bike ride to the beach

Yesterday a friend and I decided to go bike riding down to the beach. While it is true that we live on the coast and a part of the city runs alongside of it, where I currently live is about a 10-15 minute motorcycle ride away. But we were determined!

We stopped along the way at various points to meet and chat with people. All in all, it took us three hours and we met three different groups of people.

At one point, a boy rode up on his bicycle carrying a bamboo fishing rod and started fishing in the little pond next to us. At first, I thought he was doing it all wrong (since I know everything about fishing, ha!) cause he would stick his line in, let it set for three seconds, then pull it out. This seemed fruitless, and I thought he was being a little bit impatient, when suddenly he got one! And then another one! And another! I think in the 15 minutes he was there, he got at least 8 little fish. All the while, an older, more-experienced fisherman was on the other side, having no luck at all. Sadly, I couldn't get a good photo of either one, so these will have to do:

 

Anyone need a sofa?

 

  

my saturday

I know, I know, I've been dropping the ball on the whole photo-a-day thing. I set too high of standards for the photos, so when I don't do anything extremely interesting, I don't feel like anything worth taking a photo of. I need fresh eyes. Here's a glimpse of a fairly normal Saturday afternoon.

On Saturdays we have our house group. During the past couple of months, it's changed quite a bit from what it used to be, but it's still a very refreshing and encouraging time to study the Word together and lift each other up. Today we looked at the 4th chapter of Acts. You should check it out; it's pretty awesome.

 

And then I was craving some cobbler, so one person went and picked up dinner while a friend and I made peach cobbler.

 

Delish.

Then the power went off as we were watching a movie. Of course. It's a full moon, though, and with the power off, you could see the stars really well, so we just went outside to admire the heavens. What a beautiful night.

 

"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus."  - Acts 4:13

a bit of sightseeing

After spending a week in my city, I thought Mom might enjoy seeing a bit more of the country, so we went to the city I visited with some friends this past summer. We visited a massive Buddhist temple, ate some Western food, and did a lot of shopping. There are no photos of our shopping bags because, honestly, it's a bit embarrassing.

We've spent the past couple of days here in the capital city. Flooding has made sightseeing a bit difficult, so we've just stuck to eating more oh-so-healthy American food, doing even more shopping, watching Les Miserables that finally made its way across the ocean (which was just as phenomenal as I had heard), and going to a spa for massages. One day left, and Mom leaves on a night flight tomorrow night. We're not thinking about it.

 

 

 

mom meets ibu kos and the farm

These past couple of days have flown by. It's hard to believe Mom's already been here a week! Tomorrow we're flying out to another city to start our week-long vacation shopping and sightseeing.

 

Mom actually asked for one last ride tonight. I think she's going to miss it!

 

With one of the girls I lived with 

 

Ibu kos brought some grilled chicken over for us today! Such a sweet woman.

 

Goats! I think this guy may have been a little bit hungry... 

 

A baby goat, maybe a couple of days old. They were so soft and cute! I'm in love.

mom meets karaoke

Our plans to go up to a waterfall were cancelled today thanks to rain. Instead, I thought Mom might like to experience some classic Asian karaoke. My friends were more than eager to come with, even on such short notice, so for an hour, we sang our hearts out. I was a bit hoarse leaving the place, ha. Sadly no videos, but we did get a couple of photos.

 

23

I'm already failing at this whole photo-a-day thing... I'll try to do better, honest.

Just as I was getting used to saying I'm 22, I turn 23. Goodness. What a great day, though. One of the lovely ladies here had invited Mom and I to have lunch and hang out, a "get to know your Mom" time... little did I know, they had actually planned a whole party for me and another January birthday girl. It was so sweet of them, especially considering i didn't think I would get to see some of them that day.

Afterwards, we had our house gathering, and the four of us went out to dinner and came back for a game of Cranium, which Mom and I won, thank you. :)

I'm not one to make my birthday a big deal; in fact, I don't like it to be so. When others go out of their way, though, to make it special and to be able to celebrate together... I'm touched and so, so thankful for those He's placed in my life.

 

 

The English birthday singing may have not turned out so well... but they rocked the local version!

 

she's here!

A year and three months later, I am reunited with my beautiful momma!! She wouldn't let me take any photos of her the first day, which is why I'm just now getting around to posting some. And by some, I mean two. Internet's slow. I'm wiped. More later.

 

I'm so proud of her. She not only traveled across the world by herself, she has also been so willing to try new things, including but not limited to cold bucket baths and riding on the back of my motorcycle through crazy traffic. She kept her eyes open the whole time and wasn't scared at all (excluding the one time a guy was just sitting out in the middle of the road, but I think that was more out of shock than fear). I have a wonderful mom.

 

My goodness... Where to start! I am blessed beyond measure, in addition to well-stocked on Honey Nut Cheerios, Clif bars, and chocolate-covered raisins! Thank you, Freedom Realty! And thanks so much to those of you who sent Christmas and birthday gifts! They were such sweet surprises. Seriously. Man, I love you all tremendously and am so, so grateful. Once again, thank you.

coffeeshops and grocery shopping

Can you believe that in less than 36 hours, I will be meeting my mom?? It seriously feels like just yesterday I was on the phone, squealing and jumping up and down in excitement after finding out she was coming. Tomorrow morning, I leave for the capital since she gets in so early the next morning (which also means no updates until after we get back). 

Today was spent, well, getting things ready. I finalized some bookings for our side trip, filed some budget items, bought groceries, cleaned... and I also got to talk to some friends via skype and, earlier, on the phone. Thank you, Lord, for technology and great friends.

 

I usually skype at this lovely coffeeshop/bakery, as their internet is one of the best in the city (though still not 100% reliable). Plus, it's quiet and there aren't a lot of people staring or wanting photos - a great hideaway. The owners know me and my typical order: iced sweet tea.

 

This is what roughly $50 will buy you at our grocery store (the Diet Coke's for Mom). I don't even remember what $50 will buy you in the States... Some of these are the more expensive items. Apples are one of the more expensive fruits, as they're imported, and meat prepackaged is a bit more too than if you went to a traditional market. Markets still overwhelm me at times, but I do go to one for fresh fruits - a photo for another day.

Transporting all of this on a motorcycle is quite tricky as well. I have to use a basket in the store to limit how much I buy; otherwise, I have no way of getting it home, ha. This time I brought my big backpack with me and fit most of it in there. Other times I've had to delicately balance it in front of me and drive with my legs sticking out... Quite a sight, I'm sure, ha!

paint day

After two long days of painting, it is finished! No more hospital-white walls! Let there be color!

 

In case you didn't notice in the previous house photos, we are oh so lucky to have pink tiles all throughout the house. Pink? Really? (sigh) This made picking a color a little difficult. Some friends (who also so graciously helped paint) picked out this color! A nice olive green. The other walls are the same tan color as in my bedroom. It's amazing what a little bit of color can do to a space.

 

 

The second bedroom. We went fun with this one. When we saw this on the card, we described it as in the blue family. The swatch on the paint can, however, looked unnervingly like black. Pouring it in the paint tray, it looked purpleish. And now, in the photo, navy blue. Basically, depending on the light and the angle, it can be a variety of colors. The other walls are "Sandstone," a more cool version of the tan.

 

While painting that bedroom, we ran out of sandstone with just a little bit of the last wall left. Since it was a "special" color, you couldn't buy just a small can of it; you had to buy the gallon. So, we had nearly an entire can left. Inspiration! Paint the bathroom!  

 

Aaand I loved the olive wall so much, I thought I'd paint a wall in my room as well. It ties the room in really well, although it's hard to tell in the photo. I kinda, uh, ran out of paint, though, so the wall behind my bed may still be the tan color... 

There. Now the house is all pretty for Momma. Just in time. :)

Photo of the Day... maybe

Sometimes I forget that life here isn't... normal. It's not America, and life is definitely not lived as if it were. Often, I don't see these differences. A friend had an idea, though, and I'm going to steal it. I am going to attempt to post a photo every day or so (given that I have internet) so that you can see what my life is, at least, sorta like on an everyday basis.

A glimpse into my yesterday. Guess what tomorrow's photo is going to be... 

For today: Lunch with some lovely ladies from the English club at a mie ayam (noodles with chicken) restaurant. Most restaurants have a limited menu, but what they're known for, they're usually pretty great at. With this dish, you can add however much sweet soy sauce or hot sauce that you'd like. If you can tell, my noodles are only somewhat brown from just a smidge of soy sauce and white pepper. However, if you look at my friends', theirs is red - plenty of hot sauce. No spice, no taste, right? 

There won't always be so many photos, unfortunately, but today, my internet was being somewhat cooperative. :)

 

"What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth... This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God." - 1 Cor. 3:5-7, 4:1