Our Thailand Travels

Christmas at the boys orphanage

2012-01-05T22:21:00.003-06:00

Jen and I took the money that people donated for the boys and went to buy some Christmas gifts for them.

Here is a link to the album on facebook to see all the pics of their sweet faces!!

We also have a team here from Australia that is doing some ministry around Thailand and they came and spent an evening w/ the boys. There are pics of that also in the album

Random December

2012-01-04T21:53:00.002-06:00

December was full of a lot of things! And I didn't do a good job of posting about them. So here is a nice random collection from my December photo files:

Our Christmas tree that Jen decorated so nicely!

Here are decorations for the King's Bday they had up near our house:

Decorations for the Kings bday

My new hat from Sunday market- it's a buffalo!!

Jen and Mercy

Ging and Mercy

So cute!! Mercy peeking around!

us!

Some sweet pics of Jen killing it on the Vball court!

Jen and Mercy

Me celebrating that I finally finished the Java Junkie menus!!

Skyping w/ Kimmy!

Smiling Jesus!!

Half Marathon- WE DID IT!!!

2011-12-26T00:02:00.001-06:00

The day before the race we picked up our packets! SO excited that God worked everything out for us so we could do this!

My stuff laid out the night before

3am and race ready!

Right before we walked out the door

The start line

The finish line

Practicing my Finishing pose!

Jen's Power Pose!

Just minutes after I had finished!! Jen finished about 30 mins before me and waited at the finish line for me

The after race food they provided- chicken & rice! So different from America!

Posing w/ some friends who ran the 10k

Home and still so super proud!!

I worked hard for this baby!

Our champion meal afterwards at our favorite breakfast place!

I killed that meal!

Jen w/ our new friend Heather

Me w/ our new friend Katie (we met her playing Volleyball each Thursday)

I made Jen pose one more time with her medal

Front of the medal

back of the medal

Well, after trying for 3 years in a row, we finally got to participate in this 1/2 Marathon!! Crazy injuries the week before the race didn't stop us and prayers of everyone and God's Grace gave us the strength to participate and finish!!!

What an amazing feeling of accomplishment and pride in finishing something you've worked so hard for! Especially something that had always seemed utterly impossible!!! I am learning with each new lesson in life that "impossible" shouldn't really even be in our vocabulary!

Thank you so much for all your prayers!! I held onto them very tightly during the race and they honestly helped me get through the toughest part of it! I couldn't have done it without them!

Here's to Impossible Dreams!!

Wednesdays at the orphanage

2011-12-21T22:58:00.000-06:00

Jen and I have Wednesday nights as our night to "babysit" the boys.

Here are pics from our last 2 Wed nights

Boys Orphan Home

2011-12-13T02:40:00.000-06:00

Here are some pics of the boys!!
This is from their very first night and then their first time to church.
They are SO precious!!

Two on the right were just friends that came to say good-bye. But the other 5 are our boys!

1st night introductions

First night party

He is the youngest, 5 years old! And such a character!

Tucking them into bed on their first night

First time at the church playground

Listening to instructions

Making Christmas crafts at church

Anne helping

Kids church

Kids praise and worship

Teaching to say prayers before eating

Orphanage Financial Support

2011-12-12T02:23:00.001-06:00

Here is an itemized list of specific needs we have for the orphanage. Please click the link below to be taken to Bridge the Nation's Paypal page to donate.

If you want to make sure the money goes towards a specific need, just click "add special instructions to the seller"on the Paypal page as shown in this image, and tell us where you'd like the money to go:

Click this button on the Paypal page

FINANCIAL NEEDS:

· Rent- $585 a month
· Laundry machine- $300
· Bed sets: mattress/sheets: $60 each
· Blankets: $20 each
· Bathroom supplies/toiletries: $30 each
· Kitchen supplies: $330
· Fridge: $350
· Stove: $150
· Microwave: $60
· Rice cooker: $50
· Food for 1 month: $500
· Transportation: $6,500 (truck)
· Gas per month: $260
· School uniforms: $150 for everyone

CLICK HERE TO DONATE WITH PAYPAL

Or you can write a check and mail it to:

Bridge the Nations
PO Box 444
Lindale, TX, 75771
(be sure to put a note inside stating your donation is for the Orphanage)

1/2 Marathon Training

2011-12-12T01:56:00.001-06:00

Jen and I ran 10 miles this past Saturday!! Wow, 10 miles!! That is now my new longest run ever! And I must say- we were hurting afterwards! Yeah, I cant say it was our best run . . .
And now, 2 days later, I’m still hurting :(

So later Saturday, my back was getting pretty sore, along w/ some crazy tight calf muscles. And by Sunday morning, I was hobbling. By Sunday afternoon, I could barely walk and was definitely dealing w/ part of my back being out. Sunday night Jen waited on my hand and foot! God bless her!! And I slept on my back w/ a huge pillow under my knees and didn’t move from that position all night long. Around 4am I tried laying on my side, but it was putting too much stress on my back. So till 8am, I laid flat on my back.

Now it’s Monday afternoon and with a package of frozen edamame on my back, I’m finally feeling about 90% better. I called my dad to get some stretches and advice from him since his back goes out pretty often. And those seemed to help.

But in the meantime, I had to miss my Monday morning 5 mile run and I’m concerned about how I’m going to do my Wednesday 5 mile run. Lets not even get into my fear of the Saturday 11 mile run we have coming up!! And then lets really not talk about the race of 13.1 miles on Christmas morning!!
I’m praying that God will help my body to recover and that I can run in this race w/o any injuries or issues.

This is the 3rd year in a row Jen and I have attempted to train for this race and so far, some type of injury has come up for both of us within just a few weeks of race day :( . I’m really praying that doesn't happen again this year.

Now, each Saturday’s long-run are my longest runs ever. Last week being 9 miles, this week being 10, next week (supposedly) going to be 11 and then race day being 13.1. I’m so excited to be able to do these runs and so thankful that God has protected my body (and my mind!!) to be able to accomplish these things that in the past wouldn’t have even crossed my mind to attempt!
Praying that God will continue to protect my body and that Jen and I can have a great Christmas Morning 1/2 Marathon Race!!

Christmas Tree

2011-12-12T01:42:00.001-06:00

We got our Christmas decorations up.

I'm so thankful Jen is good at making things look good. She knows when to take over and decorating a Christmas tree is definitely one of those times!!

It looked pretty bad when I was in charge, but now it's super cute and I love having it up!

We have lots of fun handmade paper Christmas decorations hanging along the wall behind this also with more Christmas lights! It's very festive in here!

Meet Ros!

2011-12-04T06:27:00.001-06:00

Had lunch with one of the most interesting women in the world today!! Seriously- the things God has brought her through are crazy!! She could write a book . . . or 3 . . . except that the things she's been through she legally cant publish!! Now is that crazy or what?!

Meet Ros =)

Our friend from Australia who tells me quite often how "woeful" my Aussie vocab is. She says it's the equivalent of what we'd call "trailer park" in America! Ha! Isn't she great?!

This lunch she made was 2 different fresh baked breads, salad w/ so much stuff on it I can't even remember plus sundried tomato pesto chicken!! And for dessert, a coconut/passionfruit tart topped w/ cut up strawberries, mango, passionfruit and fresh whipped (by hand!) cream!!
Wow!! She is amazing!!

Our Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T08:32:00.001-06:00

Today is Thanksgiving. It’s Thanksgiving night right now. Today was a good day :). I was moving pretty dang slow at the start of the day. I feel my body trying to get sick, so I slept in a bit this morning till around 8:40am.

Jen had been up awhile so she was ready to eat and we made French Toast w/ egg whites and then made our first ever raspberry compote to pour over it.

It was SO good! We also put a dollop of Greek Yogurt and mixed it all in- WOW it was De’lish!!

After breakfast we took our time getting ready for the day and then we had to take the Honda in for maintenance again. It’s still running rough and dieing on us as we’re driving. Not good.

After that we worked on getting the new Java Junkie banner hung up that I got printed. We dont have all we need to hang it, but at least we figured out where we want it :)

Then we had some lunch and Jen cleaned and baked the pumpkin and then we were off to volleyball!!!

We’ve been playing Volleyball every Thursday afternoon for the past few weeks. They play at the Christian school near where our bible study is.
It is such a blast! That is an understatement . . . We really look forward to this afternoon all week long!

Jen about to smash it!!

The ladies we play with are awesome and we all range in age all over the board. Lots of them have played Vball in the past either HS or college and then some of us (like me) just have played here and there and just love it. So it’s a nice rounded out level I think. Everyone is pretty beat by the end!

Last week we played 3 on 3 the whole time and we were SO sore the rest of the week!! Today though we had some 5 on 5, 4’s, 3’s and then at the end - 4 on 2!!! Jen and another girl, Katie, were the 2 player team. And sad to say, they still beat us on the 4 player team side! Yeah- you want to be on Jen’s team any chance you get! She’s a rockstar for sure!

So we played for about 2 hours and then by the time we got home it was after 6pm.
We warmed up din-din and then Jen made us pumpkin smoothies! She forgot to freeze the pumpkin first, so they were a bit runny. But still quite yum!
THEN- we started making the cheesecake!! Yes, Jen and I decided to try and make a cheesecake for the first time ever!
The other day they had gram-cracker crust at the store (amazing #1) and then it was also on sale (amazing #2)!! So we ended up w/ 3 shells! (oops!). But it’s a good thing because we didnt realize it tonight until AFTER we’d finished the batter that the pie we made was for 2 pie shells.

We didnt notice the “16 servings” until we filled 1 pie crust and then stood there scratching our heads.
So good for us- we will now have a cheese cake to freeze and have for Christmas! :)

So that was pretty much our Thanksgiving day. We’re trying to plan skype calls w/ our families. It’s so tough w/ the time change because either we’re staying up till midnight or getting up at 6am. Neither one I’d prefer, but you do whatcha gotta do!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
(ps- we are planning on making a “thanksgiving” dinner tomorrow night for the 2 of us, so I’m sure I’ll post pics of that too!)

We are headed home!!!

2011-11-21T20:53:00.001-06:00

In case you aren't on our e-mailing list, you may not have heard the news!

Click the link below this picture to get the whole scoop!!

CLICK HERE FOR THE SCOOP!!!

Paradise on Earth!!!

2011-11-20T02:21:00.001-06:00

I just uploaded 150 pics to Facebook from our trip last year to the Thai Islands. Yeah, it took me this long to get them edited and uploaded.
So if you'd like to see them all, here is a link to that page (even if you dont have FB Kimmy!) :)

LINK TO PHOTOS

Anne's Bday

2011-11-20T00:50:00.001-06:00

Anne's birthday was Saturday and we went to eat Italian to celebrate. Here are a few pics and video from our celebration:

Anne handing out her "cake" - pizza!

So glad Klaus is in town!! He just brings everyone together! :)

Very happy Joy came!!

I'll never turn down pizza!

Caught Jen w/ her mouth full

Chicken Eggplant thing - Yum!

Chicken Cordon-blue

Crab dip - divine!!

Everyone had a little ice cream to end the meal

Beautiful flowers Joy got Anne

Good times!

Fueling your runs

2011-11-19T01:40:00.001-06:00

We ran 7 miles today!! Whoo-hoo!! I just looked back and the longest run I’ve EVER done was 8 miles and that was in Nov ’09. I did a 7.5 mile run in Sept ’10. But havent run that far again till today! Whoop!!

And let me tell you, today was so much different than all the other runs we’ve done out at the lake! And what was different you ask?! Fuel! I fueled my body totally different today and much much more than I have been doing in the past.

It’s 2pm right now and usually by this time on a Saturday after our long run, Jen and I are dead and more than likely either struggling to keep our eyes open or taking a nap. We have tried and tried to figure out why we are so beat on Saturdays and why we are just good for nothing else. It’s kind of been a bummer b/c you dont want to waste your Saturday being dead tired. And it’s also been discouraging to see how these long runs (5-7 miles so far) just kill us!

So normally after a run we stay at the lake and eat a packed lunch we bring. Usually this has been a PBJ sandwich or a meat/cheese sandwich, some chips of some sort, a fruit of some kind and lots and lots of water. Maybe throw in an oatmeal square or something . . .
But today we were suppose to go help clean at the orphanage afterwards (ended up not going though b/c they finished before we could get there), so we didnt plan on staying at the lake too long and eating lunch at home.

Long story short . . . This ment we packed different things for our snacks.

An orange for each of us which Jen pre-peeled before we left. A small pack of sunflower seeds each. A pack of raisins and then the kicker - a bagel for each of us. (main reason is because Dee just made a fresh batch and they are SO yummm!!). But we’ve read many times that bagels are great recovery foods so we thought we’d try it.

So we run at the lake which is somewhere around 2.4 miles around one time. So we figured around the lake 3 times would be good for our 7 miles. Each time I come around back to the start, I grab some water and take a potty break (we park our bike there and have all the water/snacks there and there are also bathrooms).

Normally I dont eat anything on the first round and if I do it might just be 1 bite from my sandwich or something very small. But I make sure to load on the water, even though I pee like 6 times before we start and also all during the run . . . But that’s beside the point!
Anyhow, today though, I grabbed the orange and ate almost all of it on my first time around.
Felt good on my 2nd time around!
So on my 2nd time to the bike, I ate the rest of the orange, ate 1/2 the pack of sunflower seeds (to mix a protein w/ that carb) and also ate 1/2 the bag of raisins b/c there wasn’t much orange left (for the quick carb/sugar energy).
Felt really strong on my 3rd go around. And usually by this point, I’m starting to feel dizzy, feeling the heat, feeling dehydrated and just feeling weak. But though I was tired, I could definitely tell a difference in my body!

Jen finished before me, like always, and met me when we just had maybe 1/2 a mile to go. And I was so surprised how good I felt. It’s not like I wanted to go further, goodness no! But I just didnt feel like I was about to die or fall over in exhaustion like I normally do. ALSO- my joints and muscles weren’t as fatigued as normal! Huge Huge difference in how my knees felt and the muscles in my legs!! So we drank up more water and then destroyed those bagels! They were so yummm! And an excellent recovery for energy!

Driving home I felt good and alert. We decided to stop at the mall to grab Subway sandwiches for lunch since we dont have much food made at home.

Got home and was still pretty full from the bagel, so showered and got dressed. And didnt end up eating lunch till around 1:30. And right now I still have tons of energy!
I’m not even the slightest bit tired and just feel good. Like I actually gained energy from the run which really never happens for me!

Also, we drank some coconut water. The balance of the electrolytes you get from fresh coconut water is almost identical to your bodies. So just as we pulled the bike up to the house, a vendor selling coconuts was walking by dinging his bell :). It was perfect timing! I bought 2 for $1 and we drank the yummy fresh water out of them. All the calories are in the fleshy part, but the water is actually really good for you.

We also had a good bowl of oatmeal w/ chia seeds for breakfast and I drank a full serving of coffee with it to have a little caffeine boost. Now I will say, we pretty much eat that every morning for our long runs and have never felt as good as we do today!
We were also conscious last night to have some wholewheat pasta for dinner and I also had a bagel then too.

So I guess my point is that if you are tired from your workouts, have a look at your food and your fuel that you’re giving your body before, during and after those workouts. And if what you’re doing isnt working, make some changes till you find something that does. I know that I will definitely be doing this same type of food AND quantity in the future!!

We shouldnt skimp on the calories during a workout b/c that is the most important time you need that fuel/energy. Skimp later on dinner or something if you are counting calories. But I burned close to 1,700 calories today, so I’m not too worried about going over!! As long as there isnt a huge piece of cheesecake in my future! Ya never know!!

CBSI = Bible Study

2011-11-18T00:07:00.001-06:00

I'm sure you keep seeing pics on our FB pages about our Bible Study and hearing us talk about these amazing women we're studying with.

So I thought I'd introduce you to them :)

(this is just the leadership team, the other ladies in our group are also equally amazing!)

Starting from the left:

Carrie- one of the sweetest ladies I've ever met! So tender and sweet. And a HUGE animal lover, which you know I (steph) love!! We always swap animal stories with each other or talk with misty eyes how much we miss our pets!

Jen- of course the super awesome Jen you already know

Kathy- we meet at her house every Thursday morning. And every morning she has coffee for us, flavored sugars and tea! She is so giving and has such a sweet nature. She is the reason we starting coming to this Bible Study!

Denise- she is our Teaching Leader. Despite the fact that she says she doesn't like to teach in front of people, she delivers amazing wisdom and knowledge to us every week through her answers and her lectures. She is a runner and is currently training for a marathon! She is always challenging us in some way to learn more about God's Word and is such a humble leader!

Kellie- Kellie and Jen and I have become good friends. Kellie has what I would say, 2 sides to her. One side is super deep, full of wisdom, prayer warrior and a very deep thinker. Then, the other side is this super fast-witted ultra funny joke cracker! She doesn't even hesitate when those quick fast lines come out that leave you doubled over laughing so hard! I dont know how she does it! But she speaks softly so you gotta listen carefully or you'll miss one of the funniest things you've ever heard!

And then me of course :)

So now you know who we spend our Thursday mornings with! It's an amazing group of Godly women and the only thing we regret is that we didn't know about them sooner!!!

Thursday- the best day of the week!

2011-11-17T23:45:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was another fun-filled Thursday!

We had Bible study and then stayed afterwards to be “trained” as leaders. And we all had lunch together too.

After that it was almost time for Volleyball!! I had some extra time plus I was helping direct anyone that wasn’t sure where to go, so I used my time very wisely! And I am quite proud of myself for that!! I did step-ups, high knees, butt kicks, calf raises and balancing. Then, after a bit of that, I saw a basketball and started shooting some hoops for about 20 mins. And I was doing pretty dang good!! I was really shocked and excited! I think because I’m working out regularly and just feel fit and confident is why I was doing so good getting the baskets. Because it’s been a LONG time since I’ve actually shot a ball! But they were going in over and over again! It was a great feeling :).

Then we played 3 on 3 volleyball for 3 games. And boy were we Tired!! They were close games all the way and we played till 26 points (we ended up winning all 3 games though! Whoo-hoo!). It ended up being close to 1.5 hours we played. It was SO hot out, despite the fact that it’s “winter” here. The sun was super intense and right in your face. We were sweating like crazy! Pretty sure I got dehydrated. But it was still a blast!

After that we were invited by Kellie to go watch the soccer game. Her husband is the coach and her son is on the team. So we watched the game and that was really awesome because we were in the middle of this whole American Community!! There were students hanging out, familes, people selling food . . . It was crazy! But really cool to be in a ‘community’ of Americans (mostly). Just a nice treat, ya know.

After soccer we went to Kellie’s house to have dinner w/ her fam :). She is a great cook!! She made a killer Mexican dinner with burritos, green chili sauce and all the fixin’s.

It was de-lish. Also we had great conversation!! Jen and I just love Kellie so much! She is so deep and wise and knows the Word. And she is also super quick witted and super funny!! It was nice to sit down w/ her and her husband and just hear some amazing stories from them! They’ve been living in Thailand now for 9 years!!

We were pretty beat when we finally got home around 9:30pm. And this morning when I woke up, I felt like my body had gotten hit by a train!! I am SO sore!! That volleyball did me in! But it was so worth it!

Thursdays are becoming my favorite day of the week!!

Rescue Her

2011-11-15T00:04:00.001-06:00

We met Josie from Rescue Her today! Her and her husband just went to Cambodia and now they are in Thailand.

Check out her website here for more info on what they do.

We just talked about the vision she has in starting a Rescue Her home in Thailand and we met the couple she's working with. They have been living in Thailand for 10 years now.

We've created some jewelry for Rescue Her and we hope to do more for them in the future!!

We took them to the shadiest part of Chiang Mai so they could get some footage of the prostitution here. This pic is Josie and her husband walking past a very friendly lady in a very short gold dress.

Too much of a good thing!

2011-11-12T01:23:00.001-06:00

So I’m in Thailand, right? And there are just some things you cant get here. And one of those things is the Holiday Starbucks drinks. My personal favorite, is the White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha. I’m telling you, I’d marry that drink if I could!

So it’s Thanksgiving time and I’ve been wondering past a Starbucks anytime I’m near one (we only have 3) to just check and see if they have any of the holiday flavors in. I continually see people posting on FB about how amazing they are and how they’ve missed them so much. So of course this just makes me crave them even more!

Well, at 3pm the other day, I went past the Starbucks inside the mall and I saw a “now serving” note written on their chalkboard! I got SO excited that in only read what it said briefly and saw the words “white chocolate” on there! I could barely contain myself and I ran into the store to order my “holiday” drink!

I decided I’d really treat myself and get the Grande size but get decaf since it was past my caffeine cut-off time of the day (2pm being the absolute latest!). I ordered it non-fat with no whip so I wouldnt have to feel too guilty about it. But they didn’t have decaf. Ok, I could deal. I might not sleep great but it’d be worth it, right?!

So I got my drink and every sip was breathtaking! I was still so caught up in the White Chocolate that I still never noticed that it was just that, White Chocolate. No peppermint and no special holiday drink. But really, I didnt care! It was incredibly sweet and since living in Thailand for so long, I actually dont drink sugar in my coffee anymore. I still do milk, but no sugar. So this thing was like a rush of power to my brain!

I decided I would enjoy it better at home and asked for a bag to put it in while I drove home on the bike.

So as I’m walking through the mall, I’m sipping it and just thinking about how great it is. And I’m thinking about how happy it’s making me! And I think to myself, “ya know, it wouldnt matter what happens when I walk outside, I’ll be happy because I have this drink!!” And I thought, “it could be raining. I wouldnt care. My bike could be locked up because I parked in a wrong spot, but I wouldnt care. I would have this coffee to enjoy while I waited to get my bike, or waited on the rain to stop or whatever it might be- NOTHING can take away this great mood because I have this White Chocolate Mocha that is making everything in the world OK!”.

And as those final thoughts were rolling off my mind, I got so convicted!! I realized, I shouldnt be thinking these things just because I have this stupid coffee drink! I should be thinking that way ALL the time because I have Christ in my life!! I should be that confident and excited about Him that nothing in life should throw me or sway me because I have the Rock in my life and I know that everything will be OK with HIM and Him alone! I was so hit by that and couldnt believe how for those past 10 minutes I had rolled my entire existence of Happiness into this paper Starbucks coffee cup!

And well, I guess God really wanted to make sure I got the lesson, because let me tell you . . . After those few minutes of bliss with that coffee, boy did I pay for it!! Despite the fact that I went to bed at 9pm, I didn’t fall asleep until midnight. And for those 3 hours of trying to fall asleep, I had acid reflux from all that sugar in the drink! Then, after sleeping just 3 hours, I was wide awake again at 3am. Once I fell asleep again finally, I only slept for another 3 hours and was wide awake again. Then, all the next day I had a pounding headache like I was hungover, I was dehydrated and I had acid reflux all day long!!

Ok Lord, I hear you!! =)

10 year anniversary and the story on how we met

2011-11-08T20:11:00.002-06:00

It was 10 years ago today, that I reluctantly attended a dinner with a whole bunch of people I didn't know . . .

Kim had been inviting me to come hang out w/ this new group of friends she had met and just knew I'd love them.
But I didnt want any new friends and I didnt want to go hang out at a Bible Study, of all things!
But finally after a few months of Kim taking about how amazing these people were, I finally agreed to go to a group dinner.
There was probably around 20 people there and I didnt know any of them except Kim!
But there was one girl that was very outgoing and friendly, her name was Fawn, and she kept saying how much she loved my hair!
I liked that :)
Then, at dinner, I noticed that there was one girl that just kind of stood out from everyone else. She wasnt in raggy jeans and a t-shirt or flip-flops and she seemed older and more mature than everyone else. (Hang with me here because you never know how WRONG first impressions can be!!)
And I remember thinking- why is this older, mature lady hanging out with this group of kids? (and by kids of course they were all around my age).
Well, Fawn (who loved my hair) invited me to a girls night that next night. And since she was so friendly, I accepted (on the grounds that Kim was going too!).
So it was that next night at Fawn's house that I saw that "older, mature" woman and found out who she REALLY was!! She showed up in ripped up jogging pants and a t-shirt 3 sizes too big for her! Her hair was pulled into a tight yet crazy ponytail and the make-up was gone!
Instead of the quiet, reserved "woman" I had noticed at the dinner, I met the real deal- the crazy, silly full of life Dawn Jacobus!!
To think of what my first impression of her was now is SO funny to me!! What a trick she plays on us!
Well there was a new girl there that night that was not at the dinner. And it was Dawn's roommate, Jennifer Blackwood. The moment Jen walked into the room, I knew she was different, special. I made every effort to get a chance to talk to her and find out more about her. I had no clue what it was at the time, but something just drew me to her.
As the night rolled on and the cookie dough got passed around, I was beginning to finally understand what Kim had been seeing in this group of ladies for so long!
I was having so much fun, laughing so hard and there was absolutely no alcohol involved at all!
(which during that part of my life was pretty unheard of!)
The more I got to talk with Jen, the more I just knew I had to be her friend. There was something inside of me saying, "she has something you need and you have something she needs". I know now that it was the Holy Spirit speaking into my heart, but 10 years ago, I just knew it was this intense feeling.
So the next weekend there was another get-together of all these people (they hung out a lot!). And I was very excited for Jen and Dawn to arrive. During my conversation with Jen, I told her, "you are a really cool person". And in reply she said very honestly, "really?!". I said, "yes! I'd love to be your friend!" To which she replied, "why?".
And I was a little taken back . . .
I'm sure after a brief pause, I replied, "because you are really cool and I just think we should be friends". I don't exactly remember what she said but I'm sure it was just something like, "um, ok".

And that was the beginning of it all!
After those first few meetings, you could always find me over at Dawn and Jen's house. I was there pretty much every day and every night. I'd bake cookies or have something to bring when I came over because I felt bad being there all the time and not contributing somehow!!
I would practice my massage on them (as I had just graduated from massage school) and that seemed to help me be a welcomed guest! Dawn was especially keen on head scratches though they left her looking like she had a wild lions mane when I was finished!
Jen usually fell asleep within the first 5 minutes of me practicing on her neck. But I must say that I'm so confident in neck massages now because I always had a willing participant to let me practice!

And since those short 10 years ago, we have had so many amazing adventures and experiences together! We love to take trips together, so we've been on a cruise, traveled in Italy and gone to Thailand together.

These ladies have been such an amazing influence in my life and the past 10 years would have looked very different (and much darker) had they not come in and changed my life forever!!

And I have the amazing persistence of my Best Friend, Kim, to thank also!! Thank you Kimmy for willing to be the guinea pig in finding us new friends and for not giving up on me!! And my life would be even darker without you being in it for the past 27 years!!! (those first 5 without you were the toughest!). Love you BFFEADDUP!!!

Random October File

2011-11-06T01:07:00.000-06:00

I haven't updated the blog in quite some time!! That is mainly because Jen and I are in a bit of a place of "hold" right now. I'm not going to get into that on this blog post, but if you get our newsletters, you should have seen something about it at the bottom ;)

But we have been busy doing lots of random things, and that is what this blog post is about. Here are pictures from my "random" picture folder from the month of October.

Enjoy! :)

Cooking- this is something we've been doing a LOT of lately. Since we are trying to lose a little weight and also just become more healthy overall, we've been cooking about 90% of our meals.

Our latest and so far most favorite were these Stacked Roasted Veggie Enchiladas!! SO amazing!

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE

We've had our share of the flooding here in Chiang Mai, but it was nothing compared to Bangkok (which is still flooded in 70% of the city)

Missing Halloween was a bit sad for me. No, I dont celebrate dead people, but I do enjoy watching little kids get dressed up (and maybe myself, but I'll never tell!) and enjoying a night of Free Candy!! Also I love the weather and the candy half off sales after the 31st!

So, in an effort to bring some Halloween to Thailand, Jen made homemade pudding (low fat of course!) and we crumbled "dirt" (oreos) on top and buried the only Halloween candy we could find here- a jelly skeleton - into it! It was so yummm!!

Baw got baptized!! If you remember, she was a young girl we met last year doing the jewelry project and then also interned with us over the summer. She has since become a strong believer and is discipling other girls as well as being discipled

We celebrated Dee's bday at the coffee shop. Jen made our 'famous' whole-wheat banana chocolate chip bread =) Man, we love Dee!!! I wish everyone could have a "Dee" in their lives!

Jen had to pose for some photos for the government. To get her visa stuff, they need tons of pics of all the things she does- including working in the office. This isn't her computer or her desk or her office, but it gets the point across ;)

We also had to create a sign just for these government photos and go put it on Anne's side house, where we have the office registered from before. We had to actually get that sign made just for this one photo because the government said we had to have a sign on our office and they needed a picture of it. Yeah, just for Jen's visa!! So crazy!

Jen got poo'd on!!! Hehehehe! She has no clue how long she was walking around with this before she discovered it!

Another favorite meal we've had (the pic does not do it justice). It was a mango sauce over pork tenderloin, homemade garlic mashed potatoes & brown sugar carrots! I could have eaten my weight in that stuff!

We are working on some jewelry orders and also new jewelry for BTN to have. This is something we're currently working on- it's a wrapped bracelet. We're planning on doing it all 1 color, but just wanted to see all the different colors without having to make 3 different full samples. However, I'm really diggin' the multicolor thing happening!

We have finally faced our fear, and cooked with Real pumpkin!! We have been looking for canned pumpkin for weeks now at every store we can think of, and no one has it here. We have been so intimidated by the thought of using a real pumpkin that we almost gave up.

Then we talked to a friend that said, stick it in a tinfoil bag you make around it and bake it for an hour or so. That's it!!

And we did! And since then, we made some amazing pumpkin muffins & I looked up how to make your very own Pumpkin Spice for coffee (Starbucks in Thailand does not serve the ever highly anticipated holiday drinks like they do back home & there is much left to be desired when I see everyone posting on FB about the beauty and warmth these drinks are bringing them!)

So I decided to create my own, and not only is it de'lish, it's also healthy! No fake syrups for me! :)

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE

So that's it for our October Random Pic file.

We are still in the workings of getting the orphanage started and Anne is meeting with the government again on Monday . . . hopefully we'll get some update then.

We are still working on jewelry and orders and new designs.

We still have the awesome Java Junkie coffee shop & I'm working on a new menu for this high season that we're coming into.

And we're still Jen and Steph, awesome as always!! =)

Good Stuff

2011-10-12T01:27:00.000-05:00

Motivation Found!!!

2011-10-09T02:42:00.000-05:00

Last week I posted about not having much motivation and trying to figure out how to get it.
Well, it's been about a 3 month process, but I'm slowly starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Last Saturday, I headed out to do my first run/walk in months! I was pretty excited, proud of myself for getting out, & ready to see where I was at.

I didn't get 10 minutes into my warmup, when I fell off the sidewalk and landed on my ankle weird! I was SO mad!! I may have said a few things I shouldn't have . . . But I was so upset that my first attempt of getting out got messed up by an injury.
I went ahead and still walked some that morning, but then I ended up taking almost a week totally off (just 1 Jillian workout DVD mixed in there).

Me w/ my leg propped up & iced

Well this Saturday, I'm happy to report, that I came back with a vengeance!

After staring at my (finished) vision board all week, tracking my calories & having good conversations with Jen, I was actually excited to workout!
I know it's hard to believe . . . But I was!!

I was looking forward to getting up because we were going to drive to the lake (25 mins away) early in the morning and run/walk the lake a few times, bring a packed picnic lunch & then walk the lake again after we ate. I was stoked!

So, long story short, we ended up warming up together by walking, then- because Jen runs much faster than me, we went our separate ways for 2 laps around the lake.

Each lap being 2.33 miles.

Towards the end of a lap, we'd reach the bike & grab some water (and I needed to also add a potty break- Jen sweats all her water out, I have to pee it out!).

Jen, of course, finished her laps before me & came to meet me on the last of mine. So I actually didn't complete my final lap b/c we stopped at the bike & had lunch.

Then, since we were fueled up, we headed back out and did a final lap together, mostly walking, and just enjoyed the peaceful, quiet scenery.

From my Nike run on my iPod- this is how far I went just on my own around almost 2 times & listening to a great podcast from Jillian Michaels

Once the day was all said and done, I had done a total of 6 miles (almost a 10k) and Jen had done 7 miles. And I burned 1,200 calories!!

That's so crazy!! But it felt SO good when we were done! My body felt like I had went into the shop and got every joint oiled up and loosened. My mind felt focused, the stretches felt like such a refreshment and like there was just LIFE in my muscles!

It felt awesome!

Jen had decided her goal was 1,000 calories before we started, so that was what we were working towards.

I am so so so thankful that I'm finally begining to emerge from this fog that my mind has been about being healthy and getting back into the routines that I enjoy of exercising and eating right.

It's still such a mind game for me and I have to battle it constantly. But when you have days like this, it's really encouraging and helps to motivate you for the days to come!

My tip of the day? Get a heart rate monitor!! What's the use in tracking the calories you eat if you have no clue what you're expending?!
Track what goes in, track what goes out. It is nothing more than a numbers game.

See you on the road! =)

Motivation Needed

2011-10-04T01:58:00.000-05:00

How do the pounds just creep on like this?!

Ever since the end of the summer (when our volunteers left) Jen and I have been trying to get our lives back into a normal routine.

Before the team came, I had gotten pretty close to what my goal weight was- closer than I've ever been in my life! Well, besides when I was in the 9th grade!! And I was very motivated, working out, running, making my own food . . . all that awesome jazz I had always wanted to be.

But then my world turned crazy busy and I just let it all . . . well . . . End. I stopped running, stopped counting/watching calories and stopped paying attention to what I was putting in my mouth (Hello peanut butter and jelly sandwiches everyday!!).

After the summer I was tired. Emotionally, Spiritually and Physically. I just wanted to not think so much. And I got lazy. Really lazy!

I'm all about resting and having busy seasons and then slow seasons . . . But it's really difficult for me when I lose that momentum. And I had lost all my momentum.

Everyday is a battle of the mind saying- workout, no I dont feel like it, well it's not about what you feel- you'll feel better if you do, but I dont want to . . .

And then watching the scale creep up and up each week. It can be discouraging.

So I'm trying to think outside the box
How can I motivate myself? How can a naturally unmotivated person (me) create motivation?

Step one- do something.
---Walk to the store for some milk. Take a stroll in the park. Get outside to think. Change your scenery.
This (these) small things can actually make a Big difference!

---Another step: Create a Vision Board

This is a totally new one for me. It's something I've heard about before, but never wanted to admit I wanted to do one!

This is what I have so far- I'm still cutting and pasting. But just the act of creating it: I'm seeing these positive images, reading these positive words, and getting to play with glue & scissors which feeds my creative side!
I'm hoping that having this visual of what I want available for me to see everyday will help me remember why I want to exercise & eat healthy.
Yes looking great is a motivator, but feeling great is even more motivating! To know that my body is healthy, inside and out, to know that I have natural energy & that I'm using food as an energy source and as natural medicine- rather than using it for fleeting pleasure or reward.

And finally, for me
---Have a goal
I know that nothing motivates me more than having something I'm aiming for. Without an end goal in mind, how do I know how to get there?

For me, I've had to learn that "weight" can not be a goal. Because once I reach it (or in my case, come really close & then settle), then your goal is over and you stop. And before you know it, you've got 5-10lbs on you again and you have to start that whole goal over again!! How frustraing is this?!
How many of you have gained and lost the same 5-10lbs year after year?

No, I need a more continual goal. Or lots of little ones that can follow each other once I've completed one.

*So for my Big Life Goal- I am aiming to just Be Healthy. Educate myself on health, food, exercise- and incorporate my knowledge into my life. Be Healthy.

*Monthly small goals for me are races. Complete a 5k. Complete a 10k. Beat my time on my 5k/10k. Races are great motivators b/c you have a date goal in mind, so you can work backwards from that date to come up with your "plan of attack".

*Weekly small goal for me is how many times I workout in a week. Though I'd love to say 5, it's more realistically to be 3. I have also learned the hard lesson of setting realistic goals so as not to be beat down with disappointment in myself when I dont complete a goal that I knew was too ambitious to begin with.

*And finally, my daily goals are the food I eat. My calorie intake. I use an online tool to track this and help me be conscious and aware of what I actually put into my mouth. (It's shocking to me how much mindless eating I do on a daily basis!! Writing down everything you eat can be one of the most revealing things!)
The online tools I use are either The Daily Plate or a new one I'm trying out Lose It. Both of which are totally free!

I think my favorite parts about tracking my calories, is that it has opened up my Caloric Eyes! Somethings I just had no clue about!! And I'm learning to make simple easy "swaps" with some of my favorite foods & not sacrifice taste at all!

So that's where I'm at right now with my motivation, or lack there of. It seems to be a constant battle and struggle and I need to find new ways all the time to keep myself engaged.
Would love to hear how you keep yourself motivated!! We can all use all the ideas we can get!

Good luck in staying with the goals you have set for yourselves!!

Our little 3 day get-away

2011-10-02T08:23:00.001-05:00

Jen and I needed some time to get away from everything and just pray and think and relax. So I found this great place about 30 mins away that had TONS of activities to do! We wanted to be in nature and still be active while we were away.
This place had saltwater pools, bikes for rent, paddle boats, a mini zoo and beautifully kept gardens. We got in some workouts as well as some great relaxing and resting.
Here are our top pics- most of course are of animals from the zoo :)

Eric Whitacre virtual choir - amazing!

2011-09-29T22:51:00.001-05:00

Video intro to the project

Final video

Trivial trials

2011-09-24T00:31:00.002-05:00

Living in another country can have it's difficulties. Some extreme, and some entirely trivial.

Today, I was reminded of a very trivial difficulty- good soda!

Thailand soda is very different than American soda. It tastes different, and at times, can have different names.

I'm not a big soda drinker and never have been. But a good diet soda on a hot day when you are craving something sweet, can be just what the doctor ordered!
But the soda here just isn't the same.

Diet Coke doesn't exist. Instead, they have Coke Light. A very syrup'y version with hardly any carbonation.
They just recently got Dr. Pepper, but it sells for $1.70 a can!! And no Diet Dr Pepper in sight =(

At home I don't like 7-up, but I like Sprite. Here, the opposite is true. Sprite is like drinking sugar water where 7-up has a nice balance of sweet and carbonation.

On one dry, hot day- nearly ready to give up my search for a refreshing, sugar free, thirst quenching treat, I randomly decided to buy a Coke Zero.
Because I don't actually like the taste of Coke, it never occurred to me to buy a Coke Zero, as the whole thing about this product is that it tastes just like Coke, but no sugar.
But since things just taste different here, I thought I'd give it a chance.

The result? I totally love it! It's not too sweet, and the sweet doesnt taste like a chemical. It doesnt taste like Coke at all & doesnt give me the feeling that my teeth are rotting away with every sip.

Coke Zero has become my new favorite sugar-free treat for that relief you need on a hot day.

Moral of the story?? Don't be afraid to try something new! You might be missing out on your new favorite treat! :)

Side of ants with your cappuccino?

2011-09-22T06:17:00.003-05:00

So I got a coffee on the road the other day. We were headed to the Handicap Village for jewelry & we stopped at a gas station coffee shop.
A really nice one actually.
And I got a hot cappuccino to go.

I decided to let myself splurge a little & add some syrup* to my coffee.
(*here in Thailand, they make a sweet syrup that you can add in your coffee for free that they keep over by the sugar).

So I checked the syrup to make sure there were no ants floating in it by looking through the glass. Looked clean to me.
Poured a big dollop in there & as soon as the "dollop" came out of the glass and dropped into my coffee- I saw them! 20 or so huge dead black ants floating on the TOP of the syrup!

I must have poured 6-7 big fat dead bodies into my coffee in that one fast move.
I instantly ran to Anne & told her what happened. I told her I need to get a new coffee & asked if she thought they'd let me have another one for free.

Well, Anne knowing how we Westerners are about ants in our food, totally understood my problem.
But the Thai people working at the coffee shop obviously had very little experience with Westerners and offered to just pull the dead ants out of my coffee for me.
How they could even find them?! I have no clue!

It turned into a 15 minute discussion of Anne explaining to them how Thai's dont think anything of ants and just eat them if a few fall into their drink/food/whatever. They just say, "oh, extra protein".

Westerners and Foreigners on the other hand, are totally disgusted and wont eat/drink it and would probably never return to that shop again (I actually have a shop I've stopped going to b/c they always have ants in their food!! Gross!).

At first the lady was very resistant and saying I had to buy a whole new drink. I was fine w/ that and actually had kind of lost my appetite after pouring a whole ant grave into my coffee.

But Anne was very nice (and persistent) in making sure these Thai women understood - for the future of their business- that it's not ok to have ants in their food/drinks/syrups/anything.
They had a Really nice shop, but that people will think it's dirty and not come back because of something like this.

Finally, Anne figured out a way to help these Thai women understand just how disgusting it is to us, the thought of eating ants.

It turns out, and I just learned this from this experience- that Thai's absolutely HATE flies! They think they are so gross and full of diseases!

If a few ants are in their soup-- no problem, extra protein.
If a fly falls in their soup-- they will not touch it and demand a new bowl!

Who knew?!

So finally after Anne used that analogy (they hate ants like you hate flies) the ladies were practically dying to make me a new cup of coffee!! When before they were insisting I had to buy a new cup! And when I was leaving they were all smiles and asking me, "will you come back here? Will you come see us again?? Thank you so much!"
Ha! Culture . . . who knew?!

So, if you come to Thailand and you have ants in your food- dont expect the Thai cook to really care much or be willing to give you a new plate. But, if you have a fly in your food, know that the Thai's will totally sympathize with you & be just as disgusted as you are.

Moral of the story (or, what I've come to decide): I will carry around with me fake plastic flies to stick in my food whenever I get served something with ants in it. Guaranteed to get me a new serving*!
(*though chances are pretty high that even the new serving will have ants in it as they are usually in everything and have probably been in that dish since before you even arrived!)

1 year later . . . My bday video is complete!

2011-09-15T04:52:00.000-05:00

Just a year and 4 months later . . . I finished editing my 31st bday video!!

Fresh Homemade Almond Milk

2011-09-13T22:37:00.004-05:00

Well, you saw my pic on the last post about me soaking some almonds for some fresh almond milk. I just finished up the batch this morning. And I must say, it's pretty dang tasty!

I was a bit skeptical at first . . . My first sip straight from the blender wasn't exactly "de-lish". But after a few modifications, I am very happy with the results!

As Jen pointed out, it might be better suited to call this Almond Juice, or maybe Almond Water- referring to it as Almond Milk will almost certainly disappoint the consumer, especially someone who is used to store bought creamy and smooth Almond Milk. But- it's up to you!

1 Cup of Almonds that had been soaked overnight into a blender with 4 cups of water

Before I realized what I was doing, I added this, almond extract, instead of vanilla! But I actually like how it ended up. But I did add vanilla too- 1 teaspoon

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Throw everything into the blender and let her whirl!!

One thing I forgot to take a picture of- raisins! Yep! This recipe called for Dates as a natural sweeter. But I didn't have any. So I did some research on the internet and found a post where someone said you could throw a handful of raisins into a blender w/ some water (they weren't exact with their measurements) and out came a very sweet paste that you could use for all kinds of things.

So after I blended all this stuff and tasted it, it wasnt very sweet. So I decided to try the raisin idea. And it turned out very nicely in the end :)

After all that blending, I decided I would like it better strained, so I tied this fabric around the bowl and poured it all on top

I let it sit for about 15 mins and drain & this is how it looked afterwards

Then I balled up the remains and did some final squeezing and milking

End result of pure, smooth Almond "milk"

Pouring it into a cup to test it out

And it passed inspection!

And here is the leftover nut butter mixture. I'm looking now for some Raw Cookie recipes I can use it with. Or maybe I'll just eat it plain as a nut butter treat. Not sure yet.

So this morning, I added some of the almond milk to my coffee, which I had already added some chocolate milk to, and it was Heaven!!! I drank it so fast and I just want another cup!

I'm not a 2 cup girl, but boy if I was . . .

Here is the link to the recipe I found online

Almond Milk

I think now that we've started making our own milks, I'm gonna invest $8 and buy a Nut Milk Bag on Amazon. Here is the one I decided on: Nut Milk Bag

I think it will make things easier than my handcut lightbox fabric ;)

Enjoy!!

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

2011-09-13T08:34:00.000-05:00

Tonight we are making Quinoa Stuffed Peppers for dinner from Jillian's cookbook

Start by cleaning them out and microwaving them a bit

Then you mix a bunch of stuff while cooking the quinoa

Meanwhile you get some comic relief from your friend

Or perhaps some inspiration from a de-lish Laos beer

And maybe a little more comic relief

Cook them in a pan w/ a little water till soft and insides crunchy

Put it on a plate and enjoy!!

Then you put some almonds in some water to soak overnight for the fresh almond milk you are going to make tomorrow! =D

I'll post instructions/pics on that once I've finished. Pretty excited about it!

Faith-Based Filmmaking

2011-09-12T22:02:00.002-05:00

Faith-Based Filmmaking: The Sherwood Pictures Crusade

Albany, Ga., population 76,000, is a three-hour drive south of Atlanta and not the first place in the world you'd expect to find a movie star. But visit the well-kept grounds of Sherwood Baptist Church here on a Sunday, as the congregation's 3,000 members gather to sing and pray, and you're likely to spot a few. There's Tracy Goode, who played coach Brady Owens in the 2006 high-school football epic Facing the Giants; there's Harris Malcom, who played the father of Kirk Cameron's firefighter character in the 2008 drama Fireproof. And if he's not in New York editing a movie, you're almost guaranteed to spot Alex Kendrick, the 40-year-old director and frequent lead actor in the films of Sherwood Pictures.
Kendrick and his producer brother Stephen, 37 -- church pastors both -- are at the center of one of the more unlikely success stories in movies. Sherwood Pictures is a tiny organization whose Christian-themed films are produced almost entirely by volunteers with little moviemaking experience -- and they've grossed more than $43 million since 2003.
Christian entertainment is a big, increasingly mainstream business. The Shack, a self-published 2007 novel about a man who meets God in a cabin in the woods, became a bestseller; the postapocalyptic Left Behind series has sold more than 60 million copies worldwide. Major Christian recording artists such as rapper Toby Mac move millions of albums and anchor massive concerts like the four-day Creation Music Festival, held twice a year in Pennsylvania and Washington. But with the exception of Mel Gibson's $370 million hit The Passion of the Christ, films with overt Christian themes haven't been significant players at the box office. Meyer Gottlieb, president of Samuel Goldwyn films, which helped distribute Fireproof, calls the faith-based audience "huge and underserved."
Ted Baehr, founder of the faith-based movie industry advocacy group Movieguide, says that producing wholesome films opens the door to 149 million churchgoers, 26 million of them who go to movies on a weekly basis. "The more you put in that is redemptive, the better the movie does," he says.
The Kendricks would agree. Fireproof was the highest-grossing indie film of 2008 -- it earned $33 million -- and Sherwood's next release, Courageous (in theaters September 30), has been picked up by Sony Pictures and will open on some 2,000 screens nationwide. Other church groups are following the Kendricks' lead. Last February, Sony released The Grace Card, produced by the 600-member Calvary Church of Cordova, Tenn. Its director, David Evans -- an optometrist whose previous show business experience was producing his church's annual Easter Passion play -- wrote, directed and fronted the film's $500,000 budget, literally using the Kendricks' playbook. "I got my hands on every word they had spoken on filmmaking," Evans, 42, says. "Casting call sheets, shooting schedules -- everything they used, I was able to use."
The Sherwood story began gathering steam in 2003, four years after Alex Kendrick landed at the fast-growing Baptist ministry to handle its media outreach projects. He pitched an idea to pastor Michael Catt: a low-budget film to spread the church's message. Alex and Stephen had written a simple script about a dishonest car salesman (played by Alex) who turns his life around after re-committing himself to God. With $20,000 raised from church members, Alex bought a digital camera, a boom mike and some lights from Home Depot; the cast and crew, made up of 60 church volunteers, filmed in the evenings on donated sets and built dolly tracks out of PVC piping. The film, Flywheel, was completed in a few months. ("Whereas we've improved the production quality in our recent movies," Alex drawls in the DVD introduction to this debut, "we hope you will also be blessed byFlywheel.")
Despite the ropey production values, Flywheel was a success on its own terms, attracting large audiences at an Albany multiplex and later expanding to a few regional theaters. Within months, it had sold around 100,000 copies on DVD. The Kendrick brothers began work on Sherwood's second project, Facing the Giants, an underdog story about a high school football team, with $100,000 raised from the congregation.
Aiming for nationwide distribution, Alex sent the finished film to Disney and 20th Century Fox. They didn't bite. But the brothers also sent a copy to Provident Music, a Christian label owned by Sony, requesting the rights to use a few songs by the Atlanta-based Christian rock band Third Day. Terry Hemmings, Provident's president, watched the film over lunch; he liked it so much he booked a flight to Georgia that day and sent a copy of the movie to his bosses at Sony. "People look up on the screen and see themselves, struggling with faith and the messiness of life," says Kris Fuhr, vice president of Provident Films,Facing the Giants' distributor.
Giants hit 441 theaters in the fall of 2006 and made $10 million. Kirk Cameron, the former Growing Pains star who became a Christian at 17, saw Sherwood's success with Giants and offered to appear in the studio's next film. (Like the rest of Sherwood's volunteer actors, he was asked to audition.) Fireproof, a Kendrick script about a group of firefighters struggling to keep their marriages together, was made for a relatively ambitious $500,000; its $33 million box-office take beat that of Milk, Sean Penn's Oscar-winning biopic, and the George Clooney comedyLeatherheads.
The films have been a windfall for Sherwood Baptist Church. The ministry has constructed a two-story prayer tower where volunteers pray for the movie studio and the region 24 hours a day. For the city of Albany (one of the poorest cities of its size in the country, with a per capita income of just $21,300), the church has constructed an 82-acre sports park complete with an equestrian center. It also stocks food shelters throughout southwestern Georgia, supports a local drug and alcohol treatment facility and is launching new churches nationwide, including two in Baltimore and one in San Francisco. The Love Dare, a marriage and spiritual advice book written by the Kendricks that features in the plot of Fireproof, has spent years near the top of Christian bestseller lists. Sherwood, it's safe to say, is now a brand.
Sherwood's church and studio work still operates largely on a volunteer basis; Courageous, made for $1 million, would have cost several times as much if the studio had relied on professional talent. Catt says the filmmakers rely on profits from the films and unsolicited donations, and that pastors have never asked for funding or volunteers from the pulpit. "With volunteers no one is watching the clock and we're all in it together," Alex Kendrick says.
Kendrick hopes the police drama Courageous might find a berth with secular viewers. "Our initial audience will likely be of the faith arena," he says. "We understand that. But ultimately, we see a really broad audience -- and we saw that with Fireproof." Sherwood films are full of couples on their knees praying, Bibles opened and read, scripture quoted and the name of Jesus invoked (and not in vain). But Catt believes their appeal is broader than it might appear. "There is a segment of the general audience who looks for the absence of bad, and wants wholesome," says Provident Films' Fuhr. "A grandmother can take a 6-year-old and won't cringe or say, 'Oh, I can't believe I brought them.'"
"Our goal is to use movies to change culture," says Alex Kendrick. "How many sermons would we have to preach to reach five million people?"

Glow sticks, flat tire & Jen dancing

2011-09-11T03:26:00.001-05:00

That about sums up the first half of my day . . .

Today was the 21st anniversary of our church and they gave us glow sticks!! So of course I had them through the entire service to distract me!

Yeah, these were Very entertaining to me!!

Then as we were driving home from such an awesome church party, we got a flat tire :( . I had noticed they felt soft this morning, but they've been needing air like every 3 days or something. So I figured we'd just fill up after church (since we were running late of course!).

But, as God always does, we broke down very close to a place to get it fixed! I only had to drive against traffic for about 1/2 mile, cross 4 lanes of traffic & go down a little road. Piece of cake! :)

And the best part is always how fast and cheap it is. Instant service, in/out in 15 mins & it only cost $3.65!

They had someone's cell phone playing music while we were waiting to get the tire fixed, so Jen and I were jammin' out. There was also a little boy right behind us naked-as-a-bloody-bluejay, getting his afternoon bath outside.

Jen jammin' to "shorty got low-low-low-low . . ."

Ya just never know what a day will hold around here!!!

Praise and Worship

2011-09-10T06:28:00.002-05:00

We got some Much needed English worship last night! We were both so tired from being tour guides for our friends the past 3 days, but we really were glad to go to this event.
It's called Refresh and it's a lot of the Christian foreign community that puts it on.
They do a night of praise and worship & they also feature an artist each time. It's always someone and something different. And they have an awesome coffee shop there that makes drinks & sells cookies and cinnamon rolls!! Yummm!!

So here is just 60 secs of the end of the last song. I love the drummer b/c she is this 50 year old lady that is so spunky!! She was gettin' down!

Stephanie Dyar Photography

2011-09-10T01:49:00.004-05:00


My new FB page!!

I've been thinking about doing it for awhile now and I finally did. I started a FB page for photography. I originally thought I'd use it as another avenue to share my photos on. But it’s kind of turned into this public discussion place for people to ask questions and for us all to share photos and projects together.

I’ve got a lot of positive feedback from it already and it makes me so happy!

One of my favorite things to do is teach people and I Love teaching about photography! I love when you can take something that is confusing to someone, and explain it in a way that not only do they “get” it, but they get excited about it too! I just love that! I loved working at Best Buy so many years ago, not because I loved the job itself (didnt love it at all) but what I did love was getting to teach people about cameras ALL day long! When someone would walk in not knowing anything about cameras or what they should buy and/or why- and then I got to spend 30 mins with them finding out what their needs are and explaining to them what features they should be looking for and would best suite them, and they walked out with more knowledge than they came in with and they are no longer feeling confused or intimidated- it would just Make my day!!

I cant tell you how many times a manager would come up to me after I had a customer and say to me, “did they buy something??” and I’d say, “no, but they have more knowledge now than they did before!”

My managers never seemed to be as excited about me looking at my job as a way to give out free information to people who came in confused and intimidated by cameras more than I looked at my job as a place to sell cameras. Knowledge is key man!

So I’m excited to share ideas/thoughts/projects online w/ everyone. I think it’ll be a lot of fun! It already is and I’ve only started the page 3 days ago :D

So go visit and "like" my page so you can start sharing photos with us!!

Right now we're doing a project called 5 Second Exposure .

Stephanie Dyar Photography Facebook Page Link

Stephanie Dyar Photography website is soon to come :)

Camera Play

2011-09-05T22:48:00.003-05:00

I'm trying to challenge myself to learn more about my camera, taking pictures, and a whole host of other topics about photography. I know I'll never learn if I don't just pick a topic and start learning about it.

I've been reading through my old Popular Photography magazines that I brought here with me and I'm highlighting articles and subjects I want to learn more about or learn to use better.
So far my list is:

Bracketing
Histogram
Exposure (controlling it for desired effect)
Silhouettes
White Balance and setting it using grey cards

I also want to create "projects" for myself to make me have to carry my camera around and use it on a daily basis- not just when I go out to villages on a project.

I haven't totally decided what project(s) I'll do first, but 2 ideas I have is

For a week (or longer) carry my camera everywhere I go, even around the house (which is pretty much all the place I go!) I haven't officially started this project, but I have started doing that today (pics to follow below)
5 Seconds Project- Make exposures at 5 seconds and play around with lighting, exposure and ISO

So in carrying my camera around with me today as I venture through my bedroom, the kitchen and downstairs to order a cappuccino, here are my pictures so far:


Breakfast in the lightbox

Mai's Thai breakfast of pumpkin and rice

Earrings downstairs for sell in the coffee shop

Flags in Africa on the map downstairs for visitors

US peeps representin'

This morning

Steve Irvwin- You'll always be remembered!

2011-09-05T00:30:00.002-05:00

In remembrance of Steve Irwin, a true animal and nature lover, and the 4th anniversary of him passing- I'm sharing this article:

Beware of the Gonzo Nature-TV Presenter
BY ANDREW MARSHALL
Sept. 4 is the fifth anniversary of the death of Steve Irwin, the Australian wildlife presenter fatally speared by a stingray's barb while filming on the Great Barrier Reef. His death was a shock, but its manner surprised nobody. There was no dangerous animal Irwin wouldn't provoke and manhandle for TV.

Five years on, the pet-and-pester approach he pioneered has become the standard way for nature programs to produce cheap dramatic footage - reality TV with claws. Turn on any channel and you'll see Irwin lookalikes hassling animals. They declaim their love of nature, while unwittingly recording our dysfunctional relationship with it, teaching our children to both fear and subjugate creatures already pushed to the brink of extinction.

Irwin's boyhood inspiration was the British broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough. Often whispering so as not to disturb his subjects, Attenborough reverentially reveals the wonders of the natural world and our place in it. He doesn't set out to demonstrate his mastery over animals.

Today's presenters are different. Animal Planet's slogan is "Surprisingly Human." It should be "Depressingly Human," since it chronicles our species' conflict with almost every other. A South African herpetologist called Donald Schultz, who fronts Wild Recon, is a self-styled adrenaline junkie on a pseudo-scientific mission. He collects snake venom and other animal fluids "that could yield life-altering scientific discoveries." In Sri Lanka, he draws blood from a tranquilized young rogue elephant "so that researchers can study his hormones." But what discoveries those unnamed researchers make - or what qualifies a snake expert to draw blood from the world's largest land mammal - is never explained. What we learn is this: animals are vicious, so humans are justified in using any means to subdue them. Schultz describes the drugged and terrified elephant as "five tons of aggression."

This message is driven home by more recent shows, such as Man-Eating Super Snake ("No one is safe in South Florida") and Nature's Deadliest ("Size doesn't matter to the world's most dangerous creatures"). I've given up on finding a show that teaches us how to live in harmony with animals. Instead, we invade their habitats and, when they defend themselves, we brand them violent.

This is the apparent strategy of Animal Planet's Into the Pride. A pride of lions known for "aggression toward people" must learn to grow accustomed to ecotourists at a Namibian reserve - or else. "If they don't calm down," we're told, "they will be destroyed." Calm down? They're wild animals. They're calm enough when you leave them alone. But try telling that to the show's frat-boy host, a Canadian animal trainer called Dave Salmoni. He approaches on an all-terrain vehicle and sets about acclimatizing the lions to humans - by repeatedly aggravating them. "Right now, they're problem cats," Salmoni explains, "because of their perception of what humans are." In this case, a whooping doofus on a quad bike.

Even National Geographic ("Inspiring people to care about the planet since 1888") can't leave animals be. An episode of its Monster Fish shows American biologist Zeb Hogan wrestling giant South American arapaima into a man-made pond where anglers pay to catch them. This is conservation?

All this poses a dilemma for parents. Where do children form an appreciation of nature? My father took me to zoos, which I loved. But today even the best zoos discomfit many parents, this one included. So children must turn to TV, where they find the bloody dramatized attacks of Discovery Channel's recent Shark Week, or a show likeSwamp Brothers, in which Florida reptile trader Robbie Keszey restrains wild animals under the guise of (he says) teaching people to respect "their rights to this place we call earth." My son won't be watching him.

Is there a connection between TV's obsession with subjugating animals and our capacity to destroy them and their habitats? Possibly. We demonized sharks and were soon slaughtering millions for their fins every year. Through nature TV, we're now demonizing all wild creatures to make us feel better about precipitating their extinction. "People come first," says Schultz as he pursues that elephant, and for once he's right. On this planet, only rogue humans are allowed to roam free.

Homemade Coconut Milk How-To

2011-09-04T10:03:00.000-05:00

Ever since the last post about the funny coconut, I've been regretting not trying to make coconut milk out of it! So, Jen and I ran by a market today and bought another coconut to bring home and attempt making homemade coconut milk.

I thought it would be more fun to video document the whole thing, so here ya go! A video how-to/documentation of our making homemade coconut milk:

We were just in some strange cooking/baking/making mood tonight and also made Taco Soup & some Blueberry Banana Muffins (From Jillian Michaels cookbook)

Healthy AND yummy!! Great for breakfast w/ a cup of coffee!


The batter was actually Really yum!

Jen slavin away

The good stuff

Final product

And Taco Soup for dinner!!

Warms your soul!

It was a good culinary evening!

Procrastination Project #3

2011-09-04T03:32:00.003-05:00


Extra working space in kitchen for cooking & storage

Duration of time I've been talking about doing it: Over 2 years

Level of difficulty (1-5): 5 (because of unspecific Thai instructions and not owning a car to bring it home in)

Amount of time it took to complete: 2 hours building time/2 days shopping & delivery time

Total cost of project: $27 + donuts given as a thank you for our friend who let us use her car

Level of increased happiness in life (1-5): 5+

Procrastination Project #2 (uncompleted)

2011-09-04T03:30:00.000-05:00

Broken Lamp on Jen's side of room

Duration of time I've been talking about doing it: Over a year

Level of difficulty (1-5): 2

Amount of time it took to complete: Still not finished

Total cost of project: $3

Level of increased happiness in life (1-5): 2.5

Procrastination Project #1

2011-09-04T03:24:00.001-05:00

Putting up 2nd shelf over bed

Duration of time I've been talking about doing it: Over a year

Level of difficulty (1-5): 2

Amount of time it took to complete: 20 mins

Total cost of project: $5

Level of increased happiness in life (1-5): 4.5

Funny Coconut

2011-09-01T07:16:00.005-05:00

Jen and I headed to the famous Tha Pae tonight because we saw something was going on. Turned out to be some sort of ceremony that was still getting together. So we walked around, took some pics and bought a cute little coconut to drink :)

Here is a video of the little coconut we bought- it was really funny when you sucked through the straw!

Steph enjoying it

After we got home, I gutted it. After I threw the meat away, I found a recipe for making fresh coconut milk with is!! Doh! Oh well, next time!

Lady pouring flower petals this idol

Big idol they had set up

Jen and the coconut

Strange little thing the coconut lady had

weird foreigners!

Thai band

Woman whispering something into this fake pig's ear

We really lucked out and missed the rain! The moment we stepped out on our porch, it started. We waited about 10 mins and then it ended. Then about 10 mins after we got home, it poured again!

Yucky!

Idols

Photo Slideshows

2011-08-31T07:28:00.004-05:00

Shipping some jewelry out

2011-08-30T02:46:00.002-05:00

So I had to ship out some jewelry today to the states. For whatever reason, it took me ALL day to do it! From getting the box packed, to making the packing list, to finding small gifts for all my nieces/nephew . . . I worked on this dang thing from 10am - 3pm!

I had planned on taking it to the Thai Post, but when I did, I discovered that it was actually cheaper to take it to Fed-Ex! And Fed-Ex is 3 day delivery, vs Thai Post 1-2 weeks!

The only sad thing was that I had to totally repack it all into a new box at Fed-Ex when I got there! Really stinks b/c I was so meticulous when I was packing it the first time & that thing had like 7 different layers!
But- I got a good deal on it and some jewelry is on it's way to the states!

Here I am w/ it strapped to my bike today driving all over town!

Had to stop and get gas and fill up the tires w/ air while I was out.

What I Learned About Leadersip from a Fight With My Wife

2011-08-19T04:33:00.004-05:00

An email we got and wanted to share:

Gail and I have been married for thirty-three years. She is my lover, my best friend, and my coach. But a few days ago we had a fight. It was a doozy.
It’s not important what it was about. It was one of those issues we have stumbled over previously. But I will admit that it was my fault. I ambushed her and let it escalate beyond what the circumstances warranted.

Thankfully, it ended well. Primarily, because Gail was patient, refusing to react to my rant. This was enough to end what Emerson Eggerichs calls, “the crazy cycle.” (If you haven’t read his book, Love and Respect <, you must do so. It’s the most practical book on marriage I’ve read.)

Weary—and feeling a little foolish—we asked one another’s forgiveness and restored the relationship.

As I was reflecting on that experience today, I thought to myself, How can we avoid slipping into this same conflict in the future. I wrote down five lessons I want to remember for the future.

Clarify our expectations up front. Most conflicts are born out of a misalignment of expectations. In this particular argument, I had a set of unexpressed expectations that Gail failed to meet. If we had discussed them before the day began, we would have likely avoided the problem altogether. But, she didn’t know, because I hadn’t bothered to articulate them.
Assume the best about each other. This is especially difficult in the heat of the moment. It is easy to impute motives. But, realistically, your spouse does not get up in the morning intending to make your life miserable. You have to give your spouse the benefit of the doubt, and assume that he or she is well-intentioned.
Affirm the priority of the relationship. The most important asset you have as a couple is the health of your relationship. You don’t want to win the battle but lose the war. Near the end of our argument, I finally came to my senses. I said, “Honestly, I don’t know who is right or who is wrong. What I know for sure is that I love you and that trumps everything.” She quickly agreed.
De-personalize the problem. When you square off against one another and make it personal, it gets ugly. If you are not careful, you end up cornering your spouse and leaving them no other option than to react or retaliate. Instead, you have to move to their side of the table, and work on the problem together.
Listen more than you talk. When you get angry, it is easy to rant—to give expression to your emotion. This is almost never a good idea. Instead, if you want to be understood, you must seek to understand. (Thank you, Dr. Covey.) This means trying to see the other person’s point-of-view. Ask a question, and then ask a follow-up question.

What does this have to do with leadership? Everything. If you can’t lead yourself, you can’t lead others. And if you can’t learn to manage conflict with those closest to you, how can you manage it with those who have less of a stake in the outcome?

Looking for feedback

2011-08-16T06:45:00.004-05:00

Always thinking of self-sustaining . . . I started working on a logo for my Photography. What do you think?

Purple and Green are the colors I'm thinking.

But here it is in Black also, just so you can see the design

And I got this idea from someone else's website for the "About Me" section

Comments?

2011-08-14T23:32:00.002-05:00

After watching a special on Animal Planet, my parents just let me know that we can now be confident that Josie is an official Chiweenie breed! :)

This itty bitty, adorable cross breed is known as the "Mexican Hotdog" or the "German Taco." Half Chihuahua, half Doxen, this breed is active and full of energy.

Quick video from Animal Planet about them:

Jeremiah 10

2011-08-11T22:27:00.008-05:00

10:2 The Lord says,

“Do not start following pagan religious practices.

Do not be in awe of signs that occurin the sky

even though the nations hold them in awe.

10:3 For the religionof these people is worthless.

They cut down a tree in the forest,

and a craftsman makes it into an idol with his tools.

10:4 He decorates it with overlays of silver and gold.

He uses hammer and nails to fasten ittogether

so that it will not fall over.

10:5 Such idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field.

They cannot talk.

They must be carried

because they cannot walk.

Do not be afraid of them

because they cannot hurt you.

And they do not have any power to help you.”

-------------------------------------------------------

10:11 You people of Israel should tell those nations this:

‘These gods did not make heaven and earth.

They will disappearfrom the earth and from under the heavens.’

10:12 The Lord is the one whoby his power made the earth.

He is the one who by his wisdom established the world.

And by his understanding he spread out the skies.

10:13 When his voice thunders,the heavenly ocean roars.

He makes the clouds rise from the far-off horizons.

He makes the lightning flash out in the midst of the rain.

He unleashes the wind from the places where he stores it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Psalm 40

I relied completelyon the Lord,

and he turned toward me

and heard my cry for help.

40:2 He lifted me out of the watery pit,

out of the slimy mud.

He placed my feet on a rock

and gave me secure footing.

40:3 He gave me reason to sing a new song,

praising our God.

40:11 O Lord, you do not withholdyour compassion from me.

May your loyal love and faithfulness continually protect me!

40:12 For innumerable dangers surround me.

My sins overtake me

so I am unable to see;

they outnumber the hairs of my head

so my strength fails me.

40:13 Please be willing, O Lord, to rescue me!

O Lord, hurry and help me!

40:14 May those who are trying to snatch away my life

be totally embarrassed and ashamed!

May those who want to harm me

be turned back and ashamed!

40:15 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”

be humiliatedand disgraced!

40:16 May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you!

May those who love to experienceyour deliverance say continually,

“May the Lord be praised!”

40:17 I am oppressed and needy!

May the Lord pay attention to me!

You are my helper and my deliverer!

O my God, do not delay!

Summer Volunteers- last set of pics

2011-08-11T04:45:00.006-05:00

Just the last few project pics and stories . . .

Praying over Pii Wan Dee's husband (Pii Wan Dee has been driving for us for YEARS! Still wavering on what she believe between Buddhism and Jesus)

Praying for Pii Wan Dee

We went out to her land and helped work in the fields! Got to pick fruit, clean up and dig snails out of the rice patties

Jen lookin hot!

Found a crab!

Pii Wan Dee- she is so cute! We love her!

Pii Wan Dee in her field

We took the team to a Monk Chat. This particular Monk ended up receiving a Bible from these girls after their 2nd visit and him asking questions about Christianity!

Monk chat

Monk studying

Monks

Monk Chat

Monk on the phone!

Chatting

We brought the team to Bridge the Nations coffee shop, Java Junkie a few times for coffee & bagels

Thailand Survivor 2011

2011-08-11T04:33:00.001-05:00

Here is a video I made of our version of Thailand Survivor with the summer volunteers:

Link for Laos trip pictures

2011-08-11T01:52:00.004-05:00

So I have the Laos pics & stories that go along with them on our facebook album. You can see them even if you aren't on facebook by clicking this link:

Laos Facebook Album

World Vision Orders

2011-08-09T04:35:00.003-05:00

So this is a tag World Vision Canada created for us to put with the bracelets we are making for them this year. Pretty cool stuff! :)

This year we are making 26,400 pieces between WV USA and WV Canada! Praise the Lord!!

Adventure #1 in Laos

2011-08-03T05:25:00.001-05:00

Giving a Bible to a Monk

2011-07-26T08:46:00.001-05:00

Video testimony from a team member about giving a Bible to a monk :)

Missions quote

2011-07-26T05:48:00.005-05:00

A member from our team shared this quote with me and I really like it. It's about what "missions" is . . . What it means to be a "missionary" . . .

Missions- it's not about your location, it's about the motivation of your heart.

That we are ALL called to "be on mission" and to be "missionaries".

Myanmar and Laos trip

2011-07-19T08:39:00.010-05:00

Boy have we been busy! It's gonna be so strange when the team leaves and things settle back down. But for now, I'm enjoying it!

More pics from our ministries and trips-

Strange idol

Idol

On a speed boat to Laos (Anne in the background!)

Jen on her boat to Laos

There is a believer on the border of Laos that Anne visits every year when the team comes. We have seen miracles happen in her life- including her having 2 babies when she before couldnt have children! But prayer works!

Praying for Laos & the people

Anne & Mai in the speed boat

We visited a church that we helped the church build last year. It's in a village up north on our way to Burma. We visited the pastor's wife and prayed with her and some family members. Then we walked around their village and prayed for some people also.

Walking through the village with the pastor's wife

We prayed for this family. Those poor kids were SO scared of all us white people!

Cute kid playing

Jen making friends

Another village we stopped at, where we visited another pastor's wife & prayed over her and their ministry

Jen and Tobi

This lady was walking by and wondering who all these white kids were in her village!

Group shot

This guy was cute

Golden Triangle

Pics out of order- Anne w/ the believer again on Laos border- this is baby #2

Idol worship

Jen and Tobi in their tuk-tuk in Myanmar

Bowing down in the temple

This amazing peanut lady I posted about already- same lady from 7 years ago when I first came to Thailand!

Buying some souvenirs from a believer

Praying

Huge temple in Myanmar

Jen and the peanut lady

How sweet is she?!

Tobi praying with a beggar on the street

Anne making some purchases

So that was the highlights from our trip to Burma/Laos. Burma (Myanmar) was crazy! You could instantly feel this sad/dark oppression as soon as you crossed the border. We didn't stay very long, but just wanted the team to experience it. I was glad to get out of there.

So just 1 1/2 weeks left with the team here. So hard to believe. It will be good timing because our jewelry stuff is about to pick up again with World Vision. So I'm glad we'll have that to keep us busy so we dont miss them too much ;)

Busy Busy

2011-07-17T05:06:00.004-05:00

We've been super busy these past few weeks. Haven't had much time to jump online and update the blog.
We went to Chiang Rai, Burma & Laos this past weekend w/ the team. It's crazy how oppressive it is as soon as you cross that Burma border! :( My stomach was upset soon after we crossed & never got better till we got out of there.
We walked around and prayed as we visited a big temple.
I'll post some pics later.

One really cool thing though is that I got to take a picture with this super little old lady who sells peanuts. I got my picture taken with that same lady 7 YEARS AGO! she is the sweetest and cutest thing I've ever seen!
I almost started crying when I saw her b/c she just makes me that happy!
She told us she was 89 years old!

2004

2011

Just 2 more weeks left w/ the team here! So crazy to think about!

Volunteers week 3

2011-07-09T06:18:00.006-05:00

A few more pics from the past weeks w/ our team of volunteers here

Jen with Seana and Sarah

Some of the girls

Yeah!! Jen and Steph

We did improv skits . . . it got a little wacky!

Improv skit that included Diarrhea, a proposal & choking!

They guys

Jen and Leah

So we've spent a week at a University here called Mae Jo. The team met people & just hung out all week building relationships. Then we joined the Thai team and invited all their new friends to a party where we had a chance to share some of our personal testimonies.

praying together

Leah

We played some games- this one was Rock/Paper/Scissors but w/ facial expressions! It was SO funny to watch!

Seana sharing her testimony w/ her friend Wat she met this week. After hearing it he said that He wanted to have Jesus in his life too so they prayed with him and he became a believer!

Meeting people on campus

This campus has Cowboys as their mascot! Look how crazy they dressed this thing!

The cafeteria where they mostly meet students

Talking at a table

More pics from this week

2011-06-30T08:36:00.006-05:00

Updates on pics below

Anne & the neighbor's dog, Moo Moo. He practically lives at Anne's house

Melissa and Moi leading worship for the Thai caregroup and our team of volunteers. It was so awesome to sing together in Thai and English!

These two ladies on the left came for the first time to a caregroup. And they both decided to follow Christ!! The girl on the far left is Kru Pen's daughter (Kru Pen is the teacher from our church who we have been helping out w/ at her school by teaching English. She get a lot of persecution from the community b/c she is Christian and shares her faith. She has been praying for her daughter, this girl on the left who is also a teacher at this same school, for a very long time. We've been praying with Kru Pen for her and she just accepted Christ!) So amazing!

Kru Pen in her scout hat!

Anne & Dee made yellow curry for us all!

Fruit carving class at the Thai school! It is a LOT harder than it looks! It took someone 3 hours to make that watermelon piece!

Jen having a go at the carrot rose

Dee working on a cucumber leaf

Kru Pen and a 10 year old that recently came to church and accepted Christ. She was so cute! She looked up at Jen and said, I love Jesus :)

Carrot rose

We took the team up to Doi Suthep, which is a very famous Buddhist temple here on the top of a mountain. We wanted them to experience the culture & what/how Buddhist worship

Anne taught about how she used to come here to worship & how they bring all the students up here to worship together when you start college. She also explained what they were doing and why they were doing it. We prayed for the country and the Thai people

Anne teaching

Next we took the team to a Monk village where Mai's sister lives. (Mai is one of our full-time staff members with BTN, our jewelry manager)

Group shot at Doi Suthep. You climb all those stairs!

Visiting at Mai's sister's house. They speak Monk (not Thai) so Mai was translating into English for us

Praying with/for her Sister and family

group shot

over looking the city of Chiang Mai where we prayed for the people & the work we'll be doing here

Mai's sister's house again

Summer Volunteer update

2011-06-27T23:45:00.014-05:00

So the team has been here for just over a week now. Though it seems like much longer! In a good way! :)
I'm home sick today (and yesterday too) so I'm working on updating all the facebook pages & thought I'd update the blog also.

So there are 12 team members between the ages of 13-31! Pretty crazy! Well, the 31 year old is a leader . . . so the team of 10 (minus 2 leaders) are between 13-18 I think.

They've been teaching English everyday at a school near where we are staying. We've also done some evening activities & have also tried to throw in some fun stuff- like the pool & the mall.
We've participated in a Medical Clinic w/ the church & have attended the Thai Church twice now. Last week was a special Revival Day & we got a treat b/c the speaker was preaching in English! So Anne had to translate from the stage into Thai.

So here are some pictures from the last week of ministry:

Medical Clinic- this sweet old lady I could have talked to all day!

Praying at the medical clinic

Jen talking to some ladies

One of our volunteers, Leah, getting checked out

Sam coloring

Jen and I went w/ Kru Pen (who we are helping teach with) to this English Competition thing. We were trying on their hat. They get SUPER dressed up for these things!

Jen meeting some teachers

The students that were presenting their English

Me and Anne

Me trying on the hat

2 more volunteers- Seana & Tobi playing w/ some kids at the school

They have mandatory military training

Kru Pen trying to get the kids ready for us to play games

Playing

Breaking up into small groups to teach- this is Dalton

Sam being silly :)

At the market

Meat vendor! Do you see the pigs feet?!

Market

More playing

Kru Pen

Learning Thai dancing

Thai dancing class

All the students at the morning assembly

Teaching

Jen and 2 of her favorite girls she's met

Playing games

Sign outside of where we are staying! So funny!

Jen and Anne working

Playing some ultimate Frisbee

Jen getting into the action

Great action shot!

Praying for the teams

Praying over the guys team

Praying for their leaders, Josh & Leah

The first day of ministry schedule (also Jen's bday)

At church they started a conga line!!

Praying together at church

Prayer up front at church

Anne translating from stage. We had a special preacher and he was preaching in English. So Anne was translating into Thai

Worship at church

Jen's Bday

2011-06-22T02:25:00.002-05:00

Today is Jen’s bday!

We celebrated last night by having some red velvet cupcakes w/ creamcheese frosting! Thank you Ingrid for getting that for us!

Then Kru Pen bought us all icecream at school today (today was our first day teaching w/ our summer volunteers) & we sang Happy Bday again.

Then tonight, Anne ordered a special dinner of Awesome Thai food!!!

And Anne got donuts!

And Kru Pen got 2 cakes!!

Then this morning I had this sign up for Jen that I made for her and gave her a few little gifts.

So I think we ended up singing Happy Birthday to Jen about 7-8 different times over the past 24 hours :)

Even though we didn’t get the “celebrate” & Jen worked her tail off all day, at least we were able to keep reminding her that it actually Was her bday!

Video Blog

2011-06-17T06:58:00.000-05:00

The Purpose of Your Life by Francis Chan

2011-06-16T01:48:00.003-05:00

“The church was suppose to be a bunch of people that were spending their days out making disciples, trying to get other people to follow God. And they get so beat up that they would just naturally gather together and have this fellowship, this bond where they bandage one another up & send them back out. . . . And sometimes the reason why churches dont work quite right, is like we’re a bunch of soldiers that never went to war. Yet we all go to the war hospital & start playing with the bandages. It’s like we havent even been beat up because you havent been at war. It doesnt even make sense to gather together.” ~Francis Chan

i love this quote i highlighted above. i feel like it needs to be a constant reminder for me as to why i’m doing what i’m doing. am i an active participant in the war? am i doing my part?
or am i just hanging out at the hospital, getting free snacks and talking about the war i’m not even participating in?

On a better note

2011-06-15T23:41:00.004-05:00

So I shared w/ Anne about my frustrating day yesterday & she encouraged me w/ a story of her own:

There is a woman in her neighborhood that is a prostitute. And no one in the neighborhood will talk to her. They don't like her b/c of her "profession".
But Anne feels like Jesus would love her & she wants to show her the same love that Jesus would. And she's talked to her when she sees her and has helped her through some different situations. Anne said, "her heart is so good. I feel like I can trust her more than these other people in the neighborhood that don't like her. I just feel comfortable with her. At least she recongnizes that what she is doing is wrong and doesn't act perfect. I like people like that b/c i know I'm not prefect either."

So the other day she saw this lady running around the neighborhood obvoiusly upset about something and crying and yelling. So Anne went out to see what was wrong. "I cant find my puppy! He's been missing for an hour now and he's never gone missing!" Her puppy is only a few months old, tiny little chihuahua.
A few months ago, Anne had helped this lady find her son who was missing also. And so Anne felt comfortable this time to say- "Let me pray to my God to find your puppy. Let's pray together". So Anne prayed and they started looking again. Anne just felt like God told her the puppy was in the house.
So she said, "I really feel like my God is telling me your puppy is in the house, let's go there and look". The lady insisted- no, I've looked there all morning and he's not there! We have to look all around the neighborhood!
But Anne felt very strong that this is what the Spirit was whispering in her heart, so she suggested, "what if we just go look & if she isn't there we'll come back out here again".
So the lady agreed.
As Anne was looking around in the yard, the lady went inside. And within a few moments she heard the lady shouting for joy!! She's here! She's here!!!
The dog had climbed the stairs for the first time ever and was upstairs in a bedroom.
The lady came down w/ tears in her eyes and told Anne, "your God is amazing!"

We have to be faithful to speak up and share what is on our hearts & leave the results up to God. Be encouraged. I know I was!!