Fun Visitors!

We have absolutely loved having friends of ours visit for the last week or so! It's been so much fun hanging out together, talking and laughing long after our kiddos are in bed. We've also enjoyed a couple of game nights, one of our favorite ways to spend an evening. :-) 

Our friends tend to be more explorers and adventurers than, shall we say, shoppers, so between the four of us, we discovered plenty of cool things to see in nature.

{The Readers and Nat explored a cave}

{Ellie experienced her first elephant ride near this river}

{Took a hike that led to twin waterfalls}

{New pictures were needed for a prayer card/Christmas card, so we snagged a few mommy & baby poses as well}

{Such happy smiles}

I'm so thankful for sweet fellowship and precious friendship. We're sad to see our friends leave in the morning, but we are so grateful they came and spent the time with us!



(Photo credit: Ilona Reader)

Precious Memories.

In November we headed to the States for the purpose of spending time with people and I would say we accomplished the job! In fact, I wish we took more photos with people, but we didn't always think about it. So here's a quick recap of just some of the things we did during our 8-week trip.

We landed in NYC on a Thursday and five days later we were driving the 700 miles to my brother and his family in Kentucky. A quick two-day stay with them rounded out the Thanksgiving holiday, and I'm so glad we made the effort to go. The return drive of 15 hours seemed like it would never end. :-)

My niece, nephews, and sister-in-law with my baby girl.

We did experience a few warmer winter days and Paul enjoyed getting outside to play with some balls and our pastor's children. But most of the days were too cold to play outside.

Some of my family got together the Saturday after Thanksgiving to go to a nearby Christmas village. What fun and what a good memory as we shivered together. :-)

Yes, it did snow while we were in Pennsylvania! I'm glad Nat thought to get some snow pictures, because most likely it will be several years before we see snow again.

We took a trip up to New York to spend some time with Nat's extended family. On the way we stopped at a grocery store that had the perfect cart for Paul. He loved pushing it around and stocking up on an essential: Cheerios! By the way, the one time I found a box of Cheerios in Thailand it was $12.00, so we won't be eating Cheerios anytime soon. :-)

While in New York, we stayed with Nat's aunt. She had a neat toy car collection that Paul loved to play with.

Of course Paul got to go sledding at Great-Grandma's farm! He absolutely loved it. 

Our main reason for returning to the States was for Nat's sister's wedding, which was just before Christmas. 

We also updated our family picture to reflect our newest little family member. It only took us 7 months for a new mug shot. :-) We took this after the wedding, so both kids were beyond tired, having missed their naps. Paul was quickly won over with cranberry bread keeping him smiling, but Ellie would not smile for anything. Oh well.

The week of Christmas found us in the Poconos with Nat's family. We got a vacation rental house and enjoyed lots of family time. Paul loved getting to know his grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

We also spent some time with my sister and her family at Valley Forge National Historical Park. What started out as a quick walk turned into a 4-mile hike. After that brisk walk, the kids slept soundly!

Paul with my sister and nephew.

Some friends of mine and I intended to slip away for a 2-day ladies retreat in December, but the house we had found forgot we were coming and shut the water off for the winter. I was definitely disappointed, but last Friday night we enjoyed a fun evening together as couples, so it all worked out in the end.

 We packed things up and headed for JFK Airport this past Wednesday. Good friends of ours were very gracious in waking up early and driving us to the airport for our noon flight. Thanks Ben and Alyssa!

Our layover in South Korea was a lot shorter than we remembered, so Paul didn't get to play on the playground this time around. Instead Paul got to watch the plane being loaded!

So there you have it! There were so many things that happened while we were home, but I can't recount them all. I'm just glad for the opportunity to be back in PA... And now I'm glad to be home in Thailand!

Stuff.

The weather has been simply gorgeous here in Eastern Pennsylvania the last few days and I've been able to have most of my windows open ~ my favorite way to cool down our little apartment!! In fact, Thursday night on a stroller walk with Paul I brought along his blanket because it was a little chilly... but not too chilly that I couldn't later play volleyball. ;-) I'm glad my mom is nearby and more than willing to watch my little guy so I can get a little volleyball in.  I'm afraid there won't be a lot of volleyball in my future when we move to Thailand! It sure was fun Thursday night: lots of laughs, good volleyball action, and a great time to spend with friends. :-)

I wish you all could see our house right now: stuff is everywhere! I am in the thick of packing, sorting, and getting ready for a yard sale soon. The first wave of going through my kitchen cabinets was emotional because most everything we have in our apartment is from our shower/wedding, but now I've kicked into the "clean it out!" mode. :-) Of course there are still many decisions to make as to what to store here in PA, what to take with us to Thailand and what to sell off. At the end of the day though, it's just stuff.

My little munchkin is going to be turning one in September, which I can't quite believe. That year went way too fast! My in-laws will be heading our way the first part of August so we're planning to do a little party for Paul while they are here.  At first we weren't going to do a party but then thought that unless anyone comes to Thailand every September, we won't have family around to celebrate Paul's birthday with us. So party it is!

Not too much else is going on for us. We're home until the end of September and we're trying to soak up the moments with our family and friends before our big move overseas.  It's kind of strange in that we can't wait to get to Thailand but then also realize that a bunch of people we know and love won't be as much a part of our daily lives anymore.  What a blessing instant communication is! At least technology helps us stay a little more connected with life on this side of the pond. :-)

Playing Catch Up.

We've been home for almost a week and I finally feel like I'm getting into the swing of things. Unpacking was easy and getting adjusted to the East Coast was easy... for two of us anyway!  Our little babe decided it was way more fun to stay on West Coast time. :-)  Thankfully the last two nights have gone better than the previous four nights!

I was somewhat nervous going into our month-long trip out West, mainly because it was the first time we were on deputation without our car.  Up until that point, we were used to being in new places on new adventures ~ always in our car. :-) So, yeah, our comfort zone was gone for a month and replaced with planes, borrowed cars, trains, buses, RVs, and hotels.  We just kept rolling along and trying to be flexible!

But as usual, the Lord worked out all the details and we met some wonderful people along the way. My husband and I marveled at the way the Lord (once again!) met all of our needs, right down to giving us a place to stay when just the day before we were wondering where we were going to pillow our heads for the next night!

The West Coast is absolutely beautiful, and we only saw parts of Washington, Oregon, and Alaska. :-) I used to think Pennsylvania had mountains... nope, guess again!

Mt. McKinley in Denali National Park, Alaska

We are grateful that our deputation travels have taken us to some amazing scenery across this great country! There's nothing like staring at a beautiful mountain and feeling pretty puny. :-) Add to that Paul is one of the most traveled babies I know of. This kid has already been to 22 states... and counting. :-)

Alaskan mosquitoes took to Paul and left their mark. Two weeks later, and he still has a couple of marks on his face! He was a pretty happy camper through it all and thankfully most of his bites took place just a few days before we left Alaska.  I told our friends who live there that I'm going to have a really hard time picturing Alaska being cold and snowy because it was so hot and full of mosquitoes while we were there. Oh, and it was light outside for 22 hours.  Sheesh. 

We had a wonderful time in Alaska spending time with our friends. We were in the Interior, which isn't your typical picture of Alaska. We did get to see grizzly bears, caribou, moose, Dall sheep, mountains, mountains, and more mountains! There aren't too many major roads in Alaska, and most of them are around Fairbanks, which made it convenient for us. :-)

Paul's latest adventure is cruising around, with a lot of help from Mommy and Daddy. :-) He has attempted to crawl, but doesn't quite make it... although it sure is fun to watch!  Now that we're home, we're hoping he doesn't get too bored with being in one place.  We plan to be in PA for most of the summer, with a quick trip out to Ohio to help friends with vacation Bible school. I'm grateful for the time home to spend with family, friends, and trying to pack our apartment up for our move to Thailand.

We have our tickets in hand and we plan on leaving November 5 - just a little over four months away. Downsizing our apartment into eight suitcases is going to be a wonderful challenge.  I was thinking again this morning of how I'm going to do this and was ready to burst into tears at the thought of leaving my home.  We've spent three happy years in this little apartment, but being sentimental is not going to get things organized! I think I'll have one good cry over it and then get to work. :-)

Friends And Bargains.

Two of my friends are expecting so it's been fun to go through pregnancy together:). We were talking two weeks ago about taking a picture and we finally got around to doing it last week!

(Paula ~ November, Saritha ~ October, Anne ~ August)

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In addition to being due within a few months of each other, Paula and I also share a love for yard sales. This morning there was a huge one in a local development nearby, so Nat and I got up early to see what we could find. As a side note, I'm quite impressed with myself for willingly waking up before 7 AM three Saturdays in a row! Each week has been profitable and made it worth getting up early on the only day of the week to sleep in. :-)

Last evening Nat and I were praying for some specific items to find at a yard sale today and the Lord answered that prayer. It always amazes me how much the Lord is in the little details of life. In fact, He delights in doing so!

Paula snagged a dollar deal for me on a booster/high chair seat for Peanut. Since we'll be doing a lot of traveling, I've been keeping my eye out for things that will travel well and I'm grateful she found the seat... that's going to be a life saver on the road!

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We are now two weeks out from Peanut's due date, although I'm thinking I will go late. In fact, I'm planning on going late. :0) If Peanut arrives early, I will be very surprised!!!

We're Here.... A Belated Post:).

So.... we actually made it to Thailand! And I'm telling you about it four days later:).

My husband is doing a fantastic job of keeping his blog updated (glad one of us is not slacking!), and if you're missing it there, then I'm sure you're seeing it on Facebook or Twitter:).

It's Saturday afternoon now and I have a couple of minutes, so I thought I would update you all on things from my perspective.... hey, that sounds like the name of a blog I know!

Anyway, the flight over was quite uneventful, except for the getting sick part, but that is over with thankfully! We didn't sleep very well Monday night before we left, but it has definitely helped since we've been in Thailand because our jet lag has been kept to a minimum.

It has been absolutely wonderful reconnecting with old friends! The year I spent in Thailand was so influential and these were the very dear people who made up my year here, so needless to say, I'm glad to be back:). Bonus is seeing my friend April who was with me in Thailand back in 2007 and is now here helping the missionaries for a third term. What a great time it's been catching up with her!

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Our purpose for coming (I alluded to briefly) i that this is our prayer trip to see where the Lord would direct our future steps in returning long-term to this country. I suppose one could also apply the term "survey trip" to our time here, but we are more focused on the who rather than the WOW!!!! that comes along with a survey trip. We feel very confident in that God has called us to minister in Thailand; we're now going about looking for the ways of doing so.

We are presently in Chiang Mai, the second largest city in Thailand. This is a change for both of us since we are very accustomed to Bangkok. Chiang Mai quite literally has a different culture from Bangkok, so that part is new to us, but good. Chiang Mai hosts a very good language school that we would like to attend for a year (when we return - not now:D) so we're examining Chiang Mai through the viewpoint of this being our future home.

God has been answering prayer and exceeding our expectations and we are so excited for what He is going to do in the few, short weeks we have here.

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We have also greatly enjoyed having genuine Thai food again... mmm, mmm! Chicken fried rice and garlic chicken with basil have topped my list, although I did steal a bit of my husband's cashew nut chicken today:). Yummy!

Another thing we needed to take care of while "in country" was dental work ~ lots of it. For $75 today we had two cleanings, one x-ray, and two fillings done. Monday we go back for two crowns and a wisdom tooth pulled for about $400. Sooooo much cheaper than the States!

We (translate me) anticipate getting some flip flops while here ~ a girl can't have too many!

Good trip... good times... good friends ~ the Lord's at work!!!

New Year's Ramblings.

Well, hello, 2011... it's nice to see you! 2010 went out with a fun bang, although this past week made me forget that we were ending the year. Camp does that though.... miles from civilization (ok, so it's really only a mile!), excited teens crammed into one small space (a coach bus looks soooo much bigger from a distance!), and lack of sleep round out the list for a fabulous experience that happens twice a year.

We returned home from camp Thursday night and promptly tumbled into bed ---> a real, soft bed!!! <----- and woke up this morning at 11:30. We both came home from camp with sore throats (forgot to include that in my list of fabulous experiences) and I could tell Nat was sick because he took two naps today and was so completely out of it, poor guy.

I eventually got motivated enough to grab some groceries for a little get-together we're having at our house tomorrow, actually today, but that's about all that I have to show for the last day of 2010. We did had a great time at a New Year's Eve service at church. I think we're one of the few churches that doesn't have a Christmas Eve service but has a New Year's Eve service.... I personally think it's a great idea:).

We also talked to my mom-in-law for a whole year:) which actually turned out to be only 25 minutes. She lives in Texas and wasn't planning on staying up to see the New Year in central time, so we just had her celebrate with us in eastern time. Such interesting lives we lead, I know.

I do have a particular rant/soap box I would like to address because I honestly think there's laziness and then there's pure laziness. Ok, so here's the deal: do you ever go into a bathroom stall and notice a roll of toilet paper sitting on top of an empty roll? That's a pet peeve of mine and I experienced it several times this week at camp... girls apparently go through the rolls! It's not that hard - taking off a cardboard roll and replacing it with a fresh roll is just a nice thing to do. *SIGH* First rant of the year:).

Well, Happy New Year!

The Party That Wasn't.

A couple of weeks ago, Nat told me he would be going away for a planning retreat with some staff members on Thursday into Friday. Immediately I began to think about my husband being gone for 24ish hours. Now I realize this happens to lots of people all the time, but you must forgive me for being wistful over my husband leaving - we've only been married 5 months. :)

I had been tossing around the idea of having some girls over and realized this would be the perfect time: girls over while hubby's gone without me having to kick hubby out. Sounded good to me! I knew that Thursday night is a strange time to have a girls' night, but I was working with what I had. Of course several girls had to work or couldn't make it, so I was planning for 8 girls and even chatted with several of the girls on Wednesday night.

Now the one thing I hadn't planned on was being sick... all week long. In the back of my mind, I was just going to get better and never actually thought of the alternative. Thursday morning rolled around and I felt like getting up took a huge amount of work. When Nat came home for lunch, I asked him what I should do. Being the great guy that he is, he knew I wanted to have these girls over so he was trying to make it work for me.... but reality settled in and I knew I couldn't do it and so did he.

I sent texts and facebook messages to my friends cancelling the party, slept some, bid a good-bye to my husband (yes there were a few tears), slept some more, read some.... ding dong.

My friend stood on the other side of the door with a cheerful rendition of "we wish you a merry Christmas!" while I felt bad because she didn't get my message. She understood though and we parted ways.

I went back to my place on the couch and within ten minutes.... ding dong. Oh no! That made two friends who didn't get the message about the cancelled party. This friend actually came up and visited for 15 minutes. I had to laugh when she said she didn't get my text. Here I actually sent a text to her mom's home phone number... whoops! She also called a third friend to let her know about the party. By this time I'm realizing the unreliability of facebook messaging. :)

In a way, it worked out not having the party Thursday night. I crashed on the couch trying to feel better and thinking about the irony of not wanting to be alone the first time my husband goes away and yet finding myself in that very position anyway. :) God has a sense of humor!

My husband comes home today (yay!) and the party will be had .... another day!

Friends.

Because Becky asked if I was going to do this, I'm posting this picture... just for you, Becky!

Nat and I had Becky and her brother, Nina, her sister, and brothers over tonight and we had so much fun!!! Several of these dear friends were kind enough to videotape our wedding and then put together a beautiful DVD too, so we decided it would be fun to have a little get-together... and it only took us 5 weeks to actually all get together;o).

Our evening was filled with food, volleyball, some more food, and then a fun game called, "The New Yorker." Nat and I have played it with both of our families and it's a ton of fun, so we figured this would be a great group to play it with ~ we were right!

We are so thankful for good friends in our lives!

Nat and I both enjoy having people over and being hospitable, so I'm sure this won't be the last party we have at our snug little apartment;o).

Happy 4th!

Having been out of the country a few times on the 4th of July, it makes me appreciate being in the country on this date so much more! Being an American overseas doesn't automatically mean you don't celebrate Independence Day, but it's just, well, different. In fact, I even blogged about it in Thailand three years ago (which I cannot believe I went to Thailand the first time three years ago!).

On Sunday we had a special dinner on the grounds picnic at church and of course that translates into volleyball in the afternoon:). After the volleyball games were over, some of us spontaneously put together a group to head to Bethlehem and watch the fireworks from the Fey Bridge. The memory circuit came full circle for me because my family used to live in Bethlehem and we could always see some of the fireworks that were shot off from Sand Island. Of course it was so special to sit on the bridge with my sweetie (and other friends too!) and watch the fireworks:).

It's always fun trying to work your way out of a crowd and get back to the van. My sensitive-to-the-Lord man took the opportunity to pass out some tracts and struck up a good conversation with a couple of people. How I praise the Lord for my man!

Only 5 more days 'til our wedding!

14 Hours.

We're leaving for camp at 6 AM (in approximately 14 hours) and the following items still need to be done:

• make a cheesecake for my dad (Happy Father's Day!)
• dry wet clothes
• services tonight at church
• finish cleaning out the spare bedroom-that-turned-into-a-handy-spot-for-a-ton-of-bridal-shower-gifts
• grab items to give to a few people at church
• two phone calls
• pack for camp
• Father's Day fellowship after church (this one is optional... it depends if Dad comes or not!)
• sleep (this one is also optional:D)

But I couldn't just leave you all hanging after I apparently did leave you hanging last time:). I introduce to you the bathroom towels (*insert dramatic pause here*):

And the kitchen towels:

Kohl's is my friend:).

Ok, now it's time to cut and run! See ya all next week... and if you think of it, please pray for the summer camp this week and for the Lord to do a work!

'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!

Surprise!

So, I am so NOT on the road right now.... in case you haven't figured it out! But the delay was absolutely well worth it:).

"Officially" my bridesmaids threw me a surprise bridal shower on Saturday morning, but from my rather high vantage point from being on the platform, I saw so many ladies cheerfully and happily pitching in to make things come together. After being so shocked that I quickly closed the door, I was so happy to see dear family, friends, and church family all in the room! Nat and I feel very, very blessed and praise the Lord for His goodness in our lives.

I would love to share more, but there's a very special friend of mine who drove in from Tennessee and we have a 6:30 breakfast date set. Yes, I will get up early for some things! From what I understand, we're taking off on our road trip after services this morning... and if we don't, that's ok! I heard at the shower a devotional on flexibility;). Better put it to practice!

Happy Lord's Day!!!!

Recapping The Weekend.

You know, the one great thing about blogging (at least for me), is I can blog as much or as little as I want to:). And whenever I want to. So even though it is now Tuesday, I've finally carved out some time to share about the very fun weekend I had!

First stop was the Holiday Inn Express. Actually, if I was going to be technical here I would give an honorable mention to Panera Bread which did a fabulous job from keeping all of us at the edge of starvation:).

Hello super-efficient room! It was quite tiny but that's to be expected and all 5 of us managed quite nicely:).

9 of us gals got all dressed up to head out for a fancy dinner and show, but let's skip all that talk about fancy restaurant because it turned out to pretty much be a burger joint with stools, minus the burgers. We did have a super time at the show though;).

Saturday morning we split into two groups: shopping and touring. Um, yeah, guess which group I picked;).

Three of the girls in my group had to head back early to NJ and PA so Becky and I ended up walking around and seeing all sorts of fun things. We first stopped at the Empire State Building and greatly enjoyed ourselves. I will mention that buying the audio tour made it worth the extra 8 bucks. So if you find yourself in NYC one day staring at the Empire State Building and debating about whether to go or not, I recommend you spend the extra money to get the full tour:).

The tall building on the left (oh wait, they're all tall!) with the spire is the Chrysler Building and the shorter, stubby, greenish windows building on the far right is the UN building. We actually tried to get into the Chrysler Building but they had closed it for the evening.

We also went to the Public Library and wandered around the halls for a little bit. There was a nice long banister I just couldn't resist sliding down and of course now I have the memory of sliding down said banister;).

We decided to stop in Grand Central Station just because, and apparently we're not the only ones who thought of doing that because inside were tons of people with cameras pointing in all sorts of directions:).

Becky and I did a lot of walking and some stopping in Starbucks to thaw out too:). My fingers and toes were so cold they didn't return to normal until after I returned to my own house!

It was so very much fun and when I walked into my room Saturday night, I found a dozen pink roses in a basket with chocolates and a card thrown in for good measure. Aw, what a sweet guy I have! Sunday morning Nat and I drove down to New Jersey to the church he helps out at and then had a lovely lunch at Ruby Tuesday's and wandered around IKEA. I think IKEA would have been a much more enjoyable experience if I didn't have 2.5 inch heels on, so we'll just have to go back down again:).

What A Weekend For A Trip!

Rachel alluded to a trip several gals from my church are taking this weekend and I must say I am seriously excited to be joining this happy group for what is sure to be a memorable weekend:). We're headed to the Big Apple ~ Hello NYC, I have fond memories of you! ~ to see a Broadway show and to do some sightseeing. I've always been one to state the obvious, so since we're going to see a show, that obviously means dressing up is a given:).

Oh, it's gonna be fun!!!!

I must admit though that I'm not quite sure what I'm wearing, but this is where the fun of spontaneity and last-minute packing comes into play. I've never been one to have the suitcase all zipped up days before any given trip, so in keeping with tradition, I've decided to wake up early in the morning and throw some items in a bag. Be amazed, Becky, that I'm actually waking up early to accomplish this feat!

To add to the excitement, my sweetie and I are going to look for a house in the morning for a refugee family we're helping to settle in our area. Oooh, I do love a challenge and trying to cram it all in before 8 AM is definitely a challenge:).

Let the memories begin!

Home Again!

I'm home again after a great trip to Texas - one of those trips that went by way too fast! I really enjoyed spending time with Nat's family and getting to know them better. With a bunch of little kids in the house, there was always something going on:).

On Wednesday we were able to slip away to Fort Worth and visit with some dear friends of ours, which was definitely worth the drive! Saturday night my brother-in-law picked us up from the Philly airport and we were able to enjoy dinner with my sister and her family before returning home. I have off today from work but Nat got to jump back into his projects, so I'm thinkin' vacation is pretty much over:).

Nat's little sister (3 years old) was intrigued with both of our cameras and did a pretty good job at snapping some photos. I just won't show the close-up pictures she took of herself;).

Nat's family (minus his older brother and wife).

Big sister making sure little sister doesn't fall over the fence:).

Rather than stick to the trail, we branched out a little bit and crossed this stream often:). It was definitely an adventure... but a lot of fun to spend time together as a family!

"Slap Ya...."

I've mentioned before about what the team does on Thursday nights around here and last night was no exception. After a wonderful Bible Study, we all gathered around for the food. Now if you know me very well, you'll know that soup and I just aren't good friends. For some reason, I just don't gush and swoon over a bowl of soup:). But I loooove the smell of soup cooking. Kinda like I love the smell of coffee and can't stomach the actual drink. I'm a study in contrasts:).

Anyway, last evening, Bro. Tom made a big ole' pot of gumbo. For those of you who are as uneducated about gumbo as I was (until I met some people from Louisiana two summers ago!), Wikipedia comes to our rescue with this short blurb:

Gumbo is a stew or soup originating in Louisiana which is popular across the Gulf Coast of the United States and into the U.S. South. It consists primarily of a strong stock, meat and/or shellfish, a thickener, and the vegetable "holy trinity" of celery, bell peppers and onion. The soup is traditionally served over rice.

Thank you, Wikipedia.

The smell of the gumbo wafted through the Gaudets' house as well as mine because our kitchens are connected (I would show you a picture of our kitchens, but blogger is being a goober right now and won't let me upload any. Ahem). Everyone gathered around the food with anticipation and dove right in. I even took some gumbo, at which point Pookie asked me if I was sick as she felt my forehead:).

Earlier Bro. Tom had asked me to bring over some gumbo seasonings from my house since there used to be a girl from Louisiana who stayed here. So I grabbed anything that had the word "Cajun" on it and headed out the door. Well, one of my Thai co-workers - Berm - wanted to season his gumbo, so he reached for one of the seasonings and read out loud "slap ya mama." I started to laugh right away, not realizing that was the actual name of the seasoning and that all this time it had been sitting in my cupboard:).

With a look of confusion on his face, Berm turned to me and said, "Isn't that rude???" At that point, Pookie and I just lost it and I realized that once again, an Americanism had slipped through the cracks into Thailand and offered great confusion to a Thai person:). We finally got it all explained to Berm, who happily seasoned his gumbo with "Slap ya mama" and moved on with his evening.

Lest you think I'm making this up, I offer you the official website: "Slap Ya Mama". I highly recommend you refrain from taking that course of action though... maybe just do the kiss-on-the-cheek thing:D.


Just another typical evening in the Land of Smiles, thanks to some good Cajun cooking!

Waiting.

Have you ever had a day when nothing in particular was going wrong but it just seemed as if the day was forever long? Tuesday was such a day for me. There were no problems with the computers and work was getting done (I insert that for the missionary's benefit:D), but at 3:15ish something snapped. To quote my housemate, "It feels like I'm slogging through mud!" Pookie chatted me (yes, she was sitting two desks away and chatted me... we all normally have earphones in, so it's easier to chat;). Anyway, she asked me when I was going to pick up my camera and I looked over at her and said, "now!" Carolyn's ears perked up at that, because she was "slogging through mud" too:).

We got to the camera store and decided to sit down since there was another customer there. Waiting in a store is so much more fun with friends, wouldn't you agree? Carolyn, Pookie, and I chit-chatted and laughed, all the while wondering where the receptionist was. An employee poked his head around the corner twice -- by this time a third customer was waiting -- and then ducked back behind the wall. After sitting there for 20 minutes, Pookie walked to the back room and asked the employee for a little, you know, service or something. He promptly informed Pookie that the receptionist was out to lunch (at 3:45???) and would return in 15 minutes.

I betcha he would've never said anything to us if Pookie hadn't asked... gotta love that thinking! "It's not my job, so I'll just wait for the receptionist to come back and deal with the customers." :D

Rather than wait at the camera store, we decided Auntie Anne's Pretzels would be a better place to wait and we would get a pretzel out of the deal.

Ironically enough, we ended up waiting 15 minutes for our pretzels.

Ahh, God has a sense of humor:).

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!

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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!

Bloggy Friends.

I started reading blogs long before I ever became a blogger myself, and although the list has fluctuated over the years, I probably have about 75 blogs I check in Google Reader.

[A quick side note: Google Reader is great! It's very easy to add blog subscriptions and that eliminates the need for me to click through all 75 blogs I read every. single. day. Try it! Ok, this public service announcement is now over.]

One of the blogs I began to read was one written by a sweet girl around my age. I honestly don't remember how I found her (or perhaps she found me!), but I soon followed along with her blog and greatly enjoyed reading it. She eventually shut down her blog, but not before we exchanged e-mail addresses:).

We started e-mailing and even found each other on Facebook. The funny thing is, she doesn't live in the States, so it would seem to be almost an impossibility for us to ever meet. Even if we don't ever meet, I am so thankful for the friends that the Lord has brought into my life.

And I have a sweet e-mail in my inbox that just showed up this evening from my friend "J" to prove it!