Happy Birthday! May it be Full of Specialness :)

Happy Birthday to one of the coolest people on the planet! My little brother, Michael. I hope your birthday is full of magic, Oreo ice cream and good country music.

Can you believe how old you are today?

You know, I remember when were just five years old, and you about gave us all heart attacks because you liked to stick metal knives and forks into the electric sockets. I assume you wanted to check if they were still working. And our sockets, without fail, worked very well. They lit you up, but I guess you didn’t mind because you would still try to sneak past Mom and go back for more.

Do you think the unnatural level of electrons in your body is the cause of your brute strength? hmmmm.. Quite possibly, Maybe this was why you would always gain muscle mass 20x faster than I would at the gym even though we both worked out the SAME amount of time with the SAME trainer. Not fair!

But regardless of your past unhealthy obsession with electric conductivity, I want to say that I am super proud of the intelligent, fun, kind person you’ve grown into, and I wish I could be there to give you a big hug and a kiss and lecture you on life. But instead, I’m harnessing all my magical powers, and I’m sending loads of blessings your way from Asialand. These should keep you nicely until I see you again in a few months. :)

Happy BIRTHDAY, party, party like it’s 1999! :) Isn’t he just the cutest thing you’ve ever seen? (hehe, I hope I’m succeeding in your severe discomfort, Michael. On a scale to 1-10 how uncomfortable are you? Because I am trying very, very hard).

Fruit Angels, Papaya Skin and Beach Bumming

 

Last week = Sunny skies, Ocean Kayaks, Pineapple smoothies, Moonlit swims, and Dark Chocolate ummmm… Are you jealous, yet? What if I added eight dollar beach massages to that list? Hehehe? Am I evil? Yes, I think so.

Well then I guess you’ll just have to visit me. Not to experience my evil side, but rather to partake in the Earthly heaven known as Thailand. When you deplane you will understand more clearly. There are practically wingless angels on every street corner, who sell fresh papayas, mangos, pineapple and watermelon. And Every time they sell enough fruit, they float into Heaven to get rewarded the prettiest wings in all of God’s Heaven.

So you must come to visit this 8th wonder of the universe. However, I won’t let you in-country unless you promise to pack in ample HIGH-quality dark chocolate And sufficient cheese to last me for the next three months.  And if you succed in your mission, I will provide the above list of perks WITH a daily supply of coconut water and so many fresh papayas that your skin will turn Orange!

Are you excited?

I am normally not so generous with my Papaya. No, I usually guard it with my life. All Papaya thieves’ hands are quickly tarred and feathered!

But I have to change my tune, because, you see, I DID eat so many papayas that my skin has turned ORANGE. So orange that when I went to Americaland for Christmas half of my family asked me if I bathed in carrot juice in Thailand and the other half asked how much my full body tattoo cost me. Oooops! So I got their slight hint that maybe, just maybe, I needed to ween myself off my IV drip diet of papaya, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin deliciousness. I am slightly depressed from the lack of the 3 most important foods, but I’m using the patch, the 12 step cleansing program, and day-by-day I’m turning slowly, but surely back to my transparent state of whiteness. My grandmother would be proud.

So in my new state of transparentness last week I spent the my days beach bumming, fruit shake slurping, kayaking, and just learning the value of being and enjoying the company three of the coolest ladies on the planet. Life is good.

Besties Reunite in Tropics :)

I’ve made it back safe and sound to the land of Sunshine and Smile. The 27 hours of plane torture were well worth the 80 degree weather and the .50 cent pineapples and two of my bestest friends who greeted me soon after I deplaned. :)

I’m now in Bangkok for the first time! It’s not really as bad as I thought it would be. I had avoided this monstrous place for the past 8 months believing that I would be walking into a dangerous land of pick-pockets and hair pullers, but have been pleasantly surprised that no one has even once tried to pull my pony tail! The Thais are just such gentle people.

But tomorrow we’re leaving the big city behind and guess where we are off to? The beach! I’m pee your pants kind of excited. I know I’ve lived here for 8 months, but you see I’ve never ventured to the beach.

I live in the mountains so I have not even once been to the south to stick my big toe into the salty ocean. Nope, never! Can you believe it? I can’t either! And tomorrow My besties and I are going to take a well deserved trip to the ocean. I don’t think I’ve been to the ocean for almost 2 years!

We’re bringing loads of Trader Joe’s sunscreen, UNO cards, flip flops and just enough money to buy an I.V. drip of fresh pineapple juice 24/7. Oh! This will be the best beach trip to date!

 

Great Expectations ~ Self Portrait #22

The new year is in full swing. After 2.5 weeks in Americaland with my beautiful family and friends, but today I’ve packed my bags and I’m boarding a plane back to sunny Thailand. Oh, I’m so sad and excited all at the same time!… I want to stay, but at the same time I want to go. But I’m going because I know deep, deep down Thailand is where I need to be now, and really, who am I kidding? I can’t complain. How am I blessed enough to live in the tropics? Really? I’m not sure, I slap and pinch myself daily to make sure this life is real.

I have no idea what this year has in store, but it promises to be one of amazingness. I can just smell it in the air. The smell is as good as walking into a room full of freshly baked cinnamon rolls. Who knows all the beauty God has in store for 2012? So get ready ya’ll, it’s going to be crazzyyy and as delicious as pumpkin pie with whip cream :)

 

Dove Wisdom

Last night after dinner I cracked open a delectable Dove Dark Chocolate Almond morsel, and this piece of deliciuos wisdom greeted me. How would your life look if you did just remember to keep the promises you make to yourself? Think about it.

 

Green Curry or Egg Nog? That is life’s most difficult question!

It’s a new year, woot, woot! And TODAY, my dear friend Elizabeth Lauer slapped me in the face. Ouch! What? Why?! Jerk! (can you believe her violence? I have red markSSS to prove the attack!) and then she told me that I should get it together and blog more often. Blog about what? I asked. “Blog about your life,” she said ::I yawn:: “Who really cares?” I inquired.

Lauer thinks that since I moved to Asialand 3 years ago that I am hard to get in touch with.. Can she really be talking about me? Me, hard to contact? really? no, no, not me!?! I am awesome at the keeping in touch! I’m really fabulous in this department. You know I think that I’m as good at keeping in touch with people as Superman is at flying or Garfield’s is at eating or perhaps, perhaps! I am better!

Ok. you’re right, dear readers. The above analogies may have been exaggerations…er… or uh… boldface lies (sorry Mom, that won’t happen again.). So this year I resolve to write more about the mundanities of life on this blog to keep in touch, and I shall also eat more pineapples!!

Sooooo let’s began…

hmmm…Where shall I begin in my journey of story telling!?

Life Story #1.

One day long, long ago.. er..about 3 weeks before Christmas, I was riding my bicycle blissfully through the rice fields. Listening to my iPod ’White Christmas’  song to be exact! And then it hit me, almost as hard as Ms. Lauer slapped me today! This year an 80-degree, green curry-filled, no eggnog Christmas was not going to work for me, no sir!  I was not going to settle for a Christmas without a good measure of dark chocolate, ugly sweaters, weight gain and family drama. It wouldn’t be Christmas, would it?

So I turned my little bike around and peddled as fast as I could to the nearest Expedia.com hotspot, so fast my bike pedal fell of.. And there I booked my ticket back to Americaland for 3 weeks to surprise my family and enjoy a sweet Tennessee Christmas with them. Ahhhhh! It has been so worth it, and I’m so happy that the spontaneous side of me won over Ms. Practicality.

Oh, you see! that ride made me realize that it truly doesn’t really matter if I live in the most beautiful or tropical places, make oodles of money or most notably eat papayas and pineapples until my stomach explodes….. If I have all of these things, but I don’t take the time to live life with the people I love, who cares about the rest?

So Happy New Year Ya’ll,… Aren’t you excited to see what beautiful things will ensue? :)

My beautiful family is below!

 

 

 

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