Ashlonso's Going to Panama!!

Tonight we received some really awesome news and confirmations that I couldn't wait one more little second to share with you. Here's the thing: From April 13 to April 20 in Central and South America its Semana Santa - probably better known to you as Holy Week. Because Catholicism is the predominant religion down here, the whole latin world shuts down and everyone flocks to the beach by the herds. This year, there just so happens to be another holiday on the Friday before Holy Week, giving me 11 days off from school. 

Can I get a HALLELUJER? 

So what will I do with all my glorious free time, you ask? I've contemplated several options but my favorite idea was to lay in my bed for a week straight watching movies and eating cake icing and brownie mix. Because I care so much at least a little about my figure, and the fact that I might get bed sores, I've decided to go another route. 

And by another route I mean bus route. 

That's right, people. #Ashlonso is going to San Felix, PANAMA!! 

We are more than excited to partner with this really cool ministry there called ICJesus. They are near the Costa Rica/Panama boarder and they work with .... well, like many missionaries ... they do a number of things. But one thing we're SUPER STOKED about is that they work in local villages with deaf children and Panamanian Sign. 

Ooooo weeee!! I can't wait to get my hands back on some Pana-babies!! 

Another thing Danny and Heather (the missionary contacts) do is work in conjunction with a Pastor and Missionary named Alex in supporting 12 local indigenous churches. They equip them with the Word of God and material resources in order for the local pastors to better minister to their people and reach unreached people.  
 

We've been asking God to show us what to do with this week and how to spend it serving Him better. Yay for heavenly answers, amen? I cannot tell you how excited we are about this mission trip. 

Another really cool thing about this opportunity: Last month Alonso and I got really close to the Passport team who was serving at our school. The girls helped Alonso propose to me, remember? Yeah ... those girls. Well, we get to see and spend time with them while we're in Panama! How great is this? 

Now I know you're just dying to know how you can help us get there ... weren't you? ;) So I'll tell you. 

1. We need all sorts of prayer. 

(A) Boarder crossing is never fun, easy, or safe. So we need protection for    traveling from here to there. 

(B) We are trusting that the Lord has gone before us and prepared hearts and minds to receive our message. 

( C ) Prayers of provision. This mission trip will, obviously, take money. So we're believing God to provide exactly what we need to make this happen. 

(D) Prayers for the Holy Spirit to lead us in every conversation and interaction - that HE would be glorified above us. 

2. You can help us financially.

We've estimated this trip to cost us a total of about $480. We're rounding high because we want to be able to bless the heck out of some people while we're there so we're believing God for His provision. 

So this is how it breaks down:

Transportation costs: $180

Lodging costs: $100 

Food costs: $100 

Misc. costs (boarder taxes, offering to the churches we're serving, etc): $100 

If you feel like you want to help us out (in ANY way) please send me an email at ashliblackwell@gmail.com or feel free to Facebook message me. 

Can't wait to blog about our time there and show off some pictures of ultra-cute- kiddos! 

Catch ya on the other side, 

Ashli 

How I Made a No-Sew Sink Skirt in 5 Easy Steps

Since it's Saturday and I don't have to go to school, I decided to be productive and do very important things like sleep late, cook a big breakfast that I didn't eat all of, and waste a lot of time online looking at wedding planning websites. Once I was bored with all of that and decided to shower, I couldn't handle another second of my bathroom not being spotless so I started cleaning it. I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned longer and harder than ever before. I cleaned spots I never even knew existed in my bathroom - only to discover that I have a really, really ugly pedestal sink. Something had to change.

I knew I wanted a sink skirt but I don't have a sewing machine and even if I did, I wouldn't know the first thing about using it. (I'm remembering back to the World Race when, in South Africa, my best-race-friend Amy taught me how to sew and we helped young girls produce more purses to sale. Thanks, Amy!) Regardless, that was like 80 years ago and I remember nothing. So... I needed to find a way to make this bad boy without a Singer.

I googled it up and read several articles but it basically came down to a combination of a few. It was SO SUPER easy but only because I had a hot little assistant helping me through the whole thing. So here we go... this is how it went down.

1. Alonso and I went downtown to the fabric store to choose a material that would match my bathroom.

(Yay for no makeup days!) 

 2. We measured the sink area to know how big we needed the skirt to be. 

Then stretched out our materials on a hard, flat surface. For me, my living room floor. 

3. While down there, we cut the fabric to size and hemmed each side with this little miracle worker ....

(Life saver for a non-semstrist like me!)

4. We stuck our sticky-back velcro (that we bought at a local crafty store) to the edges of the sink and then the other half of it to the skirt. 

(Oh hey there, newly placed engagement ring!! ;) 

5. Finally, we stuck the skirt to the velcro and VUALA! 

My bathroom took a turn for the better. More colorful, more neat, and more hiding plungers and toilet bowl cleaners behind the skirt. Can I get an AMEN for hiding the gross stuff?

        

So... drumroll please! My first DIY project in Costa Rica presents:

The Final Project 

And it matches perfectly with my presh shower curtain!

What DIY projects are you working on these days? How did you do it? And was it cheap enough for a broke missionary like me to take on? :) 

FAQs About Our Engagement

** Click HERE to read the story of how he proposed and click HERE to watch the video of it ** 

Since Monday, the day Alonso asked me to spend the rest of my life as his wife, many of you have asked a lot of the same questions. So I thought it would be easy for me to answer all of them here so you can hear all of the juicy parts ;) Just kidding, I’ll have to write a whole blog series on our story but for now, here are some FAQs about Alonso and I:

Frequently Asked Questions

 1.    Have you set a date?

No. For one, we’ve only been engaged three days. I need to soak this in a little more and savor the moment. But also, we have to go through the legal process of getting a fiancé visa. Until that ball has been rolling for a few months, we won’t know a general season to start planning for.

 2.     What is a fiancé visa and why do you need one? In other words, what the heck are you talking about, Ashli??

Because Alonso is a citizen of Costa Rica, he needs a visa in order to enter the United States. There are several different types of visas including tourism, fiancé, and spouse. The fiancé, or K-1, visa allows us access to get married on US soil which, for many reasons, will be better for us in the long run.
*** Our plan, as of now, is to MOVE TO, MARRY IN, and LIVE IN the States for a season. We want to do whatever God says. So for now, the idea is to move (to my) home and set a foundation there. Grow some roots and whatnot. Maybe have a kid or two, who knows?? Maybe God calls us out - maybe He doesn't. We shall see. *** 

 3.     Why are you always saying you need prayer through the visa process? Isn’t it just some applications and an interview or something?  How does this process even work?

If only. It’s piles and piles of paperwork, a lot of red tape cutting, vaccinations, medical physicals, document copying, interviews, and more. (The hand of our sovereign Lord is with us. HIS time is more perfect that we can fathom). Here’s how the process works – We mail in an application along with a big fat filing fee and documents upon documents. That begins the process. After that, the tape cutting, copying, shots, etc. happens and then, around 5-6 months later, a final interview. On the day of the interview we will find out if we’re approved or denied. In Jesus name, we will be approved. From that point, Alonso's visa will be valid for 6 months to enter the US. Once he lands on US soil, we have 90 days to tie the knot.

 

 4.     Are you nervous about the visa process? How are you feeling?

To say the least, yes. We have mixed emotions. It’s an exciting time and we know we are working toward an end goal of becoming ONE. But we know from experience with governments and immigration as well as from other couples we’ve talked to that this is a rollercoaster ride of big ups and big downs. However, we’re ready for the ride because we know WHO determines the route of the rollercoaster.

 5.     So then why don’t you just get married down there, in Costa Rica?

Well, it’s not that simple. For many reasons, it will be better for us to marry in the US. For one, if we marry here first, we will need to apply for a “Spouse Visa” in order for us to come back to the US. It’s a much longer, more expensive, grueling process. We prefer the shorter, less expensive one.  For two, his US residency is much more valuable to us than my Costa Rica residency. Because I’m a US citizen, I can come and go from from Costa Rica whenever. It’s not that easy for him to go in and out of the US.

 6.     Wait, so just how expensive IS this whole thing?

Hmmm. More than we care to think about. The number one advice we’ve received from other couples who have gone through this was: HIRE AN IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY. Anyone can do this on their own but having an immigration attorney has endless benefits. One slip of the pen on paperwork and your case can be set back months. Therefore we intend to retain and attorney. (No, my dad cannot do it because he does not specialize in immigration and therefore knows very little about it. Thanks anyway, Daddy!)

So to hire an attorney is about $2000 before filing fees and those little bad boys can total about $1000. So we’re looking at 3K just to get Alonso to the States. Once we’re married we’ll need to apply for residency. That’s about a two-year process in which will cost us a sold 3K more.

So by the end of this thing, we’ll be spending about $6,000 on attorneys and fees.

We’re both missionaries. So yes, donations are welcomed.

 7.     Have your parents met Alonso?

Yes and no. My mom has had the pleasure of meeting him in person when she helped me move here. My dad and sister have met him over FaceTime. Praise God for technology. We FaceTime my parents and sister all the time.

 8.     So where will you get married? Do you know a general time frame?

WHEN the visa process runs smoothly (keep the faith), we should be able to start everything around mid-May.  That would put us in the States this fall, having 90 days to get married. So yeah, we would love to get married this fall/winter but again, we have a process to get through. As far as the location, we are EXTREMELY excited about an AMAZING new venue that shall remain nameless for now. Mostly because they are still building and want us to be the FIRST WEDDING in the venue so I can’t very well give away all my secrets, now can I? ;) Stay tuned to hear about the awesome new partnership we’re starting with this venue.

 9. What is this #ashlonso thing I'm seeing everywhere?

Well, Ashlonso is obviously a combination of our names. But when someone posts a picture or anything with the hashtag #ashlonso, it saves all those posts together. So anytime I want, I can click on the hashtag and see all the pictures and posts with that has tag. If you're going to post about us - be it a photo or words or anything - we ask that you join the hashhtag club and stick an #ashlonso on it! ;)

10. Do you and Alonso speak English or Spanish to each other?

Both. While Alonso speaks perfect English, I do not speak perfect Spanish. So naturally, English comes out more. We speak Spanish to Ticos and English to Gringos. :)

Well, I think that about covers it. What am I missing? What questions do you have that I have not answered here?

** Click HERE to read the story of how he proposed and click HERE to watch the video of it ** 

He Asked, I said, "Yes!"

I went to school like any other day. I noticed my students were acting really weird. They really love Alonso and ask about him often but today was different. They kept asking if he was "coming to see us" and asking to call him. Why would they want to call him? So weird. I went to talk to the Passport team who is serving here this month and they were weird too. Their door was locked and they were talking to me through the door - which was odd. I told Callie, "Stop being a weirdo today!" 

Later I went downstairs to print something in the office and Dot (another team member) came with me. Little did I know, it was to supervise me. I saw some ladies from the office standing in the hallway whispering and they acted funny when I walked up. I was going up to my classroom to text my mom saying, "Either I'm super paranoid or people are being really weird with me today." I opened more door and found a classroom FULL of little people holding signs and screaming "WILL YOU MARRY MR. ALONSO??" 

Alonso then walked forward, said some stuff that I still don't remember, and got down on one knee. He was shaking so much that he dropped the ring and a student had to pick it up. I was freaking out and didn't even notice he dropped it until I looked back at the pictures. Seconds after I said YES and hugged Alonso, someone handed me a cell phone and said, "Here are your parents!" He thought to Skype them in so they could see the whole thing!

Then later that night, Alonso had planned a surprise engagement party at his mother's house. There, he gave me a scrapbook full of letters from close friends and family from home. He knew how important it was to me that they all be involved but since we live in Costa Rica and we can't fly them all here, he included them by having them send letters and pictures. He's amazing, and so are they.

I'm the happiest little girl in the world. I thank Jesus so much for being in control of my life. If I were in control I would have messed it up a long time ago. But thankful He saw a much bigger, better picture than I ever could and now I’m going to marry the most godly, incredible man that could have been created for me. I imagine God looking at me years ago saying, ‘Oh girl. If you only knew what is yet to come.”

When in Costa Rica, Do as the Ticos

When I came to school this morning, another missionary teacher, Christine, wanted to talk to me about supporter communication. She even went so far as to say that I'm "soooo good at it."

"Dang it," I thought, "now I have to go write a blog."

The truth is, I just couldn't bring myself to write a blog lately in the last four months. Why not? I have no idea. Yes, life is busy but there's been SO MUCH happening that you guys should have been the first to know about. God's glory is shown everywhere and Costa Rica is no exception to that.

I know that many, if not all, of you follow my posts on Facebook which is wonderful, but Facebook never tells the whole story. For example, the recently established relationship with my man of choice. All you see on Facebook are some pics here and there with a short caption which is likely to be a sarcastic line of mine. But am I really being open about my life and what's happening here? Don't get me wrong. I don't think that anyone and everyone has the right to know every detail of my personal life just because I call myself a missionary. And I'm certainly not one to put my laundry (be it clean or dirty) on Front Street for the world to read about. But if I love all of you as much as I say I do, (and trust me, I do) then I should be updating you regularly for no other reason then to share my life on this side of the world with you.

For my lack of that, I am truly sorry.

Well, as long as we're on the topic, I might as well let you in on my little love adventure happening over here. His name is Alonso and he is all things Costa Rica. From music to soccer to patriotic pride, he truly represents Costa Rica well. However, before he ever knew I existed, God called him to be a missionary. What will that look like for him in the future? Neither of us know, only God does. We do know, though, that God is calling Him into bigger and deeper things than a normal, typical life (for lack of better words). And for that, he is very excited.

While he's not close to being perfect (sorry, Babe) he is a wonderful, strong man of God. It's really kind of cool for me to see God loving me through him. Thanks to my journey on the World Race, my eyes and heart were opened to many things that I now see benefiting my relationship with Alonso. I'm tempted to stop there and not say "too much" because that would be more socially acceptable. But when have I ever been one to follow social graces? And how will anyone ever be able to relate to me if I keep all the good stuff inside and never let you see me and my life for what it really is?

So on that note, Alonso and I both feel like God crossed our paths for a reason more than a good friendship. While we know that OUR desire is to continue a life together, we want to be sure that it's what God wants. Beyond that, we want everything to happen in God's time. Recently there have been a few tangible reminders of God showing us that His time is much more perfect that we can imagine. For that, we are beyond thankful.

On another note, there are some really, really exciting things happening around here.

1. I have committed to teach another semester here at Glory Christian School! I'm really excited for this because I feel like this year was just getting my feet wet. Next year I will be able to be more excellent at my work.

2. I've recently paid the deposit for my NEW APARTMENT here in Costa Rica!! This may not sound like much but when you live in another country with limited friend supply, no vehicle, and a big fat language barrier staring you in the face, you quickly become dependent on other people. VERY dependent. And I personally, hate every second of it.

To the point of wanting to retreat back to a country that I know well, I hate not being able to get around on my own. But since learning the public transportation system, getting a Price Smart membership (like SAM's Club or COSCO), and now a new apartment, I feel much better about being here. Also, the better my Spanish gets, the better my attitude toward the language barrier gets! ; )  Because hey, when in Costa Rica, do as the Ticos!

3. God sent me a roommate because He knew I couldn't afford to live there alone. Thank you Jesus! So I'm excited to welcome my new missionary-teacher-friend-roommate, Emilie, to Costa Rica in January!


4. I'M COMING HOME!!! December 22 - January 16. So: 1. I want to see you. 2. I want to speak at your church. 3. I want to see you. 4. I want to see you.

5. I got a new tattoo. If you want to see it, you'll have to watch for the next blog! : )

UPDATE: here's the blog!! 




Love Peace and New Blog Updates,

When I Moved to Costa Rica, Illegally - Pt. 3

Megan and I arrived at Immigration and began our hunt for the person who would stamp my papers and let me out of there. The first line we were told to wait in wrapped around the entire building and on to another building. When following that line to see where it ended, we saw that there was a bank ON PROPERTY. Yes, the exact bank I need to deposit money into. The exact bank that NO ONE TOLD ME WAS BACK THERE. At this point I was ready to leave and just get deported. I didn’t even care anymore. I said, “Come on Megan. I am not standing in this line. We’ll be here until midnight if we do.” As we walked back by the man guarding the door to the office I needed to be in, Megan asked him one more time if we were in the right line. He told us that we were in fact NOT in right line and needed to be in a much shorter line. THANK YOU JESUS! We got in line and waited ..... and waited ..... and waited ..... and THREE HOURS later we were let in the door to immigration.

You can probably hear the angels singing “Haaaaallelujah” at this point, right?

No so fast.

It was like a movie scene in slow motion.

He opened the doors and we walked through with huge smiles on our face which quickly turned to frowns when we saw three sections of 30 rows of chairs all full of people waiting for different things. In fact, there were even people standing. We stood in a line that was moving very quickly toward the front of the room where people were getting tickets with numbers. When I gave the lady my papers she said I didn’t need a ticket and to wait in the green chairs and they would call my name. Remember there are three sections? Green, yellow and orange.

So we sit. And wait.

And wait.

And wait.

Until Megan thought she saw Jose, the guy who helped me last time. I walked to find Jose and when I did, I BEGGED him to stamp my paperwork and me on my way. He of course, could not because he was sitting at a desk with his own line of people waiting for this or that. However, Jose did tell me that we were sitting in the wrong chairs and that we should be in the yellow chairs. That was a big deal because here’s how the chairs work:

·      Green – you wait for your name to be called

·      Orange – you wait for your number to flash on the screen

·      Yellow – you wait in the line and as the line goes up, so do you

So we got a ticket with a number – the one the lady said I didn’t need – and we walked toward the yellow chairs. When a guard saw us, he looked at our number and my paperwork and said that were shouldn’t be in the yellow chairs we should be in the orange chairs. So we sat down in the orange chairs with number 147, looked up at the screen and almost fainted when we read the number, “49.”  We waited .... and waited .... and waited. I got a suspicion that something wasn’t right so I asked Jose again, just to be sure that we were in the right line. I told him the guard sent us to the orange chairs and he said, “No! You are definitely supposed to be in the yellow chairs.”

Megan and I looked over at the yellow line and had we been in the correct line/chairs this whole time, we would have been only a few people away from the front of the line. But NOW, thanks to a lot of people who clearly do their jobs so well, we were in the very back of the line. At least we knew it was the right one, finally.

Two hours later, we reached the front of the line and made our way to the window. Stamp, stamp and we were done. “Come back in 10 days to see if it’s approved,” said the guy behind the window. “Excuse me? 10 days? Are you kidding me right now? Do you know what I’ve been through to get to the front of this line and NOW I have to come BACK HERE in 10 days??”

“Yes ma’am. See you in 10 days.”

.... to be continued with part four ....