Thursday, April 26, 2012

A short history of me


I started keeping this blog to give my family some idea of what my life is like, but now it looks like more people then just a few friends and my mom are reading, which is great! (Thanks Grace for the link!) And I bet people are wondering, why does this girl keep talking about goats?  And where the hell is Belize anyways?  Below is a bit of a sketch of my life, to catch everyone up.



-I grew up in a small town in the States, but NOT on a farm.  The last few years have been a bit of a crash course.
-I went to college at Franciscan University of Steubenville, which is an awesome place. (And for FUS grads, cause I know you are wondering, I wasn’t in a household.  I was in Honors, though.  That’s probably why I still feel compelled to read books and then write about them.)
-My senior year, I went on a medical mission trip to Ecuador.  It was the first time I had ever seen extreme poverty close up…. and when I got back I knew things had changed, and I couldn’t keep living the same way.  I decided to take a year after graduation and do mission work.
- But Hey!  It turns out it is really hard to find volunteer positions abroad in medicine (my preferred field) when you just have an undergrad bio degree.  Luckily, my friend Alison also had a life changing mission trip experience and was headed to Belize… and asked me to think about coming along.
- Yeah, the Belize thing is a teaching position—like teaching actual high school students.  I was not very interested, to put it mildly.  But nothing else came through, so I decided to try one year.
-I’ll give you a sec to google Belize.  I didn’t know where it was either.  I was told everyone spoke English, so I figured I was set!
-Haha.  My first semester was spent teaching 70 sophomore boys biology.  Much craziness ensued… and then I decide to commit to a second teaching year.
-Later that year, all the teachers in the entire country went on strike, and school was closed.  Bored, a bunch of teachers and I start spending time at the farm of the agriculture teacher… named Daniel.
-We start dating when I return for a second year.
-I went back to the States for 2 years, and we dated long distance. Then we get engaged.
-In one week, I graduated from my Physician Assistant program, move to Belize, and got married.  That was quite a week.
-We built a tiny, tiny house on Daniel’s family’s farm… and over the years have acquired cows, horses, chickens, guinea hens, rabbits, and an obnoxious amount of goats. Life here is very, very different.
-And that brings us to now….

So any more questions? Leave a comment  and say hi…. I’d love to know who is reading.  And if I know you already, what's new?

8 comments:

  1. Cathleen,

    I am the biggest comment-slacker...EVER.

    However, I just wanted you to know that I subscribe to your blog and enjoy it *so much*...and I miss Belize.

    - Sarah (Sheldon) Kisling

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    Replies
    1. Hi Sarah,
      Come visit! You could totally stay at the farm, I have a niece just Philomena's age, they could hang out :)

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  2. Hey Cat, This is annabella. I was researching the Museum in Belize and guess what? I came across your blog! I find it absolutely incredibly funny and entertaining. I just love it!!!! Congrats. Now, i can't stop reading.

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  3. I just found your blog and am looking forward to checking it out! My husband and I went to Belize for our honeymoon, though we did not stay on an island and did a lot of inland excursions. I loved that we felt like we interacted with REAL people there - not just the tourism industry. The people were so friendly and we have very fond memories there. :)

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  4. I am so happy I found your blog! I am traveling with my family (me + husband + 3yo + 8mo) to San Pedro for a 1 week vacation in February, and I have found your blog to be super helpful! Thank you for putting it all out there! -Laura

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  5. I just found you blog and we have tons of similarities! I am more of a city girl, or maybe a burbs girl, atleast that is what I had envisioned for my life. I married a guy who grew up on a farm and we have 3 acres. Last year we started off with 12 chickens, which was pretty crazy for me. This year, some how we had 62 at one point, not sure how that happend! I say I am a city girl living in the country! I do like it though. I have also learned not to say "I will never...." In my younger years, I said it quite often and now I am living those I never" moments. ; ) I love that you make your own goat cheese! We love raw goats milk but its hard to get here in Indiana. We also have 2 girls, ours are 4 and 20 months. My husband and I have been thinking about moving abroad for about 3 years now and thinking Belize might be the one. We are coming to visit next month and going to be in the Cayo District primarily because my husband does want to farm. Any suggestions on what to check out or where to go?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Kara! Nice to meet you. Send me an email at cjphotobelize at gmail dot come and I can answer any questions, I'd love to help you guys out!

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  6. I am surprised and also cannot believe this, But I miss you guys, I miss the girls and their footsteps and voices.
    I am big fan of yours now. You are a wonderful blogger and writer. I should have spent more time with you, talk with you.
    Take care. :)
    Hope to see you soon!

    ReplyDelete

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