A Glimpse of Yesterday

Yesterday I traveled north with some friends and visited Wat Rhong Khun, Doi Tung, Maisai and The Golden Triangle as well as a couple other smaller places. It was a long and exhausting day but really good. My favorite part was taking pictures, of course, and here are a few of them.











Click here and here to see more.

Merry Christmas Eve

I'm sitting at my desk right now at The Centre listening to Bay play the guitar and I can't help but smile. I have really amazing friends here in Thailand. Seriously, I have been blessed with the most amazing friends on the planet. I'm not sure how I got so lucky, but God must really love me. :)

About a month ago Chelle moved in with me and I love having her around. It is so great to have someone to talk to at the end of the day and share things with. I have laughed so much in the past month, thanks to her.

Bay is also an amazing friend. He works with me at The Centre and makes me smile on a daily basis. He is always around when I need him and gets me out of unfortunate situations, like when I ran out of gas a couple weeks ago. He is also just a really incredible man of God. My life will definitely be lacking when he moves to New Zealand next month.

Aon is one of the funniest people I have ever met and yet in a totally sly, sneak up on you kind of way. She is also very logical and blunt which is great because my head tends to float in the clouds a lot and she brings me back to earth.

Ya has THE BEST smile in the whole world. She encourages me and takes care of me every single day in big and small ways. And she laughs at me and with me all the time. She also understands that my love language is gift giving and even though it is against her culture, she lets me take care of her and give to her in situations where most Thai people would not.

I feel like I could go on and on about the amazing people in my life, especially if I started talking about my incredible friends in America. But I'll stop here for now and just say again that I am truly blessed.

Merry Christmas!

Wish I Had A River I Could Skate Away On

That song seems to be the Christmas song that is perpetually stuck in my head this season. Good thing I like it!

Christmas is only six days away now and I can't help but be excited and a little sad at the same time. This will be my 30th Christmas and the first one I have ever spent away from family. When I was living in San Diego, working in Mexico, I always made it to my parent's house for Christmas. The last couple years that I have been living in Thailand, I've made it to their house for Christmas. And now, here I am in Chiang Mai knowing that I will be have a world away from my beloved family next Thursday. When I first made the plan to stay here for Christmas, I thought that it would be really hard. And yet due to the busyness of the season, it has been a lot easier than expected. I am so blessed. I have an amazing job, a wonderful church family, fantastic friends, a great Thai family and not much time to be sad.

Not trying to get your sympathy but, it has been hard to watch everyone around me get cards and boxes in the mail from their friends and family for Christmas while I haven't received any. (Okay, maybe I am looking for a little bit of sympathy! )

But I still can't help but feel excited for the season and so happy to serve such a great God!

Merry Christmas to all of you, I pray that your heart is full of joy and the Christmas spirit!

Any Suggestions?

Since I recently decided to start selling my photos, I think it is time to invest in a new photo editing program. Any suggestions?

Friendly Bloggers #3

Thought I'd continue telling you a little more about the friendly bloggers in my side bar.

Sanborn Chronicles is written by my friend, Anne Sanborn. I first met Anne and her husband, Sean when I was in high school and we attended the same church in San Jose. Years passed and in 2005 I was getting ready to leave my job at Amor Ministries and looking for a new ministry to be involved in. I got an email from Anne and Sean telling me about a ministry in Chiang Mai called The Centre. The Sanborns had been living in Thailand for a while and their email filled me with excitement. I have now been living in Chiang Mai for three years and although I don't see Sean and Anne as much as I'd like to, I will forever be thankful for their friendship and direction!

Regent Adventures is written by Bethany. I met her in early 2006 when she came to work at The Centre for three months. I enjoy reading her blog because it is a collection of deep thoughts intermingled with humor. Check it out.

That's What She Said is written by Holly. When I was in college, I helped lead the junior high group at church and Holly was one of the junior highers. She is now an adult and has the most beautiful baby named Hazel. Holly's blog makes me laugh on a regular basis and I love the honesty that comes out in her writing. Plus, did I mention that she has the most beautiful baby?!

Girl Of Cardigan is written by Karyn. I met Karyn when I lived in San Jose and we attended the same church. I love the way that Karyn writes, it is very clever and witty. She knits a lot and often writes about her knitting projects as well as daily life.

Adventures in Juggling is one of my favorite blogs to read. It is written by Laura whom I also met at church in San Jose when I was in high school. Laura is Holly's mom as well as mom to a circus of children and writes many stories about her family and her life. Like her daughter, honesty shows in her writing and I love reading her entries!

More to come later...

New Business

So, I have decided to start a new business by selling my photos. I live in an area that is constantly crowded by tourists and I am constantly taking photos of Thailand, so why not turn them into postcards and sell them? It will help supplement my "Missionary Salary."

Check out these photos and tell me what you think. This is just a random selection of some of my favorites but I haven't edited them yet so don't judge them by that yet. I also have a ton more photos of Thai people that I think will make great postcards.

Anyway, I'd love some feedback so tell me what you think!

Family (away from family) Christmas Photo

Caffeinated

I just drank a double shot of espresso because I was falling asleep at my desk and now my whole body is awake and shaking... Just thought you should know.

I need some prayer. I haven't written a newsletter in months and I have totally fallen behind on emails and keeping in touch with people. I am so behind on thank you cards to my supporters that they have probably all forgotten about me, which is not a good thing! I really need to get a newsletter done this week but I need prayer for time and motivation to get it done. Will you please pray for me??!!!!!!

Thanks!

Oh Little Town of Chiang Mai

I have officially entered the Christmas Season with a big smile on my face and lots of holiday cheer. I admit that normally I get annoyed with people that play Christmas music and put of decorations and trees before it is even December, but I have now joined their ranks. Today I played Christmas music all afternoon and put up Christmas lights with A and Y. Tomorrow I am picking up my Christmas tree and I can't wait to put it up. Tomorrow night A, Y, Michelle and I are decorating the tree, watching You've Got Mail and eating Christmas food. It will be fun!

Here are some photos of the Christmas lights we put up today.







And here is my 2008 Family Christmas photo, with and without the flash.

Speechless

Read this article if you haven't heard about it yet, it left me speechless.

Walmart Worker Dies

This is why I have never gone shopping on Black Friday. This is why I am happy to currently be in a country where Thanksgiving and Christmas are not widely celebrated. This is so sad.

Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice!

That song has been running through my head repeatedly for the past four hours because my roommate was humming it earlier...

I have started walking with Aon and Ya, some of yesterday's pictures were from our walk. There is a beautiful place not far from where I live and we have been walking there and back. It is about a 5 kilometer walk which I believe is about 3 miles. It is an easy walk on completely flat ground and I really enjoy it. Yesterday we took the dogs and by the end of it, I had to carry Gracie because she was just too tired. I guess 5 kilometers is pretty far when your legs are only two inches long and your hips are bad. Anyway, all of that was to set you up for me complaining that today my legs are killing me. The front of my shins are so sore! I would expect the back of the legs to be sore but not the front. It is weird. Stairs are very difficult and since The Centre is 8 levels, it takes awhile to get downstairs from my office. I have done this walk several times before and I have never been sore before so I am not sure what is causing it. Maybe I walked funny yesterday or something... Ever had the front of your legs hurt?

Yesterday was quite a day. I woke up super early after only sleeping about two hours and went walking with Aon and Ya. After that, I drove across town and picked up my friend, Michelle. She moved in with me yesterday so we brought all of her stuff over and got her settled. Then I went grocery shopping with A and Y to buy ingredients for my Thanksgiving tacos. It is amazing how difficult it is to find the makings for tacos here! After a couple hours and a couple stores, we went home with everything except sour cream. We then proceeded to make homemade salsa. I had never made it before, A and Y had never even tasted it before. It took so long to chop everything up small enough and mix it all together but it was totally worth it! Near the end of making it, Aon handed me a chili pepper, told me it wasn't spicy and asked me to try it. I stuck it in my mouth and immediately started experiencing intense pain. My lips were on fire, my tongue and throat were burning, my nose was running, my face was bright red and I was sweating. You should know that usually I can handle pretty spicy stuff but this was the spiciest I had ever tasted. As I was jumping up and down in pain, I could hear Ya yelling at Aon that she gave me the wrong wrong chili pepper and that it is the bigger ones that are not spicy. It took about 30 minutes before the pain went away and I could laugh about the situation. And luckily, I had wonderful tacos and salsa to eat to wash that chili pepper down! Altogether, it was a great Thanksgiving and I have much to be thankful for!

Snapshots of My Day

Happy Thanksgiving! Click on the photos to see them bigger.

Chaos

I mentioned the political problems in my earlier post and at the time I was feeling relatively distance from what was occurring in Bangkok. However, I just read an article on CNN that stated the following:

"...Protesters wearing yellow shirts in Chiang Mai pulled a 60-year-old man from his car and shot and killed him late Wednesday, Reuters journalist John Sanlin told CNN. Anti-government protesters typically wear yellow shirts, he said..."

And now I am feeling a little less safe. Here is the link for the full article: Thai PM Rejects Calls....

Here are a couple more links giving a bit more background:

Descent into Chaos
Thailand's Political Crisis

Check them out and please be praying!

Thanksgiving Tacos

I have to start this post by squeezing a little bit of sympathy out of you with the following statement. My heart hurts today knowing that tomorrow will be my first Thanksgiving in 29 years without family. I am trying not to think about it too much because if Thanksgiving is hard, imagine how I will feel on Christmas!

However if I can't be with family tomorrow, I will be with the next best thing: Aon and Ya. My closest friends on this side of the world, my Thai family.


They work for Americans who have given them the day off to celebrate. I work for Thai people which means it is just like any other day. I will be leaving early though to celebrate with my "family". I asked A and Y what they want for dinner and they said tacos. So, tomorrow I will be cooking Thanksgiving tacos and I am sure it will feel very festive. What are your plans for Thanksgiving?

P.S. Please pray for Thailand. I'm not sure what those of you outside of Thailand are hearing, but there is a lot of major political stuff happening right now. I am not going to attempt to tell you about it now because I don't quite understand it fully myself and I am still asking questions and researching. But please pray for our government and the people of Thailand. Please pray specifically for peace and safety. Thanks!

Human Bones

This scares me: ye Churchyard.

Jewelry made of actual human bones. I just don't know what to say about it except that it scares me...

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good night...

I know that this is a lame excuse for a post today but it is 8:19pm and I am exhausted so I am going to bed.

"I flit, I float, I fleetly flee, I fly. The sun has gone to bed and so must I..."

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

A glimpse at my day:

• woke up at 4:45am
• drove in the dark to PMI
• loaded up trucks with gifts
• road in the back of a Song Teaw (taxi truck with the bed turned into seats) for two and a half hours on a winding road up the mountain
• got incredibly sunburned
• met wonderful people
• reconnected with people I haven't seen in a year
• spoke a lot of Thai
• taught English
• prayed a lot
• got chills from the Holy Spirit
• watched people be healed
• saw 40 people accept Christ for the first time
• took over 1000 photos
• helped dedicate a new Children's Home
• walked out to the middle of a river so that I could get good pictures of baptisms
• got wet in the river and it was totally worth it
• ate amazing Thai food
• laughed a lot
• remembered my purpose in life
• thanked God
  
• spent another two and a half hours in the back of a Song Teaw down the winding road from the mountain
• watched someone throw up repeatedly from car sickness
• drove home
• got sick myself from sun poisoning
• applied a lot of aloe vera gel
• had one of the best days of my life
  

Attithan

This post is going to be short because I just got back from a three hour walk with Aon and Ya and I really need to take a shower and go to bed. Tomorrow I have to wake up at 4:45am because I am going to Samoeng, which is a local hill tribe village. I am going to take pictures for a relief project with a local ministry and although it will be fun, it will also be exhausting! Last year they hired me to take pictures and you can view a small portion of them here. Anyway, all of that to explain that I'm not going to write much because I need to go to bed.

And yet I haven't even gotten to the main part of my post yet...

I wanted to ask you all to pray for a friend of mine. She is very very dear to me and needs some help from our Heavenly Father right now. She is one of the strongest people I know and yet life drags us all down sometimes. I'm not going to give you her name or details because I want to protect her privacy. Please pray for peace, strength, rest and healing in her life. I know that it is sometimes hard to pray for people that you don't know, especially if you don't know what they specifically need prayer for. However, I strongly believe that if you ask God to guide your prayers, he will. So that is what I ask of you today. Thank you.

By the way, "attithan" is the Thai word for "prayer."

Flasher

Quote of the day:

"Jen, let me play a Madonna song while you flash us."

I'm tempted to just leave it at that for comedic purposes but I feel the need to explain it in order to keep my title of "missionary". Tonight I was at youth group and we hosted a really great band from Singapore called "Giants Must Fall." I was taking pictures at the event and at one point I went outside to where some of the kids were selling drinks and took some photos there.

One of the boys, Alex, pipes up above the noise, "Jen, let me play a Madonna song while you flash us."

At this point, every person outside starts laughing hysterically except for Alex. I had a momentary thought that I probably shouldn't encourage this at a church event but it was just too funny to pass up. A moment later, Alex realized what he said and through laughter tried to explain that he meant the flashes from my camera.

About ten minutes later, I had one of the male leaders of the group go outside and explain to Alex that he was in trouble for his inappropriate comments to a female leader. The whole thing was hilarious and made my night!

Once Upon A Time...Happily Ever After

Most of you know that I love movies, pretty much all movies. But there is a special place in my heart for a certain type of movie. Movies on the Disney Channel. Movies that are made for television. Movies that start with "Once upon a time" and end with "happily ever after." Movies where the underdog wins and the boy gets the girl. Movies that teach you an important life lesson. Movies with catchy tunes and people dancing around singing them. Movies that don't even go near the subject of sex and are free of bad language. Movies that are family friendly.

Movies that are made for children warm my 29.5 year old heart and continually put a smile on my face. I watch them over and over again until I can quote them and sing along to the soundtrack and I never seem to grow tired of them.

However, I have finally met my match. Last night I couldn't sleep so I woke up in the middle of the night and turned the television on. I watched a movie called Picture This starring Ashley Tisdale of High School Musical fame. I'd like to state that I am a huge fan of High School Musical. I have the DVDs and Soundtracks and pretty much know them by heart, and I'm not ashamed to admit any of that. So, I had high hopes for Picture This and those hopes were ruthlessly crushed. Maybe it was because it was the middle of the night and I wanted to be sleeping. Maybe it is one of those movies that is best when watched with others. Maybe the acting was just really bad. This movie was, in my opinion, really dumb. I actually strruggled to get through it, which is difficult because I am usually pretty easy to please. I have only ever walked away from one movie because of how stupid it was and I was repeatedly tempted to walk away from Picture This. I sit here now, 14 hours later, and wonder who put forth the money to pay for this movie. I am dumbfounded.

And yet, the boringness (is that a word?) was just what I needed to be able to climb into bed and fall fast asleep. Thanks Ashley!

It Must Be The Weather Change

My Thai friends hold strongly to the belief that with the weather change comes sickness. I realize that there is some truth in this but I had never heard it exclaimed so many times before moving here. Whenever anybody gets sick, someone says "it must be the weather change." Sometimes it makes me laugh because the weather always seems to be hot or hotter and that change doesn't seem like it could cause sickness.

Yesterday I started coughing. Last night I started sneezing. This morning, as I dragged myself out of bed coughing and sneezing, I said aloud, "it must be the weather change." And I meant it. Two weeks ago it was hot and last week it was cold. This week is hot again and I am convinced that the changes in weather is causing my sickness, as well as the sicknesses of the handful of friends I ran into today who were also coughing and sneezing.

Thanks a lot Mr. Weather!

P.S. I somehow made it back to Thailand without bringing any cold medicine with me. Anyone want to send me a supply of Dayquil and Nyquil? I will love you forever!!

"Your standing films will time and test themselves."

"Your films will stand the test of time."

Anybody know what that quote is from?

I mentioned on Facebook a couple months ago that I had gotten a new tattoo and ever since then, people have been asking to see it. Honestly, I've just been too lazy to take a picture up until today.

Thought maybe I'd show all three of my tattoos on here and let you know what they mean.

I got this one about ten years ago in the small of my back. I think it is pretty self explanatory. It is fading quite a bit and desperately needs touched up but I never see it, so I leave it alone.



This one I got a year later and it is placed directly underneath the cross. It is the Chinese symbol for "servant" and meant a lot because I always thought someday I'd end up serving in China. This one has also faded a lot and needs redone but again, I never see it.



Here is the two of them together.



This is my newest one that I got a couple months ago. After Tiffany died, Tam and I had charms engraved with her initials that we put on our charm bracelets. The charms were angel wings and after that we always associated angel wings with Tiffany. I took the actual charm into the tattoo shop and they copied it onto my foot.




I know tattoos are kind of a touchy subject with some people but I absolutely love mine! I have never regretted getting any of them and am definitely open to more. They are a way of expressing my personality and who cares what they look like when I am old and gray! :) I have to say that the angel wing is my favorite because it is the first one that I actually see every day and it holds such a special meaning.

So, there you go. Sorry it took me so long to put up pictures!

It's a Jolly Holiday with Mary

I was eating with Aon and Ya and they were speaking in Thai to each other and I responded to something one of them said. At that moment Ya looked at Aon and said, "Jen's Thai is getting too good, we can't complain about her anymore when she is with us." This of course was also said in Thai but I understood every word. I attempted to act offended but instead just burst in laughter and they both joined me. They spent the next few minutes trying to convince me that they don't really complain about me. I thought the whole situation was pretty funny! I really love those girls!

Thank you God for blessing me with such amazing friends!

Chan Rak Wendy!

Dear Wendy,

I know we have never met but my mom tells me that you are my aunt. I wanted to write and say thank you for the wonderful clothes you bought me last Christmas. It is finally cooling down in Chiang Mai and since mom keeps my hair cut short, I have been a bit chilly. I have to admit that the first few times mom tried to put the clothes on me, I ran and hid. I am ashamed to say that I also pouted quite a bit in protest. However, I am starting to get used to wearing them and they really do keep me warm. I am also the envy of every dog in the neighborhood because I am so pretty when I wear them! Thank you from the bottom of my little heart!

Here is a picture of me looking beautiful in one of the shirts today:



And here is a picture of Sammy trying his hardest to look handsome without a shirt of his own:


Mom says she is going to buy Sammy his own shirt tomorrow so I guess I will have to find something else to hold over his head.

Anyway, thanks a lot! Chan Rak Khun! (That means I love you in my native language.)

Hugs,
Gracie Sue

Tick Tock

I have a serious tick problem. I know that I have mentioned it before but I am just starting to realize how serious it is. They are everywhere. On my dogs, on me, in my bed, on my walls, everywhere. I know this makes me sound dirty but I am actually quite clean. I just cleaned my house from top to bottom, as I do every Sunday. I cleaned all my linens and clothes, wiped down the walls, cleaned the floors, washed the dogs and I still keep finding ticks. An exterminator came and sprayed my house last week to get rid of termites and apparently I need to call someone to get rid of the ticks as well. But first I am going to cut all the grass and trees in my yard so that everything is bare and then I'm gonna spray the heck out of the place. Please pray for this problem to go away, I'm really tired of it!!

This is totally random but I thought I'd also mention how much I love doing laundry. I don't love to clean in general but washing clothes is different. We don't use dryers in Thailand so I hang everything up in the sun to dry and for some reason, it is very therapeutic for me. My washing machine is pretty hard on clothes so anything delicate has to be hand washed and I love doing that as well. Maybe I have some kind of a disorder... :)

Friendly Bloggers #2

Diane Leota Davis is written by Diane (amazing, I know). I met Diane when I was a junior is high school and she was one of the leaders in my youth group. I haven't seen her in years but I enjoy reading her blog. Random fact: One of my closest friends, Jessica was roommates in college with Diane. I was friends with Jess for a couple years before seeing a picture of her and Diane together. Small world, huh?

The Olsen Family is written by my friend, Jenni. We were in the same youth group in San Jose together and became good friends. Unfortunately we lost touch after college but thanks to the wonders of the internet, we are back in touch. Jenni writes about her life, her family and her beautiful little girls. My favorite memory is of a night we went to Los Gatos with another friend named Jenn and met some guys (Jenni's beautiful and attracted all kinds of attention from boys!). The guys asked us our names and we said, "Jen, Jen and Jenn." They just stood there for a couple seconds before asking us if we were serious. That memory always makes me smile!

Lost in Translation is written by Katie Gardner. I don't even know where to start with Katie because I've only known her five years and yet I have a billion and one memories with her. Katie is like family and I can completely be myself with her. When I was getting ready to move to San Diego in 2002, I got a phone call one day from a girl that I had never met before. She said her name was Katie and she was planning on moving to San Diego with her friend Erin and she wanted to know if I was interested in getting an apartment together. I have no idea what my response was but I remember hanging up and thinking that girl was really weird for wanting to live with me when we didn't know each other. I quickly put it out of mind until a few months later when I met her. I have to admit, the first time I met her, I was scared and would never have guessed that she would soon be one of my best friends. Katie is one of the most talented and witty writers I know, so go read her blog!

Wholly Surrendered is written by Katie Gaultney. I don't actually know Katie, never met her, but she happens to be married to a very cool guy named, Bradford. Brad and I were Amor Interns together in the summer of 2002. There is something special about spending three months living in a tent on a rock quarry in Mexico that brings people together and bonds them for life. Brad and I still keep in touch and I was very excited for him when he married Katie last year. Katie's blog keeps me updated on the Gaultney family and helps me know exactly what to pray for when talking to God about them.

The Jungle - Thailand Edition is written by Kim and Cory Klein. Cory works with me at The Centre and is blessed with a wonderful wife and two beautiful daughters. Their daughters, Evie and Winnie are both really young and Kim home schools them while Cory is at The Centre. There is something about the family that absolutely amazes me. It is one thing for a single person to pick up and move across the world to follow God's call. But this is an entire family that picked up and moved across the world to follow the call and I can't help but think that they are super cool for doing so. Cory has amazing leadership skills and has improved the ministry at The Centre so much in the past year that they have been here!

TGIF

Plans for the weekend:

• sleep
• lay on the couch
• sleep
• watch movies
• sleep
• read
• sleep
• go to church
• come home and sleep

Thank God it's Friday!!!

Sanook Mak!

I am not afraid to admit that I am a dork, in fact I think it probably adds to my charm. Laugh at this video as much as you want, but don't you wish you had been here? It was sanook mak (very fun)! My favorite part is Aon and Ya laughing hysterically in the background!!

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Today Chiang Mai has sounded like a war zone. It's after 10pm and the fireworks are still so constant that there is almost no break in the booms. I am going to attempt to sleep tonight but I'm thinking it is going to be a difficult task. Last night the fireworks continued until about 4pm.

Yet even with the loud noises, I can't help but smile because it is so beautiful outside. I was driving home on my motorbike tonight and the sky was littered with hundreds of lanterns like the ones in the pictures of yesterdays post. It looked as if the stars were suddenly a lot closer and brighter and scattered in between the lanterns were fireworks constantly be let off. I couldn't help but think about how majestic and big God is!

Aon, Ya and I decided to let off some fireworks with the neighbors after I got home. Where I grew up, we were not allowed to set off fireworks so they kinda scare me. I stayed back a little ways with my camera and oohhed and aahhed as they were set off. Our last one was supposed to shoot straight up into the sky, leaving a trail of fire behind. Instead it shot straight towards my neighbor's house, in through the open door and fizzled out in the entryway. We all stood there in complete shock for a couple seconds before running towards the house scared. Luckily, the fire went out quickly and there was no damage but it was a scary moment!

Oh, the fun of Loy Kratong!

The Beauty of Loy Katong

Singapore, here I come! Maybe...

If you've been reading my blog lately, you know that I have been stressing a lot about my dental work. It is cheaper here in Thailand than in the states, but it will still cost me over $2000 to get it done. And $2000 is something that I don't have so I've been praying for a solution to this problem.

Today I heard from a friend in Singapore who had a possible solution for me. There is a chance that I may be able to fly there and get my dental work done for free or really cheap by a friend of hers. A round trip ticket from here to Singapore is under $400 which is A LOT cheaper than $2000. If it works out, I'll probably go next week sometime. Please pray that it will work out!

Praise God for answered prayers!

P.S. Today I found pomegranates in Chiang Mai. I have to admit that I almost jumped up and down with excitement! I've looked for them for the past three years and asked several people but haven't been able to find them. Today I was just walking down the street and passed someone selling them. I taught the man how to say pomegranate (nearly impossible feat) and then bought a few. I am so excited to eat them!!!

2 Minutes

I just got home and I only have two minutes until midnight. So, here is my post for today...

Love you all!

Hero

First of all, I love that all the comments on yesterday's post were about my new boyfriend. It's good to know that people actually read what I write and think about it. For now, the boyfriend issue will have to remain a mystery...

Secondly, tonight I discovered Guitar Hero. Aon and Ya came over and the three of us decided to try and figure out the XBOX. I'd never played one before and was quite surprised to find out that the controllers are cordless. The box came with a bunch of games, most of them clearly show that a boy owned it before me, but it came with two guitar hero games and two guitars. So, we plugged it in and started playing and had a blast! Sanook mak (very fun)!!! I don't mean to brag but apparently I'm pretty good at it. :) Aon says it is because I can play a real guitar but she has never actually heard me play so she doesn't understand how bad I am. I am much better at the game than I am on my real guitar! Anyway, it was a good way to end the day because we were all feeling kinda down and serious before. There were actually tears during dinner and then hysterical laughing after. Ya said that she will probably wake Aon up in the middle of the night because she will be laughing in her sleep. I love those girls!

I am starting to ramble because I am so tired. Goodnight!

Utter Exhaustion

Today was a long day in an incredibly hot room (probably sweat off at least five pounds) after only two hours of sleep. Every part of me is tired and my brain is not quite functioning enough to pull together an interesting blog. So here is a list of randomness (is that even a word?):

• I almost hit two cows on the street today.
• Today I sang a She and Him song at the top of my lungs for Aon and Ya and they laughed hysterically. Do you think that means it was really bad? :)
• I have somehow acquired an XBOX360 and have no idea how to use it but it looks pretty sitting next to my TV.
• I miss vacuuming, the sound made when you roll over a particularly dirty spot and the lines on the carpet when you are finished.
• On second thought, I miss carpet.
• I discovered a heavenly place only a kilometer from my house and took a lot of photos. Then I lent my camera to my friend so I can't even look at them.
• One of those photos was of me and my new boyfriend.
• I love that I can pull milk and orange juice out of the cupboard when I run out in the fridge because they don't have to be refrigerated here.
  
• I am getting really tired of ticks. They are everywhere and today I pulled one out of my neck.
• When you borrow something from a friend and then keep it for two years, does that become a theft? (This one is for you Anne!)
• I often pick the color of my shirt by how hot it is outside and how defined my sweat marks will be.
• Today I sweat so much that even my jeans were soaked.
• Is 6:45pm too early to go to bed?
  

Friendly Bloggers

Today I thought I'd tell you a little about the friendly bloggers that you can find links to in my side bar. The OCD side of me insists that I start in alphabetical order by their fist names, so here goes...

Full Circle is written by my friend, Allen. Al and I met in 1995 when I moved to San Jose and started going to his church. He is seriously one of the coolest people in my life! I rarely see him (because I live on the other side of the world and life took us in different directions) but I am always completely comfortable around him and plan on having him in my life until we are both old and grey! Fun fact: Allen and my sister, Tamara were born in the same hospital a day apart, our moms remember each other.

::howDOESthisWORK:: is written by Alon (not to be confused with Allen). I met Alon in 2002 when I started working for Amor Ministries. Alon was my boss and just happened to be the coolest boss, I seriously should have gotten him a mug with "World's Best Boss" printed on it. He is one of those people that you completely respect and look up to and have a great time with. He taught me a lot!

Love People is written by Brooke. I first met Brooke when she was seven years old, I may have babysat her a few times. I got to know her better when she was in junior high and I was in college and I was one of her youth group leaders. She was super cool back then and is even more cool now! Brooke spent the month of June with me in Thailand and I am so proud of the women that she has become. She is strong, confident and loves Jesus. I feel a level of comfort with her that is usually reserved for family, so I think I will start calling her my sister. :)

Eating The Garden is written by Carrie, whom I met through my sister. Tamara and Carrie went to massage school together and very willingly invited me into their circle of friends, even though I know nothing about massage therapy. She gardens and has some pretty cool stories as well as delicious recipes!

Crystal's Randomness is written by none other than Crystal. I honestly can't remember when we first met and it feels like I've known her forever. Crystal, do you remember when we met? I have memories of her from childhood and then we reconnected when we both attended San Jose Christian College after high school. Crystal is one of my favorite people for so many reasons but it is her strength and honesty that encourages me on a daily basis. I haven't actually seen her in years but we stay connected over the internet and hopefully someday soon we will get to hang out!

I just realized that I have a total of 20 people in my list of friendly bloggers and if I were to write about all of them today, it would be overwhelming for all of us. So that is it for now, more again tomorrow!

By the way, what do you think of my blog's new look?

Termites

Last night I found a termite infestation in my house. It was absolutely disgusting! There were literally thousands of them and I was completely overwhelmed and grossed out. These pictures don't really do them justice but it was the best I could do in my moment of panic!







Boxes of stuff was completely ruined. I am SO glad that Aon and Ya were at my house when I discovered the bugs, they handle situations like this better than I do. This last picture is of them helping me clean up. :)

Not About The Elections

I am not going to write about the elections today because I am sure you have all heard enough. All I am going to say is that I am glad to be all the way over here Thailand instead of in the states. Things seemed pretty crazy.

I actually don't have much to say today but I have to write something because of NaBloPoMo. Not much of anything happened today because I stayed home with tooth pain and rested.

Just after I wrote that last paragraph, I discovered an entire generation of termites living in my home. I need to go take care of them but maybe I'll take some pictures and post them tomorrow...

So much for not much of anything happening today!

My Excitement Cannot Be Contained!

Next Episode in the Teeth Saga

I realize that I may be boring you by talking about my teeth problems every day but since it happens to be the controlling factor of the last few days of my life, that is what you get to read about.

Today I went in for yet another root canal and it was not at all a successful visit. Before giving me the Novocain, the dentist stuck one of his little tools in the there and touched the top of the tooth. It was not at all expected but I cried out and jerked my head away as far as I could while lying down in a dentist's chair. It hurt! A lot! So, he started in on the shots trying to numb my mouth. Because it was so sensitive, he used a lot of Novocain and was digging around the back of my mouth with his needle. Not fun! Next he got out his drill and started drilling the tooth. Again my reaction was unexpected as my legs both shot up in the air and I cried out even louder than the last time. To make this long story short, the dentist numbed my mouth so much that my jaw locked and he had to pry it open. I had absolutely no control over opening my mouth and yet my tooth hurt like crazy. So, he filled my mouth with antibiotics to fight the infection and told me to come back in a few days.

It is now hours later and I still can't open my mouth wide enough to eat anything or talk like a normal person. But the pain is lessening and hopefully I will be able to get some sleep and feel better tomorrow.

Please keep praying for the finances to come through to pay for all this dental work. Also, just pray that the pain will go away because the next couple weeks are really busy for me. Stuff like this always seems to show up when we are busy, doesn't it? We are having English Camp in a couple weeks and I am playing the role of Camp Director which means I have a lot to do and not enough time for pain. :)

I appreciate the prayers!

Can't Buy Me Love

I have to admit that I am a bit stressed about money right now. Usually, I am completely laid back about money so this is not a normal feeling. I have been raising support since 2002 and God always provides in every way, so why stress? Because I'm human.

This week I found out that I have about $2000 worth of dental work that needs done. And it is all stuff that needs done right away. Three root canals in the past couple days has not been fun and they are only the beginning. God, why didn't you bless me with good, strong teeth? :) But seriously, I don't have $2000 or anywhere near $2000 dollars and I'm not sure how I am going to pay for it. So, I am praying but the worry manages to leak through and bog me down anyway. Anyone have an extra $2000 laying around?

On top of that, my computer may be on it's last leg. Yesterday I noticed that the screen is falling apart. I tried to put it back together but I don't know how long it will last. Hopefully, it won't give out until I'm done paying for my teeth and have enough money for a new computer!

Last month I made a commitment to help support a couple of the Thai staff at The Centre. I prayed about it and God gave me a number. So, tomorrow I will give them support even though I am lacking funds myself. I am totally believing in the sowing and reaping concept right now! And luckily I serve an awesome God who always keeps his promises and I know he will provide for me.

Pray for me and my finances. Thanks!

Life's Like an Hourglass Glued to the Table

I have really bad teeth. Thanks to the genes mom and dad passed on, I may have dentures by the time I'm 30 (which is only a few months away). Okay, the dentures may be an exaggeration but the bad teeth is not.

When I was visiting the states over the summer, three of my teeth broke. Three! What is the chance of that? Of course I didn't visit a dentist there because they are so incredibly expensive and I waited till I came back to Thailand where it is cheaper. Yesterday I went to the dentist's office and he said, "Oh, are you here to finish the implant we started last year?" I calmly informed him that no, although I would love to have a tooth in place of the metal stud that has been sitting in my mouth for the past year, I was there for other reasons. I started to list my problems and the dentist actually laughed at me. I am pretty sure that is not proper dentist etiquette. (It was like when I had my hair cut a couple months ago and the hairdresser said I have the most bizarre hair she had ever seen. You just don't say things like that!)

Anyway, we took some x-rays and it turns out that I needed two root canals among many other fixes. So we decided to go ahead and do the first root canal yesterday. Guess what? I am among the lucky 25% of people in the world who has two roots to one tooth! Who knew I was so lucky! So, yesterday I had two root canals and today I am having a third. I am praying hard that today's tooth only has one root!

Did I mention that the Thai word for teeth is "fun"? Ironic, isn't it? Teeth are not fun!!!

*BTW, the title of this post is a line from a song that I woke up singing this morning and really has nothing to do with this post...

Ignorance

So, I turned the TV on tonight (something I haven't done since getting back to CM) and The Amazing Race Southeast Asia was on. I just have to say that I don't understand people's ignorance sometimes. All these Americans are running around Cambodia saying "hola" to the nationals. What part of your brain makes you think the language in Cambodia is Spanish? I just don't understand it.

It is probably not a good idea for me to watch this show again because it frustrated me for other reasons as well. The contestants were riding through the towns saying how sad the people's lives were. They felt so bad for the nationals and how horrible their lives were. Just because someones life doesn't look like yours, that doesn't mean it is horrible or sad. Those Cambodians are probably happier with their lives than most of the contestants on the show.

Sorry but I just had to rant a little bit. Maybe it bothered me so much because they were in an area not far from where I live and I am used to what they found shocking. I struggle often with feeling embarrassed by the way westerners act when they visit Thailand. It bothers me when I see a westerner acting like they are better than the nationals or like they own the world. Several times I have actually overheard people complaining that Thai people don't speak English. Hello! You are in Thailand, not America or Australia or whatever English speaking country you originated from.

I have to stop because I could keep complaining for a long time and instead I should probably go pray for my attitude to be better. Lord help me! :)

"Lord help the mister who comes between me and my sister..."

I just came across this on my sister, Tamara's blog and it made me smile and laugh out loud so I had to repost it.

"Two Sisters

Two Memories:
Once Jenni and I were in opposite rooms of the apartment. Our TV was blaring and that stupid Six Flags commercial came on the TV. You know the one I am talking about. The one with the masked "old" man and the house music? So the music starts and I am overcome with this need to dance like an idiot, so why not dance into the living room? And I did only to find that Jenni was doing the exact same dance coming from the other side of the house. We both gave the "what are you doing?" look and then fell into fits of laughter.

Sheryl, Jenni and I went to Party City to buy some things for, well, for a party of course! While we were pursuing through the aisles I came across these awesome Harry Potter wands that light up. So naturally, as any Harry Potter fan would do, I picked up the wand and did my best wand wave saying "Alohamora!" Of course, since Jenni is almost me and I am almost her, standing on the other side of Sheryl, Jenni had found a wand too and was also doing her best "alohamora" wand wave out loud and at the same time. Poor Sheryl! I think she vowed never to go to Party City with us again.

Sometimes we are so alike it is scary. I miss you my Jenni Penni, more than Sirius misses James."

Tam, I miss you more than Samwise missed the Shire!

Mai Dee!!

I am sitting here in my house wondering what is wrong with me. Before you start throwing answers my way, I should probably be more specific...

In the past two and a half weeks, since I've been back in Thailand, I have had one good night of sleep. The first week was because I was in a lot of pain from my fibromyalgia and I couldn't relax. But my body has since adjusted a bit and the pain is almost completely gone and yet I still can't sleep. I lay in bed for hours trying to fall asleep and it is so frustrating. On an average night, it takes me between three and six hours to fall asleep and I just can't believe that is normal. Once I fall asleep, I usually stay that way for two or three hours before waking up again. It is mai dee (not good) and I am really tired of it! (No pun intended.) I have never been a good sleeper but it seems to be much worse now. I've tried all the tricks to relax my body and quiet my mind but nothing works.

Thanks for listening, I feel much better now that I have complained!! :)

High So Salad Dressings in Thai

My two closest Thai friends are two girls named, Aon and Ya. These girls are a HUGE blessing in my life and I don't know what I would do without them. They are my family away from family.

Thai people use the phrase "high so" to mean high society. They use it to describe anything posh, really nice, expensive. Yesterday Aon says, "Jen, I think that you are high so now. When you had no hot water and not a nice home, you were not, but now you are." I replied, "Actually, I am just pretending to be high so, but really I am still low so." For some reason, this was just about the funniest thing I could have said and they both laughed about it for a good ten minutes. Now they keep saying, "You are low so, pretending to be high so!" Every time they say it, the laughter starts up again. Apparently, I am pretty funny.

A couple days ago, Aon and Ya were going grocery shopping and they were going to pick up some salad dressing for me while out. Ya called me on the phone from the store and asked what kind of salad dressing I wanted. Keep in mind that I am living in Thailand where the dressing of choice is salad cream which in my opinion tastes just like mayo. There are not too many other options, the only options that day were salad cream, balsamic vinaigrette and Italian. I told Ya that I would take the balsamic vinaigrette and in the most serious voice possible she says, "Jing la (really)?" I reply, "Jing jing (really)." Ya says, "Are you sure?" I say, "Yes, I'm sure." She says, "Mai cow jai Jen. Jing la (I don't understand, Jen. Really)?" I say, "Jing jing. Why don't you understand?" Ya stammers a bit before saying, "but... but it's black! You will still eat it?!" At this point, I start laughing and can't actually speak for several moments. It is times like this that bring me much joy and make me love living in a foreign country. Aon and Ya brought the salad dressing to my house and when I put it on my salad, they both stared at me like I was about to ingest poison.

Another funny encounter I had with them this week was on a day when I wasn't feeling well. I was tired from not sleeping and I had a horrible cough that was out of control and I had no energy. One of my favorite things about my friendships with Aon and Ya is that they are comfortable enough with me to tease me unceasingly. On this day they started teasing me and my immediate reaction was to defend myself by explaining that I was sick. I said, "but I'm sick and I'm tired and I can't stop coughing and I just want to sleep!" Aon and Ya both started laughing and clapping their hands and looking very excited. I was completely confused about why my sickness was making them so happy until they explained that in a very whiny voice I had complained almost completely in Thai. Apparently, if I can complain in Thai, my language skills are getting better. Korp Khun Prajow (thank you God)!

*If you happen to be a Thai speaking person who is reading this, I apologize for my horrid English spelling of Thai words!

Sarah Lee

Last year I worked at The Centre with a guy named, Jesse. His teenage sister was in a car accident a couple weeks ago and really needs prayer. I've been keeping up to date every day on her progress by going to this website. The following is the story of what happened.

Sarah was a passenger in a car accident on Sunday, October 5th. The accident happened in Shoreview at roughly 3 pm at the intersection of Hodgson Road and County Road I. She is currently at Gillette Childrens Hospital in St. Paul and getting excellent care from the staff here. If you wish to help, visit http://sarahleebenefitfund.blogspot.com

"Sarah was in the back passenger seat of her friends car on October 5th when it was broadsided by a woman driving an SUV at the intersection of County Road I and Hodgson Road. She had to be cut out of the car by the Firefighters. She was taken by ambulance to Regions Hospital in St. Paul. She had a breathing tube put in during her ride in the ambulance. The ER doctor said she was showing physical signs of head trauma so they immediately started Sarah on medications to control/reduce the swelling of her brain. She was given a CT scan which showed no immediate internal bleeding causing the brain pressure, but rather many smaller locations of brain injury causing the swelling. The doctor said this is severe head trauma. After being stabilized, she was moved to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Gillette Hospital, located within the Regions Hospital building. Their where 3 other friends in the car with her. Driver is ok. 1 girl has a broken collarbone. Front passenger had a punctured lung, ruptured spleen, damage to the kidney. broken ribs, and fractured pelvis. He has surgeries upcoming but they are pretty confident he will make a full recovery from what I have heard.

We place our trusts in these truths.... 'And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus' Phil 4:19 Isaiah 41: 10 'fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you,I will uphold you with my righteous right hand'"

You can get updates on the website. Basically, she is still in a coma which leaves the doctors guessing on how much brain trauma was experienced. Jesse (my friend from The Centre) works for YWAM in Australia and has flown home to be with his family during this time. When I first heard about it a couple weeks ago, I couldn't help but sympathize with Jesse a little because I remember what it was like to be on the other side of the world and get a phone call saying something happened to my sister. Luckily, for Jesse and his family, Sarah is still holding on but needs lots of prayer. Please lift her up in prayer.

Brought to you by the Leeper sisters

I just found these videos and they are gems! The first one should seriously be a commercial, the second is an alternate ending and the third is an outtake.












*Merchandise shown in these videos can only be purchased in Thailand.

It's a blurry world out there!

First of all, sorry that I scared you Crystal! (I wrote on twitter that I may be going blind and didn't think through the fact that it sounded so serious...)

But seriously, my eyesight is getting really bad. I have been wearing glasses since I was five years old so my eyesight has never been good. I was one of those nerdy kids with thick glasses hanging on a string in elementary school. However, in the last couple months it seems to be getting worse and this week it is driving me crazy! I can't seem to focus on anything that is even remotely close to me. This is really horrible for me because my drug of choice is reading, I can't live without it. Today I was trying to read something and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't focus. I took my contacts out and put my glasses on, it didn't help. I kept rubbing my eyes trying to get the blurriness out, it didn't help. I repeatedly shut my eyes really tight and them opened them really wide, it didn't work. Nothing works and it is so frustrating that I want to scream!

Seriously frustrating...

Maybe I am just getting old...

My goal is to find an English speaking optometrist this week...

Or is it walking in my sleep again?

When I was a teenager, I would occasionally walk in my sleep. I would wake up in different rooms of the house and wonder how I got there. My parents would have stories of conversations I had with them in the middle of the night and I would have no memory of them. Fortunately, the sleep walking stopped as I got older. Until now.

When I was visiting my parents last month, my mom found me sleep walking three nights in a row. I got up one morning to have breakfast with mom and dad and found my bible sitting on the kitchen table. I wondered out loud how it got there and my mom told that I had been sitting there reading it in the middle of the night. Who knew I was so spiritual?

This morning I woke up and walked to the kitchen table to use my laptop, but it wasn't there. I looked all over the house (easy because it is a pretty small house) and couldn't find it. I had a sudden, very disturbing thought that someone had broken into my house while I was asleep and stolen my computer. I started looking around the house to see if anything else was missing and I found a banana peel on the couch and a dvd playing on the tv. What kind of thief eats a banana and watches a movie before stealing my computer? As I asked myself that question, I wandered into my bedroom and found my laptop sitting on the floor between my bed and the wall. What kind of a thief eats a banana, watches a dvd and then sneaks my laptop into my bedroom where I am sleeping?

I have absolutely no memory of the banana, the movie or moving the laptop, but obviously I did it. And I am not ashamed to admit that I am totally freaking myself out! What else have I done in my sleep?

Things that made me smile today:

• Gracie and Sammy fighting over who gets to be closest to me
• coffee with Opal
• cha manow (iced Thai lemon tea)
• the buffalo I drove by on the side of the road
• driving from the right side of the car, on the left side of the street
• listening to Brooke's mixed cd in my truck and hearing it skip every few seconds
• praying at The Centre
• feeling missed
• sweating A LOT
• speaking tinglish (half Thai, half English)
• feeling passionate, responsible, brave, mature
• hearing someone say that they can see a difference in me
• feeling comfortable, like I belong
• making Aon and Ya laugh
• waking up on my hard bed with a VERY achy back but realizing that it is MY bed
• the beautiful, Thailand sky
• my friends
• letting God speak through me
• noticing the hot guy on the side of the road and then blushing when I realized I knew him
• Chiang Mai
  

Southern Charm

• A woman riding through the front yard on her horse, stopping to tip her hat and say, "Afternoon, honey."

• A man driving his John Deere tractor down the highway at about 1.5 miles an hour (just a guess).

• A woman in the dressing room at Ross, taking the clothes I didn't want and saying, "Well, aren't you just a sweetie pie! Y'all have a good day now!"

These are just a few examples of the southern charm greeting me here in Monroe, Georgia. Yesterday I sat out in the front yard, reading and playing with Rocky (Machelle's dog) for about three hours. I am not ashamed to admit that I am an avid people watcher on all occasions and being here in Georgia is a fascinating place to watch people!

A truck pulled up with two guys in it and one of them stuck his head out the window and said, "ewww ear any dogs?!" After I stared at him for a couple seconds he said, "ewww know, owlin." At this point, Rocky ran out onto the highway to say hello to guys in the truck and I yelled, "Rocky! Rocky! Rocky!" The guy looked at me like I was certifiably crazy before saying, "I don't understand what you sayin!" I stared at the guy, dumbfounded for a moment before saying, "I am calling the dog, his name is Rocky. And I don't hear any dogs howling." The driver then leans over guy #1 and says, "You speakin English?" I have to admit that the thought did cross my mind that somehow I had reverted back into Thai with realizing it. But alas, I was speaking English and perfectly good English at that! But not Georgian English. The guys both stuck their heads back in the truck and drove off. I stood there for probably a full minute in utter stillness and silence, trying to figure out what had just happened, before shaking my head and going back to my book.

Georgia is a different world. Not unlike Thailand. People are friendly here, less stressed than in Cali and they speak a different language. Interesting...

I Haven't Fallen Off The Face Of The Earth

I haven't blogged since I left Thailand and there are a few up you out there who keep poking me (or throwing things at my head) and asking me to blog. I'm sorry! I've been a bit busy...

I only have a couple minutes on here which is not enough time to fill you in on all the things I have done in the past month and a half so I thought I would take a minute and just let you know where I currently am. Right now I am in Fresno, CA at a place called Link Care. This is a place where missionaries come to debrief and receive counseling for any of their needs. At first I was a bit nervous about being here but now I have settled in and am happy to be here. For the past two weeks I have met daily with a counselor, twice a week with a pastoral counselor and a few times a week in group sessions with other missionaries here. It has been extremely hard and exhausting but really good at the same time. I have been able to talk about my sister's and other traumas with a counselor who was once a missionary like me. It is also great to be around people who understand my feelings of not fitting in my home country anymore which is a daily struggle for me. I have two weeks left here and my hope is that I will leave a much stronger person than the one who got here two weeks ago. Please pray for me!

I promise that I will try to get back online soon to blog again. I love you all and I miss all of you in Thailand so much!!!