Wedding Bloopers

When I got all my wedding photos back, I of course chose the prettiest ones that accurately showed off the blissful, lovely celebration that our wedding was and posted them on Facebook and printed them off for an album. But what about the not so pretty ones? the ones that caught us off guard or tell a different story about the day? As I was looking through a friend's wedding photos the other day, we laughed and giggled at every photo that wasn't 'picture perfect'. I decided to go through my own wedding photos again and show you some of the 'behind all the lovey dovey stuff' photos. So Enjoy...

My wedding day breakfast: cheese curls that taste mildly like cheetos. Oh so flattering stuffing my entire hand in my mouth.

For those who know my mom well, this slight pout she has is her, "I am about to cry but am trying to hold it in" face. I think this was the point where she said, "I can't believe I am going my little girl's hair for her wedding."

Time for the hair spray...

Doh! Missed my hair and got my face. 

MOH! Maid of Honour with everything in check and lots of enthusiasm to share. Making sure my bag is full of emergency first aid items.

My dad and bro 'getting ready' for the wedding. 

Yikes!

Typical ring bearer who refuses to walk down the aisle last minute. This usually crazy, rambunctious boy turned into this quite and shy young man as we tried to push him towards the alter. 

MOH in all her glory.

We tried to keep the ceremony short but Kayla just couldn't seem to keep her eyes open. Love you Kayla!

Itchy nose. yuck yuck.

Although this picture looks really sweet as if I am whispering loving words into my new husband's ear, that's not it at all. I was telling him that I wanted him to get rid of his cousins who were crowding the aisle trying to take video and pictures. We made it very clear that no one is to do that and yet they were still standing there!

I was hating the wind. It was messing up my hair big time!

We had this crazy lady start talking to us as we were taking photos. She just kept congratulating us and telling us how beautiful we were. She was mchizi for sure. So Kelvin is trying to get rid of her and another friend had to block her from coming too close to us.

"Where is my food? I'm starving. Yet my new husband is fist pumping the air."

Luo women are known for being 'blessed' in their 'behinds' so when their Luo music came on, there was a lot of large booty's making their way around the dance floor.

This woman was particularly 'blessed'. We have a ton of dancing photos. Maybe one day I will post all the crazy dance styles our photographer caught us doing.

Not too sure what Kelvin is doing. He is 'feeling' my mom's speech I guess.

Get yourselves together. Put your tongue back in your mouth, Dad!

That's better!

Kelvin is looking mighty unsure of this whole marriage thing. 

Hope you enjoyed some not so flattering moments from our wedding! If you have any funny photos of your wedding, I wanna see them!!!

Counting Down the Days

Can you believe we only have 3 more weeks in Mombasa? Crazy right!?

We are kicking into high gear trying to get everything figured out and dealt with before we leave. Its not an easy process. We will be SO ready to get to Canada once these few weeks are over. Kelvin and I often look at each other and just wish that we could leave tomorrow and not have to deal with selling our stuff, looking after the business and the project, and saying our goodbyes. As each day passes, our hearts are more and more excited to start a life in Canada.

We are also just trying to ENJOY kenya while we can. I was in nairobi this past week. We had some troubles on the bus and what was suppose to be a 7 hour ride took 11 hours. The plus side was that I got to drive through the african plains as the sun was rising and it was completely majestic. Africa is truly majestic. 

Last weekend we decided to check out Haller Park. I can actually see Haller Park from my kitchen but I have never been in it. I was surprised as to how many beautiful animals and wildlife are in my back yard!

 Giraffes will always be so gracefully goofy. 

 These monkeys (and their reproductive organs) always crack me up. Yes, his testicles are bright blue and his 'manhood' is bright red. Maybe it makes it easier for the woman to spot it?

Baby monkey!

I think someone was trying to hide.

 But this someone liked being in the middle of the road.

 Not sure what this animal is called.

They have a few hippos in the park too. Unfortunately, they weren't hungry enough to get out of the water and come eat their food. I was so looking forward to seeing their big bodies as I have only ever seen them in water. Its hard to believe they are the most dangerous creatures in Africa.

 And then it was time to feed the crocodiles. This was the big kahuna.

 For show, they like to tease the little guys and make them all jump for the meat.

These things were just wandering around in the open. They kind of look like something you might find in the mountains near my hometown.

 The greenery was so gorgeous and luscious.

 This tree was so bizarre with its neat roots system.

I used to dream of living in a place with palm trees. Now I have them right outside my window. 

We are trading in the tropics for the snow....

Too much fun

Do you ever have those times where you are seriously having too much fun? You are totally free to laugh, make jokes, smile, and be all round joyful. You don't want that time to end but you want the fun to just keep going. Your cheeks start hurting from smiling so much. 

That's what I had yesterday with my two crazy, lovely, amazing neighbours - Miss Ndela and Miss Eddah. 

They called and invited me to go swimming with them (for free I might add). We frolicked in the water till our fingers turned into prunes. Then we were treated to a yummy cup of chai and some nice pastries. We sat, dripping wet, giggling over pretty much everything.  We poke fun at each other and our life situations - me-a white kenyan wife who is trying to blend into this culture as much as I can, Eddah-a fashion designer who is addicted to sugar, and Ndela-a famous Kenyan musician who constantly gets picked on for her marital status. Makes for some good fun I tell you. 

After that, we changed and started making our way home. We LAUGHED all the way home while dancing to our favourite Kenyan gospel song in the middle of the road. We belly laughed when we got in the matatu and I am sure people thought we were absolutely nuts. Then we stood across the street from my apartment, not really wanting to part ways and end our fun. I had to get going and start cooking for Kelvin so we said our goodbyes. 

I came into the house so incredibly grateful for two awesome friends in a place where I am different, I don't quite fit in, I don't quite 'get' everything. Words can't express how grateful I am to God who has blessed me with awesome friends.  

All Afro Glam'd up!

Just so you all know, we actually live somewhat luxuriously here in Kenya. You might think we suffer without Reese's Peanut Butter cups, but there is plenty of lovely things to go around for us. When people ask about our life here, I tell them what they want to hear  - like bathing in a bucket, eating rice and beans, dirt and poverty- but then I mention that there are high end coffee shops and 2 for 1 pizza deals. As well as most of our friends are pretty awesome people - graphic designers, radio dj's, fashion designers, famous musicians, nurses, hotel managers, etc. 

I have an amazing community here. I was telling Kelvin the other day that some of the greatest friends I have ever had are the ones I have right now. Most of them are kenyans too. And not that people from different nationalities can't be friends but, lets be honest, sometimes it's easier to have close friendships with people like you. I am forever in awe of the deep, encouraging, edifying, loving and sacrificial friendships I have in Mombasa. 

So why this rant? Well, we got all fancied up on Saturday and went for an 'Afro Glam' dinner with some of our best buds. It was a hoot! Good company, good program, good FOOD! 

 Kelvin and I were severely humbled when they decided to give us a small award for what we do. We got the 'Love' award for our work in Kongowea. We were both so humbled that our peers admired what we do and wanted to recognize us for it. 

 I was thankful that both our names were on it. Because we are partners, a team, a duo. Thankful that we can be used in our marriage. 

One of my favourite women ever, Maria! I can't begin to tell you how many laughs (and sometimes cries) we've had together as we walk through life, marriage, faith, and everything in between. 

Eddah is my personal fashion designer. How many of YOU have fashion designers? Told you we know how to live it up here! Ha, just kidding. Eddah was so insistent that we come to this dinner (we weren't going to go at first) that she offered to make me an outfit for free! I jumped at it (come on, who doesn't like free stuff?) only to realize that she knew we were getting this award and really wanted us to come to accept it. 

Yes, there was a red carpet. Like our outfits? Kelvin's cute bow tie matches my dress. oh how kenyan I've become.

CV and Interview Training

The unemployment rate in Kenya is ridiculously high (something like 50%). It is really hard to find work in Kenya even if you have a decent education and some good work experience. Sometimes I think the best thing I can do for people is to open a big company and create lots and lots of jobs for people. 

Our youth really struggle...like I mean really struggle to find anything that can make them some money. Although we can't personally find them work or employ all of them, we can help equip them with the proper skills to attain work. 

On Saturday, 12 of our youth (boys and girls) went to a seminar on how to write a proper CV and how to conduct themselves in a job interview. The session was put on by a good friend of ours who is the Human Resource guy at a large resort. 

The information he was able to give these young people was so valuable! Even I learned some new things! One thing he did was encourage them to change their thinking from believing there aren't many jobs and you have to know some to get a job to being more positive about their job search. 

They made us feel so special and plastered our names on all these signs. Did I mention our friend did this for us for free!? 

We made sure that the ones who came were really interested in learning and not just wanting a day by the pool (which was also part of the package;)). The ones who came were so engaged, asking lots of questions, and even boldly asking for work at the resort! We also had a few good laughs.

 After the seminar, we split up and did our own things. I went swimming with my ladies while Kelvin watched the game with his boys. A few weeks ago, we made these bracelets with the girls. 

I had the camera so naturally I got more pics of the girls. I just adore them. Praying that they will be able to get good jobs!