Anniversary # 2

Moe and I have happily survived 2 years of marriage.  We cant believe all the changes that we have endured this year and how much we have grown so far.  We are truly blessed!

We woke up to a chilly day. It was cloudy and windy.  It was nice but I was fearful of rain. After breakfast and googling, I had some personal things I needed to do around town.  Moe was quite okay sitting at home playing video games!  I went to school and worked for a few short minutes.  I then ran into a friend and we decided to enjoy the market on the cool day.  It was quite enjoyable.  I bought a new skirt and some things for my crafts!  She and I then went to lunch.   I then headed home...on my own driving the motorbike... It is still scary for me!

Around 4, Moe and I decided to get our date night started.  We began with dessert, mostly because the place closes early but also because we thought it would be fun to have a "mixed up" date night.  We went to a little place called Bite out of Heaven that has amazing desserts, pies, cakes, etc.  I had Red Velvet cake and Moe had Oreo Cheesecake.  Both were DELICIOUS!

We then went back home and watched a movie/tv show.  We were going to actually go to the movies but I was too afraid of getting caught in the rain.  The movie theater is a good 30 minute drive, so we decided not to risk it.

We were originally going to wait awhile until dinner but after one episode we decided we were too hungry to wait longer! I think the dessert got us more hungry.  So, we headed out to Arcobaleno, a fancy Italian restaurant.  We had only been there once, so we were excited to go again.  After we ordered our meal, I asked our waitress to take our picture.  She loved it! It was so cute.  I LOVE this picture too. She did great! I think it does a good job of showing that we are in the tropics!  

For dinner, we started with an appetizer of Baby Clams. It was definitely the Thai version with lots of Thai basil, garlic, and oil.  It was quite good and we were excited to try something new.  For entres, I had chicken cordon bleu and Moe had salmon in fettuccine with a cream sauce.   Both were delicious! Here is mine. It didnt look as appealing but it tasted great!!  Ignore the creepy man in the background ;)

We came home stuffed! We had such a good time.  We talked and watched another episode.  Then I went upstairs and crafted.  I will share my things next time.  In honor of our hopeful tradition of anniversary pictures here is all 3 of our June 11 photos.

Oh and Happy Anniversary to my Grandparents Cal and Dottie Knight.  They are such a blessing to me and I hope that they had a wonderful anniversary as well! We miss you.

Busy happy life!

This weekend has been another productively busy one and so has this week.  We had Elementary Sports Day on Wednesday.  Basically this is field day.  Our wonderful P.E. teacher organizes the whole thing and the teachers help with games and what not.  Moe came in and helped me run a game called Ninja Time.  It was quite fun, but made for a long day, even though it only went until lunch!  Thursday was a fairly normal day and then Friday we went to see the first 'showing'or dress rehearsal of the musical the school is doing.  There were a couple elementary students in it, one from my class, so it was very fun to see it as a class!

Thursday we got Chico neutered so we have been busy with him as well.  Total cost for it and for medication for his ears that are still gross was 1000 baht, or 33 dollars! woot.  He has a cone on for our protection!  Thursday he was quite droggy (ha! doggy!) and we were worried. But since then he has been his active self. Playing with his ball is HYSTERICAL now because he often loses it and cant see it! We are definitely blessed to have a great puppy.  I shared this on facebook but think it is too funny not to share again. Chico now has a place to store his toys!

Anyway, this weekend is productive as well.  I had brunch with a friend and then we browsed around for awhile.  I asked if she knew anyone who could sew and she did!! I am hopefully going to have a few skirts and/or dresses made, since buying things in my size here is Oh so fun!  I will say that I have been able to find some cute and cheap tops so that is great.  So we browsed for supplies.  Depending on labor I think I could get a simple skirt made for less than 100, or 3 dollars!!  Definitely like that!

Today, I also had a better appreciation for my Grams.  She often goes to the salon to get her hair done, shampoo and dry.  Well I did just that today! (actually they did trim it but I wasnt expecting that!)  When I walked in I saw people lying down getting there hair washed and was quite surprised.  This was a Thai place so I was not able to communicate much myself. I went with someone who spoke Thai and has been there often before so I wasnt too worried! I lie down and get blasted with cold water. (Hot water is a rarity here.) so I was surprised by that.  Then she was roughly scratching my head while washing it.  Now I was worried. Suddenly she began massaging my head in a way I had never felt before. It was beautiful.  My head felt amazing.  She even rubbed my neck a good bit too! It was lovely.  I then got a trim and my hair dried.  Oh funny part, she 'curled' my hair as well.  I had at least 5 round brushes in my hair holding my hair so it would curl.  I looked hysterical.  Also, I had to slouch in my chair so the woman could see the top of my head and work with my hairs.  Final cost of this adventure 220! 7 dollars.  It was beautiful.

Finally, for dinner tonight we had tacos.  Originally, Moe wanted to go to the grocery for Mayo for his Ranch dip, but we ended up splurging on lots of things.  We made tacos with real ground beef.  We haven't bought or knowingly had beef in a long time! We were thrilled! And it wasn't too expensive.  We had chips and salsa as well! mmmmmm mmmmmmm! It was delicious.  We were so so SO pleased. We ate it all! Even though now I wish we would have saved some for leftovers. OH the other thing we got at the store was HONEYCOMBS!!! I am stoked. I might eat some now... yep doing it.  It was a little costly, but Moe let me do it since I looked so pretty today... ha!

Ok off to eat cereals and play with Chico.  Then read and bed! Have a great day ya'll! UPDATE:  Moe wants it to be known that the box of cereal was (I say Only) 285 baht.  That is almost 10 dollars.  Yes expensive!!! But there was a box of Rice Krispie Treats and something else that were 450 baht! Also, Moe wants me to mention that it is HOT here.  Today my phone said it was 99*F.  And it is only the beginning of March.  We could not see the mountain today because of the pollution.  We are fearful of a LONG hot season... ugh.

Productive weekend

This weekend was fabulous.  Because of Thai Day and a Buddhist holiday, we had a 4 day weekend!!!!!  Thursday was also Moe's last day of full time subbing, so the weekend was celebration of his 'freedom'.  He is actually quite sad about being done and has said he will miss the kids!!  I am so proud of him for making it through and learning so much.

Anyway, we had discussed going away for the weekend but I am so glad we didn't.  I was so so SO productive.  I think we should have 4 day weekends more often.

Friday, I went to the market by myself, shopped and then went to school to work.  I reorganized my library. Thankfully I inherited a fully loaded library but it was unorganized and the kids destroyed it :[ so I needed to intervene. It was driving me crazy how it was.  So I spent the day there Friday working.  It is now beautiful and I can't wait for my kids to use it!! Hopefully it stays beautiful for a little while. If you really care here are before and after photos!

This photo was taken Thursday, Thai Day.  You can sorta see Moe and his Thai shirt!  Yes those are elephants!  It buttons up in Thai style.

Friday night we stayed home and watched Doctor Who together.  Yes Moe has got me hooked on the show!! I am just finishing season 4.  It is fun to watch the show together.  We also discussed a motorbike that was for sale.  We decided we were interested enough to set up an appointment to ride/see it.

So Saturday morning first thing we rode 40 minutes to look at and test drive a motorbike.  It is an older bike but it is reliable and cheap, which is really all we wanted.  It is the style of bike that I want, has a floor board and is an automatic.  We were pleased with it but wanted to talk it over some more.

On the way home we explored some new areas and got some good sun... or burnt!  We went out to brunch and then went shopping. We bought a new external hard drive to share, since we now have so many pictures and movies and teacher things from me.  Both our laptops were full so we needed more space! Now we have space for years!  It was fun exploring the electronic store with Moe though.  He gets so excited but still has to find the best deal.  I was and am pleased with our purchases.

Oh back up a few days.  Wednesday both Moe and I realized how WHITE I was/am.  I was saddened by the fact that I live in the tropics but am equally as white as I would be in America.  So I have decided to take more of an effort to lay out after work and work on my tan!  So I laid out both Friday and Saturday.  BUT I am burnt from the motorcycle ride on my neck and arms.  It is a little depressing!

Anyway, the rest of the weekend we relaxed and enjoyed it! I have been a reading machine.  I have read 2 books that I will use for school. Sure they are 5th/6th grade reading level but they count right!?!  I have finished my current James Patterson book and am now on to book number 4.  Thanks Momma and Daddio for getting those for me! They have been so fun and a great escape!

After searching for a semi-long time for the bike that we wanted and in our price range we have decided to go ahead with the bike that we looked at on Saturday.  Right now Moe is on his way to put a down payment for it!! The owners are not leaving Chiang Mai until March so we have a little bit of time before it is officially ours, but it is so exciting! I can't wait to use it. I am very pleased.  I will post pictures when I can.  This is the type of bike but not the actual one.  It will have a little basket on the front too.

Anyway, a productive weekend all around.  Hopefully school will be much better this week than last.  I am trying to stay positive and focus on the good things that are happening at school rather than the behavior issues and stresses.  This quote has helped!

Blessed.

I just want to quickly write to tell you all how blessed I have felt this weekend.

It was a rough week with work and family and life.

My class is pushing the boundaries on a lot of things but I am trying to stay positive and find ways that we can work together for a common good.  This week we are performing leading the Elementary Assembly.  Each grade takes a month's virtue and leads the assembly, requiring skits and organization and pressure for new teachers like myself!  I have been quite stressed about it, having to make up scripts, assign roles, organize props, and what not.  It has been crazy. But Friday I realized that it doesnt matter. We will do our best. Come next month, no one will remember it!  Sure that might sound terrible but it is reality. A reality I needed to realize in order to move on.  My coworkers have been super supportive and encouraging throughout the whole process so that is always helpful as well.

Today, Saturday, two friends/coworkers/lifesavers and I went out to lunch and to get our nails done.  This has been somewhat routine for a group of us, but this time it was just 3 of us. It was so nice to be real with one another and talk life.  We all needed to share things and be there for one another and it was beautiful.  What a blessing!

Although Moe is fighting a cold he has been in high spirits most of the time.  We went to dinner tonight and then the grocery store and enjoyed being together.  We bought some new foods and are planning on trying a new meal for the first time tomorrow.  We have been cooking more the past couple weeks and it is fun to make meals together and explore what works and doesnt for us.

We are also considering traveling in the near future so that has helped bring my spirits up as well.  I have the itch to get of Chiang Mai so hopefully I can get rid of that soon.  Not because Chiang Mai is bad by any means, just because I WANT TO TRAVEL!!! We are here why not do as much as we can!

I have finally begun participating in school events! I have wanted to coach or help out with athletics or something since the beginning of school but struggle because of time commitments or scheduling or whatever.  I am now helping with scorekeeping for basketball and it is quite enjoyable.  I enjoy trying to talk to the refs in Thai. I enjoy sort of knowing what I am doing (they have some different rules here! the major one being 24 second shot clock for high school basketball!).  It has been fun and keeps me entertained for sure!

Well that is me.  Feeling the blessings tonight.  Even though our weeks have become fairly routine, I know I am blessed and here for a reason.

Christmas Day festivities

Christmas Day started like many other days and I forsee many days to come.  I woke up and did some reading while Moe slept in.  I played with Chico and took some pictures of our Christmas tree.

Then, I put a bow on Chico and went to wake up "Daddy".  He wasn't too happy to say the least.

But Chico is very cute!!

We then skyped with Moe's family as they opened presents.  And this was captured which I love.  I wish we  would have and could have had the actual picture as well.  

After skyping with them, Moe went back to sleep and so did I..... I mean I watched Home Alone with Chico. 

We then went out to lunch at an western place.  I had French Toast, banana, and bacon.  Moe had ham and cheese sandwich with french fries.  Then we went shopping.  I got some new clothes. We got some treats for  Chico. Moe got something but I forget what! We came home and relaxed together, enjoying our care free day. 

For dinner, we made it fancy.  Moe made stir fry pork, potatoes, and onions.  We had corn and bread to go along. I set the table up nice as well.  Please ignore the giant piece of bread on my plate... I like my bread, what can a girl do?

Finally we ended the night by skyping with my family and watching them open gifts.  They got our package yesterday so it was quite perfect to get to watch them open it on Christmas day.  

Overall a very different but great day.  We are so blessed!

Lantern Festival

Yesterday was the craziest day we have had yet.  I know I will not be able to explain it accurately but here is my attempt.

Chiang Mai and Thailand are known for the "kom loy" or lantern festival.  This weekend was the traditional religious event where thousands of people gather at a university to honor the Buddha and bring blessings on the new year.  (there is a good chance that some of this information is wrong :/ ) There is a whole religious service, chants, prayers, etc. before the releasing of the lanterns.

We knew some people were getting there very early, but we did not decide to even go until later in the afternoon. Five of us decided to ride together, so we did not end up leaving until about 530. It took us about an hour to get to the general area.  We sort of had no idea where we were going, so we just followed the cars in front of us. Eventually we got to a place where lots of people were walking and police was directing traffic and decided to park right there.  It was a perfect spot.  We were as close as possible!

We had a little bit of a hike ahead of us. It was quite dark so we were trying to hurry and not miss it!! Once to the location (an outside arena type thing) we had the joyous task of finding our friends who had saved us spots.  Thousands of people praying and meditating while five foreigners were trying to find their friends.  It took us a little while but we got it.  Then we waited for probably another 30 minutes.  Then the monks and presumably other religious leaders/people circled the group three times.  We were then instructed to light the ground lanterns, which looked like tiki torches! We were given directions for how to light the floating lanterns and told to wait until the signal.

The white ball is the stage where the monks were. The balls of light are the ground lanterns being lit. 

More people and lanterns going off before they were supposed to!

We lit our lantern, which was honestly harder than I thought.  These lanterns were about 4ft high and 2ft wide.  You had to light the center part and wait for the lantern to fill with the hot air.  It was HOT.  Fire everywhere. Staring at the lantern to make sure it was catching. People everywhere.  HOT! This picture shows how we had to light it. But the top part should have been opened up more...

Suddenly fire works went off directly over our heads and that was the signal to release.  We let ours go and watched as thousands of other lanterns were let off into the sky. It was gorgeous!!  Here are some pictures a friend took and then a video I took that does not have sound :(  

Here is the video:

It was an awesome thing to be part of. Truly amazing.

After we had let off quite a few, we decided it was time to go and tried to beat the rush of people.  We basically ran to the car - weaving in and out of people, motorcycles, and cars - passing as many as we could.  As we got to the car, we realized it was facing the wrong way.  But suddenly there was a break in the traffic.  We hopped in the car and quickly made a u-turn and got out of there.  We did not hit ANY traffic on the way back either.  It was nuts.  We were totally lucky.

BUT THEN..........

Again, we made great time to the condo where we met.  It looked like it was going to storm, crazy winds and dark clouds.  By the time we got out of the elevator it started pouring rain. Since it was so windy it was soaking us in the hallway.  Opening the door to the condo was difficult because they left the windows open and the draft of wind was pushing against the door.  We quickly realized the rain was coming in through the windows.

Then , we remembered the windows upstairs with TVs in front of them. Someone ran upstairs to check. She screamed and heard a loud crash. Moe went running after her and fell on the wet floors.  I followed and found the other room drenched as well.  Closing the windows upstairs was just as challenging as opening the door.  As soon as we got some towels to start drying things up the power went out.  It was unbelievable.  

As best we could we dried things up in the dark.  Thankfully nothing was damaged but a lot was wet.  Since the power was out the elevator was out.  We were stuck for about an hour. But it was beautiful.  We could watch the storm over the city.  We laughed a lot about how ridiculous things were.  We created memories :)

We were very lucky.  Had we been slowed down by people, had we hit traffic, had we stopped for a drink, had anything been different we could have been stuck in that elevator!!

It was truly a night we will never forget.  We are definitely blessed!

Thanksgiving Thailand/Brittany style

This Thanksgiving was crazy.  First, we had a half day of school which meant four periods... but I have both of my prep periods Thursday mornings. This meant that I only had TWO periods with my kiddos!! It was truly a blessing.

Here is why.

It all started Tuesday when I was getting ready for bed, late.  I put on my pajamas that were laying on  my bed.  I took out my contacts and brushed my teeth.  I was getting ready to put Chico in his cage like every other day.  But I felt something crawling down my leg.  It was a tiny ant.  I then felt them on other parts of me.  I quickly took off my clothes, started screaming for Moe.  I looked at our bed and there were ants IN our bed!!!!! Some of them had gotten into my clothing.  I literally had Ants in my Pants!!!!!!  I was so so so so so frustrated. I stripped the bed and checked for them on the mattress but did not find much.  I jumped in the shower because I still felt like they were crawling all over me.  Moe cleaned them off the floor and sprayed the hole where they were coming from.

After showering, I realized I had not idea where our other sheets were. (one of the beautiful things about having a housekeeper is they can put things wherever they want and you have no idea!) I checked every place that I knew where to look.  I was tired. I was frustrated. I was grumpy. very grumpy.  Moe decided he wanted to check the foot of our bed.  Let me try to explain this to you: Our bed is made of teak wood and hand carved at the foot with trees and plants and what not.  It is beautiful.  It looks like there is a drawer in the center and if you pull just right you can open it.  Moe thought that maybe the sides were then doors like other bed we have that clearly has drawers and doors and handles to open such things. Our bed had no signs of this.  I was certain that he was crazy.  After struggling with it for a few minutes he got out the screwdriver for leverage.  Shortly after that he opened it and viola! There were our sheets! I could not believe that our housekeeper had found the door, opened it, and put our sheets in there. BUT I was so thankful that Moe did not give up finding the sheets.  I on the other hand was ready to sleep on the couch for the night :(

Wow this is getting long. I will speed it up.  Tuesday after school I realized I had giant bug bites on my legs.  My classroom at school has terrible mosquitoes. (I truly do not know if the bug bites are from the ants or the mosquitoes.) I had/have 10 bug bites from mid calf down on just one leg.  By Wednesday they were very irritated.  By Wednesday night two of them had formed pus bubbles. Bubbles on my legs that are yellow that are hard, not oozing.  (sorry for the description!) I slept terribly.  I was in great pain.

Thursday was miserable. Literally.  It was painful to walk. It was painful to sit. I wanted to chop off my lower leg! I went to the nurse at school and she recommended that I go to a skin doctor.  She gave me directions and what not but I wasn't convinced.  Then I showed other teachers to get other opinions.  Everyone that I showed said they had never seen it before so I was starting to get worried.  Finally as school ended I realized I needed to get them checked out.

Two friends took me to the hospital around the corner from school.  Someone called to make sure that the right doctor was there and for how long.  When we got there I registered and sat. I got my blood pressure and basic "are you allergic to anything, are you taking anything" questions done in the waiting room.  I then moved down the hall to chairs in front of the doctors office.  Shortly thereafter he called me in.  I sat down, he looked at my bites, asked me about them and said you are allergic. Provided me with cream and an antihistamine.  He gave me directions and we left his room.  I walked around the corner to the cashier and paid 604 baht, about 20 dollars.  I walked ten steps to the next window and picked up my prescriptions.  Then we walked out the door.  The entire trip - arrival, check in, visitation, payment, drugs - took 45 minutes.  It was beautiful.

Later that night we had Thanksgiving at a teacher friend's house. It was potluck style where they provided the turkey and drinks and what not and everyone else brought a side.  We had mashed potatoes, broiled potatoes, creamed corn, green bean casserole, stuffing, rolls, cranberry sauce, gravy, pumpkin pie, apple pie, ice cream and I think that wraps it up.  It was delicious.  The wonderful thing was there was so much food we got to take some for leftovers!!

Overall it was a memorable day so that is what I tried to focus on.  If you are curious.... Here are some pictures of my legs.

You can see how swollen my ankle is :(  The white stuff is the cream the doctor gave me.

This is the monster one on the back of my calf. It is the size of my finger.

Chiang Mai Night Safari = Great day

A few weekends ago we were asked to go to the Chiang Mai Night Safari with some friends.  We had no idea what to expect.  We had initially thought it was going to be quite costly, but when we got there realized it was quite cheap!  Always makes the day better when you start off saving money!

Anyway, basically the Night Safari is a zoo centered around a pond.  You walk around the pond to see all the animals and things.  It was so cool.  The view from the beginning was gorgeous! The first thing we saw when we got there were giraffes and there was a baby giraffe too! It was so cute.    

Then we saw tigers.  There were so many tigers here. White tigers and stripeless tigers and normal tigers.  Most of them were sleeping but we got to see one running around.  It was so cool.   I think that is what makes this place better than any normal zoo I have been to.  The animals were lively and moving around for the most part rather than just sleeping all day!

Next, we got to feed the birdies.  I was quite scared to do this, but it turned out to be fun.  There were hundreds of them.  When we walked in they were all sitting on the branches chirping away.  We held out our hands and they began to eat. All of a sudden they would all dart across to the other side of the cage.... ALL Of them.  It was so scary.  Here is Moe feeding some birdies.  He was the best at it!

We saw a chimpanzee, iguanas, tortoises, peacocks, leopards (and many other cats), parrots, owls, crocodiles, anteaters, lemurs, panthers, bats, and many other things that I can not remember.  

This is one of my favorite pictures because the panther is so silly!  Who knew cats sleep like that. 

What made this adventure unique is partially that we are in Thailand but partially the set up of the place.  As I said before, the animals were much more alert and awake but also because its Thailand you can walk around the exhibit or through the bushes to get a closer look! haha.  But it is true.  There aren't bars or concrete separating you from the animals.  It is generally just a net.  Sometimes there is a glass front for the scarier animals, but still nets on the sides for natural air flow.  If you really want a better view, you just walk around to look through the net.  Some of the animals are so close to the net that if you really wanted to you could reach out and touch it.... Moe was getting quite adventurous and touching as much as possible... though not setting a good example for the children with us ;)

Oh the other thing was that there were deer.  For me, seeing deer is not a big deal.  However, these deer were domesticated....like strangely.  You could walk right up to them, and they would just stare at you.  They would even let you feed them and pet them.  It was weird. 

OH and the camels.  They had camels by the deer at the end of the 'tour'.  They were quite smelly in my opinion.  Moe was feeling extra brave at this point and walked right up to the camel and started feeding it grass and touching it.  It was unbelievable.  There were 3 camels that were all jealous of the attention Moe was giving.  I was terrified of course and stood far away fearing for his life, imagining him getting spat at or kicked or something!  It was quite the experience though!

As we were walking out after a long but fun day with animals, we saw elephants walking around in the parking lot.  We had to go visit them.  For free we were able to pet them.  For 30 baht we were able to feed them LOTS of food. And For 100 baht we were able to RIDE them.  Of course we did all three things.  It was so cool.  Granted our ride on the elephant was through the parking lot but it was a start.  Hopefully at some point we will ride the elephants in the jungle or something...maybe even bare back.  

It was definitely a day to remember.  Sadly our camera died half way through the day.  Luckily our friends captured many pictures for us but we are still in the process of getting those from them.  I will share more pics when we get them.  It was a wonderful day and definitely a place we will take any visitors who make their way to us... hint, hint, come visit us!!

Sad news and good news

Things have been so crazy around here.  It has literally been one thing after the next.  But we are focusing on the good.

Yesterday, Suzy had a really rough day and seemed to be getting worse as the day went on.  We assumed that it was because she had been so sick and was just overwhelmed.  Unfortunately, she passed on during the night.  Moe and I were both very, very sad.  We buried her in the back by the river and shared one last moment together.  It is sad not having her presence around anymore and hearing her little whimpers.  We only had her a week but she definitely left her mark. She is and will be greatly missed.

In effort to not dwell on the situation much, we had a very busy day. We went to the grocery near by, Tesco Lotus which is similar to Walmart but a little smaller, with friends and got a bunch of things for our house.  We finally got a drying rack to dry our clothes and a bookcase to put by the door for our things.  We got cleaning supplies and some groceries.  We are finally settling in to the house and it now looks like people eat here as well as sleep here!  While we were out I treated myself to some Dunkin' Donuts and it was lovely! Overall a productive trip to the grocery.

This evening we went out to our friends house for dinner.  It was a wonderful time.  They grilled for us.  We had corn on the cob, green beans, bread, marinated pork tenderloin things, chicken wings, and yellow curry.  The spread was magnificent.  It was good to be away from the house and sharing life with others.

In between the grocery and dinner I ran to the market store place with Julie to buy "treasure box" items for my kids.  I was expecting like a Dollar Store type place. She had told me there were toys and things that were really cheap.  I was blown away! The store was a hole in the wall that had bulk of EVERYTHING.  For example they had these invisible pens.  Each pen is 10 baht but you have to buy the whole pack of 12.

Every item came like this.  The price per item was at the top and there were generally 12 items per package. This is silly puddy with fun things inside like hands or eye balls!  They are 5 baht each.

These things are so cool.  They are Iphones!! Ha. They are Iphone shaped water games.  Remember those games that have water and balls inside and you push the buttons to push the balls around.  Well thats what these do but are shaped like Iphones.  SO COOL!

I bought 12 packages like this.  I spent 1,050 baht which sounds like a lot, but the kids are helping me pay!  But look at this:  I got 144 items.  That is 7 baht per item.  That is $.23 per item!!!!! That would NEVER happen in the States.  I am so so so so so so so so so pumped.  This amount of things will probably last me the whole year.  I almost wish it didnt so I could go back and find more awesome things.  

All in all it was a good day.  It started very rough but again we are focusing on the good.  We are continuing to set up house.  I have found some amazing deals for things for my classroom.  We have spent wonderful time with friends.  We are so blessed to be here and take on each new challenge as they come.  

Suzy

This past weekend we had lunch with friends and then they were going to take us to the Dog Shelter where they have rescued dogs.  We went and it was a little scary for me.  There were about 175 dogs all in one massive area. It was feed time so they were all on edge.  There was non stop barking.  Some dogs were growling at each other and fighting. It was too much.  Matt and I both left worried we would never find a puppy!

On the way home our friends decided to take us to the 'pet market' an area where pets are sold.  As soon as we got out of the car we could hear barking and animals.  It was cute.  Each stall type store had their own collection of dogs.  There were lots and lots of puppies.  We stopped at the first place which had Thai mutts, chihuahua puppies, alsatian puppies, and one shih tzu.  We looked them all over, asked how old they were and how much each was just to get an idea of what prices would be.  We continued and saw a great variety of dogs.  We saw pugs, and huskies, and labs, and spitz, and poodles, and pomeranians.  Each dog was in a cage and not fighting, which was a relief for me!   They were all so cute.

I had decided very early on that I liked the shih tzu.  She had brown and white spots all over her and her little tail was wagging so much.  She was so friendly and happy.  So we decided to go back and look again.  The kids that were with us loved playing with her and she loved playing with them.  Our friends got out their Iphones so we could do some research, for Moe's sake.  Moe wanted to make sure it was a perfect dog for us ;) We finally decided that we would take her!! She is quiet possibly the cutest puppy ever :))  Meet Suzy!

the day we got Suzy

Suzy was so playful and wonderful the first night we got her.  But we knew that something was wrong the next day.  She had not eaten since we had gotten her even though we bought the exact same food they were feeding her before.  Plus she kept throwing up the little bits of water she had.  We took her to the vet multiple times the first 2 days.  Then yesterday Moe took her in again and they wanted to keep her over night.  She still had not eaten and they wanted to put in an IV to help her.  

We just got her back tonight.  They said she is doing much better.  We got quite a few medicines to give her over the next few days but hopefully that will help.  She has already eaten since being back, slept a little, and played a little.  Right now she is sleeping in her bed beside me looking adorable.  We are so happy to have her back and trust that she will be doing much better over the next few days.  We cant wait to watch her grow and learn all about doggy training!

Here is another picture of our cutie!!

Changing roles

We have now been here for 7 weeks and we are finally settling in to a place of our own.  We love it here.  Our house is cozy but probably too big for just the 2 of us!  I feel like we need to have parties every day just to make use of all the space.  BUT we are slowly filling the holes and marking our territory.  Last weekend we went to Big C Extra, similar to Walmart, and spent a lot of money.  It was like shopping right after our wedding.  We bought almost everything we could need.  Things like sheets, silverware, dishes, pots and pans, towels, bathroom supplies, hangers, and many other things.  Somehow we did manage to forget a few things like trash cans (even though we bough the bags) and a hanging rack for drying our clothes.  Anyway, we are settling in that is the important part!

What I really wanted to share today is how Moe and I have changed over these 7 weeks.  In some ways we have almost reversed roles as to when we lived in the States.  It is quite silly but also quite interesting to me.  Moe has given me permission to share this stuff so dont get your panties in a bunch (gee I love that phrase!)

The most obvious one to me is driving. In America, I was the "risky" driver (if we can even call it that).  I would speed and cut corner or whatever.  Moe would stay behind a car, barely reaching the speed limit and not even think about anything "risky".  But here, Moe is all over the place driving.  He is driving down the center lane of traffic with cars on both sides coming both ways.  He is passing cars on the shoulder and sometimes getting hit by tree branches just to get ahead.  He has definitely adopted the Thai way of driving motorbikes.  If I were driving.... oh boy. I would be staying behind a car the entrie way.  I would go slow just to be safe.  Please notice that I am using the future tense, would.  Driving here still scares me even though I definitely enjoy riding.

Another area we have changed roles is with our worry.  Back in the west :) I would be the one to worry about everything.  I would be paranoid that something might happen or we might die or get lost or whatever. Here Moe is that way.  He always has to have a map or know exactly where he is going.  He is paranoid we are going to get broken into or lose our bike.  Thailand is a safe place but he isnt so sure!  Now, I should make it clear that this doesnt mean I have stopped worrying! I still worry about my classroom or my kiddos but not getting lost or going to the grocery store or trying to talk to people.

The other area is money. In America, I would shop all the time and not worry about the money I was spending.  Here I am the one watching every baht and worrying when I think something is too expensive.  Moe on the other hand has no care for it all! He is buying stuff all the time and doesn't worry about how much it costs.  (I think this is related to my dilemma with money but that is a story for another time)  Today I found a pair of shoes that I liked that were 200 baht.  I was afraid to get them because I thought that was too much money.  Moe glared at me and reminded me that it was only 6 USD and that I was getting them.  He is so cute.  We also went ahead and splurged on a box of popcorn.  3 bags for 109 baht which is about $3.50.  That really is a little expensive for popcorn but we were craving something salty!

AND to top off all of Moe's money habits.  Today he bought me flowers.  TWO different kinds.  He must really love me!  He found some ceramic shop that he loved and bought 2 vases and a toothbrush holder that we have been needing.  He didnt want to just bring home empty vases so he bought flowers as well!! He must have known that I had a hard day at work today!

So there you have it.  Moe is wonderful.  Our roles in some things are suddenly totally opposite.  It just goes to show that people can change!  It has definitely opened our eyes, challenged us, and given us new appreciation for life.  We are loving each new adventure and appreciative of each new day!

Oh Happy Day

Today was a wonderful day.  I started off the morning by sleeping in! I had homemade bread and bacon for breakfast. Moe and I went house hunting with a real estate agent and found 4 houses that we could see ourselves living in.  They each had different pros and very little cons.  Moe posted pictures on his facebook if interested in seeing all the options!  I continued the day with some light school work. We had a great dinner at a place down the street.  Then we got to skype with many loved ones that we miss so much! It was a great day!!

Now for our House Hunters International Knechtel family reveal....... We chose........ House Number

.....one!!!!!!!!!  (Yes I purposely wrote it out so you had to read it and not cheat by looking for the number!)

We put money down on it today. Monday we will send over copies of our passports to get the contract written up and then Monday evening we will sign the contract.  We love this house.  It is right on the Ping River. It has GORGEOUS views.  One of the best views I have seen of the city thus far was from the roof top view.  Yes our new house has steps that lead up the roof for a gorgeous view of the city and mountains!

not a great picture but mountains none the less

This is the view when you first walk in.  There is a couch and 2 chairs to the left.  The kitchen is huge and has a stove, oven, refrigerator, and cabinet space (all of these things are hard to come by!)

This is the patio off of the kitchen.  There is a patio area off of each floor! It is beautiful.  And yes the river is always this brown.  

This is one of the bedrooms.  The other is almost identical.  The third bedroom is bare and will soon become Moe's office. The first 2 bedrooms are on the second floor and the third is on the third floor!

This is the bathroom on the second floor.  It has two separate rooms, one for the shower and one for the toilet and sink! This is wonderful because most showers get the entire bathroom wet. Thankfully we will never have this problem!

It is important to say that this house is potentially within walking distance of school. It is an easy drive to school that is for sure.  We will only have two easy left turns to make and then the right turn into school! It will be wonderful.  It is also centrally located to everything else that we could ever want or need.  In addition it is right down the street from the Principal and a few other school members that could help us if ever there was an issue.  So this is our house.  We will 'officially' move in on September 1st but were told that we could move our stuff in earlier if we wanted....and we do!  

Just a couple other updates.  Moe has been graciously waking up every morning to take me to school.  We leave about 630-645 in the morning to beat the crazy traffic.  He then comes and picks me up about 4ish to head home.  He has been wonderful.  

Back to my classroom.  I have been assessing the students this first week to figure out where they are academically. It looks like and I have been told that my students are on the low side of things. I am honestly quite exicted about this because I feel like I will have the chance to help them grow and achieve more than if they were already very smart and on top of things.  I am looking forward to this challenge.  It has been difficult though because I dont know what is normal and normal pacing for things.  This is definitely going to be an interesting year and a learning year for sure!

Air conditioning is something that is different here as well.  When things or places say they are air conditioned they really mean they have AN air conditioner.  For example, although my 'school' is air conditioned the hallways are open and the cafeteria is open and the bathrooms are open...sort of.  So really it is just the classrooms that have air.  I have realized that one of the things that makes me sad is that the bathrooms are not air conditioned.  They also are rarely ventilated well!  Cement walls with stall barriers that go to the ceiling!  Every time I use the bathroom I instantly start sweating. It is very sad.  Using the bathroom should not cause so much strife.  And the really sad thing is that this applies to school and home and public restrooms.  Which by the way, most 'public' restrooms require you to pay 5 baht to use.  By paying 5 baht you also receive a few squares of toilet paper to aid in your duties.  It is very unique ;) So bathrooms are not my favorite place here! 

Ok I think that is enough for one post.  I am getting tired after such a good day! I will end it by watching an episode of NCIS before bed.  Good thing the internet is here or we would be in big trouble! We watched So You Think You Can Dance today from Thursday.  We love that show and like that we can keep up with it!  Anyway, I am rambling.  Love you all. Night! 

OH yeah, one last thing. Moe has finally started up his own blog about his adventures.  Sometimes we might talk about the same stuff, like today and our new house! But that is because it is extra important!  Other times we will have different stuff.  So if you want to follow him too that would be lovely.  Here is his link: http://sunnydaysinthailand.blogspot.com/

Leaving Michigan: 11 days

How ironic: this is our last night in Michigan and we are 11 days away from arrival :) Dakota requested a shout out so here it is. Thanks for stopping by to say goodbye D-Bird, D-Cat, D-O, or whatever you wanted to be called!

Not the best picture but you get the idea.

We had a blast while we were up here.  The weather was wonderful!  We spent a couple days out on the boat which is probably my favorite thing to do.  Moe got to spend time reading, playing games, and working on 'his base' for Thailand.  We had some friends up here with us at the beginning of the week which was wonderful.  We LOVED spending time with them and being silly together.  We will treasure that time with them.  Also, we went putt-putting, which has come to be a tradition for Moe and I when we vacation.  Neither of us are amazing at it but we enjoy it.

We were also productive.  We got the last of our luggage needed.  Who knew that finding large luggage would be difficult....well it is! Especially in northern Michigan.  But we found something that I think is perfect; it just took us 4 stores!  I went thrifting a couple times too which was surprisingly productive :) Moe fixed Aunt Lynn's computer and we got everything settled for her to make me a t-shirt quilt.  I am SOOO excited to see it when it is done/when we get back!

This has been a wonderful week to spend with family.  We are so blessed by the support here.  We will truly miss these people.  It's been real Michigan :)

Anyway, even though I said we are 11 days from arrival we are closer to 9 days from leaving home.  It is so so so close!! Moe and I are both getting extremely excited.  We are ready.  Although we still have quite a few goodbyes left and a TON of packing to do, we have come to terms with everything.  We know this is where we are supposed to be and have full faith that everything will work out.  With only a few days left, I am very comfortable with this feeling and know that it is good.  Not sure if that makes any sense but it is how I feel.  And so goodbye Michigan and family.  We love you lots! :)

27 days but many blessings

We are now down to 27 days until arrival in Chiang Mai. It is quickly getting closer!    Trying to fit in doctors appointments, friend visits, family dinners, and everything else is quite interesting.  Our days are crazy.  But we would not want things any other way.     

I also wanted to share some blessings we have recently received.  Wednesday we received our VISAS!!! I was so so so so excited.  When Gramma brought me the mail I truly shrieked with excitement.  It took only 12 days (7 business days) and 2 shipments of information from me.  I assume that if I would have sent all the proper information the first time that it would have been done in 3 business and back to us in less than a week!  Thank goodness for efficiency within the Thai Embassy!!  

Secondly we received a check from our land lord.  This was something completely unexpected.  For those of you who don't know we broke our lease in order to save money.  We left 3 months early.  We were told that if they were able to rent our apartment within the next month we would get a prorated amount....blah...bah...blah!  The point is they were able to get our apartment rented fairly quickly and we recently got the check for the prorated amount.  I was stunned when it arrived.  Although I loved the apartment and did not think they would struggle to find a new tenant, I was not holding my breath for more money! But again God had a different plan and blessed us yet again!  

Thank you all for your support.  We can truly feel your prayers and are so blessed by the support system that we have here.  Every day is a reminder that we are following His will and in His hands.  

First Anniversary!

          A year ago today my life changed forever. I married my best friend and confidant. It has been a crazy year.  But exciting none the less. We moved 21/2 times. We both had multiple jobs. We spent lots of time with family and friends.  We traveled all over...Ohio and Michigan at least).
         We are also very very excited about what our future has in store.  We can not wait to see what the future holds and what the years ahead will entail.  More than that though we are excited to continue to share in the journey together and be with one another.
          Ok thats enough of the mushy stuff.  At least you now know (hopefully) how much we really do love each other.  But this whole anniversary thing has made my craftiness come to life.  I wanted to do something to honor our anniversary but nothing too crazy.
Oh my word, my husband is launching his socks off of his toes.... Good thing I got the mushy stuff out of the way first... wow I married a mature man...
ANYWAY!!! I wanted something that we could take with us to Thailand and continue but also something that was fun and would last our lifetime.  I love the picture holding your previous anniversary.  Here is the only example I can find... sorry for the picture, I cant find the original :(  The only problem I have with this is I'm not sure if we will be able to maintain this while we are in Thailand.  The other bonus is that Moe likes this idea too!  That is always a plus when he is excited about something.  Unfortunately we forgot to take the picture today so hopefully tomorrow we can take one.  We decided we might as well take it and then we can later decide if we like it.  I thought it would be fun to do it for major anniversarys or every 5 years or something so that we dont have to do it every year.
          I also found this lovely idea which involves making an album specifically for anniversary pictures.  All we would have to do is take a photo every year and add it to the album.  We could add something about what we did or top events of the year or something.  I REALLY like this picture and concept original idea found here.  So I decided to start on this project.  Since we did not have a whole lot of time I quickly grabbed one of our wedding photos that we already love and added a block to the bottom.  I also took our picture from this year and added a count to the bottom of it as well.  What do you think?  Should we have something explaining what we did on our anniversary or explain what happened that year?  Do you have any other ideas for projects or fun anniversary things?

In case anyone actually cares, here are the pictures that I made/what we took today!  Any thoughts?

plane ticket trials

We have been trying to get our tickets forEVER. I know... its terrible. We are leaving in close to a month and still hadnt bought our tickets.  Today was the day though.  We had everything figured out and sure enough the prices went up TODAY! I literally cried when I saw it. But we found a different website and figured out a different plan.  We went to pay for them and encountered another hurdle.  I cried again.  It was awful. We FINALLY!!!!! figured it out and it WORKED!! Can you tell Im excited?  We officially have tickets and are good to go.  Now we just need to figure out the visa situation.  

In case anyone cares, here is our travel information.  Eric, Matt's brother, will be driving us to Chicago Tuesday evening and we will be staying in a hotel in Chicago.  Our flight out is at 12:45 and we will be flying to Seoul, South Korea.  We will get there at 4:25pm Korea time.  We will leave for Chiang Mai at 7:20pm and get there at 10:50pm Thailand time.  We will be traveling for over 25 hours!! eeeeeek!  This is what our flight will look like....

This is what I wish we were riding in!?!?!?!

If only!!  But enough about our flight.  Our trials are over.  We are officially able to move!  I guess we still have to wait on our visas, but at least we have tickets now.  I have to say special thanks to Moe for getting us through this crazy ticket situation and keeping me somewhat calm!  Also, to both of our parents for being willing to help in whatever way possible.  We are so blessed to have such awesome parents and support.  Thank you both, we love you lots!!