tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39118516547693511292024-03-14T17:26:00.694+07:00Ordinary Life in the WildIn the wild of Thailand...in the ordinary of life...loving a wildly-awesome God.Alinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01556835916366953109noreply@blogger.comBlogger182125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911851654769351129.post-48123065044759683902014-05-04T17:13:00.002+07:002014-05-04T17:13:46.269+07:00Another One Bites The Dust - I'm 31!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyo3ujb_JW6HEcYzfuFwdcZMhy6AR8hKCaddaaEteqGX1R4fxyc7A4wIhE0VF63qrQLQZnK3Wnzf48mEgi4mQDKXsq29AXGnyCSl7FxMl3VTg5y3fIQo2wPTrvCt6IVZmq2sckit40dH8/s1600/alinabirthdaylunch.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyo3ujb_JW6HEcYzfuFwdcZMhy6AR8hKCaddaaEteqGX1R4fxyc7A4wIhE0VF63qrQLQZnK3Wnzf48mEgi4mQDKXsq29AXGnyCSl7FxMl3VTg5y3fIQo2wPTrvCt6IVZmq2sckit40dH8/s1600/alinabirthdaylunch.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Out to birthday lunch today with my favorite people in the world.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There's nothing like time. It is so pregnant with potential and then, so trivial and fleeting all in the same moment. One minute we realize that we can change someone's life with one action, one sentence, one non-verbal gesture, or one mistake. In the next, we realize that although we can put a lot of thought and energy into the details of our lives, that they are very easily forgotten or overlooked by the frenzy of the rest of the busy world that is always moving around us. It is tempting to get caught up in an <i>Ecclesiastes-everything-is-meaningless</i> fit, but I won't. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because, today is my birthday. And today, I actually couldn't be happier that all those little moments, big or small, have totaled up to make me a ripe 31. <a href="http://ordinarylifeinthewild.blogspot.com/2013/05/why-i-was-afraid-of-30.html">Last year</a>, I was literally shaking and nervous and dreading the big 3-0. That day <a href="http://ordinarylifeinthewild.blogspot.com/2013/05/why-30-doesnt-make-me-feel-like-scaredy.html">felt like such a shift</a> in my mind and in my emotions; a realization that although I am super special and important to some people, I am still going to live and die like so many millions before me. I have chosen to live for something bigger than myself.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Bigger than myself.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I suppose for a Western-thinking person, this is a big mental hump to get over. I don't mean to stereotype a lot of people...but...well...I guess I still am! In my limited experience, I grew up believing in the power of <b>one</b> individual. <b>One</b> life. <b>One</b> incredibly influential person. And in my Western-thinking, I was always trying to be convinced that the One person to be focusing on in order to better the world was going to have to be <b>Me</b>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don't get me wrong. I definitely don't feel anywhere NEAR qualified to be the girl that has all the goods, all the smarts, all the right words and moves and relationships. What I am trying to express is just the matter of the <i>center </i>of my focus...the One person that was truly going to make an impact on a world that is just a little (a lot!) messed up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have resigned myself to finally <b>give someone else the glory</b>.<i> I am giving it to Him</i>. I am giving it to Jesus. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was His before, really, and always has been. But, like a selfish toddler who yanks somebody else's toy away screaming, "Miiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnne!"...I have to eventually forfeit what is rightfully belonging to someone else. The glory is His. My life is His. My heart is His. Any accolade I ever earn, any praise, any thanks, any gratitude, anything at all...is His again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is for <i>His </i>glory that I turn 31. It is for <i>His </i>glory that I raise my four crazies and attempt to serve my amazing husband. It is for <i>His </i>glory that I still have friends. The breath in my lungs. The food on my table.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Thank you, Lord, for these 31 years. </b>I am ready to glorify You with them today!</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Blessings,</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Alina</span></b><br />
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<br />Alinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01556835916366953109noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911851654769351129.post-59373850039724914712014-03-22T08:11:00.000+07:002014-03-22T08:11:26.244+07:00Five Minute Friday: Joy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNO5D4BWsbKRg9YsZBG_JxycvetTYsFtzk1Domrj3JwWln5PSUtR_XUtsN_knCE9o_owJa9UtxP3fJ-LA6vAmdwsmXtRS23bLpMNaajPEeWBCR7hJeF8PHG9e2Uo714cVJRnq7RPtw_Sc/s1600/IMG_4986.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNO5D4BWsbKRg9YsZBG_JxycvetTYsFtzk1Domrj3JwWln5PSUtR_XUtsN_knCE9o_owJa9UtxP3fJ-LA6vAmdwsmXtRS23bLpMNaajPEeWBCR7hJeF8PHG9e2Uo714cVJRnq7RPtw_Sc/s1600/IMG_4986.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<i><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This imperfect post below is a result of taking a blind leap of exercising my writing skills through Five Minute Fridays. Hundreds of other bloggers around the globe take just five minutes every week (ok...maybe I am not that consistent! but...working up to it) to write for only five minutes on a one-word prompt that Lisa Baker gives at her site. Interested? Click <a href="http://lisajobaker.com/five-minute-friday/">here</a> to get the details.</span></i><br />
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Joy</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">GO</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lately, my Joy comes packaged in a 3-6 month onesie. She drools like a leaky faucet and loves to show me her newest raspberry-blowing trick. Her smile lights up the room and the faces of everyone who happens to catch a glimpse of those tooth-less gums.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My joy-filled “never-ending, always giving, Grace of God” little girl loves her paci, her big brothers and sisters and chewing on anything in sight. With every addition to our family, when my belly is swollen to almost popping and I simply can’t imagine how I will handle it all…I think, “How can the love and the adoration and the joy spread far enough to spread over one. more. little. person?”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then, she came. Of course, my joy for the other three, her predecessors, multiplied overnight like the loaves and fish. There is always enough for her. There is always enough for one more. My joy came when she did. It is hard to extinguish it, anyway, when you catch a glimpse of that smile.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thankful for my little, baby Charis; my precious one.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">STOP</span></b><br />
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Alinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01556835916366953109noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911851654769351129.post-22529512011504714752014-03-18T22:41:00.000+07:002014-03-18T22:41:26.303+07:00Hospitality Will Make Marks<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWhcjRJXl8hOm4Knql7CL51z7r54pjcD-P3kB_v3e2xzc_cc2moTB5Gh2FSFXbhOwl9Ik4qqK2EE5h8odZ1qkwWnlL3DaoYg7gJhnpgczpocFcfiHwLkb-5s3T13gDT3pCWfyoEUVEVrI/s1600/IMG_2497.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWhcjRJXl8hOm4Knql7CL51z7r54pjcD-P3kB_v3e2xzc_cc2moTB5Gh2FSFXbhOwl9Ik4qqK2EE5h8odZ1qkwWnlL3DaoYg7gJhnpgczpocFcfiHwLkb-5s3T13gDT3pCWfyoEUVEVrI/s1600/IMG_2497.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Can you guess which side got used more?</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I would cringe every time we pulled out the second leaf of that table; the nicest dining table that we ever had. Normally there was room for 6, but that expanded to 9 whenever we had someone over for spaghetti or baked chicken or every-day rice. Each time we opened it up, I would marvel at the smoothness of the wood grain, the unscathed beauty, the glory of it. Any of you who have ever bought new furniture (even if it was just "new to you") have to know what I mean. And, if you have small children, you know what I mean multiplied by ten. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You want to keep it beautiful and untouched. You want to preserve and "steward" that table, that bed, that end table as well as you can. But then, people always come into play.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, furniture stores are testimonies to this!: "<i>No food or drinks inside the establishment, no jumping on the beds, and don't you dare slide a Hot Wheel over that coffee table!"</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every time I opened up that secret middle leaf of our table, those feelings crept up. There are no glass rings permanently imprinted there. No unsightly marks from a toddler dragging her fork across the table..little sign or wear and tear. The differences between the outside and the inside are very clear. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If I was going to get comfortable with hospitality, I was going to have to get comfortable with leaving marks. Even though my house wasn't always naturally tidy (anyone figure out how to do this well yet with little people?)...it was going to endure at least a few more scathes in the process of having people over for dinner, for play dates and for prayer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the last few years, it has been a challenging process of laying down my own expectations for providing a *perfect* space for guests to enjoy and taking up the reality that "Hospitality is not about me...it is about them." I read this once, and then many times since, on a blog called <a href="http://reluctantentertainer.com/">Reluctant Entertainer</a> by Sandy Coughlin . It is her mantra and helped me tremendously in examining my own self-imposed ideas about hosting others.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It isn't about me. It is about them. It is about you. It is about <i>them</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes I think about preparing too much and lose sight of the simplicity of just being with people, filling their bellies, and encouraging their hearts. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this season of life here in Thailand, Treavor and I have been challenged by God to keep our house open to others. If we go through a week and realize we haven't opened it and our table to others, we open up the calendar and see where we can fill it with an invitation for others to share it. I have to contentiously set aside my hesitations that "the house isn't ready!" and call somebody up to feast on curry and conversation together.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Join me? Who can you open up your (imperfect) table to this week? How have you overcome the hurdles that get in the way of hospitality? Tell me about it in the comments.</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Blessings,</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Alina</b></span><br />
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Alinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01556835916366953109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911851654769351129.post-82739347101111218722014-03-16T09:33:00.000+07:002014-03-16T09:33:38.502+07:00Five Minute Friday: Crowd<br />
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>I stumbled across an opportunity that has captured the attention of hundreds of other bloggers every Friday. It is called Five Minute Friday. Basically, it is a chance to write for just five minutes, with a certain writing prompt in mind. It is a chance to just create and think without paying too much attention to making it look pretty (i.e.: no editing, back-tracking or second-guessing allowed!). Sometimes all I have is five minutes to write, anyway, so the idea seems to be right up my alley. Want to read more about how it all got started? Click </em><a href="http://lisajobaker.com/five-minute-friday/"><em>here</em></a><em> to go to lisajobaker.com to get the skinny.</em></span></b><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today's prompt, "Crowd," made me instantly think of the Sunday Walking Market in our city. Before having Charis, there were several months where a group of girls and I would go to different places in our city to share the good news of Jesus with others that God put in our path that night. I looked forward to those nights every week. It was my inspiration for this week's prompt. I hope you enjoy it! (BTW, I wrote it when it was *still* Friday in the States and haven't had the chance to post it till today. Life.) </span></em><br />
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<b><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Crowd</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">GO</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I look out into the crowd, the aimless wanderers...the children running...the parents running after them. I see street-sellers, beggars, tourists in their darkened skin from a sunburn gone bad and I hear the noise of haggling and drums and ancient Thai music brought to life at the market of today.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The night market swirls with smells and people and noise noise noise. Although I am one of thousands in this crowd, I see with the eyes of the One who sees the few, the isolated, the ones on the fringes and the ones crying out for recognition. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Those days when we went out every Sunday night! with watchful ears and eyes...I miss them. I miss streaming along the sides of the market stalls with sellers and their bounty. I miss passion fruit drinks and neck massages and sitting, sharing with the lady who drives in every night from out of town to earn a few baht and rub the necks and feet of tired, sweaty people. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I miss the energy of people gathered together, and the air ripe with the promise of finding that one, "lost" in the crowd but "found" by the One who is treasure-hunting to find them. I will go again, one day, to seek them out again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>STOP</b></span><br />
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<em><br /></em>Alinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01556835916366953109noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911851654769351129.post-59906378251196082012014-02-17T18:01:00.000+07:002014-02-17T18:01:02.904+07:00Shannon's Visit: The Wonderful Whirlwind<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6aCQMp-RS7BpK1Kyb0rxjAoZ3lHptKBCyR7ny9mm3oyY0U6_GvaJTRKmaa2mRUIMR-IY0sNhLYJpQIKQ712EoXQGtzfS0Amj-BtEhg68b_rBZSb_IgYEudj2Jqk4UPHaYZjuPv0ZzLzU/s1600/P1060028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6aCQMp-RS7BpK1Kyb0rxjAoZ3lHptKBCyR7ny9mm3oyY0U6_GvaJTRKmaa2mRUIMR-IY0sNhLYJpQIKQ712EoXQGtzfS0Amj-BtEhg68b_rBZSb_IgYEudj2Jqk4UPHaYZjuPv0ZzLzU/s1600/P1060028.JPG" height="468" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aunt Shannon and Kyla playing in the river during our trip to the mountains. Favorite day.</span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whirl. Wind.</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is no other word to describe it well. Last week's six days with my beloved sister went by <b>so fast</b>; like a whirlwind.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We ate Thai food, we shopped markets, we drove to the mountains, we dipped our feet into hot springs and also into tanks full of hungry fish, we visited friends, we feasted, we played in the water and scaled the heights of a local waterfall, we ate sticky rice every day, we took a zillion pictures, we held snakes, she tasted bugs (do you notice how I left out the "we" on that last one?), we laughed with the kids, we gifted each other with fun things from afar, we talked and talked, we caught up on family business, we visited the local temple, we drank loads of coffee, she played with baby tigers, we got bit up by mosquitoes and got treated at a nail salon...we had a blast. The time went so fast, but it was wonderful.</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most of all, my sister and I connected. She got to see Thailand through her own eyes, rather than just through my own accounts or through this blog. We connected over something now that we can share in remembering together; her trip here. That is most of why we stay close with people, right? <b>Connections</b>. She is my sister and always will be, but now she has one more thing to tie us together in relationship...an understanding of <i>where </i>we live and <i>how </i>we live and <i>why </i>we live here. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you, Shannon, for coming!</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are just a few highlights of her visit<span style="font-size: x-small;"> (<i>photo disclaimer...sorry for the graininess of the art museum pics. I am an airhead and forgot to hit the focus once or twice</i>)</span>:</span></b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-CRCSm_wySyh1-WHzfuRD_rVUZRvQaeot9i5p72CgtFPjnwfvuzZf6rc0z840KUixLFJZh8C3j2FNY8ZH3Y74-ABlwlnNjb5TH6w6W-7G1BuA-YRyGE122tVd7jDNAc9J18R1xvZ0_FM/s1600/IMG_4903.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-CRCSm_wySyh1-WHzfuRD_rVUZRvQaeot9i5p72CgtFPjnwfvuzZf6rc0z840KUixLFJZh8C3j2FNY8ZH3Y74-ABlwlnNjb5TH6w6W-7G1BuA-YRyGE122tVd7jDNAc9J18R1xvZ0_FM/s1600/IMG_4903.JPG" height="640" width="432" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We went to Art In Paradise, a 3D Illusion art museum in our city.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04s1BcxVZf5jmwKtZ0M8UfMtKMHev0I4cTeTaUkjyNrngo2d03nYmVTxHfN6ppSNGzyMtc4Q4BHlidDBOUAQqEc7clgTzCYJGOVlopF0H9Z_L6uORGAisFiA_g7WgsdzKQ9TxlEuqB-k/s1600/P1050782.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04s1BcxVZf5jmwKtZ0M8UfMtKMHev0I4cTeTaUkjyNrngo2d03nYmVTxHfN6ppSNGzyMtc4Q4BHlidDBOUAQqEc7clgTzCYJGOVlopF0H9Z_L6uORGAisFiA_g7WgsdzKQ9TxlEuqB-k/s1600/P1050782.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seriously, this art museum is a blast!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV6LJrkKS2VEMkojfrMtPE9nmOz60tnd6Rd17tyYYlU1oaTI_aojrVqCwYO0kYWdf8I36CUAdb4KkuIgCC0OG5SUT1tQ6GsGs16dtLOHFgQs9WFPhvIAhN9TziCB8I2tu4IY2M5jQbBHM/s1600/P1050793.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV6LJrkKS2VEMkojfrMtPE9nmOz60tnd6Rd17tyYYlU1oaTI_aojrVqCwYO0kYWdf8I36CUAdb4KkuIgCC0OG5SUT1tQ6GsGs16dtLOHFgQs9WFPhvIAhN9TziCB8I2tu4IY2M5jQbBHM/s1600/P1050793.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Underwater"</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieIEXcu7hCP77lRiF2iYriSMO4BvMXkvCeqlVppMJuP3Z-hXHgRisgwXaECO2AXqKzOgCLu8ofPG6q51Q_-nTk-e6_6HQKal0AH2j3-5C7x2eWRjRBPMIjXPs-wzxmLfjapjkMI6dgXJ8/s1600/IMG_4862.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieIEXcu7hCP77lRiF2iYriSMO4BvMXkvCeqlVppMJuP3Z-hXHgRisgwXaECO2AXqKzOgCLu8ofPG6q51Q_-nTk-e6_6HQKal0AH2j3-5C7x2eWRjRBPMIjXPs-wzxmLfjapjkMI6dgXJ8/s1600/IMG_4862.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Somebody better rescue those kids!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy5nKrbLyCnIfDr_zxafH_mHdWrlnnGiasS1GihlZ1kosO0gU-kT-kge-3U1rYdnNG6sM4er0PxNwYgRQjEmEz67z6DU7JGW68UWzKJek8xzqXdaot5XR6CZ4hvRk2DrtMqcJSwQnlDdY/s1600/IMG_4896.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy5nKrbLyCnIfDr_zxafH_mHdWrlnnGiasS1GihlZ1kosO0gU-kT-kge-3U1rYdnNG6sM4er0PxNwYgRQjEmEz67z6DU7JGW68UWzKJek8xzqXdaot5XR6CZ4hvRk2DrtMqcJSwQnlDdY/s1600/IMG_4896.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Did you know there were active volcanoes in Thailand?</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpPbn2l_gn358aVX69Ms7sTLq9KrO86V2K0y5dOMpIdlRofnezWIZa6PaQKyaxvJZMEOClIz-_pzfFRayOJEPkk-t7Q6CCZxPFppuU-k7PeWc2KkLwplcWKGLamheDsOiH08QoIDlhHRU/s1600/IMG_4910.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpPbn2l_gn358aVX69Ms7sTLq9KrO86V2K0y5dOMpIdlRofnezWIZa6PaQKyaxvJZMEOClIz-_pzfFRayOJEPkk-t7Q6CCZxPFppuU-k7PeWc2KkLwplcWKGLamheDsOiH08QoIDlhHRU/s1600/IMG_4910.JPG" height="532" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thai food had a growing effect on Aunt Shannon.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLigEUKua1Rsn7P90KtCZeXyDjl_lbYkjt7dTiOzINDX70tVC6wYzfTDyrtCUDETa_vNkN1WV8SXqK4_OGRs_X74TXlKy8Tz1NsiD3xkzo238DzQTV5wyYNepVcifbatYWL8OTF51-sPc/s1600/IMG_4911.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLigEUKua1Rsn7P90KtCZeXyDjl_lbYkjt7dTiOzINDX70tVC6wYzfTDyrtCUDETa_vNkN1WV8SXqK4_OGRs_X74TXlKy8Tz1NsiD3xkzo238DzQTV5wyYNepVcifbatYWL8OTF51-sPc/s1600/IMG_4911.JPG" height="640" width="478" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My sons at their finest.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkgGBKOrrGFItkLfftr96Kma2DUw8OHp5HAwJy6_M4c9IroutLMafzc8YAvUOqyi_IOk1xclQGDaUCAcmApP8M1VR-14Lvyc6XhU0YEQll6zwn0mtuKk7CdUPLlMd50zlBUn0JfegJOTA/s1600/P1060133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkgGBKOrrGFItkLfftr96Kma2DUw8OHp5HAwJy6_M4c9IroutLMafzc8YAvUOqyi_IOk1xclQGDaUCAcmApP8M1VR-14Lvyc6XhU0YEQll6zwn0mtuKk7CdUPLlMd50zlBUn0JfegJOTA/s1600/P1060133.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shannon's favorite thing: the Tiger Kingdom.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYpW1q16Tu4baiIou3vVdN7vqPNIHIGTd4bAnTQP76BbrDLVl-ix4-Bb4AO8kyYvDXMMlp6texjooecOqp3F8DU64hxfGk0JSH7IUgxAnlzVbIbAuab7v6ZZ8CUwdBRYK1TqPWicLd_w8/s1600/P1060164.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYpW1q16Tu4baiIou3vVdN7vqPNIHIGTd4bAnTQP76BbrDLVl-ix4-Bb4AO8kyYvDXMMlp6texjooecOqp3F8DU64hxfGk0JSH7IUgxAnlzVbIbAuab7v6ZZ8CUwdBRYK1TqPWicLd_w8/s1600/P1060164.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Think this feline would go well with your sweet doggies, Shannon? </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip-DkC0MRmJ_7y61a2V0rg5tkErz-HNKb6jJJfb7IkpXmsRthGOckDXlvBpP5UALn0l5VuUyztaP_zFF14C2e6YfkfOty13uAUzKHxol4PhFZ6YPHSVv8xvIwMbetF2WTIdquwiI_rA9g/s1600/P1050716.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip-DkC0MRmJ_7y61a2V0rg5tkErz-HNKb6jJJfb7IkpXmsRthGOckDXlvBpP5UALn0l5VuUyztaP_zFF14C2e6YfkfOty13uAUzKHxol4PhFZ6YPHSVv8xvIwMbetF2WTIdquwiI_rA9g/s1600/P1050716.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My son has become a tuk tuk driver in his spare time.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghi6LI6sVnX7xaRyjCiK0nsPfQLbZdK7OpWANg_g58GXhfygo-ZFJTfbb6inNyrSyMNoehxMRq7iTQo-lKN2bbehEMc4eAvfvYgJYUiJ-i214lJrSEpJLSO1k5JEo3Q3Pmd3HR4UeYPAA/s1600/P1050720.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghi6LI6sVnX7xaRyjCiK0nsPfQLbZdK7OpWANg_g58GXhfygo-ZFJTfbb6inNyrSyMNoehxMRq7iTQo-lKN2bbehEMc4eAvfvYgJYUiJ-i214lJrSEpJLSO1k5JEo3Q3Pmd3HR4UeYPAA/s1600/P1050720.JPG" height="640" width="470" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course these beauties belong to the same family.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqAjIWPCX18zYr84c4KciAo-WK0FGrgR3elTRO2GTtSWGAlpNoB4KY2P0z3II_XPn-zPMbwKkOfEvfCNXJmDkkkjXlIYMp8QNjOFgk7If9uwY_8QKTUr0kEZ7gEW_jfJlQ2godjlmmB4s/s1600/P1050829.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqAjIWPCX18zYr84c4KciAo-WK0FGrgR3elTRO2GTtSWGAlpNoB4KY2P0z3II_XPn-zPMbwKkOfEvfCNXJmDkkkjXlIYMp8QNjOFgk7If9uwY_8QKTUr0kEZ7gEW_jfJlQ2godjlmmB4s/s1600/P1050829.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fish spa with the whole family! Even baby Charis sat with us. She opted out of putting her feet in, though. Short legs. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXyX-Vy76kjJ6ZCMwVJNGedht7qKITD2RrpW850UW8S_fe1XxWhPCHBUEMAzqmLrDJEFQxSZy1xgjSQM-KXVx7RQG4IBcTmDCBl-_hFmRka2VrPfUEOufnlWzVu8oubgg4o2u-eKd30A4/s1600/P1050830.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXyX-Vy76kjJ6ZCMwVJNGedht7qKITD2RrpW850UW8S_fe1XxWhPCHBUEMAzqmLrDJEFQxSZy1xgjSQM-KXVx7RQG4IBcTmDCBl-_hFmRka2VrPfUEOufnlWzVu8oubgg4o2u-eKd30A4/s1600/P1050830.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At one point, the boys took their own tanks and chilled out. They seriously enjoyed it. Seriously. Just look at their faces.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4It7M93VKQIeFlLJZ1K5ck9dRWks4IGRupT2K1xN1MUNHWO4bXYQHLEwppcglh_gbaJ6oWJWAZpKYJseSzsU0lhx5GEAejCzV__SCp8nQ50QTBh_MGzx2AtSIFNmE_rkgfModlICvBUY/s1600/P1050841.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4It7M93VKQIeFlLJZ1K5ck9dRWks4IGRupT2K1xN1MUNHWO4bXYQHLEwppcglh_gbaJ6oWJWAZpKYJseSzsU0lhx5GEAejCzV__SCp8nQ50QTBh_MGzx2AtSIFNmE_rkgfModlICvBUY/s1600/P1050841.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My sis was in her element in the outdoors. I am thankful she prefers being outside because it is the perfect time of year for this! </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4H3e3co9hILD4riBEpPWQfC_7rXwzmUTe9mLb-6nLVgJhrLPiCVFMT9oj7c3HT4PgjnkEJ6aEFWzSHYXdgYlHahhAQoayyTxjpEsi6uSbtpj8yzrLvT3yEAO0oZqLv6t8LwHMIdqQSmE/s1600/P1050850.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4H3e3co9hILD4riBEpPWQfC_7rXwzmUTe9mLb-6nLVgJhrLPiCVFMT9oj7c3HT4PgjnkEJ6aEFWzSHYXdgYlHahhAQoayyTxjpEsi6uSbtpj8yzrLvT3yEAO0oZqLv6t8LwHMIdqQSmE/s1600/P1050850.JPG" height="640" width="512" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dipping our feet in a local hot spring. Cheap fun in a beautiful place.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8EBprRVRJbWUBShxpFu9jAuUtHi2i26tYp-ApZgh3DEYAPTDizM8gl53SafelL4MuDVz9JgUAAxy7YBpToNRM22MHk6MhF9e10qIIa5rirda1OEwrVG-pSMrPdynubObrWUtYXKbFHmg/s1600/P1050954.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8EBprRVRJbWUBShxpFu9jAuUtHi2i26tYp-ApZgh3DEYAPTDizM8gl53SafelL4MuDVz9JgUAAxy7YBpToNRM22MHk6MhF9e10qIIa5rirda1OEwrVG-pSMrPdynubObrWUtYXKbFHmg/s1600/P1050954.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We love Aunt Shannon!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXtbYA_CynqCfwwAR88ZAYW0gCuYwlxdqcLIiI6ZP5X1ICM53MBEYZzMWL-43tSXmJpaJuQYVuLxZUznk33sgk3xik-NbYsA3pS5sZVMVlOtZQ4jfalZ_vGcxtN-X2oZWsIpwqg2HNYYw/s1600/familypicwithshannon2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXtbYA_CynqCfwwAR88ZAYW0gCuYwlxdqcLIiI6ZP5X1ICM53MBEYZzMWL-43tSXmJpaJuQYVuLxZUznk33sgk3xik-NbYsA3pS5sZVMVlOtZQ4jfalZ_vGcxtN-X2oZWsIpwqg2HNYYw/s1600/familypicwithshannon2014.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our last meal together with the whole family. We miss you already, Shan!</span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyone else want to come jump in our world? You are always welcome to come for a quick visit! (<i>As long as you bring us beef jerkey like Shannon did. Always a win!</i>)</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Blessings,</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Alina</span></b><br />
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<b><br /></b>Alinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01556835916366953109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911851654769351129.post-58956247266069676842014-02-09T08:04:00.001+07:002014-02-09T08:04:33.232+07:00Aunt Shannon is Coming!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6tScCxcLA0-7gN3geIcVj-mLq26RUuzH6kJUCf7hEEMNMo2GAbVKxSFu7LaXRAHwNa2pJa5biAvMOJUWQy4ADzIzenWKFeLyWRnaF5aIX0I86zg0ofQmva7tjq1_BtgvVHKm_Run8fSs/s1600/kyla+birthday+061.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6tScCxcLA0-7gN3geIcVj-mLq26RUuzH6kJUCf7hEEMNMo2GAbVKxSFu7LaXRAHwNa2pJa5biAvMOJUWQy4ADzIzenWKFeLyWRnaF5aIX0I86zg0ofQmva7tjq1_BtgvVHKm_Run8fSs/s1600/kyla+birthday+061.JPG" height="370" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grandma, <b>sister Shannon</b>, Kyla, Aunt Cathy, and myself at Kyla's 2nd birthday party almost 2 years ago. It has been so long since we have seen each other!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This girl.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My sister; two years my junior, newly married, impossibly beautiful, and one of the hardest-working, humble people I know...will be landing in my city in less than 7 hours.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was easy to wake up with my alarm today because I am just. so. thrilled!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She will be here barely a week (Thank you, America, for giving our citizens impossibly short vacation allowances with our work. Can't we be like the French and get our 6 weeks?). We have so many things in the works for her here...fun Thai food, a trip to one of the waterfalls in our area, elephant riding, tuk tuks (what trip to Thailand is without one of these?)...weird-Thai-fruit-tastings, Night Safari, walking market, hot springs, coffee in the mountains...there is just so much to do in so little time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With her trip, I didn't realize that I had so many pent up feelings about visitors. Her visit here has made me realize the incredible value I feel for having a member of my family (she will be the very first!) step into our world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sure, we aren't living in a stilt house on a rice plantation, with King Cobras slithering about our feet and riding elephants to school...our foreign predecessors have done that already. We live in a seemingly ordinary home with suburban neighbors and very ordinary things happening around us every day. In many ways, our lives are just like yours. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, so much of our world here in Thailand has been so common-place that it is pure fun to have an "outsider" step into it and open up our own eyes to the wonder that is overseas-living:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...chanting and announcements from the local temple blaring through the loudspeakers...firecrackers every day, at almost any hour...the glory of sticky rice (how did I live without this before?)...fresh pineapple and such for pennies (or free, if you have a generous friend)...Thai smiles all around...the normalcy of cool water from the faucets and the lack of indoor climate control...trails of ants that can enter any room within a flash to swipe up that dribble of watermelon juice on the floor...then, the geckos that save us from a nightly attack of blood-sucking mosquitoes...cheap wares at the handicraft markets...and landscape views that some people only witness on the cover of a travel magazine...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...every day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We will relish every second of Shannon's visit this week. And, when she returns home (too quickly!), she will finally have a picture to remember and retell to my parents and kin when they ask about how it was "way over there across the ocean." </span><br />
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Alinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01556835916366953109noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911851654769351129.post-32568290693536920282014-01-07T23:54:00.000+07:002014-01-07T23:56:44.584+07:00A Friend Who Makes That Good Kind of Heartache<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjolFjixWWOTBTBI1AWIomXlDd9-1seAqw-fPjPHZyQ0vZFq4F5Tpnk62ypRSpfxsHmke7Nh38wScPT-jUvJYaMsCFEdUgYrdFCAi05PguozuZc4cDlCVNFH59v6N3y_cgnVzhUobwdyno/s1600/pfonfamily.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjolFjixWWOTBTBI1AWIomXlDd9-1seAqw-fPjPHZyQ0vZFq4F5Tpnk62ypRSpfxsHmke7Nh38wScPT-jUvJYaMsCFEdUgYrdFCAi05PguozuZc4cDlCVNFH59v6N3y_cgnVzhUobwdyno/s1600/pfonfamily.JPG" height="456" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">P. Fon, myself, sweet Charis, Treav and P. Ton hanging out last Saturday at our place. I have an eight-year old and bad lighting to thank for this grainy shot...but I am so thankful to have a memory of that night.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every once in a while, you find a friend that fills you with the <i>good </i>kind of heartache. Do you know what I mean? That kind of heartache that you feel when you miss the person so much it hurts a little (and sometimes a lot). For reasons such as, well, <b>life</b>...you can't visit them very often or chat on the phone or sit and have tea and talk about all the sorts of little things you've been storing up inside your heads.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">About four years ago, I met a fabulous woman who almost instantly became that kind of friend. P. Fon wasn't just my new Thai language teacher. She was my helper in all my incorrect and cultural faux pas. She showed me that Thai people didn't all fit into one neat little box. She delighted me with her parenting skills and humbled me with the way she respected and honored and cherished her aged parents. She had fun with me and our family. She helped me to feel free to share about the tender things of the heart with the ability to finish my sentences in English where I was incredibly insufficient in using Thai. She laughed at me when I mixed up all my Thai letters and rolled her eyes when I said them all wrong. All wrong. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we left our first home in the south of Thailand, she was among the handful of people I was so tearful to be missing as we moved on to another city. And, when I lost my cell phone with her number in it (before those long ago days of pre-Facebook...well...before I ever got on Facebook, anyway)...I had a brief scare that I would never get to talk with her again about a stupid question or a even just a story to share. Thankfully, Treavor had her number stored in his phone and I was able to keep in touch just a little (with a forgetful brain like mine, those conversations were few and far between).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To my delight and utter surprise, we heard through a friend that she and her family were going to be visiting our city over New Year's! <b> Really?! </b> What joy!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And when I finally got to see her, her kind husband, her suddenly grown-up little girl and the new son I had never laid eyes on, my heart leapt. <b>My friend was back.</b> Even if only for a day or so, I could connect again, face-to-face with one of the only Thai people that I could imagine being the most perfect big sister a girl could ever ask for. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I missed you, P. Fon! Hope to see you again very, very soon! I think another trip down south is in order for this New Year. By God's grace, we will brave the day-long trip again and get to sit again, drinking instant coffee, asking each other language questions, laughing at our children and smiling at each other with big, <i>free </i>smiles. </span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Blessings, </span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Alina</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>Alinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01556835916366953109noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911851654769351129.post-47682830037954946512014-01-06T15:10:00.000+07:002014-01-06T15:10:03.606+07:002014 is a New Start<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuERavxlb3QzruLxnT1VazQyi0vZOj7B4-Pptd-UsQwa1I0sfhBt8kxxIwR72yof95ScVRvjbfSt5grA1Xjf-3VEhot48hspzjn1hMEbX_DRH9CfZZh3N-hPsYiew-nKPEOuiOi4ctvKQ/s1600/organizedtoys.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuERavxlb3QzruLxnT1VazQyi0vZOj7B4-Pptd-UsQwa1I0sfhBt8kxxIwR72yof95ScVRvjbfSt5grA1Xjf-3VEhot48hspzjn1hMEbX_DRH9CfZZh3N-hPsYiew-nKPEOuiOi4ctvKQ/s1600/organizedtoys.JPG" height="640" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wouldn't life be grand if the toy area always looked like this? These are the bulk of our toys post "The Great Toy Purge of 2013". </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Treavor and I got a head start on the New Year toward the end of December 2013. You see, we have <b>five </b>sets of people/family units/relations coming to stay with us in first six weeks of this year, and being the Messies we are, the house needed a good shake down. In fact, Christmas Day's evening was spent initiating a toy purge. We have done this for the third year running and <b>it. is. awesome.</b> We go through toys, ditch the ones that have been long forgotten, throw away the bent paper airplanes, broken action figures and dust bunnies...and then consider our storage space (with the goal being not to buy more boxes to fill, but to stay within those boundaries instead). It was so liberating, as it always is.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From that day on, we spent a good part of each day sifting through piles of papers, pulling out guest blankets and sheets, rearranging, and cleaning. We even enlisted a friend to help (one whose <b>gifting </b>it is to be a great organizer and cleaner!).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, when our friends Glen and Kat arrived last Saturday to stay for the week, we felt like we could finally breathe and not have to wish with baited breath that they wouldn't open our cupboards and find themselves at the bottom of the junk pile that had just fallen on them. We are working on being hospitable and tidy people. <b>Help us, Jesus.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can't tell you enough, but it is so wonderful to have clean, empty spaces! Growing up, it was my tendency to feel like a shelf or a table or a space was for <i>filling </i>with some kind of junk. Can anyone else relate? It was as if an empty table was screaming, "PLEASE put junk mail and books and papers and <b>all </b>your loose change, etc. etc. etc. on me!"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It has been a week since we rearranged almost every corner of this house, and there have been a few lazy days of not putting things away as we have rushed from <i>this </i>meeting to <i>this </i>meal to <i>that </i>errand, etc. The clutter is starting to, well, <i>clutter </i>up our empty spaces. One week into our New Year and it already seems we're back to our old ways. We didn't make a resolution, exactly, but are wanting to seriously change our ways so that our children don't inherit our messy tendencies and struggle with it for the rest of their lives. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have any tips for us? Leave a comment below...or you can just wallow around in the dilemma with us and leave me with an "Amen!" if you're struggling with the same thing. Either way, I'd love to hear from ya!</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's to a brand spankin' New Year! God's got some wild things in store for us here, I just know it!</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thanks for reading,</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Alina</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>Alinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01556835916366953109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911851654769351129.post-63035288217655119352013-12-16T20:30:00.001+07:002013-12-16T20:33:15.140+07:00Survey/Christmas Giveaway Winner Announced!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ooM9cbV1SBbHNmlYwxxexSELlohR-GgUYE4kFrx3Ce95V058GuZupueDRk9S7kkf5vjYSfUhVfebW3Zqh5fmGcB-7Ua9Q7ABhYIQr-W0CB8kEux1aBTituTysZPtu4Vzs8yHVXKY61s/s1600/giveawaypic.PNG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyycvN-h9za_kL17PZgDTVwwkcs3N-D2L-bPsXx5ktK7b7fsZiZHc0whWfVGXmdgS3RieOiQ_Fy5yo0kqrHnc8_eswnKz_Vt4rL7yq-6Y7WCZy55cIMQOXXLbKfnFeKiaXarfNff7N13g/s1600/scarves.PNG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyycvN-h9za_kL17PZgDTVwwkcs3N-D2L-bPsXx5ktK7b7fsZiZHc0whWfVGXmdgS3RieOiQ_Fy5yo0kqrHnc8_eswnKz_Vt4rL7yq-6Y7WCZy55cIMQOXXLbKfnFeKiaXarfNff7N13g/s640/scarves.PNG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>You really should check out the goods at <a href="http://www.theopenarmsshop.com/">The Open Arms Shop</a></b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last week, I opened a Christmas Giveaway here on the blog. Saturday at noon, Central Time, the giveaway and the survey involved officially closed. THANK YOU for stopping by and for giving me your thoughts about this blog and answering some questions about yourself. This information is truly <i><b>gold</b></i> for me as I look to the next year of blogging and plan to write about things that you are actually interested in rather than things I just happen to be excited about. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hey, I can <a href="http://ordinarylifeinthewild.blogspot.com/search/label/wildlife">get excited over bugs</a>, write <a href="http://ordinarylifeinthewild.blogspot.com/2011/06/ode-to-mosquitoes.html">lame poetry</a> and take an obscene amount of pictures...but maybe you're not looking for that...or maybe you are?! Time will tell as I write and share more in the coming year. Your opinion and your thoughts <b>matter to me</b>. Thanks, friends!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>If you skimmed over that last paragraph to just know who won...then wait no longer...</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The winner of the Christmas Giveaway is...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">CARRIE!</span></b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Carrie, please shoot me an email at ordinaryalina@gmail.com to let me know whether you would like to receive a scarf (red or white) or a kilo of some awesome coffee from Hillkoff. Also, let me know the type of roast you prefer. Are you a dark roast kinda girl or someone who likes keeping life and her coffee a little lighter? I will never know...unless you tell me. THANKS!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As for the rest of you who come to read...there will be more opportunities to win goodies that I will most undoubtedly offer. Who doesn't like a giveaway? <i>Stuff for free?</i> I'm game. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, of course, until then...I will be living life here in Thailand and telling you all about it and about the people and places we live around. Keep dropping by!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Blessings!</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Alina</b></span><br />
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<i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>ps, if you are still interested in taking my survey (a whopping FIVE questions)...let me know in the comments or shoot me an email. I would really appreciate it!</b></i><br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>Alinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01556835916366953109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911851654769351129.post-53640572208721714182013-12-10T00:03:00.000+07:002013-12-10T00:11:27.485+07:00GIVEAWAY - Just In Time For Christmas! - A Survey<div style="text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><i>Who doesn't like a GIVEAWAY?</i></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This week here at Ordinary Life in the Wild, I am hosting a giveaway just in time for Christmas. If you have read for years now, or are visiting for the first time, you are welcome to join in the fun! By fun, I mean a bribe of sorts...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In order to get a better idea of what my readers (that would be <i><b>you</b></i>) enjoy whenever they visit here, I created a poll! And, while most of you are busy with your...well, <i>busy </i>lives...I thought I would give you a little incentive to fill out the survey form and enlighten me a little bit in the process. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, you can always fill out this survey to bless me with no strings attached...but it would be more fun to win one of these instead:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>A handmade scarf made from recycled t-shirts...by refugees living in Austin, TX. And, in pretty holiday colors...(<a href="http://www.theopenarmsshop.com/">click here</a> to read more about the makers at Open Arms)</i></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhPUQTydcbtQF6HVjTAhFUpB6dsLXKa0ZPmXY7Gt95rwTpCKkCX0ntv-4Zs9ev6IiUp_q3sNSx3d_WIlxet7Mj-VY7oe4ZwxAn41lqi7SK573qOD1ft9dm5oWf3yHa_p32nAvdxF9QTMs/s1600/scarves.PNG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhPUQTydcbtQF6HVjTAhFUpB6dsLXKa0ZPmXY7Gt95rwTpCKkCX0ntv-4Zs9ev6IiUp_q3sNSx3d_WIlxet7Mj-VY7oe4ZwxAn41lqi7SK573qOD1ft9dm5oWf3yHa_p32nAvdxF9QTMs/s640/scarves.PNG.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Or, a kilo of coffee from these people at Hillkoff coffee in Thailand (our every-day choice to fill our mugs!!):</i></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1OOupWocuwLsUSGbsacg2B5Gphx88jLfJfVToAaZsobTPEroJ0wsIm4OXF4SNhKKbbIMLLipcRywNup7HMoXiHLMXwF4Vbm232QL5YDfe0lQFeMhvYFp55av790zt__qEWZX6ftIJAig/s1600/hillkoff.png.PNG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1OOupWocuwLsUSGbsacg2B5Gphx88jLfJfVToAaZsobTPEroJ0wsIm4OXF4SNhKKbbIMLLipcRywNup7HMoXiHLMXwF4Vbm232QL5YDfe0lQFeMhvYFp55av790zt__qEWZX6ftIJAig/s640/hillkoff.png.PNG.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, what do you have to do to enter for a chance to win one of these awesome gifts? Fill out the form below (<i>please be truthful and please please enter at least your first name so I know who to gift once this is over!</i>)...<b>by noon</b> on <b>December 14th</b> (this Saturday!). Thank you SO MUCH for helping me become a better blogger and giving me an opportunity to bless you, my readers, in the process! <i>(If you are having trouble with the survey through my site, <a href="http://ordinaryalina.polldaddy.com/s/who-what-where-why-do-you-read-this-blog">click here</a> for direct access on PollDaddy).</i></span><br />
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</script>Alinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01556835916366953109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911851654769351129.post-48865076796046620082013-12-07T15:31:00.000+07:002013-12-08T08:17:03.987+07:00A Young Family's Search for a Meaningful Holiday Overseas<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Y9eH70IPpl5uBM3_IkFHo8ani1isO66Ssqk6SytD04LVIhks7fOKLOVU3moxN8-4cEuKuphzlFlYZpYrXA-M-Z8kNSkLYy3Fh-DxE7Pm-M9-KnSxvvAr_5IWzQHa-7unDdYTjtCcKyQ/s1600/IMG_2849.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Y9eH70IPpl5uBM3_IkFHo8ani1isO66Ssqk6SytD04LVIhks7fOKLOVU3moxN8-4cEuKuphzlFlYZpYrXA-M-Z8kNSkLYy3Fh-DxE7Pm-M9-KnSxvvAr_5IWzQHa-7unDdYTjtCcKyQ/s640/IMG_2849.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Who let these crazies out of the house like that?</span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's that season again. </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No, not the rainy season or the hot season or the cold (OK, mildly cool) season here in Thailand...the <i>holiday </i>season. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For us, after the rains stop drip dropping (mostly), there come cooler days and a vague resemblance of Fall. I wake up in the morning, chilly, donning fuzzy socks and dreaming of hot coffee to warm me up. My husband, from Illinois, would disagree with the degree that I deem this "chilly" morning/evening weather, but then he used to walk out in the snow with a t-shirt. Hard core, <i>I get it.</i> I am not.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But with the weather changing, and despite the fact that snow is something that only happens here along with pigs flying, our minds shift to the holidays; American holidays.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Suddenly, without skipping a beat, the annual Thanksgiving Day banquet is planned. My culinary contribution is usually not much, as my close friends here have that area covered much better than myself. And, then, like in the States, the day right after Christmas brings thoughts of ornaments and cookies and carols and Elf. You can't have Christmas lately without Elf, right?</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-nL5UfsI8MZdQzPJowLXXj1d_TW0S0xm3KQ7X1Ichvkzmhvtr8OPCuvCB438yJp24c0parKM1Sv66sXyn9hR6k-V8VkxrWrADzdQiZJ-LLZ5GL5kOd0Mlwja_PGReH2H7GiIrkJkAmPk/s1600/IMG_2712.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-nL5UfsI8MZdQzPJowLXXj1d_TW0S0xm3KQ7X1Ichvkzmhvtr8OPCuvCB438yJp24c0parKM1Sv66sXyn9hR6k-V8VkxrWrADzdQiZJ-LLZ5GL5kOd0Mlwja_PGReH2H7GiIrkJkAmPk/s640/IMG_2712.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last year's Thanksgiving celebration at the S-clan's house</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, without being surrounded by the American culture and influence of the holidays, our little family is left to decide for itself about how to celebrate this season. And, lemme tell ya, I am happy to be left out of Black Friday, fruitcake and the Chipmunks singing "O Holy Night" on repeat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the other hand, so much of what we <i>feel </i>during this season is all that we see and hear around us (in the States). Neighborhoods are lit up, carols fill the air as we shop for milk, and Santa is suddenly everywhere we see in ads and decorations. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, what do you do when we live <i>here</i>? In <i>Asia</i>. In a <i>Buddhist </i>nation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With every year that passes, we realize that the holiday culture we will be experiencing is the one we create ourselves. Instead of letting extended family and TV commercials and Target toy ads determine what enjoy in this season, <b>WE </b>are the determining factor.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is what we have been doing over the past few years to make our overseas Christmas feel just right for US:</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ObGH_DDdH9JXNdFmvh_pTg0co-eio__O7N2VhLUwYIr2Plw8dw4pPyhmoMLOX6rzK_hyphenhyphenyIFFP-2RB1Vg5ACbMEZh1B3H17mTnLP7mODpHW4skKaPyj1JfvEEdiR-atWSFBQrqYO3u1k/s1600/IMG_2707.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ObGH_DDdH9JXNdFmvh_pTg0co-eio__O7N2VhLUwYIr2Plw8dw4pPyhmoMLOX6rzK_hyphenhyphenyIFFP-2RB1Vg5ACbMEZh1B3H17mTnLP7mODpHW4skKaPyj1JfvEEdiR-atWSFBQrqYO3u1k/s640/IMG_2707.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>:: Food, lots and lots of glorious food. </b> When the temperature drops (or, at least when November hits)...out comes the pumpkins, cinnamon sticks, sugar cookies and <i>comfort food</i>. Over the past four years, our best experience yet in this area has been in the current city we live in. For a price, you can get just about any ingredient to make what you need (<i>mostly, but you still have to make from scratch</i>). One Christmas morning, we had breakfast tacos with handmade flour tortillas...just because when you live overseas, <b>any special food makes it a special day</b>...even if you don't necessarily equate breakfast tacos with Christmas!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>:: Music. </b>Before the days of <a href="http://www.apple.com/itunes/itunes-radio/">iTunes radio</a> (we can't really get Pandora here)...this came in the form of our own albums, the borrowing of others, and YouTube Christmas play lists. Just hearing the classics throughout our home makes us a little nostalgic, AND realize that most of the songs are so foreign to our kids.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJAwpTkbpvKtq8qqRIqvx6shK_NNMXF_CRVP-PS3DEnIBky3BZH477FoX43WpMNjY0VyKn93pajzOf86iXe7nRDPTb9y-VyT38JVuX_C0auQ0FAYh3X2SVUOU3e5AmHaKBJwvwJLZOP_0/s1600/IMG_4698.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJAwpTkbpvKtq8qqRIqvx6shK_NNMXF_CRVP-PS3DEnIBky3BZH477FoX43WpMNjY0VyKn93pajzOf86iXe7nRDPTb9y-VyT38JVuX_C0auQ0FAYh3X2SVUOU3e5AmHaKBJwvwJLZOP_0/s640/IMG_4698.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This year, Mrs. Tawni came over to help us overload the tree with ornaments and Mr. Mike came to oversee the eating of cookies. He had to make sure they were fit for eating, I guess.</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ZxDl5-nQzKfjuC863rl-Iqpsn0eWk5oOf3dewUPsLKstyBFuWk9RXZ7LwoI93jIju4Y0AuqQ0ac2TCCZEA65qde1nM_-Mdj052-kZ0YNKLUzRb4WtdHjGsq1-xDJiLYLQywUYl9GFrs/s1600/IMG_4699.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ZxDl5-nQzKfjuC863rl-Iqpsn0eWk5oOf3dewUPsLKstyBFuWk9RXZ7LwoI93jIju4Y0AuqQ0ac2TCCZEA65qde1nM_-Mdj052-kZ0YNKLUzRb4WtdHjGsq1-xDJiLYLQywUYl9GFrs/s640/IMG_4699.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Huy called dibs to put on the star. He was beyond thrilled!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>:: Decor, of course. </b> Now, I am not the craftiest or best home decorator (just ask my family)...but the only "seasonal" decor I have is at least Christmas stuff. A few days ago, we pulled out the table-top Christmas tree, the box of ornaments we have been collecting since we married almost a decade ago, our two nativity scenes that some dear friends sent from the States, and some lights (that blink incessantly so as to make me want to lose my mind!). For the last few years, some friends have come over to deck the tree and have a hot drink together. Loads of fun!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>:: Focus on giving, not getting.</b> Though we do buy a few things for our children and for each other to open on Dec. 25th, we don't have wish lists, or pretend to be Santa's middle-men. It is so exciting to get new things given to you in this season (hey, I LOVE gifts! we aren't pretending to be non-materialistic!)...but we have tried to steer our minds towards what we can <i>give </i>instead. I used to be plagued by buying meaningless or pricey junk for others in a veiled attempt to be generous...but instead of that, we try to pray about whom to give to each year and how to do it. Some years we give <a href="http://donate.worldvision.org/OA_HTML/xxwv2ibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?go=gift&&section=10389">World Vision gifts</a> or items to support the <a href="http://www.rageagainsttheminivan.com/2013/11/christmas-gift-guide-gifts-that-give.html">eradication of human trafficking and poverty.</a> We visit a local orphanage on Christmas Day (for a few years now), bring some things along to bless them, and play with the children there. Perspective can be a great teacher. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>:: Celebrating Advent/<a href="http://ordinarylifeinthewild.blogspot.com/2011/11/getting-jesse-tree-ready-advent.html">Jesse Tree</a>.</b> For the last three years we have been counting down December days by reading various prophetic passages leading up to the birth of Jesus. All throughout the Bible, there are shadows and hopes of the Messiah's coming. It has been so wonderful to draw all these stories together for us and for our kids as we prepare to celebrate Christmas in a meaningful way. I used to use <a href="http://www.aholyexperience.com/">Ann Voskamp's </a>Jesse Tree devotional...but this year she is highlighting<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1414387083/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1414387083&linkCode=as2&tag=holyexper-20"> this study </a>instead of her original one. Also, YouVersion's Bible app has <a href="https://www.bible.com/reading-plans?category=christmas_and_advent">Advent reading plans</a> to follow. I am reading She Read's Truth's version and our family is going through the Countdown to Christmas reading plan. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, these are just a few ways we expats are trying to make the holidays something special to us.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What are some ways that you make your Thanksgiving/Christmas season meaningful? Expat or not, I would love to hear your traditions and ideas...feel free to comment below.</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Blessings,</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Alina</span></b><br />
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<br />Alinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01556835916366953109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911851654769351129.post-67113592170889504892013-11-23T17:21:00.001+07:002013-11-23T17:21:37.267+07:00Five Minute Friday: Fly<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2YC2GwqLERhfXISoEMtCm7kaI98ny38hunO1F3uhjK3NFfrL614NSLc1BrXQ1vgAEdxftfa2C7P8bIemeISC2YwjdPrrBV80sveNMdj8KTGeG9jVTSdkgX7lk4RdUYbu283hJvYWrb8/s1600/IMGP4529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2YC2GwqLERhfXISoEMtCm7kaI98ny38hunO1F3uhjK3NFfrL614NSLc1BrXQ1vgAEdxftfa2C7P8bIemeISC2YwjdPrrBV80sveNMdj8KTGeG9jVTSdkgX7lk4RdUYbu283hJvYWrb8/s640/IMGP4529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The very plane that brought us to Thailand almost 4.5 years ago.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><i>This imperfect post below is a result of taking a blind leap of exercising my writing skills through <b>Five Minute Fridays</b>. Hundreds of other bloggers around the globe take just five minutes every week (ok...maybe I am not <b>that </b>consistent! but...working up to it) to write for <b>only </b>five minutes on a one-word prompt that Lisa Baker gives at her site. Interested? Click <a href="http://lisajobaker.com/2013/11/five-minute-friday-fly">here</a> to get the details.</i></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">_____________________________________________________</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Fly...</span></b><br />
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I get two kinds of mental pictures when I hear the word, "fly."<br />
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<b>Picture one:</b><br />
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Soaring...freedom...puffy white clouds and an endless sky. Maybe even Superman makes an appearance in this mental picture.<br />
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<b>Picture two: </b><br />
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In order to reach my family and friends who live across an ocean or two, I have to <b>fly</b>. I have to spend a zillion dollars and plan for months and FLY to be able to see them, reach them.<br />
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One picture elicits incredible freedom and exhilaration and aaaahhhhh...a sigh of relief.<br />
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The second represents a barrier of time and space and a wall between locations on this big and wide planet.<br />
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They represent wanting to fly towards space and be away from people for moments upon moments...and in my more homesick and people-sick moments...flying represents my need and craving for the people I miss.<br />
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Fly...<br />
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">STOP</span></b>Alinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01556835916366953109noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911851654769351129.post-65809385460779163852013-11-11T20:32:00.001+07:002013-11-11T20:32:21.315+07:00Tying Strings With Tickle Fights<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU9t54RRbz6AO_DEhWlxgcszx3qJWxSusfRDjiUeZs4IO4FOp5cTMX1HSrPjyY2Wp9x6PRed7Z76WwHTKjFvtKQc88u9QZLGXMl0iTnB9-7qkIhhoHZqocz5qxEz_PSq1EcpAO3VCPk34/s1600/IMG_4662.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU9t54RRbz6AO_DEhWlxgcszx3qJWxSusfRDjiUeZs4IO4FOp5cTMX1HSrPjyY2Wp9x6PRed7Z76WwHTKjFvtKQc88u9QZLGXMl0iTnB9-7qkIhhoHZqocz5qxEz_PSq1EcpAO3VCPk34/s640/IMG_4662.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kyla, my smiling beauty, mid-tickle-fight.</span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lately, I have been trying to perfect my ability to tickle-fight.</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you have kids,<i> or just even an annoying or immature co-worker</i>, then you understand that sometimes leading people can wreck your good attitude.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even though I have four little blessings, sometimes amid whining and making lunch and messes and dirty diapers and <b>noise</b>, I sometimes forget that they are<i> in fact</i> little blessings instead of little terrors. Can't relate? I <b>know </b>I am not alone.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, in an attempt to war against the bad attitude (mine) that is just waiting to creep out from under my peaceful exterior, I have tried to make my kids' smiles <i>come out instead</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I read once in <a href="http://nogreaterjoy.org/shop/to-train-up-a-child-book">To Train Up a Child</a> about "<a href="http://nogreaterjoy.org/video/joy-of-training-tying-strings/">Tying Strings</a> (<i>click for a short video</i>)." The basic idea is to tie "strings" of fellowship, joy, smiles, laughter, great memories and great love, with your kids (or anyone else, really). You can do this by creating experiences and emotions that draw your heart and your child's heart together; as if they were tied to each other. <b> Because we all know that there are times when the strings we tie are then cut apart. </b></span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Strings are cut with angry words, a roll of the eyes, too many "no's", sarcasm, and not enough time to look them in the eyes and engage with them.</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can list all of the above so easily not because I just see it in others, but because I see it in <b>myself</b>. So, I can choose to <b>re-tie the strings I have cut</b> with smiles, loving touches, turning off my iPad and making eye-contact, listening to the rambling stories and about a million things more. I am sure you can think of a few to add to the list.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, every day, I have committed to tie <i>more</i> strings than I cut. To keep them close. To keep their heart connected with mine. When they grow up, <b>what </b>is going to keep them from breaking free just as soon as they're able? ...<b>The strings that I tie today.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>So, bring on the tickle fights.</b> They are an instant attitude-breaker and a joy-bringer. Try it! Or, tie some different strings of your own (<i>and share some of your ideas in the comments below</i>).</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Blessings,</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Alina</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>
<br />Alinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01556835916366953109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911851654769351129.post-79914103157059653732013-11-09T21:28:00.003+07:002013-11-09T21:39:48.421+07:0010 Easy Steps For How to Draw Attention to Yourself in Thailand<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;"><b>These tips have come from my own (embarrassing) personal experience, and from watching other foreigner's personal experiences as they live in and visit Thailand. </b></span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;"><b>
</b></span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;"><b>If you ever find yourself hopping a plane over here to our neck of the woods, you'll thank me, <i>or not</i>, for sharing these tips with you: </b></span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;"><b>
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<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;"><b>
</b></span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;"><b>10 Easy Steps For How to Draw Attention to Yourself in Thailand </b></span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;"><b>
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<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;">
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<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;">
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<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;">1. Be really, really loud.<i> A lot.</i> In public places. Especially when in a conversation with someone else.</span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;">
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<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;">
</span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;">2. Have white skin. Works every time. This is especially effective if paired with blond hair and blue eyes. <b>Mercy on your soul </b>if you have all three. You might have just become the most popular person in the room.<i> Ever. </i></span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;">
</span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;">
</span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;">3. Show a lot of skin. Sleeveless shirts and shorty-shorts are a must to accomplish this attention-getter. </span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;">
</span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;">4. Have lots and lots of babies. Any number higher than two will shock others regularly and cause them to think you run a preschool in your own home. </span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;">
</span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;">5. Forget to use a straw when drinking out of a bottle or can. Hey, didn't you ever read the article about the bacteria on the tops of those containers? Drink from a straw<b> and live</b>. (And you simultaneously avoid awkward dribbles of Fanta over your chin. It just makes sense.) </span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;">
</span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;">6. Pick your teeth in public. Don't discretely cover you mouth, either. You lose points for that. </span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;">
</span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;">7. Wear your shoes <b>inside.</b> </span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;">
</span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;">8. Spit, loudly and with great distance. </span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;">
</span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;">9. Hug your spouse/significant other in public. Better yet, a smack on the lips will really turn everyone's heads. </span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;">
</span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;"><i>And lastly... </i></span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;">
</span></span></pre>
<pre style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; white-space: normal;">10. Whatever you do, <i>don't smile. </i>Keep those smiles to yourself. Everyone will be very sweet and concerned for your welfare. They will tell you to just forget ("mai ben rai") your troubles and cheer up. But, if you sincerely don't want the masses confused by your permanent frown, then cure your melancholy nature and just take a look around you. You are in one of the most <i>beautiful </i>countries in the world, and it's people's<i> own smiles</i> are too contagious to resist. <b>I dare you, just try.</b></span></span></pre>
Alinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01556835916366953109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911851654769351129.post-84229179310267220722013-11-08T14:52:00.000+07:002013-11-08T15:08:09.364+07:00Five Minute Friday: Truth<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyMJyOdjZGjfU_VpqZu9X7BNUi21klyq1RNTkje7ZuVoplKfBQwEdAMGV0yK6xLCKWf3FY8r1O_rIKqG5i6rMqjBgeOe3Hk8PlRcIYz3aZCkI-CZ2qkn2r73SIghuf2Lyxk-BCGeogMx0/s1600/IMG_4659.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyMJyOdjZGjfU_VpqZu9X7BNUi21klyq1RNTkje7ZuVoplKfBQwEdAMGV0yK6xLCKWf3FY8r1O_rIKqG5i6rMqjBgeOe3Hk8PlRcIYz3aZCkI-CZ2qkn2r73SIghuf2Lyxk-BCGeogMx0/s640/IMG_4659.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Truth</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No more hiding.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ever since I chose to walk in truth instead of keep everyone
in the dark, everything under wraps…I have no more reason to hide.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sure, I might disappoint someone, but at least I am walking
without chains.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because, you see, keeping lies and fibs and half-truths
creates chains that seem unable to be broken. Another un-truth leads to another
which leads to another. I was tired of the cycle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whenever I found out that He will continue to love me,
continue to be faithful, continue to not turn away His gaze…I could finally get
real with Him, myself and with everyone else. Instead of walking in darkness, I
chose the brighter path, though narrow. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, there are consequences. I don’t have to seem to be as
shiny and as orderly and as perfect as I wanted everyone else to see me as. I
am just me. Broken. Needy. Ignorant. Desperate. Dumb, even, sometimes. I need
someone to show me the way instead of me thinking that I already knew it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He lead me into all Truth. Jesus. And now, you can, too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>STOP</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I didn't even want to post this because it isn't perfect. There are incomplete thoughts and so much more that I could have written. But, when I considered the whole nature of trying to walk in the truth of my imperfection and the whole vision behind <a href="http://lisajobaker.com/five-minute-friday/">Five Minute Fridays</a>, I had to post it anyways. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>This year, I have committed to myself to be more genuine whenever I write here at Ordinary Life in the Wild. Thanks for giving me a chance to get real.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Blessings,</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Alina</b></span></div>
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Alinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01556835916366953109noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911851654769351129.post-67951944829136630762013-11-02T16:20:00.001+07:002013-11-02T16:20:32.605+07:00Back to the Blogosphere<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm3lWFmu3jFAsHMDDFLGRaL7lM4dZqngci_5qkkL07njnFkJlY21LHWCYkD6Z6nrLbc6Ct5MZSbOx_hv075N-uA3HP3CG7t9JQewBWZJy7jOC51FLWiR3pZ3OOot7QmGv6HQMDrToNntI/s1600/IMG_0233-60.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm3lWFmu3jFAsHMDDFLGRaL7lM4dZqngci_5qkkL07njnFkJlY21LHWCYkD6Z6nrLbc6Ct5MZSbOx_hv075N-uA3HP3CG7t9JQewBWZJy7jOC51FLWiR3pZ3OOot7QmGv6HQMDrToNntI/s640/IMG_0233-60.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #6aa84f;">This beautiful girl was a good excuse for taking a break from blogging. Charis Tirzah, you are worth it!</span></b><br />photo credit: <a href="http://katiefriesenphotography.com/about/">Katie Friesen photography</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let's face it. <b>It has been awhile.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since I becoming pregnant with our fourth precious child, Charis, my blogging almost screeched to a complete halt. Hey, halts are good sometimes. Seasons change, like <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes%203%20&version=NIV">Ecclesiastes 3</a> proclaims, and slowing down is pretty natural. Besides, a woman's got to nap when she's making a human being. For me, nap time was usually blog time. You understand.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now that the lovely Charis is here, I feel like the fog in my brain has lifted and I can think clearly again. Though, my "clearly" is relative. If you know me well, I am pretty spacey as it is. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>But, where my blogging online quieted, the blogging in my brain got louder.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You see, there is another voice that seems not be quieted. Call it another personality...my creative side...whatever. I have tried to turn it off for months, but I can't!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I would visit a new place, discover new wildlife here, laugh at some ridiculous thing my children did, or discover a fun new thing in our home-school day...I would dream up the way I would blog that experience back to you. I have had an inner dialogue with my Blogger page and although I wasn't typing it into the computer, I was imagining how I would share it with the world if I simply<i> had time </i>and the <i>mental space </i>to do it. There are countless things that I could have shared in these past months, but I chose to say "yes" to others things that were rightly vying for my attention.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After much prayer, I am convinced, though...I simply <i>have </i>to blog. In this season of life, it is a way for me to share with all of you about all the things that happen in our lives that get lost in a Facebook feed or drown in the ocean of an email inbox. Even if I don't get the same amount of reads that I did before this year's hiatus, I can at least hit "post" and offer up that blogging voice to whomever has the time and interest and space to read about the ordinary things that make up a big part of our every day.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you for reading and for sticking with me. </span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Blessings, </span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Alina</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>Alinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01556835916366953109noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911851654769351129.post-56838176649705404792013-07-12T16:20:00.000+07:002013-07-12T16:25:23.246+07:00Five Minute Friday: Present<span style="color: black;"><em>I stumbled across an opportunity that has captured the attention of hundreds of other bloggers every Friday. It is called Five Minute Friday. Basically, it is a chance to write for just five minutes, with a certain writing prompt in mind. It is a chance to just create and think without paying too much attention to making it look pretty (i.e.: no editing, back-tracking or second-guessing allowed!). Sometimes all I have is five minutes to write, anyway, so the idea seems to be right up my alley. Want to read more about how it all got started? Click </em><a href="http://lisajobaker.com/five-minute-friday/"><em>here</em></a><em> to go to lisajobaker.com to get the skinny.</em></span><br />
<em></em><br />
<em>And, if you want to join in, you still have time left (it'll be Friday in the States for at least another 19 hours or so!) Click </em><a href="http://lisajobaker.com/2013/07/five-minute-friday-present/"><em>here</em></a><em> for the writing prompt...</em><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Present...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW6lO3MJRLrq7oHtl8KO0RwnubFEJ1anPIBxX03TvwTIXeEDbyMBT8lhNDe1wC0OwvyBpkfQR3KAAWnZMda9BR6dOwmQQX4lkCTw1TeIepJre-xusHLiUmKeEa7EEB0Ey1ny1fNYFjWRs/s1600/IMG_1759.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW6lO3MJRLrq7oHtl8KO0RwnubFEJ1anPIBxX03TvwTIXeEDbyMBT8lhNDe1wC0OwvyBpkfQR3KAAWnZMda9BR6dOwmQQX4lkCTw1TeIepJre-xusHLiUmKeEa7EEB0Ey1ny1fNYFjWRs/s640/IMG_1759.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">GO</span><br />
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I would like to say that I am always <em>here</em>.<br />
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Always engaged.<br />
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Always <strong>ready</strong>; with divine wisdom and discernment poised in the arsenal of my mind.<br />
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But, sometimes...I'm not.<br />
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Sometimes, like you, I blip out. I zone out. I day-dream out...of my situation...of the conversation.<br />
<br />
I wonder what it was really like to be the Savior. Can you imagine what his inner dialogue was? Did HE ever daydream? Did he ever zone out of the conversation and star off into space. I can't imagine so...<br />
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His dialogue with the Father was ever-so consistent, ready "in season and out." Oh, how I long to have that kind of focus. I have never seen myself as ADD, but sometimes feel that way. God has brought me down a long road of learning how to be engaged...to stop preparing my next statement, question, or rebuttal (while the person I am supposed to be communicating with is just trying to get their own thoughts across their mouths, out of their heads and into the air). Can you imagine? To not always be thinking of how to answer...but being there just...listening?<br />
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Listening to Him.<br />
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Listening for His reply. Only His.<br />
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That is what <strong>present</strong> is.<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;">STOP</span>Alinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01556835916366953109noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911851654769351129.post-84596084658608131492013-06-25T22:16:00.000+07:002013-06-25T22:16:14.929+07:00Visa Run: AKA, paying our quarterly dues to the powers that be...<div style="text-align: left;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdjbOFFfkCwxyKDlfB4YsAsabedwwAsZScYoyfKwSgaYfoHdCEhjo3PJxo9keKtVagbR_-DF6RJCG8l8ULzGdQEdoCLAtenykdCkVdfNN5HuQ3YGVBdg66mbLU06NyyTF86WNSfjbTpEo/s1600/IMG_4272.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdjbOFFfkCwxyKDlfB4YsAsabedwwAsZScYoyfKwSgaYfoHdCEhjo3PJxo9keKtVagbR_-DF6RJCG8l8ULzGdQEdoCLAtenykdCkVdfNN5HuQ3YGVBdg66mbLU06NyyTF86WNSfjbTpEo/s640/IMG_4272.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The river separating Burma and Thailand, my view from the walking bridge on the last visa run.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every three months, we make a run for it out of Thailand. Well, a visa "run" to be more precise. For reasons I still don't understand, every quarter of the year we have to leave the country to get our passport stamped. When I post on Facebook, "headed to Burma today," I am usually not sight-seeing or on some humanitarian excursion...I just going for the stamp, people.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I happened to have my camera in my purse a few days ago when we had to take another run for the border...so you can have a glimpse into what we see on our four-a-year trips:</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz7VjpfNtCEbgCcuQ7Rytx7Q9wGc8uTIDbzITS02vyOn39DoaX7h35ZLrvxjFb-gTj-O-uBQS73rD17QXdlneycV9I_FqWAj60OjBI1lgYSXpGwB9rysABFmLAHI65uUTAIdRHqZip5Wg/s1600/IMG_4283.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz7VjpfNtCEbgCcuQ7Rytx7Q9wGc8uTIDbzITS02vyOn39DoaX7h35ZLrvxjFb-gTj-O-uBQS73rD17QXdlneycV9I_FqWAj60OjBI1lgYSXpGwB9rysABFmLAHI65uUTAIdRHqZip5Wg/s640/IMG_4283.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Coming up on the border! That big blue building ahead is where the Thai immigration offices are.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, from the city we live in, we travel about three hours to the Thai/Burma border. Since the kids don't have to cross the border like Treav and I do, we take turns. We will take them shopping or out to lunch or just sit in the car with them.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim_T1jNrQMtkUnZBXf5tRB1emEcq9MEGT48_I7r0FGH2iC75-m8MTnmD9vBDWTdQThnXrxW7RHA8Zmd115x7XucWGM3yWP0Z3lgAqHhFtd_-DWp18BP0YuXEaxxOu-wkzjePx9reXUGn4/s1600/IMG_4257.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim_T1jNrQMtkUnZBXf5tRB1emEcq9MEGT48_I7r0FGH2iC75-m8MTnmD9vBDWTdQThnXrxW7RHA8Zmd115x7XucWGM3yWP0Z3lgAqHhFtd_-DWp18BP0YuXEaxxOu-wkzjePx9reXUGn4/s640/IMG_4257.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The point of no return.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_PIsftNSGcfB9t04TT9n0Ea7b_0X5xnkmG1tqYv9pyOyVFUT_G08QCcNj_f0YkNqv9vnZ0HNzrPs3wRUlSxmUVb1xKmIdZGkS7KHgCnp0WUdS1iTLkfbe-5Q-IQ6Tj4lSHSn79Ht7lnU/s1600/IMG_4258.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_PIsftNSGcfB9t04TT9n0Ea7b_0X5xnkmG1tqYv9pyOyVFUT_G08QCcNj_f0YkNqv9vnZ0HNzrPs3wRUlSxmUVb1xKmIdZGkS7KHgCnp0WUdS1iTLkfbe-5Q-IQ6Tj4lSHSn79Ht7lnU/s640/IMG_4258.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Inside the immigration office. I had no idea that Burma...er, Myanmar...was a half hour behind! </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Tap5Ncbq6YEVoI2FYgStqJ8kFJM1mCmoBorUSZV4ihj0H0t36XNuU7cm5DZsO6AGhePPqjDq0V2COl7hT_F7UMmElFdxg4FHmOVl-cBfb3JTHb1xG4GupG8qcb0oV0Jbydy_Mzqo8FM/s1600/IMG_4259.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Tap5Ncbq6YEVoI2FYgStqJ8kFJM1mCmoBorUSZV4ihj0H0t36XNuU7cm5DZsO6AGhePPqjDq0V2COl7hT_F7UMmElFdxg4FHmOVl-cBfb3JTHb1xG4GupG8qcb0oV0Jbydy_Mzqo8FM/s640/IMG_4259.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After passing through immigration and getting my stamp out of Thailand, you walk over a bridge that separates the two countries.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQjC3BsHddxCuJw3_bj2SeS9HfHDMo5GNkdNDmDv9e4qNTuXHZ2eArMEyGsoJFRk7jAewUscMYIQMtgSw0akogvclTthXzgXXQ5K2cJhuVk5I8QMPrrKRY3QdMiuyHTkYIKnN2-gQlNdw/s1600/IMG_4261.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQjC3BsHddxCuJw3_bj2SeS9HfHDMo5GNkdNDmDv9e4qNTuXHZ2eArMEyGsoJFRk7jAewUscMYIQMtgSw0akogvclTthXzgXXQ5K2cJhuVk5I8QMPrrKRY3QdMiuyHTkYIKnN2-gQlNdw/s640/IMG_4261.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On my way out, I caught this cutie playing while her momma was begging on the side of the bridge.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRSyYUSD7Ss7KxJIC1gUI0_uTcQKMltI3tkQffIBhl4bZj_ZgXzN6f14skwelyIazfL3lIl3JALdXQdPnTMwcVjrQv-oee1FB-veOoCSepbnlEH80br1WDnWlrmqameslCuAru2tCYxNM/s1600/IMG_4265.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRSyYUSD7Ss7KxJIC1gUI0_uTcQKMltI3tkQffIBhl4bZj_ZgXzN6f14skwelyIazfL3lIl3JALdXQdPnTMwcVjrQv-oee1FB-veOoCSepbnlEH80br1WDnWlrmqameslCuAru2tCYxNM/s640/IMG_4265.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A bystander on the Burma side down by the river.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-CjCUhBcGyfiBuaLDikvT-DXORn5KVhGlwxQdqaym2c1lkxqAh7C8BaxrUBUoJBplwn-wO9H5h0KTDPsJScURl43FcCcvp3pC-VMkyJSQIew5muXzf16dTVnpPU77qTxrMR_nS1R69pQ/s1600/IMG_4266.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-CjCUhBcGyfiBuaLDikvT-DXORn5KVhGlwxQdqaym2c1lkxqAh7C8BaxrUBUoJBplwn-wO9H5h0KTDPsJScURl43FcCcvp3pC-VMkyJSQIew5muXzf16dTVnpPU77qTxrMR_nS1R69pQ/s640/IMG_4266.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like most places, even the bridge had food carts with all sorts of fried ware.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZy5qgNLTd-0Jez2J5IxyaOc4VYsPXdRGLj2mPHVqBK1nCuvsSc4SCRFUyChYDzQush7rNKnubzLyJDu9xuK8Ojt6qGQtzILFRLCOIia4ZGC886nAbfy17ltvTP6G66jwpTka-gb5ZaWE/s1600/IMG_4267.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZy5qgNLTd-0Jez2J5IxyaOc4VYsPXdRGLj2mPHVqBK1nCuvsSc4SCRFUyChYDzQush7rNKnubzLyJDu9xuK8Ojt6qGQtzILFRLCOIia4ZGC886nAbfy17ltvTP6G66jwpTka-gb5ZaWE/s640/IMG_4267.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are all sorts of vegetables fried in batter and oil. I passed on this...</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSLvmeEUMvmTt4Joxmfafbu8uAMMWqAIHl6bTiEPYHNuh0jPNfrCzoxhvqA32YjTveFrRKGXkLYn8toiMS5ZFVo5VAoKDl2tfCvQ4ty8bBnJXa_a3EsBtRiuassPlzwcfSEYCDainRgC4/s1600/IMG_4268.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSLvmeEUMvmTt4Joxmfafbu8uAMMWqAIHl6bTiEPYHNuh0jPNfrCzoxhvqA32YjTveFrRKGXkLYn8toiMS5ZFVo5VAoKDl2tfCvQ4ty8bBnJXa_a3EsBtRiuassPlzwcfSEYCDainRgC4/s640/IMG_4268.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Welcome to Myanmar...almost!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiNhSSFelnLD_q8ZTLHruofnafkBOGULNF8X-Fqj_y9jInio77fCK1GZjLfqJE3egIl4K2Z0F_6Czl0tPHbEPcnZdsKqcK4YH78ePPxuhuya23Vo_5WCYXe75nQg8Dm5ks92M86GWC5Wc/s1600/IMG_4269.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiNhSSFelnLD_q8ZTLHruofnafkBOGULNF8X-Fqj_y9jInio77fCK1GZjLfqJE3egIl4K2Z0F_6Czl0tPHbEPcnZdsKqcK4YH78ePPxuhuya23Vo_5WCYXe75nQg8Dm5ks92M86GWC5Wc/s640/IMG_4269.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Outside Immigration...and no, that's not be in the yellow shirt. I don't really need a photo op with Immigration officers to complete my life here on earth.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> First, before I was "officially" stamped into Burma, I entered a small room where the Myanmar Immigration officers take my picture, ask me for the $16 fee and then ask me where I am going. I, actually, have never been further than this point right here. Lots of people cross to visit the cheap markets on the other side...but the kids and hubbie are waiting for me...so shopping will have to wait for another day. So, I answer them that I am just headed right back to Thailand, so the formalities cease and I am free to go.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On my way back to Thailand...and this is my lovely view on the walk back...</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2JNgqsaqb20NMns3qWgEmViDekRYK8Y979NUhjJccRBwDiN9h5YRNL7ApWyJN4l-eCwVMAQnOhkMpRXbY-GUvqp6xdZXlbPqWAxJt5DyzcPEAInE2wRjmk1Q202zeDC-HVOOF6dobUlA/s1600/IMG_4271.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2JNgqsaqb20NMns3qWgEmViDekRYK8Y979NUhjJccRBwDiN9h5YRNL7ApWyJN4l-eCwVMAQnOhkMpRXbY-GUvqp6xdZXlbPqWAxJt5DyzcPEAInE2wRjmk1Q202zeDC-HVOOF6dobUlA/s640/IMG_4271.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even with as dirty as this water is...I have seen people swimming and crossing it without a care. Saves the $16 fee, I guess! </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqAUrH7diYWGYNTjwnxPgqqgSPwu_e7VkcasWKEs5tP-NFJYThyCXbzYSEu-0deu3HIiKSpU_JOq8SRDoBVYiFtvySN995Ze5RYtju-AmBY7viAuE7ZzLD_MXojMZjpksfPVswU3UO2Xc/s1600/IMG_4273.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqAUrH7diYWGYNTjwnxPgqqgSPwu_e7VkcasWKEs5tP-NFJYThyCXbzYSEu-0deu3HIiKSpU_JOq8SRDoBVYiFtvySN995Ze5RYtju-AmBY7viAuE7ZzLD_MXojMZjpksfPVswU3UO2Xc/s640/IMG_4273.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The cutie I saw before, and her momma, begging on the other side of the bridge...though the tourists across the fence didn't seem to notice her. I didn't have even a coin in my pocket, so a smile and a prayer was going to have to do for today.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIqjoNE6sYES6vwCukJscdHX4SFWUWKKwdpr8vDnX4M1XBDdNfGkvVgcusja0NS6pHalfxXT36labpO2ffYz57LJG1tt-tVNU-sadXzsoFh557OB23kJVz1e61sisKYG4Sqx0kjnpKwuU/s1600/IMG_4274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIqjoNE6sYES6vwCukJscdHX4SFWUWKKwdpr8vDnX4M1XBDdNfGkvVgcusja0NS6pHalfxXT36labpO2ffYz57LJG1tt-tVNU-sadXzsoFh557OB23kJVz1e61sisKYG4Sqx0kjnpKwuU/s640/IMG_4274.JPG" width="454" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, there's a photo op here at "The Northern Most (Part) of Thailand"</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZWwlGYpS78C0PEvVjA_BSZNrx-lI-fKt0vINF6nGa4G4w5Tsqdo0lGw7-mTL9qRDOkCwSCwL0wbQih0FPLRYimz24eg-mPQYjwOZenx1kwExpTA4ZpaclUFcDWr8C78k5148O7mRzfo4/s1600/IMG_4275.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZWwlGYpS78C0PEvVjA_BSZNrx-lI-fKt0vINF6nGa4G4w5Tsqdo0lGw7-mTL9qRDOkCwSCwL0wbQih0FPLRYimz24eg-mPQYjwOZenx1kwExpTA4ZpaclUFcDWr8C78k5148O7mRzfo4/s640/IMG_4275.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the many signs I see on my way back into Thailand.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpSwn2F_p-_yuGnfd6CC37XBjQn35QnlWYQs80Igqo9xgUB_oDN3sQxJpORXHw-P-A-0VlUEMtzhxiT_vG_62NUFmQQ0uAzEb2ItHtl71sIhHkPd2mETepWAmepAL6IuoKcG9lTIQIJKU/s1600/IMG_4276.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpSwn2F_p-_yuGnfd6CC37XBjQn35QnlWYQs80Igqo9xgUB_oDN3sQxJpORXHw-P-A-0VlUEMtzhxiT_vG_62NUFmQQ0uAzEb2ItHtl71sIhHkPd2mETepWAmepAL6IuoKcG9lTIQIJKU/s640/IMG_4276.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This one highlighting human trafficking. Mercy, Lord. This picture represents the reality of thousands in Thailand each year. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju5A_HDGS0uNLpaOdLcPg6lUDGETj2TWlmbGX7eL781CcT4IOsVyY9zVl2H3yz_f-_ZB83aqpMr1ByQPkiOB4iHXZLAUhJ53iIIxxeRjlsLEImmUUDHWFSn-P1Fw9LxS4z-uL8UyzKVgQ/s1600/IMG_4277.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju5A_HDGS0uNLpaOdLcPg6lUDGETj2TWlmbGX7eL781CcT4IOsVyY9zVl2H3yz_f-_ZB83aqpMr1ByQPkiOB4iHXZLAUhJ53iIIxxeRjlsLEImmUUDHWFSn-P1Fw9LxS4z-uL8UyzKVgQ/s640/IMG_4277.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No, I didn't change my name to Sorn...this is one of the examples I could look at while filling out my arrival card for re-entering Thailand.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8euajj1Rv7UTfNcID5y6teFBU3ZiPu4jHz9V3SqBMyfI0f2ZbyFbZPfPu9du0p6h3fR5etebc9Upp-C5ySHpPa66fdbW35ELA1VCVrFFq5HCYCBijEUiaLL9AaxowbXGB0s7uL61W_9s/s1600/IMG_4278.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8euajj1Rv7UTfNcID5y6teFBU3ZiPu4jHz9V3SqBMyfI0f2ZbyFbZPfPu9du0p6h3fR5etebc9Upp-C5ySHpPa66fdbW35ELA1VCVrFFq5HCYCBijEUiaLL9AaxowbXGB0s7uL61W_9s/s640/IMG_4278.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These two Burmese woman tried to offer me a sample of their fruit wine...until they saw the bump on my belly. Yeah...don't think it would be the wisest food sampling right now for my "condition."</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On my way back to the car, with Treavor in the car with our three lovely munchkins, the endless markets were kind of calling my name. But, I decided to be a good wifey and pass them by. If you look closely, the market on this side street goes on and on up the street. There is everything from nuts, silver and gold jewelry, souvenirs out the wazoo, to Angry Birds games, cheap (and pirated) DVDs and CDs, etc. On every street for blocks, there is cheap stuff to buy. This is one reason why people frequent the border towns. Everybody loves a good deal.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDOea7qZ_sJEgANmNN_SiqOhToFNM4f-zugD3iLfAv23JXYe4O-dzfF3BXTV8_Lr2aT8Zsf7jYGihvnSuhiObs788boqX9tQyHas8c9uyjZY0Jdln3waXEN6DGdiYdDf0vNacMmt_Ebc8/s1600/IMG_4282.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDOea7qZ_sJEgANmNN_SiqOhToFNM4f-zugD3iLfAv23JXYe4O-dzfF3BXTV8_Lr2aT8Zsf7jYGihvnSuhiObs788boqX9tQyHas8c9uyjZY0Jdln3waXEN6DGdiYdDf0vNacMmt_Ebc8/s640/IMG_4282.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The endless markets of this border town. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicFsUCrpSqfeRd-3o6sjX6bvFvYB1vBBu6fqJtsS9X_LHjKwVyBZo7adm-AEQdEbz8PAhus1nFkzC2hBXAzia6kpEVYA8owQCM8Ei31WsZib2v3HsfnnjWMAL7dF6It8GNojHMKzsLQuU/s1600/IMG_4250.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicFsUCrpSqfeRd-3o6sjX6bvFvYB1vBBu6fqJtsS9X_LHjKwVyBZo7adm-AEQdEbz8PAhus1nFkzC2hBXAzia6kpEVYA8owQCM8Ei31WsZib2v3HsfnnjWMAL7dF6It8GNojHMKzsLQuU/s640/IMG_4250.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The "Misty Mountains," as we called them.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On our way out of town, we prayed again for the nation we reside in, and asked God to bless this land. The view of the mountains outside our car windows was break-taking. A cloudy day had turned them into an eerily beautiful backdrop for the endless fields and roadside restaurants we were zooming by. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In another three months, we'll view these mountains again. Going four times a year is a small price to pay for getting to live here, getting to love on Thai people and getting to receive so much more in return.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thankful.</span></div>
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Alinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01556835916366953109noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911851654769351129.post-12977664571371589972013-06-11T18:22:00.000+07:002013-06-11T18:22:56.838+07:00The Richy Rich Land: I wish I were making this up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh11-3b1qM_4DpETfQujlN9Ixbvpr2ECtM6rAOwczXwN9AOMXswawP07cQGUl1JQ2jBOqxISj1pLP12hIdLLNa4Il0PFS-xL_qwK6ZUFyomtvq_X-vsm0zLKa7QROu06p8tjubn9Nm-lW4/s1600/IMG_4231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh11-3b1qM_4DpETfQujlN9Ixbvpr2ECtM6rAOwczXwN9AOMXswawP07cQGUl1JQ2jBOqxISj1pLP12hIdLLNa4Il0PFS-xL_qwK6ZUFyomtvq_X-vsm0zLKa7QROu06p8tjubn9Nm-lW4/s640/IMG_4231.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Treavor and I were mall-hopping the other day while on a date. On the way to boarding the escalators, I walked by this lovely display advertising a housing development on our side of town...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2LSzDYC_ONcZSxP_bkzA6XNAiAlDWhfVF7_UbonmHpdlxFYp8YsLGCJOI445YLekpCiLyTl5TWGAT3U92_hllW5_hTJRHbumJfQjrnHi8mkvyRO3Vi_HQLEEERcHlcd88OHyZ0XWU4-M/s1600/IMG_4228.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2LSzDYC_ONcZSxP_bkzA6XNAiAlDWhfVF7_UbonmHpdlxFYp8YsLGCJOI445YLekpCiLyTl5TWGAT3U92_hllW5_hTJRHbumJfQjrnHi8mkvyRO3Vi_HQLEEERcHlcd88OHyZ0XWU4-M/s640/IMG_4228.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had seen this display before, but had my camera handy this time. The first few times I walked by it, I did a double-take at the name...really? Richy Rich Land? I still laugh out loud when I see it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our city has every level of style and standard of living. While some of you may still think that all Thais live in incredibly rural abodes, there really is a precedent for everything here. I have visited friends in one-room shanties and others living in high-end homes with private ponds and multiple possessions busting out of every available storage place.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The home we live in is comfortable and in a gated-community...so I am <strong>not</strong> writing this to point fingers at foreigners OR Thais who live in pretty places.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think it is mainly the <em>name</em> of this living community that gets me every time. It is unashamedly ostentatious and gives me a good laugh when I see it.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKU4tmlkkfG6dLf1f6Ns_trQHv10NIqZ17M9n4iM1Fd4czAG9skwoV1PSl5Tgxsa4zTmRihqTntEvdCajstHEP4duNDThqQWuJAGqe3pkDuqjLj6-XJdkDT8sDUJqkAR-9VVLcdjbfn5I/s1600/IMG_4229.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKU4tmlkkfG6dLf1f6Ns_trQHv10NIqZ17M9n4iM1Fd4czAG9skwoV1PSl5Tgxsa4zTmRihqTntEvdCajstHEP4duNDThqQWuJAGqe3pkDuqjLj6-XJdkDT8sDUJqkAR-9VVLcdjbfn5I/s640/IMG_4229.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If this is a "real-life" model of a house in the Richy Rich Land community, then I think I would invest in black-out curtains if I wanted to get any sleep at night!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZV4H0io4ACCBCF7ykUIvUkayc23OKE_v2bc1zoRQzPq_4KpRl3rd90hPskCFcBosiRd9dIq6DKcN2tUZ_xwJQM1oUr52rwuuG_J4M7RdzYkFKdzkv8sUXBlcyQVZj8gnryvpB5RTisfU/s1600/IMG_4230.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZV4H0io4ACCBCF7ykUIvUkayc23OKE_v2bc1zoRQzPq_4KpRl3rd90hPskCFcBosiRd9dIq6DKcN2tUZ_xwJQM1oUr52rwuuG_J4M7RdzYkFKdzkv8sUXBlcyQVZj8gnryvpB5RTisfU/s640/IMG_4230.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every Richy Rich Land house comes fully equipped with a Benz. Or, at least, they look extra good-looking in the carport.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">You never know what you're gonna see here. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Thanks for stopping by to take a look at an ordinary day here in a very extraordinary land. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Alina</span>Alinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01556835916366953109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911851654769351129.post-26614591338061503702013-06-03T17:07:00.000+07:002013-06-03T17:07:55.110+07:00The Moth Emerges! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Dj5_gqs5wCkUy24Xm6b-ZUfBQ0SSVZBI3wEwvVt5bGF-je1GY3vhO5OV_J5WF9fMhVhtPl9KzGulpvcSERAp6PwJb_4ee-oPew5CzNRuqFD5McT43PBTNasy8qjKSHkpwcR4pltwfVc/s640/IMG_2749.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He emerges!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Dj5_gqs5wCkUy24Xm6b-ZUfBQ0SSVZBI3wEwvVt5bGF-je1GY3vhO5OV_J5WF9fMhVhtPl9KzGulpvcSERAp6PwJb_4ee-oPew5CzNRuqFD5McT43PBTNasy8qjKSHkpwcR4pltwfVc/s1600/IMG_2749.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let's just call this post "<em>December in June</em>" instead...because this epic (in the mind's of my boys!) event happened last December, people. Last year. Call me a procrastinator, if you please. I have already come to terms with that label. Its OK.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you remember </span><a href="http://ordinarylifeinthewild.blogspot.com/2012/11/a-beautiful-pest-hawk-moth-caterpillar.html"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">this guy</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnc3lKfjAqfUBlyuCrdPXNeH2TrlkBWaywVjylnC5NGaKGnIqVHRkywTB_QyhfifUMIPF98Tepufvn_7jwwkgKhagm_ORY_AE6wqq17ZxyBhe1NT8qUk2zuMp_R6q3IapE9xJMFD5XlJE/s1600/IMG_2667.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnc3lKfjAqfUBlyuCrdPXNeH2TrlkBWaywVjylnC5NGaKGnIqVHRkywTB_QyhfifUMIPF98Tepufvn_7jwwkgKhagm_ORY_AE6wqq17ZxyBhe1NT8qUk2zuMp_R6q3IapE9xJMFD5XlJE/s640/IMG_2667.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...then you might actually care that he </span><a href="http://ordinarylifeinthewild.blogspot.com/2012/11/10-things-i-like-today.html"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">started to transform</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (click the link for pics)...<strong>and then died a terrible death</strong>. His chrysalis was eaten mercilessly by ants and we were all so sad. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, his cousin (we assume) left another chrysalis in the back yard and we eagerly scooped him up and adopted him into our little family. This time, no ants came and we kept him safe in an orange crate just in case he decided to skip town in the middle of the night without us viewing his departure.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQab-L3AeCSf8CCAAUvk3OhcaQVh4YGLP3db9VTFBS3gdX74FvUlZafj9qTObbwoscDnaKstNE-dTjiX1UJZAxaQjCPb9P3rnFMBWf3vFcQBdIa5i-RuwBuXfDo5Ghz941WUOJ42o303c/s640/IMG_2733.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our caterpillar...er...moth...on the day of hatching. Safe in the orange crate.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQab-L3AeCSf8CCAAUvk3OhcaQVh4YGLP3db9VTFBS3gdX74FvUlZafj9qTObbwoscDnaKstNE-dTjiX1UJZAxaQjCPb9P3rnFMBWf3vFcQBdIa5i-RuwBuXfDo5Ghz941WUOJ42o303c/s1600/IMG_2733.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...it was fun to find his cousin waiting for us one day last December after he emerged into a new world. No longer a weird-looking alien caterpillar...but a beautiful, breathtaking, hairy green Hawk Eye moth. <em>(And you wonder if I have embraced the world of Mom of Boys with my loving description of this guy. Yes, it is <strong>just</strong> as fun for me!)</em></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYGX6KV-dJWDLC8pqfdu-1AigWztRUKwSt0GFKwVg8IWYp6NRCNqdqmi9InEXTzSWOeoGrXKaHYIypmtMU1vuK36VeoAd2XBh60g4GnPCOKDBYoFAxA5AogKmbYEHcjpzKSjI56hCU2TM/s1600/IMG_2743.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYGX6KV-dJWDLC8pqfdu-1AigWztRUKwSt0GFKwVg8IWYp6NRCNqdqmi9InEXTzSWOeoGrXKaHYIypmtMU1vuK36VeoAd2XBh60g4GnPCOKDBYoFAxA5AogKmbYEHcjpzKSjI56hCU2TM/s640/IMG_2743.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Two happy boys!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Oleander Hawk Moth Caterpillar's wings were still a bit wet (and couldn't be used for flying just yet), so the boys were able to take off the lid and observe him for a little bit before they found a shady tree to set him on. They kept oohing and aahing at his color, how fuzzy he was, and they were commenting on his "fake eyes" on the back of his wings. After reading enough Usborne science books and bug manuals in our home school, they knew these "eyes" were for scaring away predators hungry for a moth snack. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhweQ1F07XZIOYP28HQu9Hs2BkrgE6QqdxcYgLr6G-plifWzW_ywLsMSpGeD_sQMxVvCXXx4jdGtUKBWh4zx8aGhH9lRZi0PEMR7f9NHH1fv1inK9OVsSZbZm6lMBLTbEs7RZvhRezdxls/s1600/IMG_2740.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhweQ1F07XZIOYP28HQu9Hs2BkrgE6QqdxcYgLr6G-plifWzW_ywLsMSpGeD_sQMxVvCXXx4jdGtUKBWh4zx8aGhH9lRZi0PEMR7f9NHH1fv1inK9OVsSZbZm6lMBLTbEs7RZvhRezdxls/s640/IMG_2740.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">See his fake "eyes" right above his head? </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjOvZWsI47ot5AXs9DAvQqwgmw-FSp-ih2wpmv5vDxfE1C4kNcQt2vhngYDN5yRRMzQahKd26wpiVb36SaUost6RsDcb78U6kRRtTllwGLi-kmQZmfr4xCnLLHwMWCG-PFIlVfoV6oEb4/s1600/IMG_2742.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjOvZWsI47ot5AXs9DAvQqwgmw-FSp-ih2wpmv5vDxfE1C4kNcQt2vhngYDN5yRRMzQahKd26wpiVb36SaUost6RsDcb78U6kRRtTllwGLi-kmQZmfr4xCnLLHwMWCG-PFIlVfoV6oEb4/s640/IMG_2742.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The Oleander Hawk Moth Caterpillar's chrysalis</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Dj5_gqs5wCkUy24Xm6b-ZUfBQ0SSVZBI3wEwvVt5bGF-je1GY3vhO5OV_J5WF9fMhVhtPl9KzGulpvcSERAp6PwJb_4ee-oPew5CzNRuqFD5McT43PBTNasy8qjKSHkpwcR4pltwfVc/s1600/IMG_2749.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Dj5_gqs5wCkUy24Xm6b-ZUfBQ0SSVZBI3wEwvVt5bGF-je1GY3vhO5OV_J5WF9fMhVhtPl9KzGulpvcSERAp6PwJb_4ee-oPew5CzNRuqFD5McT43PBTNasy8qjKSHkpwcR4pltwfVc/s640/IMG_2749.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Getting to hold this guy, without him flying off, was the highlight of their week!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks for letting me give you a peek into the every-day, ordinary things that happen in our house. Maybe, soon, I can get to sharing things that aren't six months old. <em>Maybe</em>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Have a great week!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"><strong>Alina</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />Alinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01556835916366953109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911851654769351129.post-26377162638648445972013-05-18T19:31:00.001+07:002013-05-18T19:31:31.857+07:00Why 30 Doesn't Make Me Feel Like a Scaredy Cat Anymore<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidd-luBT2gjXadCQBLYsM5Iv6TeWtoM1ZXjhm-frHsCJe1UTMTVHQfsZKHqtYHFrpG0YOqVQnZZdFYcBy7Gbd7gR5f1DxtgmEhvPcp0U9u6TFpBxRDuXUtFzeNinYRidRKS0aK23mxYWk/s1600/30thbirthday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidd-luBT2gjXadCQBLYsM5Iv6TeWtoM1ZXjhm-frHsCJe1UTMTVHQfsZKHqtYHFrpG0YOqVQnZZdFYcBy7Gbd7gR5f1DxtgmEhvPcp0U9u6TFpBxRDuXUtFzeNinYRidRKS0aK23mxYWk/s640/30thbirthday.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The great-looking crew at my 90s-themed birthday party. An awesome way to celebrate 30; with friends!<b><i> photo by Katie Friesen</i></b></span></td></tr>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(This is a continuation of the last post I published. You can read about why I was scared of 30 <a href="http://ordinarylifeinthewild.blogspot.com/2013/05/why-i-was-afraid-of-30.html">here</a> for more context.)</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My friend, Wendy, sent me a message the day after my 30th birthday...when I was still feeling like my heart started racing and I wanted to curl up in the fetal position anytime anyone mentioned my new age. Her email helped me to cut the drama and start thinking of the things I could be looking forward to in my thirties rather than looking backwards at how removed I was from my supposed "youth."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I reprinted, with her permission, most of her letter here (her letter in green...my responses in black) and I hope that it encourages you as well, no matter what stage of life you are in. (<em>And, if you happen to be in your twenties or younger, maybe you can remind me of all of this the next time you simultaneously make fun of my decade-change. Hint, hint</em>.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She greeted me in her letter and started listing out some things I could rejoice in. Way to go, Wendy!:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"For one, you are no longer considered inexperienced and too juvenile to know anything, like most people in their twenties are considered to be. (It doesn't matter how smart you are in your 20's, you just don't have the experience!)" </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...finally, maybe my family and others will stop second-guessing me when I make major decisions? That would be awesome. At first reading, I was a little surprised at the way she referenced people in their 20s, but then I remembered all the times when I got a funny look or a "Are you suuuure about that?" from well-meaning people. So, I guess Aalijah was wrong when she sang "Age Ain't Nothing But a Number" (how 90s is that?! I am still thinking of the 90s ever since my rockin' party. It is a problem I have of late.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">"I think another wonderful thing about the 30's is that you begin to care less about what people think of you and you can start to relax and have more fun. This seems to increase every year until you die, hahaha, but it really is a fun part of growing older!!"</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...well, maybe there is hope for me yet. I have a compulsion to over-analyze what others think about what I am doing and if they are pleased with me or not...so maybe growing older every year with help me kick the habit? I really hope so. If not, I might grow an ulcer sometime soon. Then I'll really feel old. <em>Whomp whomp whomp.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">"Another great thing is that people begin to take you a little more seriously and listen to what you have to say. (That experience thing)"</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...this is one of the most exciting things to process. Right now, we're in a position with work and family life where we are interacting with so many people who are either young in age or young in their faith. I want to share things that I have learned through trial and error and through mistakes of my own, and having a little favor in the area of authority might help the wisdom I share not go through someone's ear and out their other. Seeing people succeed gets me excited! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">"You are a very beautiful woman and don't feel you have lost any beauty from one year to another, you have many years to go of being absolutely lovely, do NOT listen to the lie that you are somehow losing it or whatever. You can start feeling that way in another couple of decades, but not this one! The 30's are a time when the baby fat falls off our faces and many women look their best, there are many actresses that are absolutely stunning in their 30's, don't you think?"</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...aw-shucks, Wendy. You just made my whole year! Being pregnant for the fourth time can kind of do a number on one's self-esteem. Thanks for lifting it up!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">"Another reason to be joyful for the 30's is your family, the joy of watching your children mature and grow up, children who adore you & a husband who loves you so much, these are precious gifts."</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...for some reason, I have been forgetting the reality that in order for my kids to grow up and for my marriage to continue to mature, that I have to "grow up" and mature as well. The two go hand in hand. For the things she mentioned above (children maturing and bringing joy, a husband who continues to walk in great love), there is definitely the factor of <i>hard work</i> that has to be figured in. But, thankfully, in the midst of our busy lives, whining, squabbles and "training opportunities"...I can remember that the fruit is starting to pop up, and that more and more will come if we all persevere in God's ways.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> "I know you know these things already but it is always good to be reminded again, because when we feel sad it is hard to remember!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, as you know time goes faster as we grow older, and if you can imagine it, your older self is laughing at you for feeling old already! You will never again be this young, so enjoy it!!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Much love to you, Alina,</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wendy"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...yes, I need to consider my season of life as not how "old" I feel, but how young I am in light of my life ahead. There is so much that I don't know yet, and so much that I have yet to experience, enjoy and learn from. Thanks for that reminder, friend!</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jeremiah 29:11 ESV</span></b></div>
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Alinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01556835916366953109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911851654769351129.post-45618839159916349752013-05-08T09:04:00.000+07:002013-05-08T10:02:10.130+07:00Why I Was Afraid of 30<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last Saturday, I turned 30.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">30.</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 - 0.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I feel like an alien, if that is melodramatic enough.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I guess it is because for a decade (a decade!) I have identified with being in my 20's. Being in my 20's felt like a safe place to be. What is safe about a number, anyway? I know it is all in my head...but...here's why I was afraid of "30"...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>30 sounded "old."</strong> This isn't the first thought anyone turning 30 has ever had in the history of man...but when I encounter anyone younger than me who is inquiring of my age...I can imagine the response: "Oh! So, you're old, then." No. I am just...aged...like, a good cheese or wine. <strong>What?</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>30 feels like the point of no return.</strong> Across the last 10-year span of my life, which started with being mid-way through college, I have lived in a few different countries, conceived four kids (four!), and done a myriad of other "big" things. But, for some reason, the decade that started with college football games, reckless credit card spending and guy crushes (do I sound "young enough"?)...continued on to where I was technically aged until just one week ago. 29 <em>still</em> didn't sound so removed from 20. But, when the anniversary of my birth day dawned...it felt like I could no longer imagine that I was the same girl who went to frat parties and could still fit into a size 2 pair of jeans. Yikes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>30 just plain snuck up on me.</strong> And now, I can't avoid it. I loved shocking people here in Thailand with the fact that I was a mommy of four and not yet into my thirties (whereas Thais, like Americans, are getting married and having kids later in life, lately). I loved answering that I wasn't yet 30. The faces I got were <em>priceless</em>. Now, when I say that I am thirty, it is as if their faces say to me: "Oh yeah, that fits." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don't worry, <em>I am not still wallowing</em> in a pit of despair with puffy eyes, having a third-of-the-way-through-life-crisis. It wasn't really until the end of April that I even realized that these thoughts were wafting through my brain. And, when Saturday came and went, I still didn't even know how to feel. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>But then</strong>, I got a truly fabulous email from a friend, W, about all the ways she wanted to encourage me into my thirties rather than to let me stay in a state of nervousness and insecurity. In my next post...I will share some of the things she had to say. </span><br />
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<strong><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How about you? In the season of life that you are in, what are some of the things you are loving, or hating, about it? I would love to hear. Share in the comments below:</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Blessings,</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Alina</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />Alinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01556835916366953109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911851654769351129.post-73867458016194557692013-05-01T16:20:00.000+07:002013-05-01T16:20:32.427+07:00Remembering Uncle David<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOGbb0zCs7bZxOO14hEV86kzJKV50jfn9AYsZKEwtGKzwt4qI1qVMGmkGCbWjjo8ZaJMayMXY5Wp0zOosdAtWw8-uRXbBJiBnJXw0rdxzzQkvXZ-lqnjAynXF8ddi8XZRCf4PW0Smuqiw/s1600/089.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOGbb0zCs7bZxOO14hEV86kzJKV50jfn9AYsZKEwtGKzwt4qI1qVMGmkGCbWjjo8ZaJMayMXY5Wp0zOosdAtWw8-uRXbBJiBnJXw0rdxzzQkvXZ-lqnjAynXF8ddi8XZRCf4PW0Smuqiw/s640/089.JPG" width="456" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Uncle David, Treavor, Jeshurun and Huy on the family farm last summer in Illinois</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last week, we got the sad news that a beloved uncle of Treavor's had passed away. It was so out of the blue, that it still seems a bit unreal. During our trip to the States last summer, we got to spend a handful of days with Uncle David and his beautiful wife, Lorrie. We were so thankful for that time, then, and even more thankful for that time, now, as we reflect upon his life. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Uncle David seemed to always have a smile on his face. His lightheartedness and humor was refreshing to be around. He loved sarcasm and telling stories, so our boys loved talking to him anytime they saw him. They still re-tell stories that Uncle David told us around the farm's dining table last summer. As soon as they got up, they would race to get on their clothes so they could help him with the chores to do around the farm. Uncle David was always obliging to let them tag along and get in his way. He was so thoughtful to invite them to do whatever he was doing; no matter how big, or how dirty, the task.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBsmz-15_kWZIUhmpa-hSpEBw0k4KFN1IWSlNzZiOQ4UVuC-SLxMnYJ3NwLgVkQgIH4SeVId26HMYm6Nuy36ZzQyBZN7hZqeVAxdaS8OW-7c2AxbLElCEExxy19bdOLaJGQp0QfH0vkdc/s1600/041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBsmz-15_kWZIUhmpa-hSpEBw0k4KFN1IWSlNzZiOQ4UVuC-SLxMnYJ3NwLgVkQgIH4SeVId26HMYm6Nuy36ZzQyBZN7hZqeVAxdaS8OW-7c2AxbLElCEExxy19bdOLaJGQp0QfH0vkdc/s640/041.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Uncle David with Huy gathering chicken eggs (they did this every day we were there - their highlight!) Sorry for the blur...</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBwrI23OSCCJgUU4KfbIg4wBklAAI2370Vh0WbLcW_-dB74fugbDRTvD8lp_9FmgKaB_FaKmX7Z68dMAmBU4WbnW47Op8xt6uNZiWRGALvLGXFTOCb2tUEEIY19IXPAJuewTWSnjFJwig/s1600/044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBwrI23OSCCJgUU4KfbIg4wBklAAI2370Vh0WbLcW_-dB74fugbDRTvD8lp_9FmgKaB_FaKmX7Z68dMAmBU4WbnW47Op8xt6uNZiWRGALvLGXFTOCb2tUEEIY19IXPAJuewTWSnjFJwig/s640/044.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Uncle David loved living life and taking care of the animals on the farm. Though sometimes donning a tougher exterior, he definitely had a soft side. For instance, he and his wife, Lorrie, couldn't bear to kill their chickens and roosters to have a chicken dinner. Instead, some of them had names and even ate with the family cats. :) We loved to witness his "softy" side. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSFLWuM4Xho7LBuzhcvuX7S8iw-cW6VevC25x8u78IKfZY_shwRJIeojXhCGI695ZVfBjd5OAVG-46-_Hal51G2go72jgt-PYfeB05A_vLixRT64V25JGBcO8YjAUmBuvFqwunvDJZsuQ/s1600/048.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSFLWuM4Xho7LBuzhcvuX7S8iw-cW6VevC25x8u78IKfZY_shwRJIeojXhCGI695ZVfBjd5OAVG-46-_Hal51G2go72jgt-PYfeB05A_vLixRT64V25JGBcO8YjAUmBuvFqwunvDJZsuQ/s640/048.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Uncle David talking with one of his fave roosters</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUyx3jInx9K1Tn_VklKWs_ru-NeML48fHfrpo_0yhwKH8pXtPZrC_GSUTgMRFnGCo5wi-FmYCVIkYZ49J0eMw6Muy1-wYIBPMBfxwPQjq6SpQufC3-hBwly4NWm_k0T89B-Q6ArhCdpZ8/s1600/073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUyx3jInx9K1Tn_VklKWs_ru-NeML48fHfrpo_0yhwKH8pXtPZrC_GSUTgMRFnGCo5wi-FmYCVIkYZ49J0eMw6Muy1-wYIBPMBfxwPQjq6SpQufC3-hBwly4NWm_k0T89B-Q6ArhCdpZ8/s640/073.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The chickens helping themselves to the cat's food! </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During our stay, some cousins came over for a day and Uncle David took them on a "tractor ride" around the property. They loved it! He was always thinking of fun things to do with them, and didn't mind a little speed. :)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEbG8wZS3xNiCzSKrFMoKvWFb270GnH8UlnhFkhJMnzIEGljzhZZI8WHOHSJlk3GcSqxUbUl9Pn9JC4YMdxpxPgMoSCvulH3XJGe3wWkgU2Naorr3B7WDJ7QCLicFqbOb8ev8sw5G1fqM/s1600/111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEbG8wZS3xNiCzSKrFMoKvWFb270GnH8UlnhFkhJMnzIEGljzhZZI8WHOHSJlk3GcSqxUbUl9Pn9JC4YMdxpxPgMoSCvulH3XJGe3wWkgU2Naorr3B7WDJ7QCLicFqbOb8ev8sw5G1fqM/s640/111.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Uncle David ready for a ride.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQSq8HEz6K9ON21LNOJXgkVKxsSPQmrqlTZOVA64DZMe4xyE0G09nKMekDCIYA_FURz84C-B9K6mXjrsrk2yH2kW9qRV3QJsNlU1C3g3YVizkGGkQ-71gE6Jkc6mse5u-slYwwFEx3HZI/s1600/104.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQSq8HEz6K9ON21LNOJXgkVKxsSPQmrqlTZOVA64DZMe4xyE0G09nKMekDCIYA_FURz84C-B9K6mXjrsrk2yH2kW9qRV3QJsNlU1C3g3YVizkGGkQ-71gE6Jkc6mse5u-slYwwFEx3HZI/s640/104.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The boys, their cousins, piled in and soaking up the Illinois sunshine. Let's go!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After spending a few days with Uncle David and Aunt Lorrie, we all couldn't wait to see them again. Since our visit, the kids have talked numerous times about the farm and helping out Uncle Dave with the chores.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7_sp-C7pBeaByxuidVXc1_HV_HqsTEJNyiwMSEKhUjO3RbdGYgbV5czEmmmhwnNH75nAflIdmQ4MS9nqtFuHxKvwwoTmks5pAbFD3pcnGBNkC9Oe1qO4D02GeVogcAoeLMStwJDv1_98/s1600/davidandlorrie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7_sp-C7pBeaByxuidVXc1_HV_HqsTEJNyiwMSEKhUjO3RbdGYgbV5czEmmmhwnNH75nAflIdmQ4MS9nqtFuHxKvwwoTmks5pAbFD3pcnGBNkC9Oe1qO4D02GeVogcAoeLMStwJDv1_98/s640/davidandlorrie.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lorrie and David...in this absolutely beautiful photo from <a href="http://fourladsphoto.com/">fourlads photography</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, as we deal with the reality that we'll never see him again on this side of Heaven, it is a little difficult to look at pictures of our visit. As a couple, Treavor and I have hugged people and said our goodbyes, not realizing that those times would be the last time to embrace our loved ones. Four years ago, we said our final goodbyes to two grandparents as we left for our move to Thailand. Within a few years, they had passed into Heaven, and we felt so sad to not be there for our grieving family. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And now, since travelling to and from the States again, we have suffered the pain of discovering the news that, now, one more beloved grandparent and two uncles have passed while living overseas. I think we are finding that physical distance doesn't quite make things "easier" to cope with loss. Instead, the "every day" of here is more effective on keeping our minds off of grief...until we let ourselves (and force ourselves, sometimes) to really process our sadness.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you would, <em>please take a moment to pray</em> for Treavor's grieving family and for Uncle David's friends who are missing him terribly. Pray for us, that we would grieve well and take time to let the emotions rise to bring resolution and healing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, for yourself, <em>really</em> hug and bless your family...your friends...the people you encounter in your daily life. None of us know when our last day will come. Let's live without regrets and love well today!</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Blessings,</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Alina</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>Alinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01556835916366953109noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911851654769351129.post-42856981124584282742013-04-19T15:46:00.002+07:002013-04-19T15:46:52.484+07:00An Adventure We Never Planned: In Our Own Front Yard...Honey!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7MpJmXUheYPyCmXgJUnafaiJnwelIANrGPAfXFBK7wXBaRZJlC08S7b5Lg0iT8_jBiwQvlk3iqRsL2KsmtqM7hyphenhyphenJdrUcc0UsG1VzkkMJWuxPV8eSwVOh9eKW6jCyHmaA5XZn4b9u1gFc/s1600/photo(10).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7MpJmXUheYPyCmXgJUnafaiJnwelIANrGPAfXFBK7wXBaRZJlC08S7b5Lg0iT8_jBiwQvlk3iqRsL2KsmtqM7hyphenhyphenJdrUcc0UsG1VzkkMJWuxPV8eSwVOh9eKW6jCyHmaA5XZn4b9u1gFc/s640/photo(10).JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mystery revealed...what in the world IS this stuff? </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you follow me on Instagram (wait, you don't? </span><a href="http://instagram.com/ordinaryalina"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">click here!</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">), then you saw that I posted another version the above picture. I didn't tell you what it was...until this post.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was HONEYCOMB!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wait a minute...that isn't <strong>exactly</strong> accurate...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was roasted honeycomb...freshly cut from the tree in our front yard...with...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BEE LARVAE!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seriously? Let me describe it...it was surprisingly salty (though, my friend <em>did</em> sprinkle it with salt on both sides...but not <em>that</em> much). It was chewy. It was crunchy. It was...sticking to my teeth. Instead of the honeycomb stuck to my teeth, I was pretty sure it was larvae membranes sticking to my teeth. How's that for earthy-granola-cuisine? I feel so <strong>green</strong> right now.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How in the world did we get fresh honeycomb? This guy...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM6mlK7pgm9Wt5fRPvoPgyP7INDnSetS9AFOyCNqLRe5h_KUXeN0hMZ8JWc_OxkHZqteoUByz7t2AC_C01pbiqUxHGzNsO04FlWW_0p5FuOe2S3IX2lLBizFgl053NBASmgYMrneGq6bU/s1600/photo+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM6mlK7pgm9Wt5fRPvoPgyP7INDnSetS9AFOyCNqLRe5h_KUXeN0hMZ8JWc_OxkHZqteoUByz7t2AC_C01pbiqUxHGzNsO04FlWW_0p5FuOe2S3IX2lLBizFgl053NBASmgYMrneGq6bU/s640/photo+(2).JPG" width="456" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our courageous new friend, honeycomb in hand.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of our friends invited her husband to come over a few days ago to help us out with yard work. He pruned trees and picked weeds and such. While watering the grass, he happened to look up and notice our large beehive up in one of the front trees (not in the one Run normally climbs, praise the Maker)! He assured me that he could cut it down for me and get the honey. Who am I to argue? So, I let him! He grabbed the ladder, hiked up his shirt collar, and found some gloves and a motorcycle helmet for extra protection. After soaking the bees with water from the hose (whaaaaa?), he said the bees' wings would be too wet to fly much and they wouldn't bother with him during the harvesting. He was so right. Not one sting.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnRq0tOi1DnFpRW-t7C3PLBRYcO1KHEx3V-Zm3Ss6fr5UbrHxr4Cxu9jJd82PTknVJmwozP1UShyphenhyphenxaXWR2wPC77Lo1BVmSzYz1u3xtTtRKIQJnBtzuIZ8ZA1It-iXwOL1xHypAef_C1uA/s1600/photo-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnRq0tOi1DnFpRW-t7C3PLBRYcO1KHEx3V-Zm3Ss6fr5UbrHxr4Cxu9jJd82PTknVJmwozP1UShyphenhyphenxaXWR2wPC77Lo1BVmSzYz1u3xtTtRKIQJnBtzuIZ8ZA1It-iXwOL1xHypAef_C1uA/s640/photo-1.JPG" width="456" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cutting the honeycomb to reveal the goodness inside...</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Z8uh-XmTvPzNPUkxtlQqMKdbiOVMi8p95ykxTCPkm6GiX3uybKRCeS_FmVMizUri8xreYWFygYo0LmGd6YofrUfGiV0cxLAm_7UfJ9emx945stq2KC1dHrMbqEXmKRJ_5HZYmSW6v2I/s1600/photo-3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Z8uh-XmTvPzNPUkxtlQqMKdbiOVMi8p95ykxTCPkm6GiX3uybKRCeS_FmVMizUri8xreYWFygYo0LmGd6YofrUfGiV0cxLAm_7UfJ9emx945stq2KC1dHrMbqEXmKRJ_5HZYmSW6v2I/s640/photo-3.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How beautiful is that? I can't believe that honey was just hanging in our front yard! </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Half of the comb was filled with this gorgeous honey! How's that for organic, un-filtered, raw honey? Over toast or a bagel...aaah...I am drooling.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGga2OcqLow6WKCzyEKVW4Q9ggH-yxlR2EA1G1u9d-oLTQ-gmyam01vChGpURI6jm3YU3uKZeEVV5kEMr2OsLtY8KegfW6-JogkxMcQougqUVOXousK0qTWHIYwKbBCr24rK5YZtkc9Eo/s1600/photo(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGga2OcqLow6WKCzyEKVW4Q9ggH-yxlR2EA1G1u9d-oLTQ-gmyam01vChGpURI6jm3YU3uKZeEVV5kEMr2OsLtY8KegfW6-JogkxMcQougqUVOXousK0qTWHIYwKbBCr24rK5YZtkc9Eo/s640/photo(1).JPG" width="456" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Muscle-power to squeeze the honey out of the comb.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All he did to retrieve the honey was to squeeze the comb in his hands and catch it in a big bowl of ours. The kids all ditched school to watch the whole process with me. <strong>Seriously</strong>, who has time for addition facts when <em>this</em> is going on?!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirNcB_LKAUIzu2wDVZEhy2BMbzKDplgLh15q_4pzuJeDzhggbGQB1tFSW2KlD3RqpZIfTF00BNbCQiUr0PlELT0wxVXNZUGFfYrfFdaHrJjBMDSCGG19SUPWjlQC2c-MELRtpfsU78IE8/s1600/photo(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirNcB_LKAUIzu2wDVZEhy2BMbzKDplgLh15q_4pzuJeDzhggbGQB1tFSW2KlD3RqpZIfTF00BNbCQiUr0PlELT0wxVXNZUGFfYrfFdaHrJjBMDSCGG19SUPWjlQC2c-MELRtpfsU78IE8/s640/photo(2).JPG" width="478" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our new friend was so full of joy that the kids fell in love with him instantly...and...he gave them fresh honey, so I am sure that doesn't count against him, either!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The squeezing wasn't too meticulous of a job, so the honey comb, leftover bees and stick parts had to be filtered out...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyl2cLFAFt9crv3dajFkqhE8v6rpIUq4gH7svCEjKwNjMP7HHV7Vre9Frrsn7RQCrWyct97xs4-RmzGQB-Ux5zQK2bXS9Dr_GH3hmnyuoVr8pNlAk2p90xA6d0nNJvSnpeDTjX1s10WpA/s1600/photo(6).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyl2cLFAFt9crv3dajFkqhE8v6rpIUq4gH7svCEjKwNjMP7HHV7Vre9Frrsn7RQCrWyct97xs4-RmzGQB-Ux5zQK2bXS9Dr_GH3hmnyuoVr8pNlAk2p90xA6d0nNJvSnpeDTjX1s10WpA/s640/photo(6).JPG" width="456" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Separating the honey. I just happened to have a honey jar lying around, actually. Though, maybe I should re-label it to "100% Pure Thai Honey."</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When this was over, my friend (the wife) said that the honeycomb would be <em>delicious</em> if I roasted it. <strong>Of course!</strong> Why didn't I think of that? I had fresh honeycomb before and loved it...roasted would be even better. Boy, was I surprised of what was hiding inside this other part of the honeycomb...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7FWkE9Lob16l4oI5AihtYHL9kEkH7v9Wy2wDalib_zIAJFWiBmjOWkN1EmQWss0EKnz7OLqS-8GR0kyCT8ghasvAMx6V3AFloxFbxOwpSYZObaHmPhefRGIGeMSE8ur5qv9auNULbFPM/s1600/photo(7).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7FWkE9Lob16l4oI5AihtYHL9kEkH7v9Wy2wDalib_zIAJFWiBmjOWkN1EmQWss0EKnz7OLqS-8GR0kyCT8ghasvAMx6V3AFloxFbxOwpSYZObaHmPhefRGIGeMSE8ur5qv9auNULbFPM/s640/photo(7).JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The honeycomb before baking. I saw a few larvae poking out, but had no idea that when it roasted (a truly heavenly smell, by the way)...that the comb would turn into this...(check it out below)...</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZKAAZOix2p8ABnP2ppaIU9Mzo0DHMmjMJGPtlXbx4v7b_loLydC9GkX7pcIA9FGKe7pPoe0ZMcyMI4fwsgQtN5Ky-3saUewkYt5Vx_uNg9GcCvF3zgTG-ot3Jv8k2rPvaDbJmGCOf8zY/s1600/photo%252810%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZKAAZOix2p8ABnP2ppaIU9Mzo0DHMmjMJGPtlXbx4v7b_loLydC9GkX7pcIA9FGKe7pPoe0ZMcyMI4fwsgQtN5Ky-3saUewkYt5Vx_uNg9GcCvF3zgTG-ot3Jv8k2rPvaDbJmGCOf8zY/s640/photo%252810%2529.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is like the larvae swelled up and were just popping out of the comb. My friend was thrilled. I was scared. Honesty, people.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After just ten minutes of roasting, we had this honeycomb to share. My friend tasted it, I had some, and the boys each tasted it as well. They didn't like it, per se, but I am impressed with their desire to be adventurous eaters. They challenge me, most of the time, to eat things that I would never dream of liking. Asia is changing our views of what is "normal." That is one of the huge benefits of being here...we realize that our worldview and opinions on most things are heavily influenced by the culture we're around. It makes me wonder what kind of men (and woman) they will be. I am excited!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4xb-VnrYsS9i3mKWmTldpxTVpuTOC8VlxNMuFZGpMyMlreVd5XBhThOsn1bruls9NBwEvXEbVNszW07kEsow52muNUmHyRX7zR7d0SgAZNbgUgZF1S30IVIctjfmnRjqCSxYhPA2sKCU/s1600/photo(8).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4xb-VnrYsS9i3mKWmTldpxTVpuTOC8VlxNMuFZGpMyMlreVd5XBhThOsn1bruls9NBwEvXEbVNszW07kEsow52muNUmHyRX7zR7d0SgAZNbgUgZF1S30IVIctjfmnRjqCSxYhPA2sKCU/s640/photo(8).JPG" width="456" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After we roasted the comb, our new friend took the remaining comb he had squeezed honey from, reattached it to the original branch, rigged it back up into the tree, and didn't get bit. Even once. Astounding! </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our friend's husband reattached the old comb back to the same main branch because he said that if the queen bee hadn't left yet, that the whole swarm would be attracted to the honey there and start another home. I had no idea! This time, instead of wishing the bees would just go away, I am sort of hoping they'll stay so we can recreate this adventure again and get more delicious, free honey. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5YIED8iMOzpDIU5UlfuVIRnDON1rpfP64Bat4w8likyxpF18L68pktwvLKbgy1ijNKuThwYRSYsabElgTBjKb_-SHfsFGcJGVZ5UQn_YZ6Uwd81zh9cu6Ts8kPOao__NuzixrmWaK95s/s1600/photo(9).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5YIED8iMOzpDIU5UlfuVIRnDON1rpfP64Bat4w8likyxpF18L68pktwvLKbgy1ijNKuThwYRSYsabElgTBjKb_-SHfsFGcJGVZ5UQn_YZ6Uwd81zh9cu6Ts8kPOao__NuzixrmWaK95s/s640/photo(9).JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The hoard of bees waiting to reclaim their place. I actually hope they stay!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That was the end of the adventure that we never planned...right in our own front yard! I wonder what the next one will be like...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>Alinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01556835916366953109noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3911851654769351129.post-21427792213494974362013-04-09T16:23:00.002+07:002013-04-09T16:25:49.108+07:00Water Fight - A Story In Pictures (repost)<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">:: Two years ago, I blogged about how we celebrated one of the biggest Thai holidays of the year, Songkran. As we prepare for <em>this</em> year's water fight in the New City, I am reminded of this post. If you wanna see my boys two years younger in this blast from the past...or never got to read it...here ya go! This post was from April 15th, 2011 ::</span></strong><br />
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songkran"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Songkran</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (click for more info) happened a few days ago. Well, really, in the bigger cities here in Thailand, they celebrate for three and sometimes five days straight! In our teensy-weensy town, the water fight lasts one day - but, man, it is FUN! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's a look into the action (I took a drive right outside our little street and locked the doors to make sure nobody pelted me and my camera with a bucket of water!)...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh99zpTl0kB3_u055f-_Dr2nXq6tJS_0zaujdyI0wzTt1A7Q4ETu2NoJU8_tIXVe-3yzOZJ9CX6T2hmqGtxzrgvpovdj46wRO6zbc6oOi4aMafSZWxdgpCRUHKQlwIr6IWDwDRCWY3_7ao/s1600/IMG_5005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh99zpTl0kB3_u055f-_Dr2nXq6tJS_0zaujdyI0wzTt1A7Q4ETu2NoJU8_tIXVe-3yzOZJ9CX6T2hmqGtxzrgvpovdj46wRO6zbc6oOi4aMafSZWxdgpCRUHKQlwIr6IWDwDRCWY3_7ao/s640/IMG_5005.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Run and Huy, dressed in classic Songkran attire</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmnzBShN1BR9Nm9cq2dji8MscHk7ZAI-sTJx8WqonjQCP4H4OV7JMPMnJljZvaJAvPjvyiNxAh4Am-qrHQfot20yagk8mjX9IuFR6TtHPGjyT4W3Z40ZS5DNVpo5fXZOtYedyzIkU3QQk/s1600/IMG_5007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmnzBShN1BR9Nm9cq2dji8MscHk7ZAI-sTJx8WqonjQCP4H4OV7JMPMnJljZvaJAvPjvyiNxAh4Am-qrHQfot20yagk8mjX9IuFR6TtHPGjyT4W3Z40ZS5DNVpo5fXZOtYedyzIkU3QQk/s640/IMG_5007.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">They're ready!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzMwykUPZgiVH6QLgnkaO5GtQkXOubB82-dkBMwYZZz3qXta1XGiwBKKOKRlsFIvtOkn27q6pm4ZTBEEHtpRswZu7gArfIsRqS27aanKvhw6kZpBjOKM0PQc4EthejEE-JRfff6jiIjho/s1600/IMG_5008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="476" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzMwykUPZgiVH6QLgnkaO5GtQkXOubB82-dkBMwYZZz3qXta1XGiwBKKOKRlsFIvtOkn27q6pm4ZTBEEHtpRswZu7gArfIsRqS27aanKvhw6kZpBjOKM0PQc4EthejEE-JRfff6jiIjho/s640/IMG_5008.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The first shot.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8CZpbf3EkytyLGR1wDhBY_T0hnktAkZy4XKLTKhUqz5S4ZeVZ3i0pmFcLN7JzoG45HOYj-XkkpBttHVWLCQbjY_1vqmW_wjm7fAqnLSoJK4W2zk2LbBVFHzuDVO2DLKW46i82BifRT5g/s1600/IMG_5011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8CZpbf3EkytyLGR1wDhBY_T0hnktAkZy4XKLTKhUqz5S4ZeVZ3i0pmFcLN7JzoG45HOYj-XkkpBttHVWLCQbjY_1vqmW_wjm7fAqnLSoJK4W2zk2LbBVFHzuDVO2DLKW46i82BifRT5g/s640/IMG_5011.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Run snuck around to our neighbor's house to get a surprise shot...this poor, unsuspecting boy was dutifully washing his father's truck...when Run strikes!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_JkElCL1QP6lBDXnQUgIgcfOCOy5EZohdKUMq1YDAR9DbCQfiRN3uIZ_0qDk-w8q5o7AtiEGCZ-xVd5h7_f6-myK8v3CLZNeCHVWBfbxDrkQ_EZJEbFRgiSEqnZiDigzomBaXSdZTBJE/s1600/IMG_5016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_JkElCL1QP6lBDXnQUgIgcfOCOy5EZohdKUMq1YDAR9DbCQfiRN3uIZ_0qDk-w8q5o7AtiEGCZ-xVd5h7_f6-myK8v3CLZNeCHVWBfbxDrkQ_EZJEbFRgiSEqnZiDigzomBaXSdZTBJE/s640/IMG_5016.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">After study-time, Daddy joins in...and they walk up the road to the main event!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdv6pyhNWGtp81fp1jPWl-YxiE_vXkFSSuQYA-EBIFtaLa4v7xOPcGnAQ-aq9TnBdORrW37qm94AfbknIYxgVTT7CyEjNF9FS0UeMumLA2f3WVpDNpdQ48IXhu05h6DS9bzMJRh_qpNfc/s1600/IMG_5018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdv6pyhNWGtp81fp1jPWl-YxiE_vXkFSSuQYA-EBIFtaLa4v7xOPcGnAQ-aq9TnBdORrW37qm94AfbknIYxgVTT7CyEjNF9FS0UeMumLA2f3WVpDNpdQ48IXhu05h6DS9bzMJRh_qpNfc/s640/IMG_5018.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">In our town, the place when EVERYONE plays is 7-eleven, the land of Slurpees.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdbWHBUdDuGHCKGPTPu4YAFwroIDghFOxgE1_FpQdviydQ5C0uiEIAH-16_pz2irfllfmLBi6sDLgxwoA4ntAzaYCY494HfEn-5NX0PSOuuooCeJX_mfnGHypvX0jiqMYk9jcNTgfWU_I/s1600/IMG_5019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdbWHBUdDuGHCKGPTPu4YAFwroIDghFOxgE1_FpQdviydQ5C0uiEIAH-16_pz2irfllfmLBi6sDLgxwoA4ntAzaYCY494HfEn-5NX0PSOuuooCeJX_mfnGHypvX0jiqMYk9jcNTgfWU_I/s640/IMG_5019.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The sidewalks were full of people hanging out.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEy057ER8dqaBrdVUCdBqS2ykDiLxNk7iCVBJsF-4cRT2dOLaUrnNMGe91fyBbrl__c_u6YfTls1A_ykxk0NYL0s9x_XbYxYLMJEDXFppLnlvuArozpBr6kKmRYQoNwohoLe7wNllBWps/s1600/IMG_5020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEy057ER8dqaBrdVUCdBqS2ykDiLxNk7iCVBJsF-4cRT2dOLaUrnNMGe91fyBbrl__c_u6YfTls1A_ykxk0NYL0s9x_XbYxYLMJEDXFppLnlvuArozpBr6kKmRYQoNwohoLe7wNllBWps/s640/IMG_5020.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">People get on their motorbikes and pile into pick-up trucks to drive down the road...squirting others, and getting drenched, themselves.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCHfIXYNWGxOSj_Q8Md1B1doHTZU3PbVXsSInG79SogtQIK7dQ2bJW4Z9SFrtPuAcJFFPJqaryYkDKLuMtpmgemGog93mIKhb2YUH8X6Rx8w_p5VSXoW75PKtCl8q0mG3JhNOLCoLve48/s1600/IMG_5025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="476" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCHfIXYNWGxOSj_Q8Md1B1doHTZU3PbVXsSInG79SogtQIK7dQ2bJW4Z9SFrtPuAcJFFPJqaryYkDKLuMtpmgemGog93mIKhb2YUH8X6Rx8w_p5VSXoW75PKtCl8q0mG3JhNOLCoLve48/s640/IMG_5025.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">These kids had colored talcum powder that they smeared onto unsuspecting passers-by. My doors were locked! Haha!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPPz7McWUeegoyKZUVamCtcfu8IzeK3icUbaHJWkufzzsvjup65AeUduogEV71pfqWoCkDqxnBVnpcj7Bc67nPHZJ6DaoyB2FZl7BGv7uyWnlR1OmdPZv9yBsMDg2zDh78R_-Lyn0FnEw/s1600/IMG_5026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPPz7McWUeegoyKZUVamCtcfu8IzeK3icUbaHJWkufzzsvjup65AeUduogEV71pfqWoCkDqxnBVnpcj7Bc67nPHZJ6DaoyB2FZl7BGv7uyWnlR1OmdPZv9yBsMDg2zDh78R_-Lyn0FnEw/s640/IMG_5026.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The road was full for a few miles...</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHoKND92dCdGk6BZVTiapmSY1WIg4Yu5sxf8zQdcE5Ky8uHDfCGxvDGNIdGJfj6CCdXcqo7_mXf_203hdhkViVnweUQO6BF7DbKKVRxQWv0l1E_4pakgrq3JjHWnPkEVgCSyufxOARH_Y/s1600/IMG_5027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHoKND92dCdGk6BZVTiapmSY1WIg4Yu5sxf8zQdcE5Ky8uHDfCGxvDGNIdGJfj6CCdXcqo7_mXf_203hdhkViVnweUQO6BF7DbKKVRxQWv0l1E_4pakgrq3JjHWnPkEVgCSyufxOARH_Y/s640/IMG_5027.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0g1PJtQ_fDpC1kQVttiY1FVcdqhMBGeNhoDcWI9S5otTO2QWpge7RXDVi5akD-TKSSIzGO8sADDuVE4Jsf3W0SWobFytWYprrEYJZGtNuv9hw3ux41mAT4XnGwtoKRYsvsNZyQLxi87M/s1600/IMG_5030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0g1PJtQ_fDpC1kQVttiY1FVcdqhMBGeNhoDcWI9S5otTO2QWpge7RXDVi5akD-TKSSIzGO8sADDuVE4Jsf3W0SWobFytWYprrEYJZGtNuv9hw3ux41mAT4XnGwtoKRYsvsNZyQLxi87M/s640/IMG_5030.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMJk9vUHfqimL7lbJR-hZIBjwu_6QFzDyMAYWkI30DpsZX5xBoRN4rDRTQMI9UicBJccxY3L68RGFWavzltDkyd4hDg1ai7U5kCJGF7GcVq9ZllycvHaPyH2v5SKbnWGrkO9kAatm9T2E/s1600/IMG_5031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMJk9vUHfqimL7lbJR-hZIBjwu_6QFzDyMAYWkI30DpsZX5xBoRN4rDRTQMI9UicBJccxY3L68RGFWavzltDkyd4hDg1ai7U5kCJGF7GcVq9ZllycvHaPyH2v5SKbnWGrkO9kAatm9T2E/s640/IMG_5031.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">And then, I spotted them! Treav and the boys were in the back of our friend's pick-up, having a BLAST (no pun intended)!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">"Get Mommy's car!!!"</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxqKeDKrmYl4OlEtRFKsaYgYoyevHGyvpps7ioBp2q_dM2JVnBbGMTUFyOIQMMnj-RUfZcTQ9sN642XX3XDIFLMf0CtYbKHR9T2x9y_FjuwJ9OBVjmiW4Z0DblmG7gWvuZmbn0yQXUoqg/s1600/IMG_5041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxqKeDKrmYl4OlEtRFKsaYgYoyevHGyvpps7ioBp2q_dM2JVnBbGMTUFyOIQMMnj-RUfZcTQ9sN642XX3XDIFLMf0CtYbKHR9T2x9y_FjuwJ9OBVjmiW4Z0DblmG7gWvuZmbn0yQXUoqg/s640/IMG_5041.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Later that afternoon, we headed to some friends' house in a nearby town to play some more!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Our friends had some Thais and foreigners over to eat MEXICAN food. The kitchen was full!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ2_NoPRoeFHCP0UmTypuL1xnXM3BF9dtWvA2zBKM5_V0ldhOCBa95Kbtz3Vqi7tAYGuEL_jT5aLsdclAT93aOrM1YDVyzQZnTy0Y7RxOCioJAwJZno6sj_ZZ643YQnpJyda_hfACzjMg/s1600/IMG_5045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ2_NoPRoeFHCP0UmTypuL1xnXM3BF9dtWvA2zBKM5_V0ldhOCBa95Kbtz3Vqi7tAYGuEL_jT5aLsdclAT93aOrM1YDVyzQZnTy0Y7RxOCioJAwJZno6sj_ZZ643YQnpJyda_hfACzjMg/s640/IMG_5045.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">...so was the eating room.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4g0V86qlXl8GVxdB4U2PuC8f92diKUFLR2Z-J7z1JyWTf8y5tLv5NbQJtqbIjgUoOsp8RerghubGwGOSf51y96kocISOLHjB-KCdUXfvyvENq8_xD5BbjWmU_sDVUFnBe6rgXFPZRR5Q/s1600/IMG_5050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4g0V86qlXl8GVxdB4U2PuC8f92diKUFLR2Z-J7z1JyWTf8y5tLv5NbQJtqbIjgUoOsp8RerghubGwGOSf51y96kocISOLHjB-KCdUXfvyvENq8_xD5BbjWmU_sDVUFnBe6rgXFPZRR5Q/s640/IMG_5050.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The boys and M, another foreigner, going to town with the water guns. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxWH0PO-kK9JFhdgI-rVh1A_3Y4dkm7XGqDGOYY6qIsE-kqy1Q0gPWTNAfUAOHf2Gy4L1a-hjqVX1WYMdCuLzUWrUtV34Mn3XpV6TRgz07I4QkhJfYv4HBQJ4_zEysE9swEEDFO1AjikA/s1600/IMG_5051.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxWH0PO-kK9JFhdgI-rVh1A_3Y4dkm7XGqDGOYY6qIsE-kqy1Q0gPWTNAfUAOHf2Gy4L1a-hjqVX1WYMdCuLzUWrUtV34Mn3XpV6TRgz07I4QkhJfYv4HBQJ4_zEysE9swEEDFO1AjikA/s640/IMG_5051.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">They blessed the food...</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaIL5XA4ohEwhGRZRjD9GreuGg_yF3SYMJntky3_LIwc0JQMWyuxcbcXIeFShF08j9lIlF6mvPjjeWwzB1e46aMvTSQuHTKPRaFn4955KQxRBS59smmIDsbdj9WNyF6wdp97ymRWQOnqU/s1600/IMG_5053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaIL5XA4ohEwhGRZRjD9GreuGg_yF3SYMJntky3_LIwc0JQMWyuxcbcXIeFShF08j9lIlF6mvPjjeWwzB1e46aMvTSQuHTKPRaFn4955KQxRBS59smmIDsbdj9WNyF6wdp97ymRWQOnqU/s640/IMG_5053.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">...and BOY! Did we have a feast, or what!?!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqG1un042Y8zbGA2qBfKsS3No8QMd7KJkDcoBO9y1K7-9E-tpi_KIbnKbfGS8t7eAshNZtde-tzE2NjG16F6FF6-BBWQeubTaHcBj4Vf-PVRT_WzSDEry3ztGI8-cTtGDMWe5vCGsWV-M/s1600/IMG_5054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqG1un042Y8zbGA2qBfKsS3No8QMd7KJkDcoBO9y1K7-9E-tpi_KIbnKbfGS8t7eAshNZtde-tzE2NjG16F6FF6-BBWQeubTaHcBj4Vf-PVRT_WzSDEry3ztGI8-cTtGDMWe5vCGsWV-M/s640/IMG_5054.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Fun, food, and friends; a great end to a great day!</span></td></tr>
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Alinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01556835916366953109noreply@blogger.com0