blood brothers

meet christian and jon erik, my brothers.  i didn't grow up with sisters to teach me how to do girly stuff like hair or make up and shave my legs, and there was no sister talk about boys and dates, and no sister's shoulder to cry on about being made fun of or called names because i had a boy name...but did i feel like i missed out on anything? nope! i grew up with two awesome brothers who taught me survival (and my mom taught me the other girl stuff). with one brother older and one younger, i fell comfortably into the middle of brother adventures and being-the-only-girl-so-i-get-a-different-sort-of-attention.  i have to say, after all the debates, bets, and challenges, i am fairly certain i am my mom's favorite child, simply because i am her only daughter (being blonde probably helps, too).  exploring and "getting into scrapes" was much more fun than being girly, let's say dating was a learning experience for me (there were no brothers to beat up the first kiss--i think they didn't want to think about their sister dating anyone, so they stayed out of that picture)--most boy/girl talk was christian asking me what girls meant when they said abc or did xyz, and i got called my fair share of names at home (i eventually learned crying just wasn't worth it). we made it through an unstable childhood of every-other-weekend visits and holidays, an emotional adolescence of growing up too fast, and now we're exploring adulthood within cell-phone reach of each other.





this is halloween, 1983. this is what we look like when mom's in charge of costumes--a clown and a mouse. i won first place for funniest costume from the herndon parks and recreation center where we paraded around. here we are 20 years later, halloween 2003, what we look like when we are in charge of our costumes. christian agreed to display his svelte legs dressed up in my waitressing outfit from when i worked at baby's, a 50s diner, and i was a bunch of grapes.  i don't remember any awards that year.  our favorite halloween activity was playing black jack or poker with our halloween candy. christian and i aren't dressed up in swim gear for halloween, but i love this photo all the same--it says 'just try and take out this brother-sister team'!



one thing i will never understand is how jon erik grew to be bigger, taller, buffer, scarier, and in-the-marines-ier than all of us. he was such a cute little brother!





we were the best of friends growing up. our birthdays are 5 days apart (and 3 years), so we always celebrated them together as though we were twins.  jon erik and i always teamed up against christian for everything (christian was always the conniving bad guy). even so, we rarely defeated christian's tricky wilyness. jon erik was so sweet and innocent. i remember tricking him once into believing i was running out of oxygen, and i couldn't breathe. of course he wanted to help me so i told him to go get me leaves from a plant that i could more deeply inhale the oxygen from. ahhh, the sweet little boy complied. i dare say he wouldn't fall for that now. he's been to iraq and back twice with the marines, works with marine machinery, and holds marine guns. yeah, i don't think i'll be tricking that little guy anymore.





my heroes. jon erik saved me from boredom growing up, and christian was always my fall-back date (halloween parties, weddings, office parties). christian is quite the dancer. he's made up a number of his own moves and makes us all laugh (i'm sure that's what wooed robin--my wonderful *sister*-in-law).

this was jon erik's favorite napping spot--on the bookshelf next to the world book encylopedias. 

don't you love this sign?!  we made a fort in the woods behind our dad's house one weekend and there were a couple of boys who wanted to take it from us.  so we declared an all-out war on them.  the only problem was that they lived there and we were there only every other weekend, so in the end i think they did end up with the fort.

i love the fashion.  one of the best parts of having an older brother is that i got all his hand-me-downs...i'm glad that phase didn't last very long.

this is a great photo, too.  jon erik looks very 007 daniel craig and christian looks like he just got married.  it's few and far between we get to hang out anymore--we grow up and lives take us elsewhere.  i love looking through our photo albums and remembering the good old times.  these are two guys i will fiercely defend until the end.  i know, i know, you guys don't need to tell me--i'm your favorite sister. 

seven-sector call-out

last week i was called a "seven-sector call-out".  i wasn't sure what my reaction should be, as this was coming from an older, married man (the husband of a woman i visit teach).  i sort of laughed and asked him for a definition.  he said, "essentially, it means your beauty stands out across galaxies."  wow!  i can live with that!  i've never thought of myself as particularly pretty, especially galaxy pretty, but this new title was sort of growing on me.  i very politely told him he was sweet, and that i would make david herald my every entrance with said title.  when i got home i told david he was married to a seven-sector call-out, and that he should feel like the luckiest guy on earth--no--across galaxies!  

we decided to google the term, and found some interesting results.  this is apparently a title thrown around by sci-fi-ites, trekkies, and galaxy beings with names like zelgadis, sylphiel, and langelin.  then i did an image search.  check this out for some of the "galatically hot women" of star trek...believe me, i was not visiting teaching in that silver number (fifth one down on the left).  after viewing a few more images of the star trek babes, i decided beauty was in the eye of the beholder...

health and safety day at ups

ups had their health and safety awareness fair yesterday, and as david is on the committee, we thought we should make an appearance.  here was one of the signs hanging up in the plant.  it made me laugh because i've met (and...(cough, cough)...treated) a few boxes that look like very unwelcome guests of honor.

this guy might be able to handle this box on his own if he were lifting with his knees instead of his back.  you know, get stuff in the power zone...
here's where david clocks in every day.  the board to the right of him is filled with pictures of drivers and trucks who weren't safe while on the job.  there were some pretty bad wrecks posted on the board!  there were also stats from the day and week before to motivate all the drivers to reach their best potential of saving the world one box at a time.

here's where david takes his "coffee" break.  i think david is really pushing the hot cocoa button.
here's the flame truck.  this is what they drive around during parades.  wouldn't you feel pretty special delivering boxes in this thing?!  i know i would.  i suggested the committee should use this truck as incentive to get guys to drive safer.  you know, let the safest driver from one month drive it around for deliveries on the first day on the next month, and so on.  david looked at me and started laughing.  he said that would be a punishment; the truck has over 700,000 miles on it, it's unreliable, it's small and wouldn't fit the box load for delivery no matter how light the load that day.  so then i suggested they make it the punishment truck for the least safe driver.  we'll see what happens after the next safety meeting! 

all about the birds

david hates these kind of posts because "it's not like the birds are our kids, michal!"...but a few of you have been asking about our birds, so i thought it'd be fun to do some bird hollywood videos.  i had posted a video with tumnus earlier in the month, but when i listened to it i realized you couldn't hear tumnus at all.  so i got some new film...i hope y'all enjoy our little birds!   

this is lucy's favorite perch in the bathroom.  when we take a shower, or if i'm in there doing my hair and make up, she loves to get in the corner and nap.  it's like pavlav's effect--when the bathroom fan goes on, she goes in the corner to sleep.  she also has a very sweet disposition.  she's still in the baby mode where she'll puff up her feathers and look super cute. when i was sick a few months ago i had gone into the bedroom to sleep and left the birds out in the kitchen area on their cage.  i fell asleep with one hand under my head.  when i woke up i found lucy sitting on the pillow next to my head and one little claw holding one finger, like she was saying, "it's ok, i'm here."  we keep their wings clipped, now, so she had made quite the trek from her cage to our bedroom in order to be with me.  such a sweet bird.  

tumnus, on the other hand, is a brat.  he'll squawk until he gets what he wants.  he likes to squawk during the entire shower.  either that or pass the time blowing his beak.  he has this really weird habit, like he's trying to blow his "nose."  he's always been like that.  when i took him to the vet i asked her if his sinuses were impacted, and she said he was completely clear, and the blowing thing is just his way of interacting with the world.  we've noticed he'll "blow" more when david and i are laughing (like it's his way of joining in on the fun and laughter), or when we are blowing our noses.  he'll give his own little blow if he sees us grab a tissue.  i've tried to capture it on film, but it's really quiet.  i also caught some bath time.

bio sheet

a teacher passed out this bio sheet in class today so she could get to know us. it's from one of the american express ads you see in magazines, where they interview mega famous stars about personal details. so here i go fan club...what would you write to your fan club?

• my name michal coombs.
• childhood ambition i wanted to be a famous writer whose pieces of authored art (poetry and prose) would be required reading in high school english classes and subjected to analytical papers, discussion groups, and highlighted in barnes & noble as a classic.
• fondest memory i loved going to my grandparent's every summer and making lunch meat sandwiches. this doesn't sound very spectacular, i know, but it was a treat to open the fridge and have a choice of 5 different lunch meats, 3 different cheeses, ice berg lettuce, mayonnaise, mustard, and my choice of rye, pumpernickel, or white bread (these were all items absent from my childhood home). i loved the smell of lunch meat, produce, and bread. like i said before, it was a treat, odd as that sounds.
• soundtrack npr.
• retreat ocean.
• wildest dream living internationally as an ex-pat.
• proudest moment seeing my dad look so proud and pleased of me on my wedding day; finishing 3rd place for my age group in my first triathlon; getting an a- in chemistry two years after failing it; having a 3.92 gpa.
• biggest challenge not feeling inferior to everyone when i walk into a room.
• if i won a million dollars 1st- school loans, 2nd-travel, 3rd-invest/save.
• alarm clock 530am.
• first job 14 years old-bagel cafe, food prep (followed by burger king, wendy's, weis markets, nanny in italy, page "polisher" at a yearbook publishing plant, waitress at baby's, telemarketer, waitress at the york inn and restaurant, italian teacher at the community college of baltimore county, temp secretary, medical assistant at generations family prcatice, medical assistant at dr. call's (rheumatologist), medical assistant at utah valley pediatrics).
• the one job i would be willing to do without pay mother.
• indulgence sleeping in.
• last cool purchase art in florence, oregon.
• favorite movie i prefer books.
• inspiration starting over every day.
• perfect day sunny, warm, good book/outdoor activity, my husband.
• most important thing in my life husband.
• my life is well.

why rice and beans is my favorite protein

o meu brasil: september 2001-april 2003.

here's the brasilian national anthem--scroll down to the bottom and play the "lyric" button to listen to while reading this entry. it makes me get teary-eyed.

this month is the 5-year mark since i've been home from brasil, where i served an lds mission. i can't believe it's been 5 years already! i served in the sao paulo interlagos mission--the city was divided into 4 regions: north, south, east, and interlagos (the western corner). i served in 4 areas (itapeva, varginha, cotia, and ibiuna), had 6 companions (missionaries always travel in twos, called a companionship), had three nametags, learned some of the greatest lessons of my life in a short 18 months, and fell in love with the portuguese language and brasilian culture. i had one american companion for a short 6 weeks; all the rest were brasilian, which is what i wanted--if i was with a brasilian companion i would be fully immersed in the language, culture, and idiosyncrasies and learn faster. i was actually very surprised to have been called to serve in brasil. to serve a mission, you fill out a few papers, mail them in to church headquarters, and 3-4 weeks later a big white envelope is mailed back, telling you where you're going to go. one form you fill out describes your education, languages, places lived, etc. by that point in my life, i had lived in italy, learned italian, and taught it as a night course for the community college of baltimore county. i was pretty set on returning to italy for a mission. but i had other things to learn, and wouldn't have learned them in any other arena--brasil was perfect for me!

a missionary is supposed to wear his/her nametag at all times. the first one i received with my mission packet was for "elder markanich", because my first name is michal. i phoned the church mission office and they told me to get a new nametag at the training center in brasil. so my second nametag correctly said "sister markanich". my third nametag was in tribute to my nickname i gained down there, "sister loira" (pronounced loy-rah). in portuguese loira means blond/fair. my hair is very blond, and only gets blonder in the sun. by the end of my mission my hair was practically white. i had an elder buddy who was serving in the office when i ended my mission, and he agreed to make me a new sister loira nametag for my farewell interview with the mission president, and to wear home.
i left two weeks after 9/11 (i was very worried i would be postponed or sent somewhere else to serve my mission), and spent 2 months in the "centro de treinamento missionario"--the training center for missionaries in sao paulo. it was a very long two months of intense language learning and how-to-be-a-missionary learning.























i was "stationed" in itapeva for an unusual 9 months. itapeva is in the "interior"--into the western countryside and out of the city. i guess you typically stay in an area 4-5 months before being "transferred," or moved to another area, with another companion. transfers happened every 6 weeks, and if you were being transferred you and your companion went to the city center, met up with your new companion, and moved to your new area. some moves were definitely more emotional than others. so in itapeva, i was with my brasilian trainer, sister martins (pronounced mar-cheens) for 5 months. she went home and sister stubbs (american) and i were companions for 6 weeks. at that point i was going to be transferred somewhere else, they just didn't know where. so i got to the city, and they ended up sending me back to itapeva to train sister alves. after about 3 1/2 months i was finally, officially transferred from itapeva to varginha--right in the heart of the city.






















i loved varginha from the start. it was near the city center and was busy, bustling, lights and music at night, street vendors with grilled corn, coconut drinks, and "sanduiches", smiles everywhere. by far, varginha was my favorite area and i had a great companion--sister leite (pronounced lay-chee). by this point my portuguese was good enough people thought i was a brasilian from the south (germans settled in the south, so it wasn't unusual to find blond haired, fair-skinned brasilians down there). i had a good time telling them i was from "virginia", which was located just up north. sister leite and i were there for 5 months, and then we were both transferred and the area was closed to sister missionaries due to safety concerns.





















sister santos and i "re-opened" granja viana, located near cotia, for sister missionaries. sisters hadn't been there for a while. everyone in brasil loves missionaries, but they especially love sister missionaries, so we got a very nice welcome. it was just 2 weeks before christmas, and the ward was very welcoming. this area actually had a ward, not just a branch, and they were so excited to have two sets of missionaries--elders and sisters. i had more of a culture shock going to this area than entering brasil for the first time. varginha was a very poor area where mostly everyone left at 4am to catch a bus for their jobs as maids. granja viana was the area where people employed the maids. huge, gated communities with huge american houses. there was a walmart-like shopping center right down the road from our apartment, which was a huge shock, after having grocery shopped in small corner stores for the last 12-15 months. there was a poorer section to our area, too, and i felt more comfortable there.















i thought i was going to end my mission in granja viana, but there was a surprise transfer for me--with only 5 weeks left, i was sent to ibiuna to be with sister carvalho (pronounced car-vall-yoh). it was kind of an odd situation--i was kind of an odd sister out. we were together for 2 weeks, and then sister tua'one was coming to join us, whom sister carvalho was going to train. a senior couple, elder and sister nelson, were also joining us, and i was supposed to work with them to teach them portuguese, and "train" them. so while they learned rudimentary portuguese the first 3 weeks of their mission, i re-learned english the last 3 weeks of mine. ibiuna was back out in the country, and it was nice to see the rolling hills again and fresh air.


so what have i been doing since i've been home? i worked at a family practice back in virginia when i got home (they "saved" my position for me) until i moved out to utah to be with david so we could date in person; david and i got married june 19, 2004; i worked at a rheumatology office for 3 years in orem; i have worked at a pediatric office for the last 3 years (i worked at both offices for about a year 1/2); i will graduate with my bs in community health in december 2008 (finally--my ten-year bachelor!). that's about it. my portuguese is a little rusty. i still read my book of mormon in portuguese, but that's all. i miss rice and beans (i can't seem to make it quite like it was in brasil); pao de queijo; peruas stuffed beyond a legal limit; sun; putting -inho on the end of words (it's a suffix tacked on when you want express something is very cute, or very small, or the poor little thing, etc.)--bonitinho, baixinho, tadinho, etc.; hanging my clothes in the sun to dry; speaking, thinking, breathing portuguese.
thanks for being a little nostalgic with me!

tagged

ok, so jenny tagged me.  here's what i am supposed to do:

1. grab the nearest book 

2. turn to page 123

3. find the 5th sentence

4. post said sentence on your blog

so, i have three books here by the computer: 1. the bluest eye by toni morrison, 2. bless me, ultima by rudolfo anaya, and medical anthropology in ecological perspective by mcelroy & townsend.  i think the 3rd book is the most interesting, and here's what pg 123 line 5 has to say:

"The practice of cannibalism of dead relatives at funerals among the fore of paupa new guinea, which began around 1910, turned out to be maladaptive due to the chance introduction of a pathogen that contaminated the tissues consumed by women at these funerals."