Catching Up

Can't believe it's been almost two months since I last wrote a blog post. Today is probably not the best day for me to pick it back up but I kinda miss it and I'm thinking I've probably lost all my readers anyway...

Life is about as far from normal as it can get right now. On March 16th I flew from Thailand to the US via Seoul and Tokyo. It was a pretty long day (38 hours with the time difference) but my flights were relatively smooth and I liked flying Korean Air instead of my regular flights on China Air. My cousin Wendy picked me up from the airport and I spent that day and the following day with her. Wendy, her husband Joe and daughter Lena are amazing, I am so blessed to have them as a part of my family. There are few people in the world whom make others feel comfortable and at home with them all the time, but this family definitely fits that mold. I just wish I could spend more time with them! On Wednesday we went on a two mile hike near their home and I shot a bunch of photos. Not sure what made me decide that a hike in flip flops was a good idea the day after arriving but I got some good shots! :)

On Wednesday night I went down to San Diego and finally got to see Tam. A year and a half without seeing my sister is too long! It makes me wish apparition were really possible and I could see her any time I wanted. I got to spend that Friday with my good friend Erin whom I love and miss dearly. She had a precious little girl last year and meeting Avery was amazing! Look how beautiful she is in the photo I took:

On Saturday, Tam and I drove up to Porterville where our parents live. It was so good to see them again, I've missed them so much! And I finally got to meet Lucy whom is absolutely adorable!

On Tuesday night, Great Uncle Dick arrived and Tam and I both got to meet him for the first time. On Wednesday Tam and I drove to Sparks NV, picked up Andrew and Joshua and then drove back to Porterville. It was about a 14 hours day but totally worth it! I can't believe how grown up the boys are. Andrew is 12, Josh is 11 and they are both so nice, they definitely stole my heart years ago and still have it. I wish that I could see them more often. Every once in a while, between all the laughter, I can't help but be overcome by sadness when I'm with them. I so with that Tiffany was alive to see how amazing her boys are, she would be so proud! But after the sadness comes the reminder and the thankfulness that they are so loved by their dad and step-mom!

Yesterday morning Tam, Uncle Dick and the boys all went home, leaving mom, dad and I alone. The apartment seems very quiet after after 7 people and 5 dogs in it! Tomorrow I plan on heading up to San Jose and then the Sacramento area. After that I'll be in Southern CA and hopefully MO too. I keep trying to nail down my plans but having no money or transportation makes it difficult. Plus my jet-lag is pretty bad this time and that makes thinking about anything difficult. But overall, I'm happy to be here and happy to be with my family and friends. I'm truly blessed!

And I promise to write more about my trip as it happens... hopefully there is someone out there still reading! :)

Broadway, Here I Come!

I came across these gems while cleaning out my hard drive today. They are from 2007 and I'm thinking that maybe I should have followed the music path in life, what do you think? :) Simon Cowell, here I come!

Jumbly Dumbly

My mind is all a jumble right now but I haven't written anything in a while so I thought I write a few words to fill you all in. I only got a couple hours of sleep last night because Shadowfax was throwing up until about 5am. He just got neutered a couple days ago and was in bad shape so I spent the night sitting outside with him while he was sick. All of this is to say, I'm sorry if this post makes no sense. :)

The first thing on my mind lately is money and although nobody really likes to talk about or hear about money, I'm gonna share a little. My support is way down right now, I've never been in this situation before and I could really use your prayers. I currently have about $150 dollars to my name and the first of the month is coming with means rent is due as well as other bills. I'm already late on my phone bill so here's hoping my internet doesn't get turned off mid sentence. :) I believe there are a few reasons for this dip in support. The economy, the busyness of the holidays and some confusion about where people are supposed to send money. There are probably a lot of reasons but knowing them doesn't make living, eating and paying my bills any easier. My heart knows that God wants me here and that He is going to provide what I need, but my head can't help but worry continually. And yet, even as I write this, I feel guilty for doubting God and I feel myself needing to be stronger. Pray for me, will ya?

The other thing taking up all my time is the planning for a conference. Next month PMI is hosting a women's conference in Chiang Mai and it is going to be awesome, I am really excited about it! But I never realized how much goes into planning such a big event. Everything from the venue to the decor to themes to childcare and food and the list just goes on and on. I'm learning a lot and I'm really looking forward to the conference!

I've also been thinking a lot about my trip back to the states this year. I originally planned to leave at the beginning of March but my financial troubles and busyness have caused me to put that on hold for a little bit. I've been waiting until I have the funds to pay for the trip but I've decided to go ahead and get a plane ticket and plan for the trip, trusting that God is going to provide the money I need. And I know He will, He always does. So, right now you can probably expect to see me sometime in late March. I'll let you all know the exact dates after I get my ticket. Please pray for my plans! Thanks friends, I love you all!

A Photo A Day #2

Sorry I am about 5 days late with this, these are last week's photos. Enjoy!

A Photo A Day

Some of you have been asking me to post my daily photos on here again and it makes me happy that you all want to see them because I am having a great time taking them. I don't have time to log on here and post every day however, so I thought maybe I'd try posting them once a week. So here is last week's photos:

"I decided that adventure was the best way to learn."

This morning I returned home from ten days down south in Isaan with Aon and Ya. It was a trip full of adventures and eye opening experiences from which I learned a lot (did you know that chickens sleep in the tops of trees?). The girls both grew up in small villages where life is absolutely and completely different from the life I knew growing up. Living in Thailand for the past four years has taught me that my personal world is minuscule compared to the actual world that I live in. But this trip taught me that I still have no clue how the world works!

As I write this I have been awake for about 35 hours and I honestly don't know how my brain is functioning so instead of going into details, I figured I'd share the high and low points of the trip as well as a couple photos.

High Point: I had the chance to visit the school where Aon attended when she was young. The day before we bought new shoes and were going to drop them off for all the students. At the last minute, Aon informed me that the teachers wanted me to present the shoes in front of the students. For those of you that know me, you know that this is not my thing. My comfort zone lies somewhere between hiding behind my camera and organizing paperwork, I am an introvert and love being behind the scenes. So the idea of standing on stage and presenting shoes did not bring a smile to my face. But I went anyway (praying for God to calm my nerves) and upon arriving realized that this event was much bigger than I thought. Word had gotten out that a farang (foreigner) was going to be at the school and pretty much the whole village showed up. Apparently they had never had a farang visit before so I was quite the headlining news. As soon as I arrived, people lined up to take photos with me. The students put on a show where each class got up on stage and danced. I presented the shoes and the teachers had me present each student with a medal around their neck. There were games and a big meal was cooked, it was a big party. By the end of the day, my face hurt from smiling so much in photos and I was exhausted. But I had an amazing time! It was such a cool experience that I will never forget and I feel so lucky to have been there. How many people have experience something like that? :)

This is me with some of the staff at the school.

This is me presenting the medals after the presentation.

This is me with a portion of the students and staff.

I had to stick this one in here because this girl was just so happy and adorable while she was dancing!

Low Point: Later that night I started to feel nauseous and around 9pm I got really sick. I'm talking projectile vomiting all over the outhouse at the farm, I've never been sick like that in my life. About ten hours later I was lying on the ground, in the mud, in the outhouse, next to the squatty potty, covered in vomit and I couldn't even get up because my body was so weak. Aon and Ya had to basically carry me out of the outhouse and help me clean up. That was definitely the low point of the trip and possible the past year of my life. :(

Be happy that I don't have any photos to share of that experience...

Dog or Person?

Below is a video of Max, whom I really think is not fully dog. The video is almost 2 minutes long and gets a little slow in the middle but keep watching. Around 1:11 he starts snoring and it is hilarious! Of course, it's not so hilarious when he snores so loud that we can't sleep or watch a movie or have a conversation at normal audio levels. But we love him anyway!