Translation and Photos Added

I've recently translated some old posts into French and added some photos, so go back and check them out!

Doing Without

My Coast Guard friend in Guam mentioned yesterday that they sent a shipment of necessities to Guam 3 months before their departure from the United States.  That would be now for us.  Then she told me that the movers came and packed them up 2 months before their departure.  They even took their vehicle.  Really?  And they still arrived before their stuff did.  So what I'm wondering is this:  "What exactly are we supposed to do without furniture or a vehicle for 2 months?"  We'll still have Lance's car, but he'll be driving that to work.  Do we camp out in sleeping bags and eat our meals sitting Indian-style on the floor?  Do we walk everywhere (not possible).  One friend said to buy a crockpot and an electric skillet at a thrift store and then give them away when we are done with them.  I guess we'll have to rent or lease a vehicle for 2 months.  Should be interesting...and expensive!

Toilets and Toads

I learned the other day that Guam is not in the South Pacific like I thought but actually in the North Pacific Ocean, about 12 degrees north of the equator.  I happened to mention this to a friend, who replied, "Well, at least you know your toilet will flush the same way."  Huh?  Apparently, toilets in the northern hemisphere flush clockwise, while toilets in the southern hemisphere flush counterclockwise.  It works the same with the way the water drains from the sink and tub.  And if you live on the equator, I hear the water doesn't swirl at all, it just goes straight down.  Who knew?  My response was, "Well, I'll be at peace now knowing that among all the changes, at least I know my toilet will flush the same way!"
Of course when I posted this toilet fact on Facebook, someone said, "I'd worry less about how your toilet flushes and more about what might be crawling up your toilet."  My contact in Guam confirmed this concern, saying she has found very large centipedes and toads in her toilet.  YIKES!!!!!  If we take the cat, will the toilets stay pest-free?
By the way, remember those dinner-plate sized toads I mentioned in my last post?  I found out they are poisonous.  I've included a photo of the cane toad with a common frog on its head.  I think I want to come home, and I haven't even left yet!

Snakes, Frogs, and Puppy Dogs

There are lots of snakes in Guam.  The brown tree snake was introduced there and is an invasive species.  There are thousands of them on the island.  There are no birds in Guam because the snakes have eaten 9 of the 12 native species.  I've spoken to people who have lived there and only saw 1 or 2 snakes in 3 years.  I'm hoping I don't see any.  I am not fond of snakes.  They used to get in the electrical units and cause power outages.  Apparently that doesn't happen anymore.  Lance says there are lots of frogs too, frogs the size of dinner plates.  I'm hoping not to see any of those either.  I'm not really into reptiles or amphibians.
I've been dragging my feet about getting a dog.  Ever since our beloved springer/lab mix, Sophie, died in 2005, we've wanted another dog.  I wanted the kids to be older to help care for the dog.  They are older now.  I didn't want to get a dog because I wanted the freedom to travel at the drop of a hat.  That was when we were going to Europe.  Lance says we'll need a dog to keep unwanted creatures out of the house.  Since we won't be traveling so often, it looks like we'll be getting a dog.  We're wanting one that doesn't shed, like a goldendoodle or aussiedoodle, but the groomer advised against taking a puppy to Guam since he'd be in quarantine during prime training time and would be hard to train at 6-8 months old.  Plus there are tons of dogs in Guam--abandoned dogs that need homes.  So I guess we'll be getting one of those.

What about the cat?

Wondering today what we will do with our cat.  We are not cat lovers.  This cat came with the house when we bought it 6 years ago.  We have been feeding him ever since.  He lives outside because my husband doesn't do cats.  His name is Simon.  He is a beautiful black Persian.  We gave him a bath today for the first time ever.  He was very calm and nice to us--no biting, no claws.  We took him to the vet to get all his shots updated.  I was realizing today that I think we've all become rather attached to him, as attached as one can get to an outdoor cat, that is.  He often acts more like a dog than a cat, coming out to the car to greet us when we get home, following the children around outside and keeping watch over them as they play.
After his bath, we let him stay in the downstairs bathroom to get dry.  After returning from the vet I put Simon back in the bathroom.  Lance suggested that we let him come in the kitchen.  Then later he suggested that we bring him into the den to watch a movie with us.  "Who are you, and what have you done with my husband?" I asked.
Later we joked about how it was Simon's best, worst day ever with a bath and 3 shots but more attention from us than he has ever gotten.  Lance said, "It was the best of times.  It was the worst of times.  From A Tale of Two Kitties."  Ha, ha, ha.
Will we take the cat with us to Guam?  Will we lend him to friends for 2 years?  Will we include him in the rental agreement?  I don't know. 


 

Imagining Christmas in Guam

Just before bed last night I gazed at our beautiful live Christmas tree (yes, we celebrate the 12 days of Christmas) with a little sadness and longing, realizing that Christmas will look and feel and even smell very different next year.  I saw the Santa ornament we bought in Hawaii--it is Santa in a hula skirt, and thought, "Christmas will be very different indeed."

I LOVE the cold!

I love winter.  I love seeing my breath in the air and the cool, crispness of a brisk winter day.  I love rosy cheeks, hearty soups, blazing fires, turtlenecks, fuzzy socks, and slippers.  I love the snow.  It is HOT in Guam--every day.  It will probably be close to 90 degrees on Christmas Day.  I hate it when it is supposed to be cold and it is not.  How will I manage?  Lance and I joked today about the complaints we'll get about our electric bill in the winter, since I'll be cranking up the AC to make it below 40 in the house, you know, so it'll feel like winter.  We'll go outside to warm up.  We laughed about this.  I cried, "Goodbye warm jammies, goodbye fuzzy socks, goodbye blazing fires.  I'm really going to miss you!"  I miss them already.

J'adore l'hiver.  J'aime voir mes souffles dans l'air vif et piquant d'un jour frais d'hiver.  J'adore les joues roses, les soupes copieuses, les feux enflammes, les cols roules, les chaussettes crepues, et les pantoufles.  J'adore la neige.  Il fait chaud en Guam--tous les jours.  Il fera probablement 90 degrees Fahrenheit a Noel.  Ca me fache quand il fait chaud en hiver.  Comment accepter et reussir?  Lance et moi, on plaisantait aujourd'hui en parlant des plaintes qu'on recevra en hiver puisque je reglerai le climatiseur pourqu'il fasse tres, tres froid a l'interieur--pour avoir le temps d'hiver quelquepart.  Il faudra aller dehors pour se rechauffer.  Nous avons beaucoup rit.  J'ai crie, "Au revoir le pyjama chaud, au revoir les chaussettes crepues, au revoir les feux enflammes.  Vous allez me manquer beaucoup!"  Ils me manquent deja.

Reflections on Paris

I spent the spring semester of my junior year living in Paris.  It was the hardest 4 months of my life.  It was winter; the sky was gray, the buildings were gray, the streets were gray.  My university had a program there-- we lived in a youth hostel together in rooms for 2 people.  Hoping to be paired with a French girl, I chose not to pick a roommate from the group.  As a result, my room was on the 5th floor while the rest of my group was on the 2nd floor.  There was no elevator (only steps) and no telephones between the rooms.  Because of this, I was often out of the loop.  I felt isolated and lonely and so far from home.  However, during Spring Break, a friend who was studying in London came to visit.  I found Paris to be a delightful place to be that week since I had someone I cared about to share it with.  I dreamed of coming back one day with my future husband and children and discovering France and the rest of Europe together.
I'm hoping that this time abroad will be different.  I'll have my family to share it with, and the world is so much smaller than it was 20 years ago.  With Facebook, email, skype, and the ability to phone the states with no long distance charges, it should be pretty easy to stay connected with friends and family.  I'm hoping to truly "profiter" this time, a French word that means to experience and enjoy completely every facet of our life in Guam.

Pendant ma troisieme année à l'université, j'ai voyagé en France pour y passer le semestre.  Ces 4 mois a Paris etaient les plus durs moments de ma vie.  C'etait l'hiver; tout etait gris--les rues, les batiments, meme le ciel.  Mon universite y avait etablit un programme d'etudes; les etudiants habitaient dans une auberge de jeunesse dans des chambres pour deux personnes.  En esperant d'avoir une camarade de chambre francaise, je n'avais pas choisit une camarade de chambre de notre groupe.  Le resultat de cette decision etait que je me trouvais dans une chambre au quatrieme etage pendant que le reste du groupe s'installait au premier etage.  Puisqu'il n'y avait pas d'ascenseur (seulement l'escalier) et il n'y avait pas de telephones entre les chambres, je me sentais tres isolee, tres solitaire.  J'etais tres loin de ma famille, tres loin de mes amis.  Mais, pendant les vacances de printemps, un ami qui etudiait a Londres est venu me rendre visite.  Pendant ce temps-la, j'ai trouve Paris une ville fantastique et pleine de charme.  C'etait parce que j'avais un ami avec qui je pourrais apprecier les sites et les restaurants, un ami avec qui je pourrais partager l'experience.  Je revais de rentrer en france un jour avec mon mari et mes enfants pour decouvrir ensemble la france et l'europe.
J'espere que cette experience a l'etranger sera tout a fait different que la premiere fois.  J'aurai ma famille avec qui je pourrai partager l'experience, et le monde est beaucoup plus petit qu'avant.  Maintenant, on a Facebook, e-mail, et Skype, et on peut telephoner de Guam aux Etats-Unis sans tarifs.  Aujourd'hui, c'est beaucoup plus facile a se mettre en contacte avec la famille et les amis.  J'espere vraiment profiter cette fois-ci, d'apprecier toutes les facettes de la vie en Guam.

Decision Made

Well, we made our decision last night.  Here's what I sent to all those who had prayed for us:

Hello, everyone,

       We have made a decision.  We are bound for Guam.  It’s a fantastic career move for Lance that will give him lots of experience doing a variety of things.  The job in Europe would not be a sure thing, and he’d be away from home half the time in that job.  With the job in Guam, he’ll be home most of the time.  He’ll be working with the Navy, the Marines, and the Air Force in Guam, so he'll be making lots of good contacts, which could help with future endeavors. 
       When we looked back at how this all came about, we realized that God’s fingerprints are all over it.  First, we never would have come up with this on our own.  We were Europe-bound.  He found out about this job at a conference that he decided to attend last minute and was encouraged to apply.  He missed the application deadline by 2 weeks but decided to apply anyway, not even knowing if they’d consider him.  We prayed that God would slam the door shut if this was not His will for us and that He would open the door (by Lance getting the job) if it was God’s will.  The main reason he applied was because the job came with so many perks.  After he got the job, he learned the perks were not quite as good as we thought—was this God’s way of getting us to apply for something that we wouldn’t have otherwise?  As I was leaving the Y the other night, the phrase came to me, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”  Not terribly spiritual (a verse would have been nice ;>) but I felt God was saying, “You’ve already got a great thing in your hands.  Don’t blow it by seeking what you think you want and what’s not guaranteed.”  So, I’m okay with the decision.  We are both on the same page here.  We are looking at this as a grand adventure.  We are so hoping that this will be 2 years of blessing and fun and learning together as a family and not a bad thing. 
       I felt yesterday that we were definitely ready to decide and kind of already had, but the finality of it all has brought tears and fear and trepidation.  What will our lives be like there?  Will we enjoy it?  Will we find renters before we leave?  A thousand questions like this.  I am excited but hesitant to get excited.  I want to go with low expectations but enter in with a smile on my face and rejoicing in my heart.  How do you combine the two?  This was not our dream, but it definitely seems to be God’s plan for us at this time.  Thank you so much for all your prayers.  We are at peace.

Love you all,

Andrea for the Laughmillers

Torn

We were surprised to learn that Lance had gotten the job since we never planned or wanted to go to Guam.  We sent out a request for prayer to friends and family.  Here it is:

Dear Friends and Family,

I am writing to ask you to intercede for us regarding a big decision we need to make very soon.  Lance has been offered a job in Guam, a teeny tiny island in the North Pacific.

We’ve dreamed of living in Europe for over 16 years now, but it never seemed to be the right time.  Then about a year ago, we began to think that maybe the time was now.  We prayed and prayed about pursuing a job in Europe, not wanting to pursue something only to turn it down if offered.  We quickly learned that 2 jobs would be opening in Europe, for which Lance could apply.  Months went by with none opening.  Then, out of the blue in October, we learned about a job in Guam.  It sounded too good to be true, with some pretty nice perks.  Plus, the commitment was only 2 years instead of 3.  While we really wanted Europe, we thought this would allow us to travel and see Asia, and maybe Europe too, and set aside money for college.  Also, there will undoubtedly be lots of folks applying for jobs in Europe, making competition pretty stiff.  We also thought that the Europe job would be opening at roughly the same time, so he could apply for both and then see what happens.  It never occurred to me when he applied for Guam that he might have to accept that position before ever trying for Europe.  So Lance applied for the job in Guam, got the job, and then learned that the perks weren't quite as good as we thought.  It would cost almost $2000/person to fly home, and to fly anywhere from Guam (to travel—Japan, Korea, Fiji) would cost minimum $3000 in airfare for our family.  Getting around Europe is cheap and easy.

Our main goals for going overseas were 1) to be able to see the world with our kids (or at least Europe) and 2) to show our kids that the world is much bigger than Chesapeake, VA,  by living in a foreign culture (that there are all kinds of people in the world and that this world is on God’s heart).  We were excited about sharing Europe with friends and family who would come to visit, but who’s going to spend $2000/person on a 15-hour flight to Guam?  Plus our French friends (of whom we’ve grown very fond) will be returning to France to live this summer and we had been making plans of visiting them and their parents in different parts of France and vice versa. 
I feel like going to Guam is the death of our dreams.  Not only would it be very expensive to travel from there, but they speak English on the island, and while there is a native culture, it would not be like living in a foreign country, but more like living in Hawaii.  In Europe, you change cultures and languages every time you cross a border and sometimes even within the same country.  With my mom being in her 70s and me being an only child, we feel that we have a very small window of opportunity to do this overseas thing and that to spend 2 years in Guam would mean we’re trading that for Europe—the Europe commitment is 3 years, but most people stay 5 years or even more.  Plus, we aren’t sure we want Luke spending his high school years abroad.

According to the people who have lived there, Guam is fabulous.  It has a year-round temp of 80-85 degrees with sunshine every day, some of the best snorkeling in the world (Luke could get certified to scuba dive), great scenery and hiking, incredible nighttime skies,  a small community of people that you get to know very quickly, and wonderful churches.  And we’d probably get a dog if we went there (the kids are desperate for a dog), whereas in Europe we’d be traveling so often to make it difficult to care for a pet.  Everyone we have talked to that’s lived there has absolutely loved it and would go back “in a heartbeat.”  In fact, the guy who would be Lance’s boss is currently working in Guam for the 3^rd time!  Plus you have coconuts, mangoes, pineapples, etc. growing in your yard.  However, the food there isn’t the freshest (ie salad greens and non-native fresh fruits and veggies) as everything must be shipped in.  I dreamed of daily shopping for meat, veggies, and fruits at the open-air markets and eating fabulous food in Europe and maybe even taking a cooking class while there.  Also, the local schools in Guam are not the greatest, so there is a large homeschooling community; although the DoD schools are much better, even some military and government folks choose to homeschool for the first time once they get there.  Also, driving in Guam would be less crazy than trying to drive around in Europe, where there are some pretty wild drivers.

Since the job offer for Guam came in, one position in Europe has opened up, one we didn’t know about.  Instead of one job opening, there will actually be two.  Plus, he thinks that fewer people will be applying than he originally thought, so his chances of getting it would be better.  There will be a third job opening up there too, a level lower than his, which he could apply for but would mean a slight decrease in pay.

The job in Guam would be exciting and intense for Lance.  I’m sure the jobs in Europe would also be great for him, too.  They would involve some travel for him to Spain, Africa, etc., which would be really cool.  Plus we wouldn’t be far from my beloved France, where I spent a semester and could use my language skills, and Lance’s beloved Turkey, where he spent a summer.

My biggest concerns are that he would reject the job in Guam and then not get one of the jobs in Europe, meaning we don’t get to go anywhere.  I hate to give up paradise, hoping for travel, and get nothing.  I also hate to go to Guam grieving over the loss and death of my dreams.  When he applied for the job in Guam, we prayed that God would open the door wide for us to go or close it shut.  We prayed that God’s will would be manifested in the decision that was made—if we should go, he’d get the job, if not that he wouldn’t get it.  But we feel like we need more confirmation now that we’ve learned the job doesn’t provide all we thought it would.  I need to know beyond the shadow of a doubt that this is God’s best for us, so that when I do feel sad about not going to Europe, I’ll be able to have peace and rest knowing that Europe was not God’s will and that Guam definitely is.

Would you pray with us over the next week or so regarding this decision?  We would be so grateful.

Thank you so much!

Andrea

Introduction

Hi, my name is Andrea. My husband Lance and I have 3 kids, ages 11, 7, and 5.  We have always dreamed of living abroad and seeing the world with our children.  After planning to pursue a job in Europe, my husband applied for a job in Guam.  He is an Environmental Engineer and works for the Department of Defense.  He was chosen for the job.  So instead of traveling every other weekend and seeing Europe, we will be on a very small (32 miles by 8 miles) tropical island in the North Pacific near the equator.  We are looking forward to unique family times snorkeling, scuba diving, boating, swimming, hiking, and stargazing in paradise.  This is our story.

Voici le traduction pour mes amis francais et quebecois...
Bonjour!  Je m'appelle Andrea.  Mon mari s'appelle Lance.  Nous avons trois enfants, 11 ans, 7 ans, et 5 ans.  Nous revons depuis longtemps d'habiter dans un pays etranger et de decouvrir le monde avec les enfants.  Mon mari n'a pas poursuit un poste en europe comme prévu mais un poste en Guam.  Il travaille comme ingénieur de l'environnement pour le département de la défence.  Il a été choisit pour le poste en Guam.  Au lieu de voyager presque tous les weekends en Europe comme dans nos rêves, on se trouvera sur une très petite (15 km par 3 km) île dans le nord pacifique pres de l'équateur.  Nous anticipons des moments familiaux faisant du bateau, de la natation, de la plongée sous-marine, de la natation avec un tube respiratoire, de la randonnée à pied, et regardant les étoiles en paradis.  Voici notre histoire.