Hints of Easter

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8

Today is Good Friday, where Christians worldwide remember that death. I often connect with God and his truths through music, and these snippets of songs come to mind today:

"Amazing love, how can it be? That you, my King, should die for me?"

"And when I think that God, His Son not sparing,
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin."

"Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe;

Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow."

Jesus paid for my wrongdoing, taking it upon himself and dying. And as He said, "It is finished." (John 19:30)

But things didn't stop there. Jesus rose from the dead, just a couple of days later. Easter. I used to wonder why this part of the story mattered so much. I mean, he'd already made me right with God through His death. Why was it so important for Him to rise again?

Then I started to understand. The whole story falls apart without the resurrection. Jesus demonstrated that he really was who he said he was (the Son of God) through conquering death. Otherwise he wasn't any different that a bunch of people who die for what they believe in.

God showed me a little glimmer of new life today - the first little buds of tulips coming out of the ground. For so long things have been dead in my little back yard. I've never had anything close to a garden before, and honestly this one has been touched ONLY by my cute parents, who not only planted all kinds of things last summer, but also put some tulip bulbs in last fall. I can't claim a thing and YES I realize it needs some serious cleanup. But still it was pretty sweet to get a little reminder of Easter while letting Riley out this morning.

Awesome.

It is 11:31 pm on Wednesday night.

I JUST realized that I have this Friday (Good Friday) off.

So very happy about that fact.

Smiling

I have two big reasons to smile today:

1. Riley is back at home with us. My parents took care of him while we were gone and they were nice enough to meet up with us in Merrillville last night for the hand off. (Thanks again, guys!)

2. March Madness starts soon and "bracketing" is a non-negotiable item on my agenda today. I love the NCAA Basketball tournament. And I'm so very excited that a team I care about (Go Hoosiers!) is actually competing. Michigan, sadly, hasn't made the cut in awhile. Each year Josh and I put stakes on our brackets and compete against each other in addition to other pools we're in. If I win, he has to take me out for Chinese food. I haven't beat him yet, but THIS IS MY YEAR.

Some Vacation Pictures

Here are some of our favorites, but if you just can't get enough of the Brown Family Trip to South America, check out more here.

Vina Del Mar, Chile - on the Pacific Ocean.

Too bad it was too cold to swim that day!

Still on the coast, right outside a restaurant we chose for lunch.

On the streets of Santiago with Chad, Kendra, Amber, and Jim Overlooking Santiago from a nearby hill called Cerro San Cristobal.

This shot is from a hilly park called Cerro Santa Lucia looking back on Cerro San Cristobal.Josh's "soccer group" with some executives from a local soccer team on the playing field. They were thrilled to have such a great visit.Our great hotel in Puerto Varas - our room was on the top floor all the way over to the right. Amazing views of the lake and mountains behind it!

Ready for white water rafting! We were each given a wetsuit, jacket, and helmet, and were clearly looking SNAZZY.

Strong boys after the rafting trip.

Tronador (Thunderer) Mountain, where we stopped for a visit.

Crossing the Andes Mountains by boat (and some busses) was SIMPLY incredible.
Osorno, as seen from the lake - what a great looking volcano.
More Orsorno, plus the two of us.

Boys on horses in San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina.

Me and Muneca! (In Middle Earth)
SUCH amazing countryside.
From the roof of our hotel (which was actually called the Edelweiss, believe it or not) in San Carlos de Bariloche

Now for some Buenos Aires...

Here is the Capital building (didn't know Josh was taking this picture)

A crazy big cemetary with rows upon rows of elaborate crypts. This place continues to be one of the most exclusive "residences" in town. Evita was buried there, but her husband, the actual politician, didn't make the cut.
Upscale Puerto Maderas, one of our favorite neighborhoods. Special perks in this area included our favorite ice cream shop as well as the best steak restaurant we've ever been to. MMM...

Beautiful Plaza San Martin in B. A.

Home Sweet Home

We're home. Safe. Tired, but in one piece.



And now for the to-do list (which I've been dreading for the past couple of days):



-SHOWER

-laundry

-upload pictures! (okay, I've actually been looking forward to that one!)

-sort through mail

-grocery shop

-pay bills

-maybe take a whack at work emails - yikes!

-sort through random travel items such as camera cords, post cards, and small tubes of toothpaste



But praise the Lord for safe (and relatively smooth) travel. I'll post pictures soon, once I can crawl out from under the massive pile of more pressing needs.

Ready For My Own Bed

Today is the last day of vacation.

Yes, all good things must come to an end.

It has been a fabulous trip, but we´re READY to come home. This evening we´ll board a plane, fly to Chicago overnight (about 12 hours long!), then sit at O´Hare for 3 hours, then take a ¨puddle jumper¨back to Indy. Then a bus ride to B-town. I do wish I could snap my fingers and transport myself to my little townhouse in South-Central Indiana. But not so much. So I´ll smile and read and maybe take a sleeping pill.

And yay - tomorrow we´ll be back in our OWN PLACE. Where we have a clean shower and a flat iron (I´ve missed it these past couple of weeks - you´ll see lots of crazy hair in the pictures I´ve yet to post!) and a refrigerator/kitchen.

I can´t wait to get back and load some pictures!

Hasta Mañana!

Mas Divertido En B. A.

... Which means ¨More Fun In B. A.¨

Yes, we´re continuing to enjoy our time here! We´ve toured a famous graveyard (where Evita is buried), watched a tango show, and have had many interesting broken Spanish conversations with cab drivers throughout town. And THANK YOU JAMIE I have only bought 1 purse. Maaaybe another tomorrow. We´ll see.

Josh has SO enjoyed studying soccer in S. America. Yesterday the boys got to go to a game, which was super interesting and fun. And from what I understand kind of vulgar and crazy. I believe there was spitting involved. People around here are INTENSE about soccer.

And then today they met with people connected to the very popular Boca Juniors team and even got a tour of the stadium. To put it in perspective, it would be like a group of Argentinian college students meeting with people at the Yankees and getting to tour the field. Big stuff around here, and way fun for them. Their amazing contact, who got them the ïn¨with the team, was actually a Kelley alum that graduated in 1995. He now works for a credit card company that sponsors the team.

The guy was even nice enough to have the entire group over for dinner at his house. And the other ¨soccer wives¨and I got to tag along to that part of the fun. I haven´t had a better meal since I´ve been in S. America. WHAT hospitality... we were served, among other goodies, a few different salads and salsas, lots of red wine, bread, what seemed like an entire cow, nine different varieties of ice cream (Josh tried every one), tea, and cookies. We really had an excellent time with him and his family all evening. The kids (10 & 13) spoke great English and we were able to joke around and have fun with them too. We plan to send them a ¨care package¨complete with the favorite American items for the kids once we return home. Yes, we were surprised to find out how excited they were about such American staples as Cocoa Puffs, Pop Tarts, and Gap sweatshirts. And magazines focused on Miley Cyrus.

And holy cow they had a beautiful home. So great to experience ¨real home cookin¨(well, from a hired chef) in a home and not a hotel. Huge blessing.

To leave you with a random B. A. tidbit - the baked good of choice around here consists of two cookies pasted together with either chocolate or caramel, and then rolled in either chocolate or sugar. They can be found in shops and bakeries on every block in the city. And they are excellent treats. We may smuggle some home in our luggage.

Name? Alfajors. If you know how to pronounce words in Spanish you´ll realize just how vulgar that may sound. I actually feel a little sheepish ordering them every time.