One of the many things I love about Thailand!

This little guy was just walking around the market! He was absolutely adorable...my sister says he needed a shave but I think it makes him look all the more cute :)

Memories...

I absolutely love anything vintage looking! Since I have been here in Thailand, one of the things I miss dearly is going antique/vintage shopping with my mom! We always try to go at least once a month if not more. Most times we never buy anything but just getting to look and spend time together is the fun part. The other night I was in need of a pencil sharpener, I went and asked Pook if she knew where one was and she immediately went to here drawer and pulled out this marvelous little pencil sharpener. I immediately fell in love with it! :)

I was so excited to see something so cute and vintage! I was even more thrilled to find out that Pook's dad had used it when he was studying in school. Can you imagine lugging this thing around in your backpack!?
This little treasure that I had no idea was in my house brightened my day! It immediately reminded me of memories with my mom!

Sometimes it's the little things...

I just love our neighborhood and our cute little house here in Chiang Mai. God has really blessed: I have my own room, aircon, piano, a front porch to sit out and drink coffee, wonderful housemates and even a banana tree in the backyard! I got so excited when Carolyn came in the house the other day and said one of our banana bunches was ready to be picked. We went out armed with a camera and the largest knife we could find! After lots of effort and too much laughing, we managed to get the bunch of bananas cut down. We have another bunch just about ready to be picked and I can't imagine what we are going to do with all these bananas....perhaps banana bread, smoothies, fried bananas and whatever else we can think of! I can't wait to see how creative we can get using up all the bananas...sometimes it's just the little things in life that make the days so marvelous!

The Beginning of Wisdom

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom:
and the knowledge of the holy is understanding."

Proverbs 9:10

I have been reading a book by Andy Stanley called 'The Best Question Ever.' This is an excellent book and I would recommend it to anyone. I won't give much away about the book cause you'll have to read it yourself but his theme is wisdom. He wrote the following about his thoughts on Proverbs 9:10...

...Wisdom begins when we recognize that God is God and the respond accordingly. The proper response, or course, is surrender. Once we have surrendered, God is more than happy to reveal more and more of Himself. And as we discover more and more if the character and nature of the Gather, we gain greater understanding of the world He has created. Our expanded understanding results in an improve ability to chose wisely. This true wisdom begins with a proper recognition of who God is coupled with a proper response-surrender.

Say Cheese!

So I have this insane love for cheese...of any kind! When I'm in the states I'm always eating cheese and of course I always put it on everything. Now that I'm in Thailand I'm having terrible withdrawals...its so expensive here. Between $5-$10 for a few slices of sandwich cheese and block cheese is even more :( Last night we all went to a restaurant that had a salad bar and to my surprise guess what one of the bowls was filled with....cheese!!!! Between myself, Sarah and Jeff, I think we ate the entire bowl. The poor waiter at the salad bar probably thought we were crazy Americans for eating so much cheese!

Thailand...

It has definitely been a busy month...packing, moving and unpacking! I finally feel settled in and it's feeling more and more like home! Pookie and Carolyn and I share a cute little house each with our own rooms (what a blessing!) I'm finally learning my way around. Yesterday I went for a drive and made several wrong turns and even missed a few but eventually I will get the hang of things...driving on the other side of the car and the other side of the road really messes with you mind lol!

Our cute little house!


I love to ride my bike through our neighborhood...it's so peaceful!

Summer Dessert

It's been in the triple digits here in Texas! So I decided to make something cool and refreshing. The result: Chocolate fruit tarts!

Cute as a button!

Since I love vintage things I decided to start collecting a "few" vintage buttons for a jar of mine. Call me odd, but as I was looking through them the other day I started thinking about what kind of outfits those buttons may have been on, what kind of stories could these buttons tell and what kind of places they have been! Maybe they were sewed on an overcoat for a drive through the snow, or maybe they came off an apron from someone working in a cute little cafe in Italy! Whatever it may be they are cute and I love them!

Purple and perfect!

Nothing makes a girl feel great than a pair of cute shoes! Especially when they are purple heels and have an adorable flower. These are definitely going on my wishlist!

Vintage Crochet

I absolutely love vintage things! A couple of months ago someone gave my mom a vintage kitchen washcloth that was crocheted...it was so unique! I fell in love with it so much that I decided to teach myself to crochet just so I could make one for myself. I found and bought a set of bamboo crochet hooks and some thread and started crafting!

I know that since I made it it's not vintage but it looks like it! It came out better than I thought, especially since I didn't have a pattern!

God Gives Grace

Everywhere around me I am constantly reminded of God's marvelous grace! I have a friend who is going through some pretty tough times right now...Wednesday is the day he finds out the long awaited news and it will be either really good or really bad! We were talking about it the other day and I told him that the 'Lord knows what you can handle and will never give you more.' I woke up this morning with a song in my heart that reminded me of him and his situation so I thought I would post the lyrics of it in hopes that it might be a blessing and encouragement to others who may be facing difficult times!

God Gives Grace

Sometimes problems seem so big they hide the light of day

Sometimes pain cuts so deep that I can’t find the words to pray

Sometimes heartache seems to be much more than I can stand

That’s when grace seems to take me by the hand

He gives grace in the midst of every storm

God gives grace that carries the weary and worn

He’s everything we ever need for everything we face

So remember when it seem you can’t go on God gives grace

I know every pain I feel becomes HIS very own

God know the weakness of my heart that I can’t make it all alone

For HE knows what I can handle and HE never gives me more

When my strength comes to an end, HE has more grace in store

He gives grace in the midst of every storm

God gives grace that carries the weary and worn

He’s everything we ever need for everything we face

So remember when it seem you can’t go on God gives grace

Grace will help you stand when problems seem so tall

And grace will pick you up every time you fall

He gives grace in the midst of every storm

God gives grace that carries the weary and worn

He’s everything we ever need for everything we face

So remember when it seem you can’t go on God gives grace

Just remember when it seem you can’t go on God gives grace

A productive day!

I've been gone on the most wonderful trip up north to visit family and friends! A trip filled with so many wonderful moments and memories. As usual, I always dread the goodbyes but look forward to getting back home to Texas. This time getting back home was filled with dread because I had a serious problem to take care of...my car was making this terrible noise! My struts had gone bad, really bad! With an early early morning start my dad, myself, and a friend began a job we thought would take just a few hours...unfortunately things don't always go the way we want them too. After a very long day we...when I say we I mean my dad and Will mostly...finally got the struts in. We only had a few minor problems, one of which was the struts were bolted in so tight that none of us could get them out. Ya only a minor problem! We tried for almost 2 hours with almost every tool I could imagine, they weren't even budging! In the process we broke a ratchet in two. Now I'm no expert but if you can manage to break a ratchet in two either you are stronger than you think or that's one tough bolt. Finally we ended up borrowing an impact drill...best little tool every invented...and finished the job. I can now say that I know what a strut is, how to change one, how to use an impact drill and various other tools. I'm so excited! What a productive day!

Coffee, Cleopatra and more

I'm headed home tomorrow but I can say that I've truly had a wonderful time here in Pennsylvania and Maryland! Time spent with my sister and brother-in-law, painting a new house, coffee in the morning, visits with old friends, canoeing on the Delaware, wonderful church services, walks in the evening with Bandit, a beautiful wedding, coffee in the afternoon, new shoes, Cleopatra exhibit, fireworks, all-day trip to Philadelphia, coffee in the evening, hours spent chatting with my friend Rachel, antique shopping and so much more! I'm gonna hate to say good-bye but I'm looking forward to heading back home!

Escaped time...

"Once after finishing a picture, I thought I would stop for awhile, take a trip, do things--the next time I thought of this I found five years had gone by."
Willem de Kooning

I read this quote and had to laugh! How many times have I checked the date on the calendar or looked at the time and realized how much time has escaped me... specifically in reference to how long it's been since I've blogged! More than a year...and to think I really enjoy blogging...Lol one would probably question that if they were to look at the last date of my post!


I was reading this morning in James 4:14 where it says "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away." Although time may often escape me, my heart's desire would be that I would stand before my Lord and hear the words "well done, thou good and faithful servant." To know that I used my time wisely and spent it for Christ's glory is one of the greatest blessings I can think of! But yet, how many of us can say that we really spend every moment of our time for Christ?

Greens, greens, and more greens!!!

My sister is getting married in June and I have decided to try to and get into better shape for this cute little black dress we get to wear. Well...easier said than done! I started doing some research about weight loss, average size for your age and height, diets that work and don't work, etc...there is so much information out there that's it's almost overwhelming. I'm not taking diet pills and I'm not doing some crazy diet that consists of nothing but brussel sprouts and beets. After talking with several people who have lost weight successfully and have kept it off I finally came up with a plan that I knew wouldn't be easy but that I knew I could follow if I just stuck with it. I try to exercise three time a week and I've decided to eat about five to six times a day (that's a good start because I do like to eat :) But in order to do so, I have to control my portions; I eat only until I'm satisfied and nothing more. I'm told that when you eat five to six times a day it keeps your metabolism working constantly. When you eat just two or three times a day your metabolism slows down and your body stores what you eat as fat for a future energy source. I eat lots of fresh fruit, veggies, protein and whole grains and try to stay away from processed foods. I've read and heard that dark green veggies are what your body really needs! The first week was horrible cause I kept cheating and eating what I wasn't suppose to. The second week I did a little better but not by much, the third week I actually stuck with it but didn't really enjoy it and now my fourth week, which is what I'm on now, has gone so much better that I've been eating really good and I'm actually beginning to crave fruits and veggies. Saturdays and Sundays aren't all that great and I have to try harder on those days but the rest of the days are pretty good. Here is a typical day:

Breakfast - Yogurt and toast or whole grain muffin
Mid morning - One piece of large fruit
Lunch - Salad with lots of greens like spinach, romaine, broccoli, and peppers with some protein like turkey breast or chicken, a few almond slices and a small piece of fruit.
Afternoon - raw carrot sticks or celery
Dinner - Grilled chicken breast or fish, 1/2 cup of barely steamed veggies and
maybe a little whole grain pasta or brown rice
Evening - Granola or popcorn without anything on it

Of course I vary a lot of my meals and I don't eat the exact thing everyday but as long as its healthy, raw, or whole-grain I'll eat it. Now I've been doing this for four weeks and this past weekend I was getting a little frustrated thinking 'is this really working or even worth it?' But yesterday at church I had several people tell me I looked like I was losing weight!! Yea!!! I was so excited, I guess it is working it just takes lots of persistence and stick-to-it-ness!

What did I get myself into!

It was time again to find a formal dress for one of my concerts. The problem is, when you start dress shopping you realize that most stores out there have no concept of modesty...agh!! If you do find something, they are asking several hundred dollars for it. I guess because these other dresses have so little fabric they don't have to charge much for them...a little rant and rave of mine! Anyway, I was getting so frustrated knowing that I don't have several hundred dollars to spend on a dress nor am I willing to back down on the convictions that the Lord has given simply to save some money and time. So it was decided: my mom and I would make the dress. We went to Joann Fabrics and I found a beautiful pattern and some of the prettiest purple satin (all on sale I might add). We bought everything for a grand total of $32.48 and took it home to start this long gone art of sewing your own clothes. Everything was going so well...I had gotten the pattern pieces cut out. We looked at the pattern again, as we kept doing many times to make sure we were doing things right, when we noticed the print that was so small on the bottom of the pattern that you almost needed a magnifying glass to read..."For Stretch Fabrics Only." My mom and I just sat there and looked at each other. We had just cut everything out IN SATIN, which by the way has no stretch to it at all. How was I going to get this dress on when there was no zipper, buttons or anything to give me extra room to get in. Then the brilliant idea came to us...let's put a zipper in. I'm sure we can squeeze one in somewhere. It shouldn't be too hard. Haha..Right! Well off we were to try and get this new found zipper idea and this dress to work. We took the first seam and realized that sewing this thing wasn't going to be all this simple. If you have ever worked with satin you know that it snags and doesn't like to stay together when sewing cause it so slick. It was really going to take forever know since I was having to go so slow to make sure everything was matching and not slipping apart. Slow and Steady, Steady and Slow seemed to be the motto here. But it finally started coming together. A few times we had to take several seems out when we realized we sewed the wrong thing or didn't cut one of the pieces big enough (ahem! maybe I was bigger than I thought :) Either way, now we were down to the last thing...the dreaded zipper. It took us almost two hours to get that stupid little thing in there. And then I sewed the fabric to close to the zipper that zipping and unzipping literally took almost five minutes cause we had to make sure I didn't snag any of the fabric in it. I told my mom, 'that's ok, I'll only have to wear it once and I can manage a five minute zipper.' I put it on one last time to make sure everything fit and then the zipper got stuck! AGH!!! What else can go wrong with this dress. I had the dress half-way zipped and then the zipper wouldn't go any further up nor down. All I could think about was what had I gotten myself into, now I'm not going to be able to get myself out of this dress. But with some coaxing and a lot of prayer my mom was able to get the zipper undone! The only thing left to do was to put it on the next night for my concert. I put the dress on and it felt like Deja Vu all over again! The zipper got stuck. But like the night before with a lot of coaxing and prayer the zipper finally zipped all the way. I was so proud of this dress my mother and I had made! Who cares if it took us three weeks to make! I was so thankful to have a modest dress to wear! And I received lots of compliments. Maybe I'll have to try making another dress one again, only this time with the right pattern, the right fabric, and no added zippers!

Overheard in an Orchard

Said a robin to a sparrow
I should really like to know
Why these anxious human beings
Rush around and worry so?
Said the sparrow to the robin
Friend, I think that it must be
That they have no Heavenly Father
Such as cares for you and me.
~Elizabeth Cheney

I read this and started thinking...So often when I see people in this world, I see them as these two birds saw them: stressed out and worrying about things. Like the sparrow said, they have no Heavenly Father! They have no peace and quiet in their soul. But have you ever thought that when the world looks at us Christians and sees us stressed out and worried about things, that maybe they don't see Christ AT ALL or maybe that he is simply not powerful enough! Oh, we say that we trust in God, and that we know he is there for us, but if we truly did trust HIM, then we shouldn't even have an ounce of stress or worry on our face or in our hearts. I wonder how many people I have turned away from Christ without even knowing, simply because what they saw in me was that I couldn't/wouldn't trust HIM fully!

Notable Quotables!

1.It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity
2. A man who trims himself to suit everybody will eventually whittle himself away
3. The problem with those bumper stickers about tailgaiting is that you have to get really close to the person's car to read them
4. Two nickels short of a fudge pop on a hot july day
5. Did the sun just come out or did you just smile
6. The thing that impresses me most about America is that the parents obey their children
7. For Sale: Parachute. Only used once, never opened, small stain
8. To my best recollection, I can't remember
9. We can reach our world, if we will. The greatest lack today is not people or funds. The greatest need is prayer
10. If you look like your passport picture, you probably need the trip
11. You have the brains of a worm and half its looks
12. The wheel is spinning but the hamster is dead
13. The reverse side also has a reverse side
14. Did you think that the missionary path was all glory? Then you have not read of God's greatest Messenger to earth, who sat and wept over Jerusalem, crying out, "I would...but ye would not
15. What you don't see with your eyes don't invent with your mouth
16. Oh1 Do not attck me with your watch. A watch is always too fast or too slow. I cannot be dictated to by a watch
17. We thought because we had power, we had wisdom
18. Thank goodness I was never sent to school, it would have rubbed off some of the originality
19. In no other way can the believer become as fully involved with God's work, especially the work of world evangelism, as in intercessory prayer
20. debt is sacrificing your future day needs for your present day desires
21. I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions
22. There is no frigate like a book / To take us lands away
23. It's amazing what can be accomplished if you don't worry about who gets the credit
24. He must increase, but I must decrease

Clothes Crisis!

My closet is full of clothes, my shoe rack has more shoes than I can count, I have a plastic tote full of purses and a jewelry box overflowing! Yet somehow I managed not to have anything to wear! It was 11:30 at night and I had clothes all over my bed trying to decide what to wear to church the next morning! A cute dress, my favorite shirt and skirt, jewelry I was trying to match an outfit with, cute red heels and a million other things. I marched back and forth to the bathroom with each outfit trying to decide which one looked the best. But to no avail, I found nothing!! How does this happen? I have a closet full and yet nothing to wear! All this time of marching back and forth with different outfits, I hadn't noticed my younger brother sitting there watching me with much amusement on his face. I guess he could tell I was frustrated and he came to the bathroom door and said..."I think you should wear the red sweater and black skirt," and he turned around and walked off. Well what does a thirteen year old brother know about fashion I thought! I was still frustrated and decided to go to bed and sleep on it. Maybe a revelation of what to wear would come to me in the morning. Well morning came and I found myself driving to church, when I noticed what I was wearing...the red sweater and the black skirt! I had gotten up late and I was still undecided about what to wear, so out of frustration I put on the last thing I had tried on the night before. Maybe I'll go shopping tomorrow to find something cute for next week! My brother saw me walk into church and commented to me..."I see you are wearing what I told you to wear," I gave him one of those half older sister smiles. But to my surprise I had several nice comments on the outfit I wore. I laughed at myself on the way home...maybe my little brother does have a sense of fashion. I think next week I will have him pick out my outfit...well maybe not;)

Charlie Brown

Charlie Brown: Isn't there anybody who knows what Christmas is all about?

Linus: "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night ..."