First Leg Back To Thailand And Sippy Cup Woes

Our plane has just passed the International Date Line, has traveled almost eight hours at frightening speeds, and our children are averaging their third movie and their umpteenth snack and drink of the flight.  On the whole, my boys, sitting with Treavor, have been staring at their personal entertainment screens, watching Japanese pre-school cartoons and playing video games.  I love the Information Age.  Kyla, after eating a snack and napping a few hours, has been generally busy.  Busy.  BUSY!

We went on a "walk" around the plane to search out all the other babies on board, waved, got down their names and moved on to more interesting territory.

By "more interesting territory" I mean, the bathroom. 

Seriously folks, if you're at a loss to what to do with your child on a overseas flight...take a field trip to the bathroom.  We washed our hands, went potty (not necessarily in this particular order), made silly faces in the mirror, tried the complimentary lotion AND the Jasmine scented facial spray (lovely!)...

...and then there was an unfortunate incident with the sippy cup.  Rather, the lid of the sippy cup.  It may or may not have landed in the toilet. 

I kid you not...the toilet.

I was innocently trying to wash out the remains of Kyla's third helping of milk...when I dropped it promptly in the (empty!  Praise God, Hallelujah!) toilet.  Could I have wisely closed the lid of the toilet seat while I did my blessed washing....oh, no!  That would be too smart!

So after about three complete scrubbings with soap and the hottest water I could manage from the safety-sink in the plane's bathroom...we're good as new. 

Let's just hope Treavor doesn't read this entry.  He might banish me from watching Kyla for the rest of the trip...

On second thought, maybe I should forward this directly!

Off to endure the second leg of our trip: Seoul to Thailand.  You'll be hearing from me again soon if I can regain my ability to type after jet-lagging myself into this next new season of our ordinary life in the wild.  Thanks for reading, friends!

Redefining Home Book Giveaway Winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered the Redefining Home book giveaway!  

The winner is...

Alicia Nahirny!!!

She commented below:

Alicia NahirnyCollapse

Oh yes, definitely used a squatty potty! Spent a month in Thailand many years ago now with YWAM :)

You have won one copy of Carrie Anne Hudson's new book - which will be mailed to you as soon as a mother-of-five-living-overseas can manage it!  Please send me your mailing address to ordinaryalina@gmail.com as soon as possible to get the process going.  Carrie will be mailing it directly from her home country, so give it at least a couple of weeks.  Congratulations!  You are going to LOVE this book!

To everyone else who didn't get randomly chosen by the computer, you can find her book on Amazon here!

***Public Service Announcement: our family will be traveling back to Thailand in just one week!  Stay tuned for more (frequent) installments of Ordinary Life In The Wild here!  Can't wait to jump back into it soon!  Thanks for reading!***

Redefining Home Book Giveaway!

This book could be on YOUR shelf soon!

Last Spring, I ordered the book (seen above), Redefining Home: Squatty Potties, Split Pants & Other Things That Divide My World, written by a new friend of mine, Carrie Anne Hudson.  I first knew about her writing through my BFF, Steph, and instantly fell in love with her hilarious, insightful, thought-provoking, smart and honest blog, Rescued Remnant.  I just knew her online, but then...


...I got to meet her in person!  Her family, who lives in our area of the world, was on holiday in the city we live in and Carrie, Steph and I got to meet at Starbucks (that blessed establishment) for some girl chat.  She is exactly as she portrays herself in her writing; transparently real, funny, wise and truly fun.  


As she is, she writes about her life learning Chinese, mothering five little ones, living in a very foreign, but now familiar culture...keeping her head afloat and thriving in what can be a very stressful way of life.  


She wrote a book chronicling her wild, but awesome life - and you're gonna need some serious bladder control if you want to get through some of the more hilarious moments.  Trust me. 


In her own words about the book. "It's a look at real life overseas. From the humiliating encounters with a fruit vendor to being swept into a Chinese funeral procession, we are kept humbled and alert."


Carrie has offered to give a paperback copy of her new book to the winner of a giveaway I'm hosting here on my blog.  You ready?

To make an entry, please answer one or more of the following questions in the comments below:

1.  What is the current population of China?

2.  Have you ever used a squatty potty?

3.  What exactly ARE split pants?

Other ways to enter:

4.  "Follow" my blog.  (Scroll to the top right of this page to see how to follow)

5.  "Follow" Carrie's blog (click here to visit Rescued Remnant)

6.  "Like" Carrie's Facebook Page (click here to go to her page)

7.  Tweet about her new book Redefining Home (click for the Amazon link)

8.  Share about her new book Redefining Home on Facebook. 
(make sure that you comment and tell me about #4 - #8 if you do them!)

Look at that!  You have eight different ways to enter this giveaway!  What are you waiting for?  Crack open your Google search page, visit our blogs or blab about this book on the WWW.  Go ahead! Better your chances and win this book!


The deadline for this giveaway is Monday, July 23rd at noon (Mountain Standard Time).  I will announce the (randomly-picked-by-the-computer) winner sometime that evening.  Make sure you don't post anonymously (at least leave your first name or log in)!


Hope you win!  I LOVE this book!

Road Trips From A to Z

Good thing the guitar never fell on her head...

Over the last two months, we have driven approximately 4,500 miles here in the States.  I can sometimes exaggerate things, but I am actually undershooting the mileage here.  I promise!  I used Google maps, for goodness sake.

So, minus the countless trips to and from events, houses, meetings, etc. while in the major cities...we have really gotten used to driving.  "Gotten used to" is a phrase I am using casually here.  I have heard enough Action Bible songs and screaming fits from the backseat than I would like to admit...but for the most part, our travels have been pretty uneventful.  There was that time when we almost ended a deer's life somewhere in the Hill Country.  That deer was dumb, I tell you.  And, we, for sure, were thanking God for the grace He gave us not to wreck Treavor's Dad's awesome SUV.  "Hallelujah!" was heard from everyone.  

In all our travels, we have experienced much.  Here is the last two months of driving in a witty acrostic poem.  I am not a poet, but i'll try my best:

A - Action Bible Songs on repeat.  Is "Onward Christian Soldiers" disturbing to anyone else but me?

B - Best Car Packer Award goes to...Treavor!  How he fit it all in, i'll never ever know.

C - Coffee.  Gallons of it.

D - Down, down, down.  The further south we drove, the cheaper the gas prices.  Crazy Northerners.

E - Elmo's ABC's app on the iPad is Kyla's new best friend.

F - Friends and Family are what makes all the travel worth it!

G - G.P.S. saved our lives a dozen times.  And, maybe our marriage, too.  Can't argue with the lady on the screen!

H - Hand sanitizer for all the pit stops.  We have seen some rough bathrooms, lemme tell ya.

I - "I spy" has been the best game ever to kill a bad mood in our kids.

J - Just how full can that diaper get before we have to stop?

K - "Keep to the right side of the road."  We still need reminders.  Toto, we're not in Thailand anymore!

L - Lord of the Rings audio books kept Treavor awake at 3am.  Frodo!!!

M - McDonald's golden arches are recognized by a 2-year old yelling "Fries! Fries!"

N - Neck pillow.  Saved my life.

O - Oklahoma is more beautiful than you would think.

P - Prayer.  Oh, how we prayed!  

Q - Questions galore: "What does 'Don't Mess With Texas' mean?" 

R - Rest Area Wi-fi helps us get our email fix!

S - Screams.  Fits.  Cries. Whimpers.  Whines.  "Are we there yet?"  By the children, and...me.

T - Three overnight trips back and forth from Illinois to Texas.  Are we crazy?

U - Undereye circles.

V - Very good times with people.  Like I said before...it has made it all worth it!

W - "What city are we in?  Where are we going now?" = mantra of my kids.

X - X-tra late nights and early mornings.

Y - You can use a baby wipe to clean up just about anything.

Z - ZZZs...didn't get much.  But, hey, sleep is overrated, right?  

Words With Friends

Amy, Tiff, Janice, Summer, Melanie, Rebecca, Michelle and me at Rosa's!

The other night, we were hanging out with Matt and Tiffany, some of our close friends.  Our family was right in the middle of a wild week of travelling...staying in a different city every night for almost a week.  We were all unwinding after the kids were in bed, chatting away.  Matt said something to the effect of "You need to spend as much time with us as you can because you won't be able to when you get back to Thailand."  


I cried.


Actually, I stuck a pillow over my face and shamefully cried behind the pillow.  Because, I am still afraid of what others are calling the "Ugly Cry."  And, I had mascara on.  


I cried because it is true.  There simply isn't enough time this summer to spend with all of our friends, family and others in a way that is quality and memorable.  This really pains me.  I wish we had a year here, but then again, I know I still wouldn't be satisfied.  It is my nature.  


Then, Treavor caught me off guard and told me to stop crying.  "Why?"  I whined...


"Just stop crying,"  he suggested.


I was offended, for sure.  But, I dried up my tears and we resumed our conversation.  Later that night, I asked Treav why he told me to stop.  He shared that he thought it would be better for me to have some happier memories of the short time we have with our friends than ones of me blubbering on the couch while everyone else felt awkward.  Of course, I disagreed, because my emotions were raw and I just wasn't getting it.


He listened to me whine on and then concluded, "Well, I think you just need to cry with your girlfriends, then."  You have to understand that it wasn't a cop-out...it was true!  If I wanted time to connect with my friends on a deeper, heart-level, I was going to have to set more time aside to make it happen.


So, I did!


The picture at the top is of a Girls' Night that I threw together last week.  I emailed (so fancy!) some ladies and we met at Rosa's Cafe for dinner.  Thankfully, seven ladies were free and gave up their Wednesday night to chat and make me feel like a million bucks for just spending time together.  Nights like that were something I literally dreamed about while in Thailand.  We have amazing community there, too, but being here has helped to resurrect old relationships and keep them going as all our friends are blazing through life.  It was so fun.


To end the night, we headed on over to U-Swirl. I died.  Basically, for all my overseas friends to understand, the frozen-yogurt-and-then-add-a-million-toppings-of-your-choice fad is all the rage.  They weigh your bowl, no matter what is in there, and then you pay per ounce.  Genius; self-serve and quite addictive.  You choose from a myriad of flavors (I chose Cake Batter and Red Velvet Cake - I know, I'm a health nut!)...then you top it with stuff.  There was everything from cherries and fresh raspberries, to cheesecake bites, Ghirardelli caramel sauce, and chocolate-covered waffle bits.  Like I said, I died.  And, then I ate my frozen yogurt and went to dessert heaven.  It was fabulous.  

Did you just gain five pounds looking at this delight of a dessert?  Awesome.

I never ended up crying with my girlfriends that night, but now I have a lovely memory to help carry me through the inevitable, lonely days of living as an expat in a foreign country.  I might have to plan my own Girls' Night over there!  Too bad they don't have U-Swirl in Thailand...

8 Years Later! Happy Anniversary!

Eight years ago today, I married the love of my life, Treavor!  And, yes, our marriage is still going strong - even through living in three different countries, moving houses every. single. year...three kids 6 and under, working overseas and a myriad of other possible stressful situations.  In every season, God has given us the grace to learn how to bless one another in marriage.  Without God's help, I simply don't know how anyone can do it!  And, for me, it isn't really all that hard to love Treavor...he's incredibly handsome (just ask anyone ;)...he loves God like crazy, he plays guitar and sings like a rock star, he is a faithful, patient Daddy, he loves to work with his hands - fixing all the things I certainly can't, he speaks Thai so well, he leads us and protects our family, he loves to joke around and make me laugh...I really could go on and on...but the children need to eat breakfast this morning!  


Last year, I did a special post with tons of our beautiful wedding photos to remember and share about our wedding anniversary.  You can click here and read it again or (for some of you) for the first time!


Happy Anniversary, Treavor!  You're my favorite!

Perks Of A Developed Country

Kyla is sittin' pretty

There is always something I am gawking at as we live the adventure of being in America again.  This baby seat made me literally jump for joy and pull the camera out of my bottomless pit of a purse.  


A baby seat in the bathroom!  What GENIUS!


Everywhere else, I have had to train the kids to stand like soldiers (ie: not like the crazy monkeys they normally are) and keep their hands to themselves while waiting for everyone to get their business done in the public restrooms in Thailand.  Usually, the floors are very wet there, and you have to fan the mosquitoes away from your bum while you try to balance over the squatties or the occasional western-style toilet.  A trip to the potty with three kids in tow (or even just the little one) can stress me just a little bit because of my obsession over super-clean hands.  


But, remember people, America has everything to chase away your fears...and yes, I wrote that with both cynicism and an odd delight...


...and this baby seat just made my day!

Even Kyla likes it!  She, honestly, was laughing while she waited for me!

I love you, Safe-Sitter corporation.  You a mother's delight and the product of a developed country that is always thinking of yet another way to make a load of money.  


What's the coolest new thing you've seen lately?