Saturday, January 29, 2011

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!!!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Announcing....

Just a couple of hours before we leave to start our Thailand trip and we still have some packing to do.

Ok, ok, if you know me at all, then you realize that statement is only partially true! We actually have all of our packing to do, but at least the laundry is clean (got that done this morning!). Anyway, just in case I don't post as much as I want to post in Thailand:), my husband has started a blog and I'm 99% certain that blog will be updated much more frequently than this blog:).

Here's the link: Williams Witness so be sure to check it out! In fact, he's already managed to post two times and we haven't even left yet:).

See ya on the other side!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Of Traveling And Trips ~ The Flying Kind.

I had every good intention of starting the new year off with more frequent blog posts, but it's a good thing I didn't make that a new year's resolution:).

Umm, where has the month gone? It's been slightly whirlwind-ish on my end with a couple of trips crammed together. My mom-in-law and two brothers-in-law came up for a visit before heading on to grandparents in NY. Meanwhile I squeezed in a short trip to Florida with the anticipation of welcoming a new little nephew:

(My sister Michelle with nephew #7)

Unfortunately, said little nephew did not cooperate.... not something I can really complain about, since the Lord's timing is always perfect. So little guy will most likely be born right when he was supposed to be born:).


Cuteness still abounded though! My little niece is 3 and is a bundle of energy and joy ~ usually I was on the receiving end of energy:). I spent four days in Florida just enjoying the visit, cuddles and hugs from my 6 year old nephew and niece, and the sunshine. Oh, yes, the sunshine was definitely a highlight! What a stark contrast it was flying home Thursday night with a storm on the way. But I am a northern girl after all and too much sunshine and warm weather just doesn't fit for January! We got a nice snow fall of 4 or so inches and all is white in my world:).

After a break from flying -- it's been at least three months! -- we've decided to cram in as much airport time as possible. What with picking up my in laws at the airport, flying to and from Florida, and going to Thailand all within 1.5 weeks, the Philadelphia Airport has become *the* destination point!

Nat and I are quite excited about our Thailand trip, except for one part: snow. We leave Philly early Tuesday morning but fly right to Chicago, a place well known for delays in the wintertime. Hopefully our flight won't be delayed too much.... :). We'll be gone to Thailand for three weeks ~ which is very short in my estimation but my point of reference for missions trips is a standard 3 months:). We're greatly anticipating the Lord doing some things on this prayer trip, so if we cross your mind at all within the next 3.5 weeks, please pray for us!

Who knows? I might even blog while in the land of smiles:).

Saturday, January 1, 2011

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!