The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Then and Now:

I've been meaning to write this post for a couple weeks now but haven't been able to put my thoughts into something tangible. The beginning of November was our 4 year mark here in the Philippines. Four years! Stepping off that plane 4 years ago, I did not see this coming.

The Good:
*Our little family has had to figure out who we are, without family help and influence. We've had to test and try different things out with our kids and with each other and we've been able to figure out what works for the 5 of us and we're all still alive to tell the tale.
*I've learned a lot about myself and what my limits are. I've defiantly grown and have had to give up a lot of the comforts from back home. Granted, the longer we're here the more things from back home I find are being imported but no Costco, no Walmart and no Superstore really stinks.
*Ryan has had an amazing opportunity to build and grow a business and learn from some amazing examples. Focus has some great, super smart people working in all departments and Ryan has had the chance to learn in a concentrated setting he wouldn't have had anywhere else. I know he still has a lot to learn but he's becoming a very valuable asset to the company and the couple hundred people here that work that work with/for him love and respect him.
*We have seen parts of the world I never thought I'd see. We've been to more islands in the Philippines then I can count on both hands, dozens of white sand beaches, Singapore, HongKong, Malaysia, Thailand and Australia. The best part is we've been to all those place (except Australia) with our kids sharing the adventure.
*There have been so many amazing people enter our lives through church, Focus Direct, Focus Services and our travels. One time we were taking a train through Malaysia up to Bangkok and a Filipino family living in Bangkok friended us and our kids. They showed us where we needed to go to get a cab, took us to their place so we could give the kids a break and some snacks and then onto our hotel. No matter where you are in the world, the Filipino's are kindest, warmest people!

The Bad:
*It just really sucks to be so far away from family especially for birthdays and holidays.
*The Philippines is defiantly not an efficiant country. There is no such thing as quickly running to the store.
*Brown outs. I hate no power. I hate no power because it means no air conditioning, no way to heat babies milk, no water pressure and no hot water.
*Sometimes the difference in culture means there is a difference in food preference.
*When it rains ... it poors

The Ugly:
*The spiders. SO.FREAKING.HUGE.
*The smells. When the streets are one big toilet sometimes the stink is a little overwhelming. Also the smell of meat that has been sitting in the hot sun all day ... not pleasant.
*People in bikini's that shouldn't be wearing them.

Put all these together and it's a fraction of our experiences so far here in the Philippines. So cheers to 4 good years behind us and to 1 more ahead of us!!