Linkage.

I just read an excellent post by my friend Rachel ~ Post Valentines Day. If you have a minute, scoot on over and read this gem of a post... a good post to glean from regardless of whether you are single or married!

Cooking With Betty.

I was given approximately 12 cookbook/recipe holders for my bridal shower and I must admit my first thought was, "oh boy, here we go!" I like to cook, but it's not like I churn out gourmet meals or anything like that. Plus my dad has always been a basic meat-potatoes kind of man, so I never deviated from that routine (hint: it always helps to keep the man happy with the kinds of food he likes!). I learned that hint the hard way after trying new dishes on my dad, who promptly looked for the old and familiar dish;o).

With the turning of the page into wedded bliss, I knew I had one very big advantage on my side: Nat loves all sorts of food (with the exception of scrapple and liver and onions). So I determined to start putting all those cookbooks to good use!

Of course it helps to have them handy, although I'm not entirely satisfied with their resting place:

It also helps to have cute Longaberger baskets nearby to compliment the look and feel of the kitchen:o).

I must say my favorite cookbook so far is the old tried-and-true one of Betty Crocker. Any recipe I've looked up in that red book I have tweaked, but that's the luxury of being the cook:o). So far I have only burned one meal (go here to read that story!), and overall I'm happy with what I've been able to do.

Gourmet? No.

Happy husband? Most definitely!

'Tis The Season...

... for volleyball!

I mentioned a few months ago how I was lured outside with visions of volleyballs in the air and now it is definitely official:).

We played volleyball on Sunday afternoon for several hours. And on Monday night with a impromptu pick-up game. And we played again tonight! I'm expectantly looking forward to Saturday with the potential of some more volleyball being played afterRachel's graduation:).

After living in Thailand for over a year and only playing volleyball one time during that whole year, I've been so ready to play again! A pesky little detail called winter got in the way of me playing much since I came home from Thailand, but my heart has been so blissfully happy that I've been able to play again now that spring/summer is here!

Well, that and the fact I get to marry my sweetie in only 36 days!

Test!

I am such a follower.

I saw this on three different blogs (Mary, Abbey, and Melissa), and thought I would give it a try. Now don't laugh, but one of my favorite things to do when I was younger was to type on my mom's typewriter - yes, before computers became popular! One rule my mom always insisted on was proper typing and not just the jabbing a finger here and there kind. Typing class was always my favorite and it really became useful years later when I was a secretary:).

So, give it a try and let me know what you get!



83 words

Typingtest

Camp, Anyone?

You'll have to forgive me for having summer camp on my mind, but it is that time of year, as evidenced by Jendi being a counsellor at her camp this week and Kristi sending her daughter off to camp. Since I can't actually be at camp with my church this week (something to do with that 12,000 miles away from home thing), I've been thinking about camps in the past that I've had the opportunity to go to -- like last year's summer camp or winter camp 2008. Good times!

When I was younger, all my older brothers and sisters got to go to a camp in Virginia at one point or another, but by the time I was old enough to go my family stopped going. Go figure - the blessing of being the youngest child and being excluded from some pretty cool things:). But the Lord showed favor to me later in my teen years when I got to go to church camp, which was much better and well worth the wait:).

My first "kinda real" camp experience was at family camp in Schroon Lake, NY at the Word of Life camp. The only problem was I was too young to take part in the youth group activities (like the rest of my siblings) and I didn't know anyone in the elementary group, so my brother Phil (2 years old than me) had to go to the elementary group with me and all I remember are the scowls he gave me as we sat on the little carpet squares. Hey, it wasn't my fault that I wasn't old enough to be with the youth group:D. I finally did get to participate with the youth group once the leaders realized I was the youngest of five children and wanted to be with my siblings. Ah, life at family camp!

I will always remember my first official camp experience in January 1998. I had just gotten saved the Sunday before camp, so I was in a really good position. I didn't have to worry about conviction over not being saved and I didn't have to worry about conviction over not having things right in my life. After all, I was a 4-day old Christian and it was the best time to go to camp and enjoy the experience:). With all the excitement of a 15-year-old, and being duly sugared up from my best friend's candy stash, I headed to what is now a dearly-loved camp about 45 minutes south of my church: Camp Sankanac. I haven't been to Camp Sankanac in a while, but I am so grateful for that wonderful place.

In addition to being a new Christian at my first camp, I was also blessed to have my Pastor preach at camp. The theme for that year's camp was based on Lamentations 1:12 ~ "Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?" and my Pastor preached some thought-provoking messages. All in all, I greatly enjoyed that oh-too-quick weekend camp, from the preaching to the activities and everything else in between.

My disappointment was great six months later when I couldn't go to summer camp, and that was a trend that would continue through my high school years: go to winter camp, stay home from summer camp. I suppose that's another reason why winter camp was always such a special, special time for me. I can still remember walking the half-mile from the girls' house to the main house where the preaching, activities, and eating all took place. What good memories!

After I graduated in 2001, the main cook for winter camp asked me if I would like to help her in the kitchen and I jumped at the opportunity. 11 wonderful camps were spent at Camp Sankanac and it became an honor to be asked by Mrs. Lytle to help at camp in the kitchen:). The last time I went to Camp Sankanac was as a counselor and I came full circle: from camper to cook to counselor:).

Since then I have gone to a couple of summer camps as a counselor and enjoyed those camps too. As I think about the teens from my church at camp this week, I realize I can still be actively involved in summer camp 2009. Praying for those teens, the speaker, the counselors, and the camp in general is my great privilege and honor. Many of these teens I interacted with on a daily basis while I worked in our Christian school, so I feel a special connection with them and am asking the Lord to work at camp in a special way. I don't regret one year of going to camp and know just how life-changing camp is.

Besides, where else can you play crazy games like the entire team eating from the same watermelon or American Eagle - mud style?!?!

Marking The Milestone!

I'm very sorry for your sakes that the senator post was the one you had to look at for several days! It's not (entirely) my fault though. You see, something called the phone AND internet being shut off at my house for over a week got in the way, although in hind sight it didn't really get in the way because I enjoyed the rest from instant communication. Carolyn and I were talking about it yesterday and decided that was the Lord's way of saying, "you need a break" because we really didn't miss having all that instant communication at our fingertips.

But as a result, there was no blogging done -- what can I say? inspiration hits early in the morning! -- and very little e-mailing done. I did manage to upload pictures on to Facebook, but that was about it.

For the record, the phone and internet are still down at the house. This post is coming courtesy of the office (*after hours! after hours*). But I felt as if I should wave at the bloggy friends who might still be reading my little 'ole blog with this little tidbit: you have been a captive audience for 500 posts. Yep, that's right! Five Hundred. Good grief, someone likes to talk a lot!

From my very first post (go ahead and read it! I'll still be here when you return:D) to those amusing moments (I'm easily amused; what can I say???), oh and let's not forget the Thailand section of this blog (124 posts? Maybe I should rename the blog to "From My Perspective In Thailand"!), I've said a few things along the way.

I've been very surprised at the post that has generated the most traffic and I've been known to do an embarrassing thing or two along the way, including almost dying of mortification. By now you know that family is pretty important to me and that I'm a big, and I do mean big traveller (did someone say "trip"?)

So since this is my 501 post, I would like to hear from you all! Tell me who you are and what part of the world you're reading my blog from! I would love to get more acquainted with my readers and what better way to do it than at a big milestone? :)

Oh, and for the record, I know you all are very jealous that you couldn't go to the Korean bar-b-que with us tonight... doesn't it look yummy??? :D

(My co-workers Pookie, Carolyn, and I)

Thank You Senator.

Are there any Pennsylvanians surprised by this piece of news?

Veteran Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter switched from the Republican to the Democratic Party on Tuesday, saying he has found himself increasingly "at odds with the Republican philosophy." The switch puts Senate Democrats one vote shy of a filibuster-proof majority of 60 seats. They can reach the 60-seat mark if Al Franken holds his current lead in the disputed Minnesota Senate race.

I must say I'm not shocked by Sen. Specter switching parties. At all. I think Pat Toomey was absolutely right when he said:

Senator Specter’s decision is in keeping with his record. He is more at home in the Democratic Party than the Republican Party. That has been true for decades, not just true today.

Just another shining moment for Pennsylvania... Praise the Lord our confidence is not resting in men!!!!

This And That.

I was routinely looking at Sitemeter this morning when I noticed someone came here by way of Sarah!!! Sarah has been such a dear, dear friend to me and between Sarah, Emily, and I, we've had some pretty fantastic times together, including coming up with a new holiday:).

Not only that, Sarah has been the most faithful person in writing to me while I've been in Thailand. I hang up each and every card I receive (by the way Jackie, thanks for your card last week!) and everywhere I look is the familiar signature of "Sarah Jean" :). So go check out Sarah's blog!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And in completely unrelated news, I started reading this book last night and just could not put it down. So far it's been a challenge to me, and reminds me a lot of a course my pastor taught in Bible Institute.

Well, it's time to go to prayer meeting before we start a brand-new week in the office!

Turkey Day Football.

I clicked on to CNN this morning and was interested to see a story on football with this opening line: It's been dubbed the No. 1 high school rivalry in the United States.

Of course I know what they're talking about because you can't live in the Lehigh Valley without knowing that Thanksgiving Day in my area means rival high schools play a special football game. I just didn't realize that P-burg and Easton were #1 high school rivals in the US.

The things I learn by reading the news:).

Songkran in Bangkok... Or Lack Thereof.

For those of you who have been wondering about Songkran and all the political protesting that's been going on in Bangkok, here's an article I found today and thought it was interesting enough to share:

The streets of downtown Bangkok remained untypically dry on Monday, with few people venturing out to splash water on unwary passers-by, with all official Songkran festivities cancelled and the city under emergency law.

The traditional convoys of pickups and trucks laden with drums of water and people soaking each other and pedestrians were conspicuously absent from the city's roads.

Even the tourist centre of Khao San road, usually the scene of total water mayhem during the Thai New Year celebrations, was relatively quiet.

Visitors were wandering through the area in the morning with water guns and being splashed by people on the pavement, but only a shadow of the crowds of previous years.

The Songkran celebration there was put to an end at 2pm, when the chairman of vendors at Khao San road told visitors through loud speakers to return to their homes or hotels because of the political unrest on the streets.

The government had for weeks considered banning the sale of alcohol over the holiday period to combat the annual road toll, but alarmed revellers had not expected the city to be 'dry' in this fashion.

The Interior Ministry reported there were 1,605 traffic accidents throughout the
country in the first three of the ''seven most dangerous days'' of the Songkran
celebration.

A total of 139 people had died on the roads and 1,718 were injured in the accidents.

The chief of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, Anucha Mokhaves, there were 675 road accidents on Sunday, with 44 deaths and 726 people injured.

The accidents were mostly caused by drink driving and speeding, he said.

Safety truly is of the Lord!

Wisdom In Watching Out.

I very rarely post about singleness because life is just too short and there's too much to do for the Master. Plus lots of other people cover that topic sufficiently, so I would just be adding to the chaos and confusion:).

I did, however, read an article on YLCF, and thought Lanier had a bit of wisdom when she posted about Watching Out For Wolves:

But romance is not a game, much as the standards of this world would like to convince you otherwise, and the things that might be somewhat niggling before you marry will inflate into giants of intolerability under the magnified intimacy of daily life together. You must be courageous enough to demand not perfection, but a rigorous, relentless honesty, in your intended as well as in yourself. You must be willing to walk away if the man’s professions don’t match up to what you know to be true of the character of the Christ-like. For at the end of the day, the only one who is going to have to answer for your choices is…you.

To read the rest, go to part one and part two.

Monday Ministry Highlights: Seeing The People.

As I write this, my co-workers have just shut down their computers for the day. Stomachs are growling - dinner has been ordered from a street vendor for those who want it. I'm opting to eat some left-overs in the fridge and take a nice long walk this evening. Our busy days flow together and we often "lose"...

(To read more, click over to the KJV blog directory)

Monday Ministry Highlights.

Deb from Songs From My Journey has asked me to write an article for Monday Ministry Highlights on the KJV Blog Directory blog, so that's where I've written today.

If you've ever wanted to know more about me than you already know:), then I suggest you go take a peek over at the KJV blog.

Please, no mass chaos... we must keep this orderly:).

Now have yourselves a fine Monday, you hear?

Grace And Honor.

I'm slightly behind in posting this, but I think ya'll just might benefit from it! If you haven't already seen this on Abbi's, Jackie's, Katina's, or Rachel's blogs, then you'll see it here (finally!).

Check it out!

Exceeding Expectations One Blog Post At A Time.

Melissa (aka Missy from our high school days) tagged me for this and at the very end she wrote:

"I fully expect no one to do it. Exceed my expectations, people!!! :) :) "

Isn't it so nice that I can exceed her expectations??? I've feel like I've accomplished something!

So here are the rules to this little tag:

1. Choose the 4th folder where you store pictures on your computer.
2. Select the 4th picture in the folder.
3. Explain the picture.
4. Tag four people to do the same.
5. No cheating (cropping, editing, etc.)

This is kind of a random picture, but I think that's the point! Deborah and her husband had just arrived in Thailand and we were driving back from Sunday morning church services. Lest you think she always has a goofy grin on her face, I'll put your fears to rest and clue you in. She was sitting next to an inquisitive 18 month old girl who had pulled her hair clip out of her hair (the little girl, not Deborah:D). So there's the fourth picture from the fourth folder. Fascinating, I know:).

Now it's my turn to tag:

The girl who just got a gazillion books (ok, so it was really only 50)

The mommy of two incredibly cute kids - Joey and Katie

The "lesson on the eyeball" lady

The girl whose house is being worked on by my brothers

Impress me girls! It's your turn to exceed my expectations:) (Don't worry; I've set them very, very low!)

Adieu To 2008... Moving Forward To 2009!

I had to laugh when I read this post that Amy linked to. Apparently I'm not the only one who is reading through the Bible "in a year." One of my friends was pretty surprised I had never read through the Bible, so I suppose I should qualify that with the fact I've never read it straight from Genesis to Revelation. After spending years in Bible Institute (where the main textbook is the Bible - who would have thought?!?), I know I've read the Bible through. My Old and New Testament classes come to mind, especially having to give a chapter heading for each chapter of each book in the Old Testament. :)

But even still, in my personal devotions I've always wanted to read the Bible the whole way through. Every January I would start off in Genesis - never mind the fact that by the time December rolled around I was only in Isaiah or Jeremiah.

So January of 2007 I decided to (once again!) read through the Bible and started off in Genesis, like I usually do. Only this time, I continued on in January of 2008! Now as we approach January of 2009, I am happy to report that I am in the book of Acts - chapter 14. My goal is to be finished by April. :)

It has always been easy for me to get caught up on one or two verses and spend a big chunk of time on them. It's been said before: "it's a marathon, not a sprint!" and I'm applying that to my Bible reading:). There are too many gems and diamonds in the Word of God, and I don't want to miss them!

A new year is always a time of goal-setting and resolutions. My pastor preached an amazing message on Sunday night (Monday morning my time - thank you internet!). I've probably heard this message a half dozen times over the course of 11 years, and yet this is the first time I'm actually applying it. He calls it "year-end inventory." Since I didn't really set any goals for this year outside of this missions trip to Thailand, I really don't have anything to inventory from this last year. But this new year - what an opportunity!

Here in Thailand, it's already New Year's Eve. I'm really excited about 2009 and all that the Lord is going to do!

Happy New Year!!!

Christmas Thai Style!

My roommates and I decorated for Christmas last Tuesday evening (almost a week ago!), but I wanted to wait until today to join up with BooMama's Christmas tour of homes 2008. I'm completely amazed that I practiced that much restraint. Actually I'm practicing restraint in another area right now. I received a big ole Priority Mail box this afternoon from my parents (THANK YOU Mom & Dad!) and I haven't opened it yet... impressive, I know:). But that's because I wanted to get this post up.... :).

We were very blessed to have all sorts of decorations already here at the house - left over from previous girls who came to work with the missionaries. So, using what we had, we managed to decorate our house in two hours! I've never been able to do that before:).

Anyway, welcome to my humble home in Thailand. Come in, make yourself at home, and kick your flip flops off at the door....:)

Our very cute (and artificial!) Christmas tree:)

Oh hello there... just a friendly little lizard paying us a visit!

The wreath on our screen door... even if the weather outside is in the 80s, we're enjoying the snowflakes on our wreath.

Our dish cupboard with garland and one lone Christmas card... we're hoping to fill up the entire top with cards:).

An overview of our downstairs.... we even found an appropriate tablecloth:).

While not the best picture, this certainly lights up our evenings. I guess it's nostalgia, but I love to sit in the living room and just look at the lights:).

The birth of Christ isn't celebrated by many in Thailand...of course the commercial aspect of it all is. Just one more reminder to me as to why I am on the mission field!

Well, I'm off to go help decorate the missionaries' house:).

Waiting - Now There's A Concept!

The fact that this article is newsworthy is a little depressing to me:

Couple Waits Till Marriage For First Kiss

Won't kiss on the first date? How about waiting until marriage?

Chicagoans Melody LaLuz, 28, and Claudaniel Fabien, 30, shared their first kiss Saturday at the altar. The two teach abstinence at the city's public schools and practiced what they preached to their teenage students.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the couple had never kissed and that they had never been alone together in a house.

For the record, I'm waiting until the wedding altar for my first kiss too. Should I expect Fox News to report that little fact? :)

Kudos to this couple for taking a stand for what is right... even if it isn't popular! In a day and age when young people are allowed - and encouraged - to give in to what feels good, I'm glad that two someones care enough to teach kids about a forgotten option - abstinence.

It's just so sad that doing the right thing is seldom chosen and when it is, it becomes worthy of news.

*Sigh*

WFMW - You Tube.

One evening I was watching a friend's video on YouTube when it hit me that I could actually watch other videos on this internet video place! I know, I know, that's a little behind on my part but just imagine my excitement and joy when I was reconnected with my favorite tv series from when I was growing up - Little House on the Prairie!

I was also able to watch (most of) one of my favorite musicals as well as see the video that was viewed over 13 million times! I've listened to music, watched babies laughing over paper being ripped, and my roommate's favorite - Charlie bit my finger:).

Yes, YouTube definitely works for me:). For more "wfm" links, go check them out at Rocks In My Dryer!

Yoga Deemed Inappropriate In Malaysia.

I found an interesting article about yoga today and thought it was very telling. The headline shouted the news:

Islamic Leaders in Malaysia Ban Yoga for Muslims

The article goes on to say this:

"Malaysia's top Islamic body on Saturday banned Muslims from practicing yoga, saying the Indian physical exercise contains elements of Hinduism and could corrupt Muslims."

Farther into the article is another very telling paragraph:

"We are of the view that yoga, which originates from Hinduism, combines physical exercise, religious elements, chanting and worshipping for the purpose of achieving inner peace and ultimately to be one with god," he said. "It is inappropriate. It can destroy the faith of a Muslim," he said."

Tell me again why a Christian would think this is "appropriate" to be involved in? That doesn't make sense at all, and yet, I know Christians who think it is "OK" to be involved in yoga. Feel free to share your thoughts.