It's Been a While

DECISION 2010 - We've decided to stay one more year in the City of Angels (NOT Los Angeles, we would NEVER go there!) It was such a difficult decision that we waited until the last minute to turn in our contracts. We will definitely miss our family and friends for another year, but we feel it's the right decision for meeting our personal and professional goals.

HOBBITS and SUCH - We had some big trips over Christmas break. Ryan and his step-dad Mike fulfilled one of their destination top 5's by heading to New Zealand for 2 weeks. Some highlights of the trip include: the fog and thousands of waterfalls at Milford Sound, seeing penguins in the wild, scenic majestic Queenstown (like Vail, Colorado, but cheaper).

Meanwhile, I spent my break in California visiting with the ladies: mom, sister Ashley, mother-in-law Barbara, and Duchess the dog/person. We bonded over brined turkey, mediocre cornbread stuffing, long walks, and puzzles. Visiting with old high school and college friends was an added bonus!

MINI-VACATIONS - Along with 3 friends, we visited Ampha Wa, a town on the river about an hour and a half outside of the Bangkok. It is famous for it's floating market and the fireflies that come out during the cool season. It was our first time there, and it was a treat! We relaxed and played games by the river and visited the floating market & fireflies in the evening.

Here we are at a restaurant at the floating market.

This is our friend Kirk, sweating after eating some spicy calamari at the floating market.

Now this isn't technically a vacation, but every year my school hosts Week without Walls, a week where the students leave the classroom and get some experiential education. This year we visited Rayong, a beach town about 3.5 hours outside of Bangkok. Students snorkeled, kayaked, hiked, and did a variety of other outdoor activities. The week wasn't without its share of drama, but every morning I woke up to the sun rising over the ocean (yes, I could see it from my room) and praised Allah (among other gods) that I didn't work in an office. This is my job? Are you kidding me?