The last 2 days have been a combination of graduation events, errands( because they are moving back to the states for the summer) , market trips, a tea house, a chocolatier, cute Thai restaurants, and tonight we are launching lanterns (a Thai tradition).

Neither of us are suffering from bad jet lag or sickness, praise God!

Today was spa day and market day. There is nothing like a Thai foot/neck  massage. Absolutely amazingly long and relaxing. We also got pedicures with fancy flower designs. :)
I have pics of the big market we went to, but again, can't upload them right now. The thing that got me was the fried chicken heads. Yuck. But the other food was good. Tonight we went to the night safari. That was very memorable. We got to feed giraffes, who are very assertive, and beautiful, and THEN Jordan was next in line to take a photo with a white tiger when all of a sudden it turned and bit the head of a toddler next to it taking a picture. The kid screamed bloody murder,  but was ok, mostly just traumatized. It seemed to be just irritated, not hungry. We decided against the photo and walked away in shock. Could have been ALOT worse. Our tram guide spoke English, but with such a heavy Thai accent he sounded like Franc from the movie Father of the Bride. We laughed, a lot.
Another good day in Thailand.

Here's one pic I have access to.. This little guy had less potential for damage..

That was alot of traveling. Hong Kong we didn't see much of the airport, just off and on the plane. Singapore airport, however, was very cool. They had all kinds of indoor gardens and koi ponds, and tons of entertainment and shopping. Pretty nice place to have a layover.
But anyway, we arrived in Thailand last night and have had a wonderful 21 hours so far! Went to an amazing outdoor lush, tropical garden, waterfalls everywhere, restaurant for dinner. Kinda like rainforest cafe, but it was all real and outdoors. BEAUTIFUL! This morning we went to the elephant camp and watched them paint pictures, bathe in the river, we got to feed them, and then went for a half hour ride on them through the jungle. AMAZING experience. I can't wait to be able to share the photos with you. The elephants are VERY affectionate and slobbered all over us and wrapped us up in their trunks. Too cool to even be able to describe. We just got back from lunch where we ate in this treehouse like dining room. About to shower off the elephant dirt, then headed out again for more fun.
gotta run.....

Had a great day in San Francisco. We drove the golden gate bridge, drove down Lombard street(the super curvy steep one), went to the wharf and saw the sea lions, saw Alcatraz from a distance, saw the painted ladies, and had an its it(yummy dessert) and drove a beautiful chunk of highway 1. SF has such beautiful unique houses and the hills downtown are so crazy steep. Seeing the cars parked on them is just amazing. No stick shifts here I bet.   It was so great to visit with the Harris's and it was so kind of them to show us around all day.

We are exhausted and ready to sleep on the plane tonight. Hopefully.

Many pics from today but they're on my camera and I can't get them off right now.
Next stop - Hong Kong ..

So my car battery died today. Because I wasn't stressed enough about not being ready to go yet, not started packing, and I had to work today. So of course, I'm complaining, "why today??" I'll tell you why today..
I get home after being jump started and josh charges it with a charger. We go out to run errands thinking it wad fine that I had just left a light on last night or something, but it dies again. Get another jump start and then head directly to Walmart where we bought the last one, 3 years ago. Guess how long the warranty was. 3 years. Guess what month. May. They replaced a $100 battery free of charge. If it had died when I got back from Thailand it would not have been free. That right there my friends is grace and favor.
We don't always know the "why today?" answers, but sometimes we get to see them and it builds our faith.
I realize it is a small inconsequential thing, but it really brought me great joy and understanding today so I thought I'd share.
God is in the little things that make up our world. Like last week I had been searching high and low for this certain nice suitcase in this perfect bright aqua color for a gift for Jordan, with no success. I had just about given up and it was late and I was out of time, but I just couldn't quit, and decided to hit one last store on the way home. I nearly cried when I saw it sitting there. It was exactly what I was looking for, and it felt like God had delivered it there just for me as a reward for not giving up. Or maybe just so I would go home!

Thanking Him today for the little things.

We did it!

We graduated our first child. It was a crazy, exhausting day, but it is done.

                                                                              friends

Let's do this!

Today is the last day of homeschool for the summer. Forever for Jordan.
Tomorrow they take finals at One Day Academy, then they're done. I am no longer responsible for Jordan's education. She is. They make it a point at the A&M new student conference to separate the kids from the parents so they learn to do registration and class selection on their own.  This is sooo weird.
 I never thought I would homeschool this long. I couldn't even imagine the day I would graduate one when I started. She has way more credits than she needs, along with a bunch of college credits as well. And a great GPA! I am a proud mama. I'm also a very distracted mama. I can't seem to focus on anything, or get anything done. I tried to sit down for my quiet time and kept reading the same scripture over and over and over again. I can't read. I don't feel particularly anxious about Saturday, only very slightly anxious about flying solo with my child to Thailand, so I'm not sure what it is. Maybe a slow rev up to a total emotional break down?? Nah, I don't think so. I'm holding it together pretty well. So far. I'm excited for Jordan. She's about to embark on an amazing journey. I'm even kind of jealous. I'm also excited to have Hannah as an only child for a while. She'll get alot of undivided attention come fall. However, I will need another (or different) job either this summer or fall. College loan payments and all. Gotta start knocking that out now.
GTG..

I hope I never forget those tiny wrinkled fingers, or the sweet smell of your clean baby heads, or the crooked little toothless smiles, or the incessant giggling that accompanied your childhood. I am so grateful that God gave me two little girls. Two sisters that will be forever attached. I love how incredibly different they each are, despite their identical upbringing. I love how they borrow each others clothes. I love how they borrow mine now. I loved listening to them play when they were young. I love listening to them talk in "their" language now. I couldn't have designed better girls for our family. Both of them fit so perfectly in our little clan. With a combination of each of our personalities and gifts and desires, creatively displayed in two unique, beautiful new creations. It is truly miraculous. I am totally in love and forever will be.
On this Mothers Day, I want to thank Josh for letting me be by their side for every day of this amazing 18 years. I wouldn't have wanted to miss a minute of it. Staying with them and being their mom was  the best career decision I've ever made. I know it's been hard at times and puts a lot of stress on you, But thank you for making it happen.

(My reading material)
How exactly do normal people afford college? I mean, really. Are we the only screw ups who didn't save for this? Part of the ignorance of our youth I suppose. That's what you get when you have a child at the age of 20. Broke, ignorant parents. Well despite our lack of planning and no wisdom of age, she turned out really well, and is now going to college. She's too white, too middle class and too American to win scholarship money apparently. So now we're stuck with qualifying for massive loans. This system is screwed up.
But our child needs this, and so we will figure out a way to provide it, no matter what, we always do. This is our job as parents. 

I am so excited for date night with Josh tonight. We're gonna go to another dance class to learn Foxtrot and Swing. I am sooo excited, and the funny thing is, so is he! After all these years of him saying no, it turns out he actually likes it. After dancing, we're gonna go see The Avengers. 

1 week until graduation. 2 weeks till Thailand! My heart rate is elevated just typing this. It's all coming so fast..

Yeah, so somehow I'm ALOT busier with Josh on the other side of the world.. who knew..
Last week he was in Korea and this week he's in China. At least he was SUPPOSED to be. Apparently his company got bought this morning by the arch rival of the company who is hosting him in China! So they promptly cancelled all his meetings in all the China cities/states/whatever they are.. and also cancelled flights, hotels, etc... Sooo Josh will very shortly be on his way home :) Oh the drama in corporate land. I'm just happy about him coming home early. Hopefully they truly want to keep his company intact and not dismantle it, i.e. lay people off.  He doesn't know a whole lot yet as he is currently sleeping through the Austin company wide meeting, since it is a bit of a time difference.

Google should be here in a minute, I'm doing a 1 hour usability study on one of their products and getting paid for it. Good money if you can find it..