27 Random Things About Me

I'm still feeling too overwhelmed, or maybe lazy, to write more about our trip. So, here's a list just for fun...

1. I am an only child, spoiled rotten. Tim pities the spouses of only children.
2. I love Little House on the Prairie and I would like to still be able to climb on my Dad's lap for the sad or scary parts.
3. I wish we would have vacationed more before we had kids, but I love vacationing with our kids.
4. I love almost any kind of coffee, from strong and black to the fanciest concoction at Starbucks.
5. I enjoy watching high school sports, and I like to yell really loud and sometimes rude things. Tim often gets up to sit somewhere else when I do this.
6. I love to turn my ipod up really loud and read my Bible and pray, but I can easily find a reason not to do it every day.
7. Stepping out of a pool, sitting on my cabana chair with a view of the ocean, picking up my fluffy novel, and having a wonderful server person bring me a strawberry margarita (or even a strawberry slushy will do!) is my idea of a good time.
8. I enjoy playing games, but I always forget that I enjoy it until I'm doing it.
9. I love McDonalds, and I would eat there for every meal. Thankfully, my sweet husband rescues me from heartburn, weight gain, and debt.
10. When I go into a hotel room, I have to try out every light switch, button, and remote. My mama says I have done this since I was very small.
11. I never, and I mean never, use a straw.
12. I got all As in high school and a really high score on the ACT, but, curiously, no one seems to care about that now even though it was such a big deal then.
13. I used to ride, lying down, up in the back window of my parents' Cadillac. My mom once hit the car in front of us because I was stuck in the window and she was trying to get me out.
14. My bathroom floor is plywood, but I rarely notice because the sink, toilet, shower, and whirlpool tub all work great.
15. Tim says we're going to eat at McDonald's less this year so that our bathroom floor will no longer be plywood.
16. I have 3 sons and a husband, but, thankfully, the dog is a girl, so I'm not totally outnumbered.
17. My very favorite memory from childhood is getting fish sandwiches and Dr. Peppers from a hole in the wall restaurant every time we drove to my Grandma's. No matter what time of day, my Dad always stopped.
18. I make Tim stop to get fish sandwiches every time we drive on that road.
19. Every summer during college, someone close to me died...good thing college finally ended!!20. I love being the mama of boys.
21. We have enough swords and guns in our house to outfit a small army.
22. We don't get any TV channels, but we watch lots of shows and movies (internet and dvds).
23. I can not handle movies or news coverage about tragedies. In fact, I still haven't seen any video footage of 9/11.
24. Jesus gives me life.
25. My favorite movie ever is Pretty Woman, and I can say the lines before they do.
26. The first time I was ever kissed was right after Tim asked me to marry him.
27. It was Tim who kissed me, by the way.

some firsts...

Tim had the idea that I could do a whole blog of "firsts" from our trip...he's so clever.  There are a million I could put on here, but I'm just going to start with a few...

...my first Cambodian haircut (and on my shirt is blood from Simon's first bloody nose!)

...Simon's first two teeth (notice the dried cereal on his nose...I'm mom of the year!!)

...my first ever $4 French pedicure

...and a cute picture of Simon just for fun.

I'm still here!!

Simon and I are still in Cambodia hanging out with Auntie and the kids while Uncle Dave is on a motorcycle trip.  Don't go thinking I'm all noble and brave...I've been homesick for my big boys!!!  I think it's a combination of being all the way around the world without them and the fact that I had already been gone for 3 weeks, but I haven't been this homesick since college.  I was actually entertaining the thought of throwing up violently or breaking a bone so that I'd have to go home.  :)  Tim did say I could come home early (even though there's a fee!!), but there are no flights available.  Therefore, I'm going to stick it out.  I can do this.  I've given birth and climbed a dang high mountain in Mexico...this will not defeat me!!!!!  I am, however, overwhelmed by the thought of posting anything about our trip because there is SO MUCH I could say.  So, I'll get back to posting pictures and details later...tonight I'm going to follow Gretchen's lead...  By the way, I should mention that even in my homesickness, I managed to get a head massage/shampoo/cucumber facial/neck massage/haircut/french pedicure yesterday all for the total price of....$14!!!!!!!!

1.  What is your occupation right now?  wife and mama

2.  What color are your socks right now?  I haven't worn socks for 4 weeks!

3.  What are you listening to right now?  a REALLY loud dog and the hum of the computer

4.  What was the last thing you ate?  Rice and Beans with Pico de Gallo

5.  Can you drive a stick shift?  Oh yeah!! Love it!

6.  Last person you spoke to on the phone?  My loverboy

7.  Do you like the person who sent this to you?  I adore her!!!!

8.  How old are you today?  34

9.  What is your favorite sport to watch on TV?  football, but I don't do it that often

10.  What is your favorite drink?  Hard to say...McDonald's coke or mocha with carmel or iced coffee or mama's sweet tea or chocolate milk or black coffee...hmm...i guess i really like drinks!!

11.  Have you ever dyed your hair?  oh, my, yes, and i need it right now REAL BAD (imagine me saying this like Paulette on Legally Blonde 2)!!

12.  Favorite food?  almost anything I'm eating in a restaurant

13.  Last movie you watched?  Twilight, about 3 hours ago

14.  Favorite day of the year?  Christmas Eve

15.  How do you vent anger?  Talk about it, A LOT!!

16.  What was your favorite toy as a child?  Eliot, my cabbage patch kid

17.  What is your favorite season?  fall

18.  Cherries or Blueberries?  Cherry Pie, Blueberry muffins

19.  Living Arrangements?  husband, three boys, a dog, and me in a house

20.  When was the last time you cried?  on Saturday

21.  What is on the floor of your closet?  Probably nothing because I'm not there...if I was there, there would be laundry piled...yep, Tim's the neat freak, I'm the messy.

22. What did you do last night?  Had dinner at Steve and Deb's apartment above a lingerie store, then rode a tuk tuk driven by a drunk Cambodian back to our guest house (hotel), then fell asleep watching a rerun of the Golden Globe awards

23.  What are you most afraid of?  not really living

24.  Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers?  Cheeseburger...what, exactly, is a spicy hamburger??

25.  Favorite dog breed?  anything that always looks like a cute puppy...otherwise, I don't really like 'em

26.  Favorite day of the week?  Thursday

27.  How many states have you lived in?  2

28.  Diamonds or pearls?  I kind of like them together.

Now, keep the fun going by putting this on your blog and leaving me a comment letting me know that you did.  

Good night...I'm off to bed!!

A Few More Pics...

We rode the Bamboo Train today.  It was a little bit bumpy, and if you looked down below for too long, nausea would take over as the ground sped by.  When we came upon another bamboo train, we would count people and the train with the least people had to get off, take off their car, and let the other one pass.  We came upon a little drink stand eventually where we stopped for a drink and turned our train around to head back the way we came.  

As many of you may have guessed, Ezra is all about the outfits and accessories here in Cambodia.  He has used his Christmas money to buy 2 outfits, a hat, and a power bracelet.  This is him posing at Angkor Wat, where he, Daddy, and Isaac joined Grandma, Uncle Dave, and Asia for a day of sightseeing.

Isaac will definitely have a hard time coming home to riding his bike after DRIVING the moto here in Cambodia.  Dad is on there, but Isaac is the one driving.  Yikes!!  Good thing mama only saw the picture and wasn't there in person!!

What an adventure for our family.  How is it that God allows for some of us to be born in the places we're born and others of us to be born in other places?  I know that doesn't communicate the depth of what I'm trying to say...let's try again...why, oh why did God place us in such special families with such opportunities and luxuries and, in the same world, there is a mama who goes to sleep each night on the streets of Pnomh Penh, Cambodia, with her baby and no place to call home?  Who am I to deserve the life I live?  I long to be found faithful on this path I've been placed on.  I long to pluck that sweet mama I saw last night off of the street.  I long for someday when there will be no more pain and hunger and homelessness, and I wonder if that sweet mama on the street knows about my Jesus and the hope He offers.  Meanwhile, we keep walking the path...

If a picture is worth a thousand words, here's a 4000 word essay...

Our family of five at the ruins of a Buddhist temple...

All of us together on our tuk tuk...

Four people on a moto and Asia's driving...

The first Christmas for our sweet baby Simon...

The show must go on!!

Uncle Dave and Auntie's house-helper, Savann, had to leave unexpectedly today, and it took all five of us adults to accomplish what she would have done all by herself.  Tim washed out the clothes BY HAND.  I took the clean dry clothes off the line and replaced them with the newly washed clothes.  Uncle Dave swept the whole house.  Grandma washed the vegetables Savann had already bought at the market for the day.  Auntie supervised us all, helped Tim with the laundry, and got leftovers out for lunch (because none of us knew what to do with the vegetables and meat Savann had bought to make "Happy China rice and chicken", as Ezra refers to it).

Tonight we had a little Christmas Eve get-together with Auntie and Uncle Dave's team mates and now we adults are wondering how it is that we are now in charge of putting out all the presents.  Oh, for the days when we just went to sleep and woke up to Santa's delivery!!

Merry Christmas...and welcome to our world, sweet baby Jesus!!!

We're feeling more Asian by the minute...

Yesterday, we spent a day in the life of Auntie and Uncle Dave, complete with language lessons and hanging the laundry on the line.  I was amazed at how excited I got when I was squeezing the laundry out by hand and the water poured onto my feet to cool me off!!!

Today, we shopped a little bit and then went to the park this evening.  There were people doing aerobic-type exercises in the park which was really fun to watch.  There were also plenty of street vendors, so Asia and Ezra were quick to choose two Power Ranger balloons.  Some of the vendors were selling various cooked insects, but none of us were quick to choose those!

After some time at the park, we headed to Marianne's Pizza Garden for dinner.  I'm not really sure if the pizza is any good because all of us had rice and noodles.  One of the pizza choices was "hot dog pizza" which did not interest our boys at all, surprisingly.  Tim and I both finished our whole plate of noodles using only chopsticks.  Whooh! Hooh!  Aren't you proud, Chris??

The primary mode of transportation here is a "moto" (a scooter similar to the one driven by Mr. Wieck for you MHS folks).  Tim is getting quite good on one despite no stop signs, stop lights, traffic lanes, or required directions to go.  Tonight, on the way to the park, we were headed right into 3 or 4 other motos and narrowly missed them.  Our moto had me, Tim, Ezra, and Simon on it.  Tim asked, "were you scared?"  I said, "uh...yeah!!!"  However, with the wind blowing in my face and Simon holding onto me for dear life, I had a revelation.  As scared as I was, I would be even more scared to ever miss the things God is calling me and our family to because of my own fears.  So, I'll keep "riding the moto" in my own life, whatever that might mean for me, because He's my dad and I trust Him.