A note from Hil

Last night, I was really upset because I came across 'A Good Crew' blog.  This was the first I knew of its existence!  I sent an angry text to Tony... and then an apologetic text when I found the 'contributor' email he sent back in February... hehe oopsie!  Well my friends, an update on me - I had a tonsillectomy this morning performed by a 90 year old German man who looked like he had 1 foot in the grave.  Even though he looks super old, there's a reason he's still doing it; he does a great job.  But boy does this recovery suck!  Lots of pain but I seem to be keeping my humor in tact.  My mom videoed me right after I woke up:

 Pre-Op / Post-Op

Optimistic about the surgery! / I was trying desperately to keep my eyes open. It was really difficult!

My mom is telling me that you guys don't want to see this but I'm posting it anyway (you're welcome)!

I Miss You!

Thanks Tony for making a new blog, sorry the other one didn't work out. Glad I can contribute now! I'd like to apologize for how poorly I've been keeping up with everyone. It's not that I don't love you guys, I guess I'm just still getting used to living in this country.

Anyway I like this a lot, seeing what's happening in your lives. James I'm sorry to hear about the Peace Corps update. They were always telling me to be flexible and I got really sick of it, but just hang in there. I have much faith in you that you will be a great volunteer. I'll try and pull some strings to get you to Panama!

So I don't have time to write much now, but hopefully next week when I go to internet land I can put something more on here. Nate and Emily are coming to visit on Sunday and I'm super pumped! We're gonna visit some islands in the Caribbean and then head to my town and check out the jungle. I realize some of you will soon have families and obligations, but you should all be on the lookout for cheap flights to Panama. I would love to be your tour guide, and you can't beat my prices.

Oh, just throwing this out there - I may or may not be visiting the good 'ol USA in a few months. No sure plans yet, but the family is requesting that I be there for the week of 4th of July (at the new cottage, which I have yet to see)! So maybe keep that in mind as I will probably be staying an additional week after that. I don't know, maybe we can hang out or something, chat a little bit. That would be nice.

Hope everyone is well, I miss you all very much. Que Dios les bendiga.

Maria's name.

I don't know if we told you guys yet. But our daughter's name will be

Maria Simone Ochoa

I have always liked the name Maria. It is a prevalent hispanic and Italian name which speaks to both Angela and my background. I also really enjoyed the song My Maria by Brooks and Dunn. It is extremely corny but I do look forward to singing it to my daughter. It also holds connection to Angela's all time favorite movie ever ever, The Sound of Music. Maria is the name of the protagonist in the film. Lastly and more importantly, Maria is indirectly named after Angela's mom, Mary. Her mom has played the greatest role in Angela's life in order to teach her godliness, build her faith, and encourage her purity through womanhood.

We joking say that we want to name all our kids after obscure Indie bands. We first became acquainted with the name Simone from the all girl brooklyn pop band called Au Revoir Simone. Maria Simone sounded good together and it was a plus that it has a Hebrew origin meaning "one who hears/listens". This rings very true with my hopes for our children. In this world of relative truth, I so desperately yearn that our children will find logic, hear truth, and ultimately have faith of which to "hear God". Hearing, I hope, implies understanding which can root anyone into any situation.

Her expected due date is May 17.