Day of Prayer for Tibet

Take a minute to lift up the people of Tibet. This has been a quite a year for them. I pray they'll come to know where TRUE PEACE is found.

Pai, Sabai

Court, her younger sister--Carrie, and I have taken a 3 hour road trip from Chiang Mai to a town called Pai. The drive to Pai is super famous because from Chiang Mai there are exactly 762 curves in the road. I loaded up on Dramamine as soon as we got off the main road. It rained a little, there was a water buffalo crossing, we used a squatty potty on the side of the road that was covered in bugs, and then we finally made it to our cute little air conditioned hut situated in the middle of a rice field, safely surrounded by mountains. It's absolutely beautiful here!

This is a super chill town. In the title of this post is the word "sabai". It's a Thai word used to describe something very relaxing and laid back and chill. Well, that perfectly details the vibe of this place! I bought a magnet that has some mountains on it and the text: "a little town in a big valley". I LOVE THIS PLACE!!

Jackfruit, Schmackfruit

One of my fave Thai fruits is jackfruit!! It's an odd, spikey, football-shaped mass that hangs from jackfruit trees. Some are so heavy and full of fruit, that peeps will construct creative support systems just to keep the thing from falling off the tree! Not only is it noted for its unique exterior, but inside is a bright yellow, strong smelling fruit. You've really gotta like it to be nose first into it cutting it up! (It's in the same family as durian.) You wouldn't believe me unless you tried it, but it really does taste like strawberries and banana!!!! I promise!



Well, my friend, Lah, has a bunch of jackfruit trees at her house. So, she wanted to share her jackfruit harvest with us! We gladly took it off her hands. She dropped it off on our porch and we came home to find it! I was so excited. But, I had to call her and tell her I had no idea what to do with it! She laughed and apologized and said she forgot about that part! The next morning, she came over and taught me how to cut it up and pull out the fruit! I needed newspaper, a big knife, and rubber gloves. Once we got into pulling the fruit out, it was the stickiest mess I'd ever seen! It was so sticky that after we cut everything up, the knife looked like glue had been dumped on it. I used some soybean oil to clean it off. Powerful sticky stuff!




After about an hour of cutting and pulling, it was rewarding to enjoy the fruits of my labor!

Buh-bye, Sulu!

After 12 of some of the funnest days I've had in a long time, my 'lil baby cuz went back home! We had a blast! I think that's the longest time we've gotten to spend together since back in the day when we would go out to New Mexico to help out at Elim Haven Mission.

It's been so awesome to watch Sulu enjoy some of the things here in Thailand that I love. One of the bigger surprises was her takin' a likin' to khao soy! She admits that her food preferences are not very broad, but she really went out on a limb to try food here. I appreciate all the effort she put into trying almost anything!


Sulu, thanks so much for spending part of your summer break from PA school to travel a million hours away to hang out with your crazy cuz! I love you and am so glad to have you as my 'lil baby cuz and especially as my friend!

Day Trippin'

Yesterday, we took a day trip up to the Golden Triangle. Our day started with our usual....coffee and a cream cheese oreo!


Court and her mad navigational skillz got us where we needed to be! We stopped in for lunch at Charin garden.


Then, we made an appearance at the White Temple in Chiang Rai. They were doing a lot of construction so we couldn't see some of the cool parts. But, it was still fun to see! It's so weird!

The rain held off for us to hang out at the Golden Triangle for a bit. You can stand and see Burma, Laos, and Thailand. It's super cool! There's so many things to stand at and bust a pose! Just like this one...

After that, we headed over to the Opium Museum on our way back. Interesting. After we left the Opium Museum, we all had a sudden case of the munchies...hmmmm....

Along the way back, we stopped to look at a hot spring. It was crazy and it was stinky!!!!



I hope Sulu has come to learn as I have--every day in Thailand is an adventure!

Cuz, coffee, cream cheese oreos

Today was another great day with my 'lil baby cuz! It's awesome to have Sulu here! It's rainy season here, so we've been very flexible with our activity schedule...and yes, I DO have an activity schedule! Yesterday, we did a tour of Warrorot Market and then stopped in to Starbucks for an afternoon rain break--coffee and a cream cheese oreo. So far, this has been a daily thing!

Today, again, it rained and again, we went to Starbucks for coffee and a cream cheese oreo. We ran last night, so we feel ok about indulging. After that, we went up the mountain to Doi Suthep. This was Sulu's first time to visit a Buddhist Temple. It was not crazy crowded, so it was a very nice time to be up there. The view was awesome! It was cool to show Sulu around!

Tomorrow, we head to the Golden Triangle. This is my millionth time going, but I really do like going! I think Sulu's gonna enjoy it, too! We're having a blast and I'm definitely loving spending all this time with my 'lil baby cuz! I'm super glad she's here!

Welcome, Cuz!!

This afternoon, I picked up my 'lil baby cuz from the airport! She's not actually a baby...she's just younger than me and that's what I've always called her! Anyways...we're gonna be kickin' it here in Chiang Mai for the next couple of weeks! I'm so happy to have her here!

Welcome, Cuz!!