16 on the 16th

First, let me update you on what happened with the story I told you last week . So our former student Ana came over on Wednesday to get some math tutoring and told us that here dad's boss had posted his $20,000 bail Tuesday morning. Once out, Ana's dad tracked down all the necessary paperwork and was informed that he was wrongfully charged. He had been locked up for vehicular fraud (fraudulent tags) but it turns out the cops who arrested him were not very thorough in their investigation and he should not have been arrested. Furthermore, they forced him to leave his 17 year-old son David stranded at the airport. David had just home returned from two months helping relatives in Mexico.

The worst part about it all is that Amy and here siblings grew up in the inner-city of LA, a community that breeds hatred for law enforcement. Ana and her siblings already struggle with trusting cops, feeling like they are always out to get them. While standing at the airport David said to me, "I hope this just teaches [dad] that all pigs (i.e. cops) are bad." Why are they the ones who have to been hastily charged and treated so poorly? At least there dad is free again.

Now for the title.......16 weeks that is. Today I am officially 16 weeks pregnant with our first child (40% of the way wooo whooo!!) Luckily I was spared from morning sickness and have rarely experienced any side effects - that just makes it harder to believe that I am actually pregnant. But my emotions have been a little unusual as of late.....let's hope that is pregnancy related :)

And here is a picture of our other addition: Oscar - he joined our family back in April and is a real delight to have around. You can expect to discover more of his story in future posts.




For those who have been asking, there is not really much of a baby bump to capture yet, so no pregnancy pictures for now.

A Night with the Potters

In light of the fact that our blog has suffered gross neglect recently, I set a goal this weekend. Every Monday I am going to update our blog and if there is no new news on the Potter front, I will just highlight one of our students. So today comes, the first day and my intentions are good. After work I would make dinner, enjoy a leisurely meal with my family, go grocery shopping and then update the blog before reading a little and catching some z's.

But this is how my night went:

Dinner was thrown together quickly and my husband ended up eating in the car. He had to stay late at work to help search all the boys because rumor was one of them had an ounce of weed, but he left before he heard the outcome of the search because we had to be at our boss's house by 6 to watch their toddler and 4 foster children. After an eventful dinner with them, we headed straight for the grocery store still thinking the rest of the night would play out like planned. Cami, Oscar and I had a lot of fun at the grocery store and were all giggles on the way home until we got a call from one of our former students Ana. Her dad had just been arrested, leaving her younger brother and van stranded at the airport. So we quickly dropped off our groceries (couldn't let the milk spoil) then picked up Ana and her mom and drove to LAX. By the time we got there they had taken her dad away. So the ladies headed to the police station with the police and we took David (who had just returned from Mexico) home. Then I dropped Oscar and Cami off at home to work on English homework and hit the road again. Ana and her mom are now safely back at their homes and I have just returned to mine at 11:27 pm.

So I am still writing on the blog (I just set the goal two days ago, I can't compromise already) but I think the Potter update will have to wait until another day. It is way past my bedtime.


P.S. I do have a softball sized parasite growing in my lower abdomen. But more on that later.

No Titles for This One

I don't even know how to start this. No catchy phrases or insightful thoughts to begin us, just the truth.

Today one of my students showed up late to school. As I was writing her a pass to class she gave me no reason for her tardiness, but told me her mom should be calling. This is common practice for our students and I was sure she had missed the bus or something of the sort. At lunch she asked me if her mom had called yet, but she had not.

It was not until this evening that I discovered why she was late today. This student, as with many others, lives in one of the gang infested projects of Los Angeles. Before it was time for her to catch an 8am bus to school, a group of gang members had gathered in her backyard. Now I am not sure what happened next, but I know it ended with one of them getting shot and being abandoned there by all his hommies. It was her family's responsibility to ensure he received medical treatment. And before she was certain he would live, she was at school. And sometimes I wonder why they just can't focus on their schoolwork.

P.S. The car is fine. Some bolt they replaced broke, but we are good to go now.

Cars

In three weeks we will be taking our little Marvin on a long road trip up to Seattle and then around the NW for two weeks before we head back home. In light of this upcoming trip we decided to have a tune up. Luckily there is a man that does all the mechanic work for the Dream Center and he gave us a screaming deal --- he changed all the belts, spark plugs, fluids and the list goes on. Praise the Lord for generous people.

However, we were pulling out of a parking space this morning and as I shifted from reverse to 1st gear there was a rather unnerving sound and then . . . . . . . . Marvin wouldn't move :( He revs but no movement. Ironic that there was really nothing wrong with our car earlier this week but we had it looked at anyway. And now, two days after getting it back from a mechanic it is not running. Oh the joys of life! Luckily work is right next door, church is less than a mile away and we have enough groceries to get us by for a few more meals.

Our friend will look at it again on Monday ---- let's just pray that whatever is wrong wont be too expensive to fix.

4 Toothbrushes

Last night I walked into our bathroom and was delighted to discover that our toothbrush holder was full. And then moments later Cami said to me, "Hey did you notice all the slots in our toothbrush holder are full?"

We recently had a couple of additions to our family. Two of our students who have been kicked out by their parents have both found harbor in our home. I wish you all could meet them and see how wonderful they are. Maybe someday :)

Cami later said, "it is like we are finally complete."

Who would have thought that toothbrushes could be so exciting?

Confession and Recent Events

So I feel like I should confess to all of you......I had a pepsi yesterday :(

I had decided to give it up for a year and have done well so far, but yesterday was my downfall. I will not make excuses or explain why I did it, but I will say that I have not fallen off the horse entirely. Or if I did, I have climbed back on and plan to be faithful with the rest of my commitment!

Thanks for listening!

We have had a lot of activity around here recently. In February I turned 27 (how did I get into my late twenties so quickly). And the next week Mom and Dad Potter came to visit. Actually, they had work to do in the area, but we will take any excuse to have them around for a while.

About three weeks later Cami and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary! There is a lot I could say, but I will sum it up with - marriage is fabulous and the most wonderful gift God has blessed me with. The weekend after our anniversary my dear friend Bri came to visit. We didn't do much exciting, but we didn't have to - oh the joy of good friends. It was so refreshing to share life with someone - to truly experience the beauty of knowing and being known. I love having Bri around and talking through life ponderings together, I swear my have such better thoughts: deeper, fuller, insightful thoughts when she is around. Thanks friend! You are a blessed gift from the Father!

(this is a lame picture, I know, but it is all I had from this visit.....packing the car to go to the airport)

And the day before Bri left Ro flew in! Ro got to stay with us for a week as well. She was doing some work in the area also, but we saved plenty of time for fun. I am trying to convince her that LA is the best place for her to live - all the connections and opportunities here - I think I make some valid points and I think I might be convincing her. We will see.Easter was also exciting, but I will write more in detail about that later.

Oneyeariversary!!!

For many it is not that big of a deal to have lived in the same home for a whole year --- but for us, it is quite an accomplishment. In the first 23 months of our marriage Cami and I lived in 5 different apartments in 3 different cities. Talk about transition! But here were are, having moved from our home in Portland just two years ago and actually staying in one place for 12 whole months.

I wonder how much longer the Lord will have us here....it feels fairly permanent, but so did Portland :)

A couple pictures (because they are always fun) of some of our students hanging out in the apartment with us.