Mike and Anita James » Mike

A Little Bit of Everything

Anita — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:15:41 +0000

Earlier this week, both Grace and I were sick. Fortunately, our fevers only lasted a day or two. It came at a terrible time though. I guess there’s never a good time to get sick, but we got sick when we had company coming. Our friends were sick the week before, so they had no problem coming into the “sick house.”

The sickness kept me from editing videos. I’ve finally started on it again today. We are working on a curriculum for our church that has video segments. It should make it much easier for the workers, but it does create much more work for us. We converted our guest room into a studio of sorts. We’ve shot the video for the first four weeks. Now, I’m editing it all. When I’m done with that, we’ve got to get subtitles on it. Our church is international and it functions with two main languages: English and Dutch. Het kost veel tijd om iets in twee talen te doen! (It takes a lot of time to do something in two languages!)

So, while I’m working on video editing today, Mike is at the VPE congress. The VPE is the church organization we work with here in The Netherlands. Today is their yearly meeting. It actually started yesterday. Mike went yesterday to teach a seminar on children’s ministry It’s nice that we are a team and can keep working even when we’re apart.

Autumn is definitely here

Anita — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:13:57 +0000

No, we don’t have major changes in our lives. It is feeling much more like autumn here though. Schools here had an autumn break last week, and it was so nice to have a little bit of time to relax as a family. We were able to go to a few museums. Here is Grace after she finished making the button she’s wearing. It’s made to look like a jewel found in the Viking’s time in The Netherlands.

Grace at the museum

Leaves are changing and falling to the ground. It’s beautiful until I have to clean up the yard.

Front Yard

Our time changed last week. That means that we leave for school in daylight now, but it won’t be long before we’ll be leaving in darkness again. I really don’t like having to turn on lights or start candles at 4:30, but that’s how it is. I honestly expected it to be colder than it has been by now. There were a few days a few weeks ago that I had to scrape ice off the windshields before leaving in the morning, but it’s been pretty nice since then.

It has cooled off a little though. You know it’s cold in the house when our dog likes to be covered up. I guess it could be because of the cold or that he’s terribly spoiled or ridiculous. You can take your pick.

We should've named this dog Linus

Christmas in September

Anita — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:00:26 +0000

After having to have our things go through customs, we were really happy to have our things arrive in The Netherlands. It seems like it’s been so long since we shipped it from America that I had forgotten many of the things we packed. That’s why it felt a little like Christmas today.

Our crate in The Netherlands

We had our winter clothes, some of Grace’s toys, towels, kitchen items, office supplies and children’s ministry supplies. I think that when I opened this, I giggled the most in excitement. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a slow cooker for Europe, but we actually found one at a store in Dallas.

My slow cooker for Europe

Grace had many clothes that someone had handed down to her, so she got to have a bit of a fashion show. As you can guess, she enjoyed that. I think of all the things we had in our crate, this is what Mike was the most excited about.

Taco Bell hot sauce

The caption on the sauce said, “Ahhhh. We meet again.” Mike said that it was really appropriate. You can see that he didn’t waste any time in using some of the packages.

Small Adjustments

Anita — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 14:44:17 +0000

We’re adjusting back to life in The Netherlands, and we’ve noticed that it’s happening much quicker than the first time we moved here. One of the things we’ve had to get used to is how much smaller everything is. Here is a drink from Whataburger in America:

Large Drink at Whataburger

Now, you need to compare it to the size of a drink at a cafe here.

Drink at a Cafe in The Netherlands

In America, there are free refills, and his drink costs about $2. In The Netherlands, there is no refill, and the drink costs about $3. We’re learning to pace ourselves!

One More Camp Finished – 23 Days to Go

Anita — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:00:38 +0000

We finished the Arkansas Kids Camp on Friday. We love being/speaking at camps. We always have such a great time and meet so many awesome people. It’s also fun to do the services and have “interesting” characters come out and meet everyone. Here is Mike talking with Polly Esther. I’m not sure, but I’m guessing she’s talking about getting a new man.

We love doing this and are doing it more as a family now that Grace is a little older. She helps us by doing her character, Smiley Iris and by singing with us during the services also.

Now, we’re down to 23 days before leaving. We still have 6 services in Texas and Arkansas before we leave. Our crate is being made that will carry some of our things via a ship, and our suitcases are pretty much packed. We are truly living out of our suitcases now. Someone asked me recently where I am from. That’s a long question to answer usually, but now, we don’t really have a home until we’re back in The Netherlands. I’m ready to go home!

Less Than Two Months – Make a List

Anita — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:34:56 +0000

I’m a major list maker. If any of you are list makers, you can understand. I’ve even put things on my lists that I had already done only to mark them off. I felt like I had done more. Mike has told me that I need to add “breathe” on my list of things to do.

I can’t tell you how many lists I have going right now. I have the “things to do before leaving” list. I have the “what I need to buy before leaving” list. I have the “things to buy other people” list. We’re speaking at three camps and one kids’ crusade this summer, so you can imagine the lists for that. Since we’re leaving in less than two months, we decided to make a list of things we wanted to do before leaving.

We each have a list. My list includes getting a manicure/pedicure, eating at Taco Bell and, hopefully, getting a massage. Mike’s list is to eat a good steak dinner, see a baseball game, a date night with me (that sadly doesn’t happen often) and eat at Mamma’s Pizza. We actually ate there last night, so we can mark that one off the list. Grace’s list is to go back to Gattitown and have Lucky Charms. That’s not too tall of an order. As you can see, we keep marking things off our list.

Grace - eating Lucky Charms