Literally!  Today, the sun is out for the first time in  over a week.  It has been rainy and cold for the last week, which I am told is unusual here.  So, I am washing and hanging up a storm and getting ready to give the kids a hot shower fast.  You know, the little things in life.

Yesterday we went to the monastery.  That was interesting and a bit creepy at the same time. (Pictures) You really see how the people here, took their Inca “traditions” and idol worship and melded it right into the catholic church. Today we are going to a mountain park, so the kids can climb a mountain and see llamas. 

We are all feeling great again, and getting into a feeling of normalcy.  The kids have finally adjusted and finding “work” to do around the house.  Their normal play they used to do at home, is now popping up here.  I can get to the grocery and back fairly easily and we can maneuver around town in tekos and such.  Just in time to go home.  We knew that would be the case.  We wanted to feel what it would be like to live in another setting.   It allows you to appreciate what you have at home and be sensitive enough to pray for what God is doing around the world. Mike leaves for Chencha ( a very poor peublo hit hard by the earthquake) on Sat for a few days and then we are off to Lima.  Please continue to pray with us that God will give us a deeper vision for what He is doing in our local context that we may partner with him more deeply.

Peace to all!

Your Personality is Very Rare (INFP)

Your personality type is dreamy, romantic, elegant, and expressive.Only about 5% of all people have your personality, including 6% of all women and 4% of all men You are Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving.

How Rare Is Your Personality?

Not so sure about the introverted part, but I guess at times I am.   I generally work at being extroverted in order to include the “outside” people in a given group, not because I necessarily like it.  I guess it is a throw back from grade school.  Of course, every kid feels left out at one time or another, but it was particularly bad for me in our church growing up. I didn’t go to their “in” private school. It is interesting how those early things form you.  That, and there was this one boy who was teased mercilessly in grade school.  My heart went out to him and I did what ever I could to protect him.  So, to this day, I can’t stand exclusion or people who walk around thinking they may be better than others.

In the kingdom of God, everyone gets to play. From the youngest to the oldest, any color, any gender and no title is needed. I guess that is why I am so passionate about the kingdom of God.  Because in Jesus we are all equals.

I have found it hard to get into a consistent daily rhythm down here.   Things take so much longer to get done.  Going to the grocery store can be an all morning event and doing laundry takes 2 days from start to finish.  When you have friends over, it isn’t for a few hours it is for most of the day.  Every where you go, you wait.  It is just the South American way.  It lends itself to a slow calm pace to life, but it can be frustrating when you just want to get things done and nothing happens fast.  Such is life.  I am enjoying it before we jump back into the rat race.

Seems our family is full of it these days! While outside at the park…..

H: Mommy can we take a teko back home and get my fire truck?

Me: Honey we can’t go home.  We have to take an airplane to get home.

H:No we don’t Mommy, our house is right over there, we can all fit in a teko.  Please!?

Me:  Honey We can’t just run home.  I am sorry!

H: I promise I wont hit anyone with it Mommy.  It will be fun. Come on it is a great idea.

Conversation ended in a stalemate.  I could never convince him that we were not 10 minutes from home and that we are in South America.

A little context first.  I told the kids they could have a scoop of ice-cream in the afternoon after Hudson woke up from his nap.

Chloe: “Mom can I wake Hudson up?”

Mom: Thoughtfully thinking because there are times I ask her to do this so he doesn’t sleep too long. Before I can answer she continues.

Chloe: “Because it is getting late, and I want to go to the park and I don’t want to wait any longer for my ice cream.”

Mom: “Yes you can.” Not because of the ice cream but because of the length of nap, but she can bask in the ice cream goodness anyway.

This conversation happened after Jackson would not allow his sister a turn with a given toy.

Me: “Jackson don’t hog it!”

J: “What did you say Mommy?”

Me:  I said, “Jackson don’t hog it!”

J: “What did you say Mommy?”

Me: “DON’T HOG IT!”

Jackson: “I believe the word you are meaning Mommy is “hoard” it!”

I guess that is the better way to say it. Conversation ends with Mom and Dad laughing hysterically.

So I have been thinking a bit about our homeschool philosophy.  It was so fruitful for Mike and I to take some time to sit down and envision what kind of people we wanted our children to grow into.  What type of education we wanted our children to experience etc. etc.  It is linked above if you are interested in reading it but I was thinking about how helpful that whole task was.

Anyway, I believe I am going to do the same thing for what I want my life to look like in 20 years or so (let’s be honest 5 or 10 years would be good:-)) and then work backward from there.  What disciplines should I begin to undertake now, what experiences would be beneficial, what are important concepts to tackle as a family etc.

I firmly believe that God lead us to the Charlotte Mason method and Ambleside Online specifically.  With this being my first year homeschooling, I need the safety of a plan to keep me focused.  Once I am more established and understand our children’s learning styles better, I may branch out but for now, it is exactly what I need. That really came about from doing the work of writing out our home-school philosophy and then letting that “guide” us towards a method and curriculum for teaching. 

This whole trip to Peru really re-ignited in me a complete trust in the provision and sovereignty of God.  Somehow that got buried in the dust of life over the past 2-3 years. The ability to relax in His processes yet being fully engaged at the same time.  Kind of a both/and thing.  It seems a bit backwards to be relaxed and not in control but completely engaged and working towards something.  Submitted, yet willing to work but only work on what God is doing at any given time. Isn’t it lovely the working of the Holy Spirit? Again, I am thinking out loud as it always helps me own my process and dig into what God is working on.  Any helpful thoughts out there?

Our time in Peru has been a good chance to slow down and be together as a family.  It has been nice having Mike work from home, close by for lunch and game time. We have had some time to reflect on our life back home and hear God on a few things.  Sometimes it takes being out of your local context for a time in order to understand it more fully.

With school, I have concentrated on basics while down here in Peru, along with some living literature about Peru to help the kids absorb the culture.  (Have I mentioned recently how much I love homeschooling?) I am beginning to think through what to do for Chloe and Hudson (in terms of a gentle kindergarten/preschool) for them.  I think we will begin that mid June or so. 

I have been very intentional about moving slowly with school.  I have really wanted take a good look at our family rhythms and evaluate what needed to be changed, developed and worked on.  It has been a very fruitful time. Now that I have a fairly descent working rhythm with a strong understanding of where we are going, I am ready to add in some things that have been a little weak for me. (foreign language, consistent artist study and more intentional nature study).

I am enjoying the process of watching our family grow, our home-school grow, our children grow and mature. I am being mindful to stay present to where we are right now, and not think about 5 years from now (in a worried type of way).  I am constantly holding in tension on the one hand allowing our children to completely enjoy their brief childhood as well as expecting older adult like concepts like doing your best and focus and attention to detail with school work and home chores.

So, like anything, I go to work on my “little garden” and am deeply enjoying the process of consistant work, weeding and nurturing what has been given to me.  It is good for the soul.

a table abacus and  a world globe they don’t need anymore.  I need them and thought I would throw it out there before I bought them new.  I’ll trade you something for them and pay for shipping.

Trying Craig’s List too.

Please somebody save me from myself!  I can’t help it, I love to think and dream about business, build little businesses, experiment and learn new things.  It is kind of a fatal flaw I think. I started working for myself when I was 11 babysitting and made my first $3 and it was all over.  I have only worked for someone else about 3 years of my adult life and the rest of the time, I have been working for myself. I should of gotten my college degree in business.

Anyway, there are tons of gorgeous pieces of handmade pure silver jewelry here for very reasonable prices.  Alpaca wool scarves and other items that people would love in the states.  Between eBay and Craig’s list, I think I could sell a few things for a little profit.  Maybe save up money for our next world adventure plane fare? I hear Chile is the number 2 country to start a business in.  Can you say Santiago people?

OK - somebody please talk me out of this.  If I only purchase things I love and would want in my own home, and then if they don’t sell I get to have them as my very own.  Well there isn’t any harm in trying is there?    Right?…..Buehler?…anyone?…..

A few times a man has come to our door asking for something.  Because I don’t understand him, I smile and wave and he goes on his way.  Yesterday, I figured it out, through the help of a Spanish speaking friend.

He is the recycle man! Oh Darn!  I have been throwing away dozens of plastic bottles (from our water) every week.  Now I know for next time.  Maybe that is why our Peruvian neighbors have so little trash.  I mean honestly, it was embarrassing last week.  Our neighbors set out one small bucket of trash and we set out 15 bags. They were the size of grocery bags and granted we had tons of guests last week, but still. Yowzah!

 Be sure to check out the lunar eclipse tonight.  We gave the kids naps so I hope we get  to see some of it tonight!  They will probably fall asleep before most of it, but we are going to give it the old college try.

I finished up How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.  After we finished that book, I discovered that we needed a much deeper phonics understanding, so we are using Phonics Pathways.  We have really enjoyed it, including Jackson.  It has helped me see that he is a very mathmatical thinker.  This book has helped him understand that reading is like math,  using sound and blend combinations.

I love how the book gently eases you into dictation and the game component is a fun element.  If you need a bit of help with phonics this book will help you get off on the right start.

From time to time, I am asked by Christian authors to read their books and review them here on my blog.  When Landel contacted me I was interested to hear that he actually created the book, Sentinel: City of Destiny originally for his boys. In the forward of this book Landel says “Growing up is easy, Growing up to be a man of good character is hard.” It always warms my heart to see parents developing ways to parent their children through life’s storms, and then sharing it with others. 

This book is about twin boys and their journey to manhood.  Each choosing separate paths and experiencing separate consequences.  The language in this book is well written, fluid and articulate.  Very reminiscent of Pilgrims Progress.  The world that is created within the allegorical tale reminds me of Tolkien with its maps and index list to define the particular vocabulary words used within the story. 

It is exciting, daring and courageous enough to captivate young men.  There is nothing like a good battle to get a boy really involved. This story will give parents or teachers a great platform in order to share about the struggles common to all men.  If you are a proactive parent who isn’t merely waiting for your children to “grow up” but hoping to train them and guide them into the way of Godly character, I highly recommend this book.  There is even a study guide at the end of the book to help you process through the book.

In order to give Landel more exposure, this post was also submitted here.

Well, My amazing husband is playing freeze dance  with the children upstairs to “Walking on Sunshine”, while I battle  what seems like aliens in my body. Good Times people. It seems a large portion of the conference  got a nasty virus,  not to mention I am suffering from altitude sickness at the same time.  Hey, it is one way to lose some weight!

I have been thinking about my last post about sustainable living and some recent thoughts by NT Wright on Christians misconception of heaven.  Give it  a read and let me know what you think.

“Training for Reigning”  peeps!  Our every day life and our little small choices day in and day out, do matter  for eternity. Pretty mind blowing  when  you really stop and  think  about it.

When you take 1 suburban family of 5, who live at sea level (and at times with rain under sea level) to a city 9,000 ft in the Andes Mountains?

SICK!

Honestly, I have traveled all over the world. Cuba, Russia,  Nordic Countries, Europe and NEVER been this sick.

You take precautions everywhere but  even those precautions are not helping  here.  It is one thing when  it is just  you but when your kids and hubby  are sick too,well  it is just HORRIBLE!

OH MOMMY- pray for us!

I have the pleasure of serving the children this week with Jeff and Carol Morgan.  Let me just say that these jokers do not mess around.  You want to find out about how to create sustainable living for your own family, spend 1 hour with Jeff and Carol and you will be dreaming.  I have been wanting to have an in-home kitchen composter for years now.  I have done online research and havn’t really found what I thought would work for our family.

In about 5 minutes Jeff shared with me a cheap, simple and effective way of composting all kitchen waste.  I can’t wait to start when we get home.  I have been thinking through now for some time, how to begin developing sustainable living.  How does a typical suburban family pull this off, practically?  I don’t even own any land, except about 2 feet around 2 sides of our town home in a planned development.  Can I do this with no land?  Well, yes, and people all over the world with very little space are doing it and doing it well. 

As Christians, it is something that we need to seriously look at.  Recycling, using less consumable paper products like paper plates etc. are important issues that I don’t think most people think about.  I guess it depends on your theology and your exposure to the rest of the world. Are we not as Christians to be renewing this world, as we wait for The Father to bring about total renewal? I tell you what, no one in Peru uses paper plates or paper towels.  You even have to bring your own TP when you are out and about, and it isn’t necessarily a conservation thing it is a cost thing.

Anyway, my mind is churning with thoughts about this, but here is another helpful resource that may help you just start thinking. Jeff told me about ECHOa ministry in SW Florida that is fascinating.  I plan to take the kids over for a homeschool field trip.  I see earth boxes (homemade) or maybe square foot gardening in our homeschooling future.  I may not live on a farm, but darn it I am going to have  a garden. 

Our new friend Tracey Howe is an amazingly talented artist.  It has been a special treat to get to know her before I really knew her music.  Now, I am buying it as fast as I can download it….and you should too!  Look out Peeps, we are bringing her to South Florida!

Peace to all Rockin’ Diva’s in the house tonight!

Well this morning Mike came downstairs and there was a bird in our kitchen.  It was trapped and trying to get out, so Mike let it free.  There is tons of new wildlife here for us to observe.  The kids are really enjoying the news birds and flowers they see and the experience of climbing “mountains” (really, high hills) with the panoramic picture of the Andean mountain chain in the background.  We are picking new flowers most days and have them in our home.  That is the fun and beautiful part of living here. 

It is a hard life though.  It takes tons of work, just to gather food to eat here.  Cleaning is literally a full time job. You have to think well in advance of everything you do, definitely no drive-threws (sp?) here if you are hungry.  I have so much respect for the Styrons and the Williams who have sacrificed everything to live here among these beautiful people proclaiming the goodness of the kingdom of God and the life of following Jesus.  It is slow, unseen, hard work in any culture, but I think especially challenging when you add in the language barrier.  God is good and He is moving, so when you think of it please pray for our dear family in Peru who work hard and long with little thanks or acknowledgment. (That is the way of Jesus though isn’t it?)

Not to mention, the other day, as 24 of us sat down to eat lunch together in a small, quiet seemingly friendly spot, Grace got her purse stolen right in front of all of us.  I was trying to process what was happening, while she and a few others were up and running after the little, daring, punk.  Grace is 10 and speaks fluent Spanish and English and living in Peru is almost all she knows.  All her favorite birthday things, and special ten year old girl things were in there, including her birthday ipod from her grandparents.  So sad.  I just hugged her, and then a worship circle member gave her his ipod and she was blessed by God’s provision. 

At every table here, they have leather cords with little snap hooks on the end, so you can chain your purse to the table, so it wont’ be stolen, hopefully. Our friend Lucy had her pocket cut open when a man with a knife tried to steal her cell phone.  She fought him off.  Our friends, The Morgans (seriously cool people who I will introduce you to later) were jumped by 7 people trying to steal some of their legal documents and other items.  They fought them off too.  Although they say it was the Angels who did it for them. The week before we arrived, 3 different missionaries where kidnapped in Tekos, and accosted to get there money. 

So we are careful here.  We always travel together as a family and only take “approved” tekos and I don’t carry a purse.  If I would of thought about it enough, I wouldn’t of worn my wedding ring, but I just never take it off so I forgot about it.  It is very modest, but here it seems like royalty.  So keep praying for us.  The conference is underway and very fruitful so far.  New, deep, life-long, kingdom relationships are being formed that will be nurtured for eternity.  Despite the hardness of this trip, it is a beautiful thing

We decided to hire Lucy to give us language lessons while we are in Peru.  We thought it would be great to jump start our language study because I am weak with that at home with our little homeschool.  I figure if we get a good dose here, I may keep up with it at home.

So this is Lucy.  She will come to our house three times a week to teach us Spanish.  She was the first person the Styrons met here 4 years ago and lead her to the Lord.  She is a treasure.  She is now studying other languages and hopes to become a translator I think.

This is Chenoa.  She is one of those people who you meet and are instant friends with.  She was the person who gave me the courage and the encouragement to home-school. When Mike and I finally said ”yes” to homeschooling she was one of the first people I called. Her three kids are amazing and I love their family. (My kids love her kids too - in fact when we say “The Styrons” are coming over, the say yeah and name off their kids.)

I will be gathering other pictures during the conference of all of our friends so you can put a name and a face together.  More later!

All of the other “gringos” including worship circle arrive from Lima today.  The kids are happy to see Mr. Mitch again.  They connected with him at Lee and Dori’s wedding and feel like they have a friend.  We are all excited to met and make new friends.

Last night a few of us gathered together to pray and seek the Lord for this conference.  It is very interesting how God put all of this together.  So many different connections and people coming together all for one purpose, to proclaim that the kingdom has come in Peru and that all are welcome to enter in. Freedom for all!

As I was going to bed last night, the Lord was showing me several things to pray for in particular.  There is a ton of oppression here that is very, very old.  You don’t need to look very far into the history of this country to understand there are very strong spiritual strongholds that are centuries old. Pray with us that God will set the captives free over the next few days.  I was reminded last night, as I was praying, about the unbelievable spiritual revival that is occurring in South America.  I am praying for nothing less than the miraculous these next few days.

I had a strong sense last night that we should usher in this conference with worship. So pray with us.  This morning we have Sara Groves kicking.  As we clean (it seems that is all I do here) we are worshipping and dancing our way into this conference. Hudson loves to dance to loud worship music, so plug in your ipod (or whatever you use to listen to music with) and rock out with us!

Grace and Peace to all! 

1. Fireworks going off at any time morning, noon, night and mostly middle of the night.  Mike Styron said, it is part of their “worship” to different saints of idols.  Very interesting.

2. Dogs barking constantly.  Dogs roam free here, without any apparent owner, in and out of everywhere, even restaurants.  They seem to bark all night long.

3. A fine layer of dust everywhere, all the time. It makes the floors very slick.  We are forever slipping and sliding all over the place around here, even with shoes on. 

4. A strange horn like sound.  Jackson  first identified it.  He asked what it was.  I said, “I don’t know, maybe a strange bird.”  He didn’t think so, he felt is sound like a type of horn.  We here it all the time, and yesterday we figured out what it was.  We went out walking and saw a man walking with a small box and then he pulled out a horn and blew it.  It was the sound we had been hearing.  He is the ice cream man selling ice-cream.  Even at 7 in the morning.

5.  The trash truck rings a bell like a cow bell. Chenoa said some of them play the William Tell Overture.  I didn’t understand what it was the first day and missed taking out our trash.  Ugh, now I know.

6. Yesterday we saw a herd of cows walking down the street right among the cars and tekos.  The kids thought that was funny.

7. Yesterday we all had a big event.  I will post pictures later, but let me just say I am super proud of the kids.

See you soon!

Today we went to a Peruvian hospital.  Yeah!  Here is how it went.

Today we were inviting everyone over for dinner.  I began cooking in the morning.  I said we were preparing to have our Peruvian church family over.  Hudson wanted to help.  He started cutting oranges before I realized what he was doing and gave himself a nasty cut. 

I am thinking small cut, however there was a lot of blood and I was applying pressure and trying to calm him down, so I didn’t look at it very closely.  An hour later it was still bleeding.  Mike looked at it and felt like it was deep enough for him to get stitches for fear it would get infected.  A little side note - there is a reason we hide the kitchen knives at home. The child thinks he is Emeril Lagasse.  I was mostly nervous about the infection thing because Hudson is very allergic to 2 of the 3 strains of antibiotic.  It puts him in the hospital in the states.

My Mike and Mike Styron (our friend who lives here full time) took him to the hospital.   As they were leaving Chloe said, “I didn’t know they had Doctors here.” and Jackson replied “Chloe, they have Doctors in every part of the world even the most poor countries.  Everyone deserves a doctor.”  All I could think was “Where does he get this stuff?”

Everything went wonderfully.  The doctor cleaned out the wound and put antibiotic sutures on his cut and bandaged it well.  Now we have to have him keep it clean and dry (that is almost laughable) and go back on Monday.   Mike was very impressed with the care.  Chenoa kept me calm saying there was nothing to worry about.  I guess I wasn’t really worried about the cut or the care but the possibility of him having to go on antibiotics.  I can’t even describe to you how horrifying that who process was. (Discovering his allergy to antibiotics)

All I can say is, thank the Good Lord we decided to come 1 week before the conference begins.  Our family is acclimating to the altitude, the culture, the food and the hospital care, so now all of that will be out of the way before the conference begins.

Tonight went well.  The “littles” didn’t quit get it that our “American” church family would not be coming as well as all of our “Peruvian” church family. I made spaghetti in a pot the size of a thimble.  We ate and drank and laughed and prayed and talked about Jesus and the Kingdom of God. In the kingdom of God there are no boundaries, not even language.

Please pray that we don’t get food poisoning.  I am doing much of our cooking, so I am hoping to skirt that issue.  Mike Styron has been sick with a fever all week from eating “bad” food while out and about.  I started taking pictures of our “Peruvian” church family and will start posting them tomorrow.  You can meet some of our extended family. If you are reading this back home, please email me, so I can email you back.  I don’t have every-ones email addy’s saved on this laptop. 

Peace to all.  Wish you where here!

Shocking I know! Wow - just keep adding on to the typical experiences down here.  I am really living the local life.

Today, I went with the kids to a small “tienda” about a block from our home. Think of it like a 7/11 about the size of a master bathroom, dark and cramped. I  needed water and bread and didn’t want to take a taxi to go to the supermarket.  I don’t really speak Spanish.  I studied French for years and the two languages are similar, so I can fumble around a bit.  Let’s just say, I know enough Spanish to know I was being cheated and over charged for a silly piece of bread but not enough Spanish to stick up for myself.  Jackson consoled me by saying, “Cheaters never win Mama.”  Thanks bud!

OK - I am off to plug in the Rosetta Stone. 

The kids are cracking me up with the Spanish they are picking up.  Chloe walks around all day speaking gibberish with occasional Spanish words thrown in.  It is hysterical. 

Let’s just say we are getting the entire South American experience.  Like, they say we will be there on Friday at 2:00 to hook up Internet access and they really arrive Tuesday at 4:00.   Not much moves fast here, so I am enjoying the entire process.  I feel like this whole trip has been such a gift I don’t want to waste any of it.  I want to enjoy all of it.  So, no Internet, no biggie. 

Our flight went really smoothly.  Thanks to all those who were praying, we felt it every minute.  I was very proud of how well the kids did.  Today will be our first time with the entire “community” down here kids included, so we are all excited about that.  The kids are even picking up some Spanish.  I will post some pics later today  but for now I thought I leave you a little top ten list.

Top Ten Things to Know While Traveling to Peru:

1. LAN is about the best airline!  Whenever flying to South America, try using them. 

2. Traveling with young children in South America is a plus.  Everyone treats you like royalty.  Every where we went, in the airport, they just waved us through. No lines, no waiting. They even let us board the plan first, right after the elderly. Instead of getting dirty looks for having children who act like “children” like we do in South Florida, we got smiles and sweet gestures.

3. Boil all your water. You don’t waste water here, it is too much work to get. 

4. It is as light as noon at 5am so we are starting our days early.

5. Everyone walks here, or take taxis. 

6. Anything imported is very expensive. Like a bag of chocolate chips is $10 US.  Other things that are “spendy” in the states are dirt cheap here.  Like avacados and whole fresh pineapples are under $1 US.

7. All clothes are hung out to dry.  I like this, however, we are in the rainy season.  It rains about 5x a year here and yesterday was one of them.  I am not sure if I need to rewash the clothes on the line?  It was a light misting rain.  Very different from South Florida rain.

8. Everything here can be “delivered” like water, groceries, food.  Really anything, just add the cost of the taxi trip which is usually about $1 US.

9. Solar heated water means hot water is also a luxury and baths are not typical here.  I never realized how hard it is to get three little kids clean in a shower instead of a bath. At home I used the soak and wash method, here I have to scrub.  I think their feet will be continually dirty here as it is very dusty.

10.  Children our kids age, beg on the streets as normal practice.  They will do a trick, try to sell some gum or wash a car with a dirty rag to make a little money for their family.  Jackson equated this to his lemonade stand.  Well, kind of but not really.  They need it to live and his lemonade stand is just for fun.  Big difference.

So those are a few little glimpses into life here.  We wish you could be here.

Blessings from South America!

Yesterday, I took the children to Wal-mart to pick up a few last minute items that we need to take to Peru.  Jackson was being rewarded a small toy for reading his 5th chapter book on his own. He had this toy in mind for some time.  It was a proud moment for him.

Obviously, he had his toy assembled in nanoseconds and had been enjoying it all day.  Right at bedtime, he noticed the toy had a few structural cracks in it.  To this he started crying and crying saying “I hate Wal-mart!  They make junkie toys that break after only one day.  All they care about is money and not kids who are getting the toys.  It doesn’t make any sense.”  He kept repeating over and over the part about not making any sense. 

I did not tell him about the great debate about  Wal-mart.  Darn thing is, Wal-mart has trained an entire culture to want LOW prices and not want to pay more for quality work, me included. I guess the saying holds true, “You get what you pay for.”