew on and foods that Americans never give their children. And I really feel it has stuck with her. She loves to drink the tea! Loves Turkish foods. So neat!

What is mantı?

I had someone on my Blog ask me what mantı was. Mantı is a Turkish food pronounced (Mon-tuh). Here are some pictures of mantı. It is basically a dumpling stuffed with meat and served with a yogurt/tomato sauce. I loveeeeee it:

My Turkish friend Rana says that if you want to buy ready-made she suggests only this company: Palo Alto Pasta Company.  She brought it with when she came to visit, and it was very good. 

Hatice -- cok Tatla

Hatice called me this morning at 7am. Having Duygu here has made me miss her so badly.

I didn't know she was able to video chat with me, but she somehow called me. And we both sobbed as we talked -- from happy memories and missing each other so much.

I already had my friend Rana chat with Duygu and tomorrow I hope to have Duygu speak with Hatice so they can swap good information that my limited Turkish won't allow.

Here's a picture of us chatting this morning:

We Bought a Farm: Our Veronica

My life ... our life ... with Veronica goes wayyyyy back. I have known her since she was four and somehow, we have ended up living in the same "place" four times. First Kentucky. Then Minnesota. Then Turkey. And now ... Tennessee.

Veronica lived with us for a year in Turkey and was our "nanny", helping me as I had to go to Germany to deliver Abigail. Now, she is going to school about four hours from here and has decided to spend some weekends on the farm helping us and just being with her "family."

I love this girl sooooo much, and I'm so glad to have her back with us. I truly believe God has great plans for her life, and I look forward to watching them unfold.

Jake & Rana visit the Bauernhof

We had such a WONDERFUL time with our friends from Turkey here. Rana is Turkish and her husband Jake is an American. They met and fell in love in Turkey. She is from a Christian Turkish community. When we left Turkey, they did too, relocating by Jake's family in Minnesota. 

It was SOOOO wonderful to catch up with them here. Jake has a keen love of permaculture, and Rana, who is not an outdoor gal by nature, truly loved the farm.

AND SHE COOKED FOR US!!!!!!

Going to get eggs

Mia with a baby lamb

Aksel with a baby lamb.

This age boy just LOVES farming! Any 9-13 year old boy on our farm BEGS me to put them to work.

We spent an afternoon at Yoder's Country market where they were selling handmade donuts and ice cream outside. YUM!

Rana cooked for us! Manti and Lahmachun -- my two FAVORITE Turkish meals!

Rana speaking in Turkish for us on camera!

Friend Fun: Stebbs

I have some WONDERFUL friends. And one of those friends could be possibly turning 30 years old today. (Or maybe it is 40? Who is counting.)

My friend Sarah and I met sometime before we left for Turkey in 2010. Okay, so we didn't actually "meet" but she sent me an email. She lived in Texas at the time and had just learned that they had been assigned to Turkey. She was slightly lamenting this fact at her MOPs group when a gal named Amy piped in. Amy was an online infertility friend of mine (who I have never met) and she quickly said: "I know someone else who is moving to Turkey."

So Amy gave Sarah my contact info. Sarah sent me a nice email. We started chatting. When we flew out to Turkey, Sarah and her son William weren't leaving yet, but her husband, Ryan was. He was on our "rotator flight" from Baltimore to Turkey. A month later, Sarah and William arrived. 

When she got there, I quickly learned there were FOUR Sarahs in our immediate community. So I adopted the nickname "Stebbs" for this particular Sarah. It just stuck, and it is really all I call her. It is actually weird to write Sarah when I write her name.

We spent the next two years in Turkey taking care of each other. Her son William was the same age as my boys, and they became fast friends. We ran in the same circle of wonderful ladies, and supported each other during a wonderful, albeit challenging time overseas. She was especially there for me during my bout of post partum depression after Abgiail's birth. 

I love how REAL Stebbs is. I love that she cane be completely honest with me at all times. I love how funny she is. And understanding. And forgiving. And just silly. She is simply FUN! Turning  30 40 won't change that a bit I am sure.

I have many favorite memories of Stebbs but one that sticks out was a simple one. It was the time we went to McDonalds in Turkey and tried to order a number 4. I could not figure out how to say number 4 without it sounding like I wanted 4 of them, and sure enough, we received 4 of them. We decided that instead of trying to correct it, we'd just find 3 people on Base who wanted McDonalds for lunch!

We also took many trips together. We went to Istanbul at Christmas one year. And we took a girls trip to Cyprus. We also spent a few days in Greece on a Chapel trip. And I took her and her mother on an outing to Tarsus as well.

Today, Stebbs has two boys, and they live in Nebraska. However, they are waiting to find out their next assignment. I am blessed by her friendship and wanted to take a moment to tell her so. We need to be reminded that we mean something to people and that we are special to them. Stebbs is special to me. (And she'll play off the compliment with a joke. But deep down she'll appreciate it!)

I love you friend. My life is better with you in it. Thank you for talking to me every day via text and making me smile always!

Angelica, Wendi, Linda, and Sarah (aka Stebbs)

Stebbs and I on the streets on Cyprus

One of my favorite pictures ever: from left Isaac, Sidge, and their best buddy in Turkey: William

Here's a map to show you were we exactly lived during our time in Turkey

Welcome home Liam!!!

A huge and incredible shout out of WELCOME TO YOUR FOREVER FAMILY to little Liam. My dear friends from Turkey, Dan and Angelica, have added little Liam to their family. He joins his three big siblings: Noah, Rowan, and Reese FOREVER!!! 

Liam was adopted from South Korea. I am so incredibly proud of Dan and Angelica for hearing the Lord call them to adoption and following his voice. And now she joins me in the "moms of four" club! Two boys and two girls also.

So happy for everyone!

Angelica is one of my very, very dearest friends. When we first moved to Turkey, I was taking a walk one day, and I ran into Dan and his only two children at the time. I truly felt the Lord whisper into my heart: "Pay attention Wendi. You need to meet this man's wife." Because of hearing that, that evening at chapel on Base, I ran into Dan and made it a point to ask him to introduce me to his wife. 

Angelica became one of my very best friends, and remains so. She is from Spain and met her husband when he was a missionary child in Spain. A few years ago, she gained her America citizenship. She is one of the kindest, sweetest souls I have ever met, and I am so blessed to count her among my dearest friends.

P.S. Angelica is our resident "interiorista" here on the Blog. Her posts will be a little more infrequent for the next few months as they adjust to this new life.

When you forget how AWESOME America can be!

There are things I feel I sort of got behind on while I lived overseas for four years. Things that emerged while I was there (like smart phones!) or things I just forgot about. 

Last week, I took my kids to Toys "R" Us. They had each received a gift certificate to pick out one item for Christmas from their Uncle Rob and his soon-to-be-wife Sherrie. I didn't realize, until we walked in, that with the exception of Isaac (who was old enough to remember the store), my other three kiddos had no idea what a Toys "R" Us was. As we drove the forty-five minutes to the store, they asked me things like "Are there more toys than at Walmart?" "Is it big?" "How can it be only toys?"

I flashed back to the first time I took my kiddos into Target after returning from overseas. The people around us were cracking up as my kiddos exclaimed things like the following:

• "Mommy! Everything on the computer is in this store!"
• "Look at all the toothbrushes Mommy!"
• "Mommy here's another aisle of toys!"

The way my kiddos felt in the toy store and at Target was how I felt yesterday when I decided to take a little drive to Hobby Lobby. The last time I was in this store was before I had children. There is one about a half hour from us, and Abigail needed some blue feathers for her ballet costume, so I decided to have my babysitter come over and just take a little mom-break.

H

O

L

Y

C

O

W

!

Seriously. I am not a shopper. Not a spender. Not a decorator. But this store was: 

A

M

A

Z

I

N

G

!

I seriously could have spent days just wandering and looking and planning and dreaming and scheming. 

I couldn't help but think, as I just floated from aisle to aisle, Where was this when I lived in the Azores and was trying to put together a baby shower for my friend Rebekah and had to scrape together anything I could to make it resemble a baby shower?! 

I had scoured the twelve measly things at the military "Kmart" and managed to piece together something halfway decent. I had found some blue gift bags and picked out blue skittles and M&Ms (which aren't a good idea to mix in a candy bag because people don't appreciate the change from candy to chocolate but I was desperate.) 

But oh if I would have had a Hobby Lobby!!

I'm still recovering from this outing.

I love the USA!!!!!!!

Seriously.

Greatest country ever.

:)

Remembering my favorite home

This. 

This is how I feel every time I think of Turkey. 

The place I lived is still there. 

But it doesn't exist as I remember it. 

Families are no longer allowed to live there. 

And the families that were my family are gone. 

This place will always hold memories too big for me to put into words. 

I often want it back. 

The simple life of parks on every corner, 

walking everywhere, 

all Christians attending the same church, 

and community stronger than you can ever imagine.

A grocery store with only the essentials. 

Stores I could let my children run freely in. 

Kisses from strangers.

And the beautiful Turkish people that I loved so dearly. 

But it's gone ... 

and I think of it often with tears in my eyes.

We Bought a Farm: Simple Sweetness

JB and I agreed, about a year ago, that I needed breaks. Weekly date nights are great and regular dates with girlfriends are great too, but neither are feasible right now. We live far from town and "escaping" regularly is just not something I can do.

So we decided that every 6-8 weeks I needed to have something planned. Maybe just one night, maybe more, but something to look forward to and allow me to rest, recuperate, and get rejuvenated. This is for my physical self, emotional self, and spiritual self.

This past weekend I did just that. We were doing our annual "Turkey girls reunion" with a few good friends from our time on Incirlik Air Base near Adana, Turkey, but we long ago decided that not all of us would make it every year. In fact, this time there were just three of us planning to go. At the very last minute, one gal had to cancel leaving just Angelica and me.

Since we were staying at her house (her husband took the kids away for the weekend) we had nothing on our plate to worry about. We slept in, took naps, got a pedicure, ate great food (even got some Indian!) and simply chatted and watched movies and took walks and just built each other up. Oh what a wonderful time this was for me.

Angelica is from Spain and English is her second language so we always have some good laughs at her English goofs. She loves the Lord and her family mightily and she truly just makes my heart smile when I am with her. I am so incredibly blessed by her friendship and so blown away by how wonderful this three night stay was for me. 

Thank you sweet friend! (Gracias!)

Highlight of my olympics: Monica Puig

I LOVE the Olympics. And I LOVE to watch tennis. We don't have TV, and I don't watch sports much at all anymore, but getting to watch tennis in the olympics is incredible to me. Then add a story like this and very good friends who are Puerto Ricans, and I was absolutely smitten.

No Puerto Rican woman had ever won a medal in the olympics. And no Puerto Rican male or female has ever won a gold! So to see a Puerto Rican woman win a gold medal was absolutely amazing.

CONGRATS MONICA PUIG!!!!!!!!!

Even better, check out my friends Yamil and Patty (and their little cutie pie Troy) watching the last point. This is the first time they have ever heard their National Anthem being played at the Olympics. How amazing is that?!

And here is me showing my excitement:

I "watched" the whole match on the computer with Patty via text. We chatted through the whole match as if we were in the same living room together. It was SOOOOOO fun!

I am giddy and proud to be a Puerto Rican. Okay. Maybe not. But still. I'm proud to be friends with Peurto Ricans tonight.