Waaaaayyyy over due.

I truly do apologize to my 2 readers for not having written anything in the past month.  I would have to say the biggest reason I haven't been writing is that there has just been so much going on, that it is hard to choose what to include, how to portray it, and how to find the time.  Also, emotions have been a bit scattered as we have been settling in and leaving the vacation phase, and recognizing that this is our actual life for the next few years. I would have hated to have written at a low moment and left you all thinking we are constantly gloomy, and yet it also doesn't seem quite right to let you think  its all palm trees and mangoes either. 

We have done some really fun things this last month.  Patrick's parents came down for a quick weekend trip, and we got to do some our first sight seeing.  We drove around the island's largest lake, which takes us very close to the Haitian border.  The lake and surrounding areas are beautiful, there are some Indian cliff drawings along the way, and some very cute little towns to pass through.  We also spent a little time in Santo Domingo, and particularly enjoyed the colonial zone, where Christopher Columbus first established a colony.  There are 16th century churches and parks and palaces, well kept gardens and streets, and a safe, lively scene all day.  It reminds of Sevilla, Spain, which makes sense seeing as how ol Chris was sent from Sevilla by Isabel and Ferdinand to take the very trip that landed him on our island.  It was great to get out of our little towns where we know everybody's problems and hardships, and just appreciate the beauty of the country.

We have also settled into our jobs quite nicely.  Patrick saved Bombita after finding out that they didn't water or electricity for a week, made some headway on his deaf school project, and gained respect from the communities and our co-workers.  He enjoys his job immensely, and now that I have seen him in this role, I really can't picture him in any other type of job.  I have also been enjoying my job.  Since the regular school year is over, I have planned and begun a few new programs for the summer.  We are having tutoring for remedial students for the first time and it is going very well.  The students come to class on time, and seem to be gaining a lot of confidence from the one on one setting.  We are also hosting a drama club in Bombita, and will be preforming the Wizard of Oz in just a few weeks.  The kids LOVE having something to do, and they take pride in their roles.  We are also painting a new mural in Bombita, as the old one did not represent the community very well and needed some serious touching up anyway.  Even with all that going on, I still have two afternoons a week which are pretty much empty!  Communication has been hard for me, not the Spanish, but just that people DO NOT communicate well.  It makes it very hard to make plans, get something approved, and feel confident in my job.  But we just do the best we can, and be confident in that.

We love all the time we get to spend together, especially at lunch.  Everyday we get a two hour lunch break, and 3 out of 5 days we spend it together.  We also get to spend most evening together as well as work together some of the time.  The hard part is we miss having a social life.  Or better to say, we miss our social life.  As you know, Patrick and I are not party animals, but we do like to go out with friends and have a beer, play some pool, maybe dance, have another beer, etc... Because we work for a Christian organization, and Christians here do none of the above, WE are not allowed to do any of the above.  There is nothing to do in La Hoya but got to bars, or go to church.  And there is church every night of the week for those who choose to go.  We do go on Sunday mornings, but we just do not want to be in church with the same people, doing the same thing, every freakin night.  On top of that, there are some other social "weirdnesses"like if someone comes to your house, it is incredibly rude to say "oh, we are cleaning the house" "we are talking to our families" "I am washing my hair" or any other excuse that lets them know you can't or don't want to hang out.  And once you have someone in your house once, they come EVERY day!  MULTIPLE times a day!  And if they come at meal time, you absolutely HAVE to offer them some of your lunch or dinner, even if there really is only enough for two, and they ALWAYS accept!  And its also rude to ask them to leave when you are ready for bed, or have to go back to work.  People's feelings get hurt, and grudges last.  It just leaves us feeling bored, and like we constantly have to be checking in to make sure we haven't offended somebody.  And sometimes we have to lock ourselves up in the house to have some uninterrupted alone time.  We miss our friends.

BUT!  then we have a day like yesterday, spent at a new beach, playing in the ocean, listening to music, cooling off in a mountain stream that meets up with the sea, seeing gorgeous flowers, stopping at quaint little roadside stands for fruit and chicken and empenadas,   and come home to our little house surrounded by palmtrees, sugar cane and chirping birds to sleep under a mosquito net as a quiet thunder storm roles by.  And it is so worth it.

Our Second Week

Three things right off the bat:  I am sure that eventually my titles will not have to do with the amount of time we have been here, and I have a second blog!  This one is more for COPA use, it is much shorter, and each post includes one picture.  It is much less personal, really just for increasing the amount of information available to the public about what we do here, and what life here looks like.  The address is copa365.blogspot.com .  Also, since I update these at random times, you can become followers and you will receive an email letting you know there is a new post (so you don't have to check back every day, which I know you all are doing!)

I thought I would start off with a picture of one of the kids from the Bombita school.  He was quite the flirt!

Ok, on with the show!

THis week we have settled in to a bit of a routine.  Work starts at 8, and we usually walk there together which is just a really nice way to start the day.  We work, sometimes together sometimes separate, until noon when we have a two hour, count em, two hour siesta.  During this time we eat lunch, take a little nap, play a little guitar, play with the dogs, and do a lot of reading!  At two we go back to work, and work til four.  Work for me so far has been teacher evaluations.  This has been a great way to get to know the teachers better than just a "hi howarya" and a handshake.  More on this later...After work we walk home together, walk the dogs in a plantain farm or on the baseball/horse field behind our house, and then make dinner.  We haven't been too social at night so far, there have been some board games with other volunteers and such, we pretty much stay in and watch a movie, talk, or read.   I think that once we get used to the heat we will not be so drained at the end of the day and will begin to spend more time with people we have met.  So far, interest in the dogs has not cooled down, we still have kids climbing the walls to see them, and in art class student are drawing the dogs with our names in hearts, or drawing all four of us together.  When we walk through town, new people come up to us to ask if we are the Americans with the dogs.  I was also asked by a farm owner if we would be willing to breed Tosh if he found the male dog and paid us. I explained to him that she doesn't have to appropriate organs for that purpose, but he continued to ask that if he could find a way, would we be willing to do it. At some point I just said sure, if you can find a way to impregnate a dog with no uterus, feel free.  He said he would be working on it. 

More on the teacher evaluations-These are pretty well set up, and i have really enjoyed the process.  I always loved being evaluated in the classroom, and I actually like it from this side better.  I have already been asked to meet with a new teach to discuss her plans for her eval, and it made me feel like I knew what I was doing when she liked my ideas, was stumped by some of my questions, and ended up tweaking her plans on account of those questions.  i have been able to contribute a good bit to the discussion after the evaluation, and I have learned a lot as well.   The  people in the evaluation group are myslef and the other education advisor Olivia, and the principals from each school.  We watch a class for 45 minutes, then we discuss for about 3 hours and meet back with the teacher 30 minutes.  The three hour meeting in the middle gets to me a bit, because about half that time is spent talking about completely unrelated subjects and we could be spending that time in the classroom, I mean, sometime we don't even get t o see the entire lesson, and yet we still evaluate them on it!  So I think that will be something I will work to adjust in the future.  Also, almost all the teachers give repeat lessons for their evals.  Meaning we are not seeing how a teacher teaches, how she handles the situation if the kids are not getting it, etc...We flip throught he teacher's planning book every time, and many times see that they taught this particular lesson, with these some activities and questions just yesterday, two weeks ago, or last month.  And nothing gets said to them.   I will say there have been some excellent lessons taught that were not repeats, and some of them that were repeats were so good, I am sure the teacher was just very nervous and didn't want to mess up.  OH!  The teachers' bonuses are based of these evaluations, so it is pretty stressful.  So to keep that particular gaff from continuing, I suggested doing pre evaluation meetings with just one of us and the teacher, to review their plans for the day and tweak it a bit if necessary, in hopes that they will learn more, and be more confident.  The suggestion was well received and hopefully we can put it in to place next year.

Ruber, Maribele, and Olivia during the evaluation meeting

Last weekend we were in a bit of a strange and stressful situation.  We always go into Barahona, which is the closest city, do do grocery shopping and eat lunch as a group.  That particular morning, right as we were leaving La Hoya, A Haitian woman and her two small boys were walking towards us.  Olivia stopped them and asked where they were going and did they need a ride.  The woman was pretty out of it didn't answer at all.  So Olivia asked again, where are you going.  This time the woman replied "Where are YOU going?"  Eventually she got into the truck with us.  All three were lethargic, dirty, and the boys did not have shoes, and one did not have pants or underwear on.  They did not talk the entire way there.  Once we arrived we all got out of the car, Olivia gave her 50 pesos, and we went to do our shopping.  When we came back tot he truck to drop off the groceries before lunch, they were sitting outside the truck, or so Patrick told me, I didn't actually see them there. So After lunch we brought them our leftovers and a fork (portions are massive here!).  But when we got in the truck, so did they!  We didn't really know what to do, but we found out she was homeless, Her house had been robbed and she said her husband and two older kids had been lost and she had been walking for the last two weeks.  So we called some of the locals we know, and they suggested we take them to the fire station.  When we did, they said they could stay there one night only, and did not have any information on any shelters or resources.    So we came back the next day, and the kids and their mom were significantly more alert and talkative.  Patrick and I bought the boys some shoes and clothes, the woman had nothing but he clothes on her back and her boys.  We also brought them some breakfast, a towel, some fruit and some water. We took them to the other town we work in, Bombita, which is a Haitian village. A human rights worker met us there and let us know that there was a house that had an extra room they could stay in.  The mother showed no emotion at this news, I am sure in her mind there were still so many unknowns remaining such as food, water, being accepted into the community, etc...The boys were sad to leave us as they were led away, and the way they kept looking back at me just broke my heart.   We have been back to see them a few time this past week, and every day the mom, Cito, has been more alert and more talkative.  She is obviously traumatized, but the community, which is already hard off for basic needs, has welcomed her and her boys, and have brought them food, a mosquito net, and more.  We feel confident that this will e a good long term solution for the little family, and she may even be able to get a part time job cleaning at the school.

This is the beach we went to last weekend, Playa Azul

Thats pretty much all for now folks, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed this little update!

Our first few days and our first few lessons

 FYI/ I wrote this a few days ago, and hav only just now gotten internet!

We have arrived!!!  We flew out from Atlanta on Friday morning with about 300 pounds of luggage, not including our two dogs.  The emotions during that flight ranged from child like jittery excitement to full on, adult like apprehension of all that lies ahead.  It sometimes felt like another trip, just another vacation, until I looked around the plane and saw the actual tourists near us.  They were excited and carefree, with light bags and sun tan lotion, looking forward to a week of relaxation, some interesting food, and pretty beaches.  After making this comparison, I no longer felt like this was just another trip, and that’s probably when my emotions evened out and I accepted that I had little idea of what to expect,, and there was nothing I could do about it at that time.

Anyway, we got the dogs through customs alarmingly easily, we didn’t even have to use the bribe money we had tucked away just in case.  We found our taxi driver with just as much ease and all our things fit well into the cab of his truck. 

The drive from Santo Domingo to our little village, La Hoya took about four hours.  To say there are no traffic law is an understatement.  Its almost as if there are in fact plenty of laws, and people try their darndest to break every single one of them. It didn’t help that everyone was so interested in our dogs that as they passed us, they would see the dogs and slam on their brakes to get a better look, try to ask their breeds, names and ages.  Others would try to flick their noses!  Luckily, our normally sweet puppies snapped right back.  There has been an increase of dog-napping recently as dog fighting has become a lucrative job, so I was worried that the dogs would be too nice for their own good, but they have been just aggressive enough to put off any bad intentions.

When we arrived in La Hoya it seemed that no one new where we were supposed to go at first, but we got it figured out eventually.  A few guys were still working in our house building a new kitchen cabinet and a small parade of children had formed, not to welcome us, but to inquire about the dogs.  The taxi driver unloaded the bags, and the guys finished up their work and we were left on our own for the remained of the night, with no dishes, no food, and no electricity.  Awesome.  We were feeling a little bit down but we rallied and went in search of food.  You have to understand that there are no stores here.  People have “colmados” or little shops run out of the front room of their homes.  These are not clearly marked, the hours are random at best, and they sell out of anything fresh in the morning.  We really wanted some fruit or vegetables or something not fried, but there was nothing.  We met our first friend at that point, Marilin.  She called out to us and introduced herself.  She is friends with some of the other volunteers, and when we asked here were to find some oranges or mangos, she invited us in her house and gave us each a mango.  We met her kids and the neighborhood baby(yes, the neighborhood baby.  He gets passed around from one house to another, I still do not know who his mother actually is.) Then we got some bread and some juice from a colomado, and with lifted spirits, returned home to find the electricity back on.  Lesson one: welcome new volunteers better than we were welcomed.

On day two we woke up to about 10 boys sitting on top of our fence, waiting for the dogs to come out.  Eventually we got up and went out with the dogs and put on a little show, McKinley impressed them all with her Frisbee skills, and Tosh impressed when one of the boys jumped into the yard and she growled her meanest growl and started advancing on him.  Nobody else tried to do that again.  After 20 minutes or so we had to make up some excuse to go inside because these kids, and a few adults by this time, were just not going to leave!  We also had to tell them that when we are here with the dogs they are nice, but if we are not here, they will protect the house so please, do not ever climb the fence again. Later, we went with a few of the other volunteers to the city, Barahona.  We did some grocery shopping in a store and a little in the market and then had lunch with the whole group.  The trip wasn’t to remarkable, but it was good to see what sort of resources a bigger city would provide us.  When we got back we had some down time and then two of the girls showed us around town a little more.  The showed us their favorite colmado, the church,  a few short cuts, and the little park in the middle of town.  And that’s pretty much all there is to La Hoya.  Later the some two girls came over with some crepes, and we sat and talked a while.  Some of the students also came over and played with the dogs, played with Patrick’s Ukulele, and we played pass the pigs.  They stayed for quite a while, and we had no idea how to tell them it was time to go home, until, thankfully, they said they had to go to youth group.  Lesson two: Always have an excuse ready to give guests when we want them to leave, i.e., I have to wash my hair….

Yesterday we went to church.  It is a pretty good sized church, but people only sit on one side because so few people come.  I was wondering why this was, until the music started.  The musicians are pretty talented, but the singing! Oh the horrors!  No tune, no rhythm, everybody singing as loud as they can, even the folks with microphones, I mean, their joy was apparent and wonderful, but it was seriously painful.  After church five of the little girls from the school came over and showed me how to make tostones, which are cut up plantains, fried, smashed, fried again, and salted. They were delicious.  They girls were a little crazy over everyting in the house.  They were fighting over the ukulele, my camera, the ipod, the ipod stereo, the dogs’ toys, the dogs, the cooking responsibilities, the cleaning up(they washed the dishes!) the rules of tag, the rules of pass the pigs, it was about 4 hours of them fighting, and nothing I could do about it.  They were fun, and helpful, but I will have to set some guideline for the next time they are in our house.  Later, two volunteer cooked us dinner, we played Cranium, and finally, after a long day of socializing, bed time! However, we are so covered in bug bites of all sorts, we seriously have no room left on our bodies for more bites, that we could barely sleep.  That combined with the heat, the emotional and physical exhaustion, and the motor bikes roaring by, last night there was not nearly enough sleep happening. Lesson three: Know when enough is enough, and when to say no, or it will get the best of me.

Anyway, tomorrow we are going to the beach with a few other volunteers and a bunch of Dominicans from the village.  This should provide for some interesting tid bits!

36 hours and counting!

In almost exactly 36 hours, Patrick and I will be boarding a plane to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.   We have traveled together before, domestic and international, but never to move out of our country, and never for more than 6 months at a time.  We are looking at 3 years of living in one of the poorest regions of a run down, beat down country.  We have sold all our sellable items, stored all the things we won't need down there but can't possibly get rid of, and thrown away a million random battery chargers, scratched cd's and other miscellaneous junk.  What is left is scattered in the living room and dining room of Patrick's parent's house.  Where we just stare at it.  Slowly we are sorting it out, putting it into bags, deciding not to bring it, refolding, repacking, resorting.  How do you look at a pile of clothes and toiletries and card games and know that you have all you will need and want?  What if I leave my favorite book, Last of the Mohicans, behind and it turns out I am dying to read it for the umpteenth time a few months from now?  What if I only bring one pair of flip flops and they break in two weeks?  What if I don't bring conditioner and my hair gets all frizzy and sticky?  If we were living in a city or even a town, these things would not matter.  We are living in a VILLAGE.  Think Africa.  Think no stores, no banks, no nothing.  These things would also not be an issue if money were not an issue.  We are about to reduce our income by 75%. And yes, cost of living will be lower, but not 75% lower!  I know that these things seem so trivial, but thats what goes through your head after you've already made the decision and the plans to move.  Its no longer about missing family and friends, healthcare, safety, and communication.  We have that worked out in our heads and have moved on with our choice.  Now, I think about the comforts we are sacrificing.  I am enjoying a hot shower like never before, wandering the grocery stores wondering what food shopping will be like there, even just sitting on a comfy couch can't be taken for granted these days. Every once in a while we look at each other and one of us will say "why are we doing this again?"
But then there are other moments, like today, stuck in traffic, where I am so thankful to be moving to a place where we will walk everywhere, and so will everyone else.  Bombarded by billboards and commercials about all the things we NEED to buy to stay up with the times, makes me relieved to be able to wear whatever I want, even if it is 5 years old, and not feel out of place. (yes, sometimes I am that vain) We have been scrambling around taking car of all these THINGS that need to be taken car of, but once we get there, the number of things will be greatly decreased, not to rise again until we come back.  

We just need to throw it all in a bag, hop on a plane and get there already. You know?

Sorry for that blast of thoughts, they are as messy as the living room right now.

A glimpse...

...Into our life in the near future.

 Patrick went to the Dominican Republic last week to check out the communities we will be living in, the schools, and to get to know the other volunteers a little.  Below are some of the pictures he brought back:

This is the beach that is closest to  our house in La Hoya, only about 20 minutes away. It is a little rocky, and the tides are strong, but I am sure it will provide a welcomed respite from the hot heat and hard work.  La Hoya is about 3 hours from the airport in Santo Domingo in the opposite direction from the tourist-y north coast. 

 These are some of the kids we will be working with.  This group is in the smaller, poorer town of Bombita.  Most of these kids are Haitian refugees, and as you will see in some other pictures below, these school uniforms are some of the only clothes these kids have to wear.

 These are some horses just wandering the streets of La Hoya...my kinda place!

 The welcoming views of La Hoya.

 The not so welcoming view of Bombita.  There are no paved roads, and only in the last couple of years did people receive cement floors.  So while we may think it is horrible to think of them eating off those cement floors, imagine what they were eating off of before.

 This is the little house we will be living in.  We did have the option for a bigger, somewhat nicer house, but it was right in the middle of the school yard, next to the clinic and another volunteer's house.  So we went the privacy of this little one.  The dogs will love being able to run free in the yard, and it will be perfect for me to grow my own vegetable garden and maintain some normalcy with my husband.  We will build a screened in porch and make it HOME!

 This is the library in Bombita.  It is so cute and clean and I cannot wait to see little brains working and learning here!

 These are the kids of Bombita outside of school.  Many do not wear clothes, and none have shoes to wear.  They take no shame in this and many wanted Patrick to take pictures of them despite their lack of clothing.  I don't know yet what we can do to help if anything, but start looking through your closets to find old clothes you no longer need to send down if you want to contribute.

 This is the main street of our town La Hoya, bustling eh?  At least we don't have to deal with traffic!

For an update, I had been having a hard time finding someone at ANY of the Dominican consulates that would help me figure out the visa application process, and who would let us do it by mail instead of coming in person.  There is not a consulate here in Atlanta, we would have to go to Miami to apply, and thenn they might turn us around and say we don't have the right materials even if we bring everyhting on the list.  So I finally talked to a very nice lady and she said we can send it all to her and she will process our applications, and that it will only take a week, instead of the anticipated month.  So that probably means two weeks Dominican time, and just to give it a little buffer, I am making plane reservations for three weeks from now!!!  I am hoping that Patrick and I will be able to go at the same time, but he may have some work stuff to tie up here, and we need to sell our cars so he may need to wait that out as well.  So we are setting up a garage sale for this weekend where we hope to sell just about everything we own, and then moving everything else to his parents' houses in Atlanta and Alabama.  It is a whirlwind but I am so excited to have a time line in mind, and the stories and pictures Patrick brought home from his trip have fueled that excitement to no end.  We have been able to spend some time with both families in the last few months, and will be spending a weekend soon with my family in Kentucky for Isaac's 6th birthday.  Everything is falling perfectly in to place. 

On the Road Again...

Yep yep, Patrick and I are moving, AGAIN!!! 
We have always had the dream to live and work outside the country together, so at any given time in the last few years one of us was casually looking for such and opportunity.  I will admit that I had not been as aggressive in my search as of late, but a few months ago an opportunity fell into my lap that I just could not resist. 
We are moving to the DOMINCAN REPUBLIC!!!   (for at least 2 years)
I was offered a job through the organization called COPA (google it).  They work with improving education and health in a few small rural villages in the southern part of the island, with a foundation in Christian values, showing the love of God through actions.  My specific job is called the Education Adviser.  I will be making sure that the level of education in the two main schools and several partner schools is high and always improving.  I will be observing teachers in the classroom, providing feedback, and leading workshops to encourage effective and creative instructional practices.  I will also be contributing to the curriculum and assessments they already have in place, and work to show how those tools are being used toward a positive outcome in the classroom.  ALSO, I will be monitoring the growth of the individual students, writing reports on their progress, and communicating this with their sponsors and the COPA board.  I will have the opportunity for a few pet projects outside my duties, and I am playing around with a few ideas surrounding adult literacy in the community, athletics for female students, and increasing the amount of information available to the public about this organization and the communities in with it serves.

As if being offered my dream job weren't enough, the organization became interested in Patrick and his experience in finance and government as well.  Initially they were hoping to have him work for them on an as needed basis because they were in the process of hiring some one for the full time position of Project Director.  However, shortly after I was offered my position, that candidate withdrew her application, and they came running to my dear husband!  They offered him the job last week.  This position will be similar to that of a superintendent here.  He will oversee the schools and the health clinics, as well as break way for future projects including a school for the deaf.  He will be working closely with the local and national government to select quality teachers for the schools, obtain property and permits, and who knows what else.  He has always wanted to work in this area and would also deem this his dream job.  How blessed are we!?!

Oh and we get to bring our dogs!!! Ride mopeds everywhere, improve our Spanish and learn some creole from the Haitian refugees, meet new people, see new places, provide volunteer opportunities for our friends and families (let us know if you want in on any of this), and learn to surf at the near by beaches! And more!


We are both so thrilled about this adventure, and while we have concerns about the new lifestyle, challenges of the jobs, separation from friends and family, the heat, the bugs, the lack a grocery store within an hours drive, etc...we know that this is what we have been looking for for so long.  Those things are all details that we will work through together and we will come out stronger, closer, and hopefully a little tanner too!


Of course there will be more and more and more information as our trip gets closer and once we are already there...just keep checking in!

The name game (bye bye Buttery)

Beware, this is long and wordy!!
January 31st marked our 6 month anniversary, and at that point I still had not changed my name.  Patrick was asking a little more often if I was ever going to do it, and with the added possibility of moving overseas, I finally got all the paper work in order to get the process started.  I hadn't been putting it off because I was sad to see Buttery go, I was really just being lazy, but as I was filling in my application, getting ready to write my new name, I was a little panicky.  With a last name like Buttery, it can sort of define you.  In elementary school I got laughed at by other kids(and some teachers) and had to decide if I was going to cry or laugh along with them.  In middle school nicknames were more commonly used than my actual first name, and by high school I was mainly just called "Buttery". With new people in college there were plenty of people who didn't believe me that that was my last name, so I would smile and assure them that yes, my name really is Amanda  Buttery, and yes, I have heard every possible rendition so please, try to be original.  As a teacher, I really grew to love my last name because as one student said, "when I looked at my schedule and saw I had a teacher named Miss Buttery, I knew she would be cool."  Students said it made them feel like I was going to be nice and they felt more comfortable sooner because I didn't mind when they laughed a little when I introduced myself.  And I can only think of one student who didn't drop the Miss and just call me Buttery. Even parents would end emails with "we love your last name!"

Sometimes, Patrick will comment on something that I do and say, "that's such a  Buttery thing." And to me, that's 99% of the time a compliment.  Buttery's are respectful, generous, punctual, exceptional planners and time managers, always thinking ahead, always have a plan B, C,and D.  We put others first and always lend a helping hand.  We are fun, we do our best at things we find important to us, and we stand up for what we believe in.  I don't need to list the qualities that make up the other 1% of his comments!
My last name is unique and  happy, and a conversation starter. It stands for my family's values and goals which I strive to meet.  What more could I want?!

So maybe I was putting it off more intentionally than I even knew. 

But I did it.  I kept my middle name Kathryn, and dropped Buttery completely.  Kathryn comes from my mom's side, the Hamilton's, and I could not stand to lose that connection.  My parents and brother and growing nephew will keep me grounded in the Buttery name. 

Patrick knew I was a little melancholy the day we went to process the application, and when I got home from work that evening he had decorated the house, and bought champagne and flowers and a really beautiful card.  It made the day even more special and i will always remember it as a celebration!

I got my new Social Security card int he mail today. "Amanda Kathryn Howell"  It just looks weird.  You would think after practicing writing my name like that in the years we were dating would have prepared me, but man, I just don't think of my self as Amanda Howell yet. When does that happen? 

I am so proud to be Patrick's wife, and a part of the Howell family, who has welcomed me from day one with wide open arms.  I am proud to be one of the few that will be carrying on their family name and all that they stand for. 

But still a little sad to say bye bye Buttery...