In the news…

Here are the highlights from our life right now:

Tommy is still enjoying his job. It’s stressful at times and very busy but he likes it.

I have started walking a bit and my feet are doing pretty good. Now if I can simultaneously quit eating I might lose some weight. I have a consistent Monday morning walking buddy, Janet. She’s from Louisiana and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know her. And I have to say, her Southern accent is just so comforting to me. I miss my all time favorite walking buddy, though. I love you, Gwen.

Tommy and Jakeb are in the last stages of marathon prep. They’ll be going to Christchurch, New Zealand in June. Tommy suffered and recovered from a foot injury and now Jakeb has a huge blister on the bottom of his foot from going barefoot on concrete (told you it’s H.O.T. here!) so they have had some set backs but they’ll be ready and they’re excited about going.

Anna and I will have some girly girl time while the boys are gone to NZ. Can’t wait!!

Anna, as we all are, is ready for school to be finished. She enjoys swimming at our complex pool almost everyday. She is doing well in school but is experiencing a little bit of “senioritis” even though she’s only5th grade.  I think I am too. We’re ready for the summer break. Anna is our techno geek these days. She makes sure we don’t miss anything important on tv. Like American Idol, Amazing Race and Survivor. Yes, those are important! She is responsible for making sure they are recorded in case we aren’t going to be home.

Tori is doing well in college in Texas. She has a semi-formal to go to soon. I wish I was there but thankful my sister could stand in for the fun dress shopping experience and enjoy a great lunch with her at The Cheesecake Factory.

We are getting  our homeschool books in and it’s exciting! We found a desk and a bookcase for cheap on Craigslist so we were pretty happy about that. We’re trying to get things organized and set up before summer break because we won’t be here that much. We’ll end up starting school sometime at the first of September.

Jakeb is going to Prom. Not with a date. Just with a group. We have no idea where to get him a suit. We’d rather not have to get one tailored but that might be what has to happen. We have a suit jacket that might work so maybe we can get by with just buying pants. This is one of those times when we wished we could just zip over to JC Penney’s or Dillards and be done in an hour or so.  Instead, it will take a few weeks to figure it all out. Planning ahead is the story of our life here. Oh and shoes!! Totally forgot about shoes. ugh….

Jakeb will be a senior next year!!! Oh my! We’re already thinking college applications, graduation party (can everyone just fly out to Singapore next May?) and packing him up and moving himback to Texas. I’m thinking that the next year will go by way too fast.

I’m hoping to buy some plants soon and try my hand at growing cilantro, rosemary, mint, lemon grass, and spring onions and maybe a few others. My thumb is pitch black so  hope I can keep them alive. It would be so great to just walk out on the balcony and pick my own rosemary to cook dinner with.

Our plans are set for the summer. One or a combination of the Stunz Family 5 will be in Singapore (of course), New Zealand, Kenya, Beijing, London, and Texas between the months of June through August.

Tori will be here in a few weeks!! It’ll be SO great to be the Stunz Family 5 even if for just a few weeks. She’ll stay here for a few weeks and then she’s off for a 5 week study abroad program  in Beijing. Tommy, Anna and I will join her for the tail end of her stay there and spend a week in Beijing. Jakeb will be somewhere, maybe Kenya or Texas. Can’t keep the schedules all straight.

I probably should mention that Tori has a boyfriend. I’m sure she’ll love me for including this. Hey, it’s news and part of what’s going on in our lives. Anyway, his name is Jacob which is pretty confusing sometimes. We got to meet him when we were home in March and we’re very pleased. So far…

Tommy’s brother, Toby, will be here next week! He’s coming for work so we won’t see him as much as we’d like but it’s always nice to have our family on the same continent.

The house is shaping up and feeling more like a home. We’ve bought some plants and a few pieces of furniture that will be nice to have as treasures from our stay here. We have leaks that they can’t seem to fix but it’s not our house really so I guess I shouldn’t care too much. The mold on the kitchen ceiling kinda bothers me a little. I think we found the source of that leak so maybe that will get all cleaned up soon. Houses here are just not built square and most people leave everything open and are not too concerned with the elements. We, however, do not have a good set up for air flow drafting so if we open things up, it would just be smoldering hot and still. We love our aircons! I think that running the aircons keeps the lizards out. That’s my story anyway and I’m sticking to it.

We’re missing things from home. Family, friends, our daughter, baby showers, dress shopping, births, birthdays, cooler weather, etc. Notice that I didn’t mention anything about food. We’re doing quite well in the area. Took 10 months but we think we’ll survive. I keep having to remind myself that we chose this adventure and I try to keep things in perspective but sometimes it’s difficult.

Overall, we’re mostly good.

It rained in my house!

One of the things I love the most ( besides my aircons, of course!) in our house is the middle of it.  Stuff in the middle seems to be a recurring theme these days, huh?

We have an enclosed glass atrium that goes through the center of our house. It’s open at the top so when it rains, it rains “inside” my house. If it snowed, it would snow in my house. That would be WAY cool but alas, no snow in Singapore. Drats.

This afternoon, as with most afternoons in Singapore during monsoon season, it rained. I had the candles lit, piano music playing and it was just so peaceful so I thought I’d try to capture the moment on camera.

The Stuff In The Middle

My day typically starts and ends the same way. It’s the stuff in the middle that changes drastically from day to day. I thought I’d write  about the stuff in the middle for today.

My day starts out with coffee, of course! And then I check email and facebook. I find out about what all has been going on with my peeps in my hometown in Texas. We’re 13 hours ahead of them so while I sleep, they are living life and while they sleep I’m living my life. It sure makes chatting with family and friends challenging sometimes.

This morning my mom called on Skype video so the kids and I had breakfast with her while she should have been getting ready for night church. I cooked breakfast tacos and showed her my pearls and we visited almost as if we were in the same town. I love Skype!

Then I got busy cleaning a little bit and getting ready for house guests tonight. We’re going to be a ‘hotel’ for guests who are coming from Australia to serve at our church this weekend. We’re always happy to have guests. I love playing hostess and should probably have a bed and breakfast at some point later in life.

Then I walked to Holland Village. A little over a mile and I got to talk to Tori the whole way. Have I mentioned that I love Skype?!? Walking time sure passes more quickly when you have someone to chat to. And the fact that it was my daughter was icing on the cake.

I went to the bank. Sweat dripping from all over myself. It was gross really but I’m sure I”m not the only one sweating like that today. The temp shows 88F right now with 69% humidity and it’s overcast. When I walk this morning I walked in the baking hot sun the entire time. I’m sure it was much hotter than 88. Had to be!

From the bank, I went to change money for my day trip to Malaysia tomorrow. Then I went to the Holland Village shops and frivolously spent $80 SGD on a gorgeous table runner that I’ve been wanting for a while now. Thankfully it was still there. It’s made of Indian wedding dress remnant pieces sewn together like a quilt. The one I got is more basic clothing pieces so it’s not super ornate but some are and they are absolutely gorgeous. One that this guy had was stitched with silver and gold thread. It cost a little bit more than the one I got.

I went to the grocery store and picked up just a few things we needed, and a few things we didn’t, and took a taxi home. That was my treat for walking the whole way there. I bribe myself with things like that most of the time. Sad, huh?

I got home and put on some beans and made guacamole for our Tex Mex dinner. The landlord’s handyman, Patrick, came to fix some pesky leaks that keep haunting us when it rains. Maybe the third time is a charm. Maybe…

Now I wait for the kids to get home and type a blog post. I should be taking a shower because I haven’t done that yet. Boy do I need it! And I need to make a money exchange chart for our trip tomorrow to Malaysia. It helps to have this for quick reference when we’re shopping in a different currency.

Our guests will come in a little while but then they’ll be off again with things planned for them by our pastor and his wife. We will enjoy our Tex Mex dinner that Tommy will finish when he gets home from work. We’ll do the dishes and try to find something to watch on tv and be lazy for the rest of the evening.

I will finish out my day pretty much the same as any other. A small glass of wine in my comfy pj’s, thinking about Tori and wishing she was with me, checking email and facebook as Texas wakes up and I head to bed.

Tomorrow, my stuff in the middle will be quite different. Although I love the beginning and end, just like an Oreo, the stuff in the middle is the best part.

Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity

The fruits in Singapore are amazing! We knew this would be the case before we even moved over here. Fruits and vegetables are two of the very few things you can get for a reasonable price over here. Unless you buy produce that has been imported from the U.S. You might pay anywhere from $10- $20 SGD for a container of U.S. strawberries but I pay $2.50 – $3.50 SGD for Korean strawberries. As with any fresh produce, you should always wash them thoroughly. It doesn’t matter which part of the world you live in. Yesterday at the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, my friend bought a large papaya for $1 SGD! Now that’s cheap.

We bought a Mazda 3 before we left the U.S. for Tommy to drive for his long work commute at the time (great gas mileage) and to have a dependable vehicle to leave with our daughter for college. The salesman that helped us was from either Vietnam or Cambodia, I can’t remember exactly. As a young boy, he survived the killing field horrors in the 70′s by being rescued and spending several years in a refugee camp in Singapore. I had actually forgotten about that until now but I should do some research and try to find out where that camp was. He spoke of going to the beach so my guess is it would have been on the East Coast somewhere. Anyway, when we told him we were moving to Singapore, he sat back in his chair and sighed a reminiscent sigh and told us we were moving to heaven! He went on and on about the birds, the flowers, the trees and the fruit. It’s hard to believe that a kid growing up in a refugee camp would think of it as heaven but I’m thankful that he had such a positive experience. It could have easily gone the other way.

Now for the fruity part…. In Singapore, the fruit choices are endless! I buy more fruit than we can eat all the time. It’s just so beautiful and interesting and I want to try it all.  After spending the first few months throwing so much fruit away because we weren’t eating it quickly enough, I got pretty clever. I freeze it!

Freezing fruit is obviously not a new concept but for me it has opened up a whole new world of fruity adventures. In my freezer right now I have frozen bananas (take the peel off before freezing), pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, mangos and my latest experiment, passion fruit ice cubes.

At any given time, I can make a blueberry strawberry smoothie. A pineapple banana smoothie, a passion fruit strawberry slushy, a mango icee. I can add yogurt, orange juice, milk, water, ice individually or in any combination and make an amazingly healthy and refreshing drink. You can use a blender but I use my Kitchen Aid Immersion Blender that I brought from the US. I have seen them in Singapore though. Probably for twice the price but unless you have a transformer, you’ll need to buy one here. I can make just enough smoothie for one or two and the clean up is much easier than a regular blender.

I just took a break from writing this post and made me this smoothie.

Passion fruit, banana, pineapple with orange juice and milk. I added one splenda for a little extra sweet and a little water because it was too thick. That is rooty tooty fresh and fruity!! Cheers!

Are you inspired? Tell me what your favorite fruity combinations are. I’m always game for trying new things.

Places – Redemption Hill Church

As of today, we are officially members of Redemption Hill Church in Singapore!

We visited RHC in when we arrived last June and everyone liked it so we didn’t go anywhere else. This was about 3 weeks into our stay here and we were in decision overload mode so we were very thankful that this decision was easy.

RHC is about 1.5 years new and growing rapidly. It feels a lot like the early years of our previous church in Texas where the “problems” come faster than the solutions. This is exciting for us to be a part of.

I will post some photos but you won’t see any of a building facade. Why? Because there’s not one. We’re happy to be a part of another church where the church is the people and not a building. We rent space from a college at this time but we are searching for another location as they have told us we won’t be able to stay there after another couple of months. Talk about forcing a solution, eh? This is also exciting! We’ve outgrown the facility anyway so the leadership sees this as God’s way of confirming He has something better in store. And soon!

RHC is a multi-cultural place of worship. The pastor and his family are from South Africa. A couple of other preachers are Singaporean and we find it fascinating to hear God’s word preached in really cool accents! After living here amongst all of these cool accents, we’ve determined that the American accent is quite boring. Anyway, on any given Sunday we are worshipping with South Africans, Africans, Indians, Asians, Americans, Australians, British and I’m sure I’m missing a few.  The music portion of worship is amazing! Unencumbered but not out of control. Well-planned but not a performance. It seems to fit both conservatives and those who aren’t so conservative.  Often I stop singing just to look around and soak it all in. Wishing I had my camera which usually I do, but it would not be all that appropriate to take photos at that time. But it’s almost as if you can see and hear the heart of God coming through their faces and voices, loudly praising. Sometimes the people sing so loud you can’t even hear the band. It is crazy awesome and it just has to be a picture of what Heaven will be like.

We, the Stunz Family 4 (gosh I miss Tori!), are slowly becoming more involved while being very careful not to take on too much. It’s a different scenario for us here as we know our time is limited. We need to get involved because we are a part of the Body but we are a little apprehensive about getting too involved because it just doesn’t seem fair to the church or to us. That’s probably selfish on our part but oh well… We are “doing” but we are “being” as well.

We lead/host a Home Group on Wednesday nights which is currently very small and we’re going to have to break for the summer because of our crazy travel plans. Tommy has preached a few times and is on a few leadership teams. I am involved with the Welcome Team and have recently agreed to head up the “new to Singapore” portion of that team. Jakeb is involved with the youth group and has led worship at their meetings and has been asked to play during worship for church services. Anna is missing out on serving in the church as she did at our Texas church but she has recently become friends with a sweet girl in our condo complex and has brought to church with her. Our areas of service are a perfect picture of how our gifts, talents and personalities all make up the Body of Christ. We each have a place and they are very different.

Here is one of my favorite pictures of RHC. It’s not spiritual at all! We were sitting in church one Sunday morning, Simon was preaching and in typical Singaporean style (someone is always cleaning something!), the window washers go about their business outside. So funny! I couldn’t keep from taking a picture. I don’t think Simon saw me but even if he did, it couldn’t have been any more distracting than the window washers. They did the whole wall of windows, clicking and shifting in their movable scaffolding and it lasted about 30 minutes. Nevermind that a church service is going on. No, the windows must be cleaned! That’s what’s on the checklist for today.

We’ve concluded that window washers and escalator repairmen have the best job security in Singapore.

Each time we move to another church we think we couldn’t possibly love another as much as the one we’ve left but somehow God has a way of taking care of that. Being a part of a church in Asia is different. We are challenged to think differently than we always have. You don’t “do church” in Asia the same way as you would in small town Texas. It is opening our eyes and our hearts and that can only be good.

Christmas Dinner 2009

Ladies Luncheon March 2010

Welcome Team bbq April 2010

Here is a link to the gallery on the church website. You can see more of what the “church” looks like here. If you run across this post, you live in Singapore or are visiting Singapore and would like a church to attend, you should definitely check out Redemption Hill. I think you’ll like it.

Places – Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre

I found this place on a tour that I went on and it was like striking oil. That is a very Texan thing to say, ain’t it? Say it with a Texan accent and it would sound like “strikin’ erl” or “strikin’ oiyal”. You can say oil with one syllable or two depending on which part of Texas you come from.

Enough of that…

Since we arrived in Singapore and began our shopping I knew there had to be places to find things where the prices weren’t astronomical. Not everyone that lives here is an expat or has an allowance from their company. There had to be place to find reasonably priced meat, cheese, and produce. When I get a taxi driver that seems to be in the mood to chat, I always ask where they buy their groceries. They usually don’t give me a straight answer because they see this Ang Mo (the term they use for rich Westerner which just mean ‘red head’. It comes from when the British settled here.) sitting in the back of their taxi and would never think that I would want to shop where they shop or eat where they eat. BUT I DO!!! We’ve recently found a few places for meat and cheese, QB Foods and Ben Foods, and now we’ve found this wholesale market. I feel like I’ve achieved great success by finding this place. I think this is where the taxi drivers shop.

A little different than wet markets, Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre sells dried goods (nuts, beans, fruits, etc.) and fresh fruit and vegies that are dirt cheap compared to other places we’ve shopped. You don’t see raw fish or other meats here or at least I haven’t yet. My favorite things to buy there are roasted nuts, dried cherry tomatoes and fresh fruit and vegies. Tommy and I like to go on Saturdays but I’ve gone during the week as well. I dress to sweat, take my rolling cart, a bottle of water and my camera. Of course, my camera!

From the tour, I learned that when the government cleared up the trading from the bum boats in the Singapore River, the trading moved to this market on the West Coast. The ships come in, they unload and I buy. Along with a bazillion other smart people in Singapore. The market was closed several years back for clean up due to a breakout of SARS that was traced back to it. From what I understand, stall owners from wet markets and restaurants shop here buying multiple kilo’s of what I buy a few pieces of .  The prices here are really unbelievable (although you must be prepared and know what a good price is or you might get taken for a ride) and the cultural experience is amazing. I went yesterday with 3 other ladies, all Westerners, and we were probably the only 4 ’of our kind’ in the whole market. I must admit that I love that! What many people find uncomfortable, I find amusing. One of the stall owners took my picture yesterday with his cell phone. I wasn’t at a place where I could get his at that time but I will definitely get his picture next time I go. I figure he won’t mind especially if I buy my avocados from him.

Here’s a decent map of the market. And a link in case you want to see it better. You might need to scroll around a little to get the right view.

FC 1 is the food court. Buildings 2-5 are the cold storage. I have not ventured there yet.  6-13 is the open air vegie market. I have pretty much stuck to the area around 10-13.  14-17 is the dried goods area. The store front on the corner of 14 is Guandong, my favorite store!  18-26 is the fruit area. 16 to around 22 is where I’ve shopped.

So there you have it. As much info as I can give you at this time. Here are a few of my photos (I have plenty more, believe me!) but if you live in Singapore, you must go and take your own!

Homeschool Update

WARNING: This post is really long and there are no pictures to make it more interesting. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

A couple of months ago I posted a school update and mentioned we would be changing up Anna’s school situation and that I’d give more info later. This is later. Much later. But better ‘later’ than never….

We went through a very thoughtful and prayerful process of trying to decide what to do with Anna for school over the next year or two.  Our departure date from Singapore is unsure. Could be June 2011, could be Feb 2012 or June 2012, who knows. We knew we were taking her out of her current school because that system is just not working for her. The learning style is not a fit for her and the moral environment is not conducive to teaching and instilling Godly character in her. I cannot talk badly about the school itself. We honestly believe God called us there and it has been a beneficial learning experience for all. We have made a few friends that we wouldn’t have made otherwise and gleaned experiences that we would not have been able to provide on our own just coming into a new country. But as sure as we were supposed to be there, we know are supposed to leave.

Fortunately, Jakeb’s situation is much different and his plans for next year are set. The environment and learning style are similar to Anna’s, however he is older and more equipped to handle it all. He has actually been an influence as opposed to Anna being influenced.  He will remain at ISS and finish out his high school career with an IB Diploma and is making plans to attend college in Texas. This will make 2 kids in a different country than us. ugh…

Back to Anna… We tossed around the idea of changing Anna to another school. A nearby Christian school with American based curriculum. We visited the school and liked it. That didn’t help our decision any. After all the pros and cons lists, coin tosses , all the seeking of wisdom and prayer from trusted friends and family, we went with homeschooling.  Here is the post about how we came to our decision.

So over the last few months, we’ve been researching curriculum. In years past we’ve gone with pretty much a set program just for convenience. I will only be teaching Anna (rather than 2 kids as in the past) so I don’t really need to focus as much on convenience as I do her learning style, what she needs and what she and I can both enjoy. 

After many discussions with a trusted, veteran homeschooling mom/friend, and a very beneficial assessment from The Learning Center, we opted for a literature based curriculum. It’s a new approach for me so I’ve got a huge learning curve. Fewer worksheets, more real life. I think we’ll like it. A lot of reading. Not my strong area or Anna’s but we’ll do it! We’ve also purchased some online curriculum and computer software curriculum to shake things up. With Anna’s creative learning style, I will work hard to incorporate all of the senses as much as possible. She won’t get to watch movies all day. She’ll have a good balance of creative fun and necessary evil. That’s just how life is, right? We are going to get to take some pretty awesome field trips though!

So here is a listing of what we’ve ordered. I’m sure we’ll have more than we can get through in a year but since we live overseas, I wanted to have all that I could at my fingertips just in case. And as is typical, I’m sure we will come across something that we despise or find something that would work better and have to shift gears. That’s the way it rolls in homeschooling.

Lit/Poetry/Vocab/Handwriting/Grammar
Living Books 5th grade along with a few extra’s from 6th grade to supplement. Even though Anna is 6^th grade, we opted for the 5^th grade program since the books would be a little more on Anna’s reading level. This is where homeschooling is awesome! You are free to think outside of the box and go with what fits your child.

 With Living Books you would typically not need anything else. The program includes all areas of study. We have chosen to customize, though, since we knew of some other programs that Anna will need and will better fit her.

Phonics/Spelling
Phonetic Zoo

Typing
Sonlight 5 Elective (includes typing software with games, critical thinking and music cd)

Science
Apologia – Botany and Anatomy (we couldn’t live in a better place to study Botany so this is why we chose this one)
Sonlight Lyrical Life Media - Human Body

History
Sonlight 5th grade – Eastern Hemisphere   Even though it’s not 6th grade, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to learn more about where we live. We will supplement with some American History so that she doesn’t forget where she came from.
Supplemental materials from Living Books and Drive Thru History

Math
Teaching Textbooks 6th grade

Bible
Monarch online course (Alpha Omega)
Will supplement with Living Books & Awana At Home

Language
Mandarin – We have Rosetta Stone but I think I plan to sign up for a conversational Mandarin course that we can both attend.

Home Ec
We’ll do things at home but I’m also going to look for cooking classes. We have the Dave Ramsey financial course for kids already that we haven’t used and we go through Passport To Purity for sex ed and will review personal hygiene.

PE
SACAC – a local organization for sports and other resources. She’s pretty excited about playing basketball again.  We may also look into Taekwondo.

Supplemental Materials:
Inventors/Artists/Composers DVD Series
Homeschool Tracker Software (grading and administrative organization)

There are also many service project opportunities that we can choose from. One that I’m really excited about is serving in a local Indian restaurant that provides meals for displaced migrant workers. Being on this side of the world, there is definitely no shortage of needs.

As you can see, we will be busy next year at SHS (Stunz Home School). We needed an acronym to fit in. I think we need a logo and uniform. What do you think? We are committed to homeschooling Anna for at least the next 2 years to offer some consistency in her world and not move her from school to school as we possibly move from country to country. Keep us in your prayers as we venture into this new way of life once more. We’re all pretty excited about it but it will definitely take some adjustments, hard work, discipline and most likely a large measure of grace.

If you made it to the end of this post you are either a close friend or family member or a fellow homeschool geek.

Texas Trip March 2010

This is where my facebook meets my blog. I’m going to use my facebook statuses, statusses, statti, ???, to overview our trip home to Texas from beginning to end. You’ll have to think in terms of facebook so on many of the status posts, insert my name at the beginning and then it should make more sense.

I’ll try to put together a photo post soon just to share some more. There are so many sweet faces and special times that I can’t possibly fit them all in one blog post. Plus it takes for stinkin’ ever to put photos in!

Here goes.

I’m so excited to go but packing always seems to paralyze me. Such an awful process and it really hurts my brain.

9 months in Singapore anniversary blog post finished. We arrived from Texas on June 19th and we’re leaving for Texas on March 19th. Pretty cool, huh? Now someone tell me to get off the computer and go pack!

The packing is in good shape but my back is not. Time for a break.

It’s breakfast time in Texas and I’m wishing I could crawl in bed. Happy to be getting that half day back that we lost 9 months ago. I think…..

About one hour until the taxi comes for us. Leaving Singapore at 2:30ish am Saturday Singapore time, 1:30ish pm Friday Texas time. Anna woke up from a nap and is eating dinner or breakfast. Packing is done. Tommy is snoring upright on the couch with remote in hand. Jakeb is headed for a short nap. Hoping our pilots are getting a good nap as well. We wait…..

 

is on de plane. Got awesome seats!! This might just be ok.

 

Bulk head seats the whole way. Good food and no serious travel issues. Greeted at the airport with Pappasito’s and Dr. Pepper. Then to Starbucks and now to bed. Thanks for all the prayers everyone!

 

 

sure is enjoying the cold weather. And it is cold, not just cool. We’ll probably all get sick but I hate to bundle up cause I want to make sure I remember what it feels like when we go back to the “not cold not ever gonna be cold” part of the world.

had a really good day with lots of really good hugs and a few happy tears. It is so good to be home.

 

plans on helping out the economy a little today. This would be a good time to buy Target stock.

 

just put a whole bunch of clothes in the washing machine and it will be finished in about 30 minutes.

An elderly lady almost bumped into me today with her shopping cart. She stopped. Looked me in the eye with sweet sincerity and said she was so sorry she almost bumped into me. My Singapore buds will totally understand why this is such a monumental experience.

beef chuck roast 1.97/lb, country style pork ribs 1.00/lb, beef shoulder roast 2.77/lb, beef top sirloin steaks 3.47/lb, beef chuck steaks 2.27/lb. Remembering the good ol’ days…. Would be double or triple that in Singapore.

Had a super great evening with two of our all time favorite families in the whole wide world! Incredible food and tons of fun. We let the guys win….

 

gets her hairs did today! (You can take the girl out of Texas but you can’t take Texas out of the girl.)

 (Anna got hers “did” too. This is Amy, our favorite hairdresser, who hates having her picture taken.)

Lady in the line behind us at Walmart: “Do you really need all of that hair color?” Me: “Yes. We live in Singapore and can’t find this color. They have alot of black though.” Lady (after the total came up): “That is alot of money. I hope he has a good job.” Me: “Me too!”

 

My mom makes THE BEST pancakes in the universe!! And the fact that my daughter is in the kitchen chit chatting while she is making them is blessing I will never take for granted again.

Strange Texas Sightings: Went into Bucee’s tonight and there was a lady in pink fuzzy house slippers and a huge case of beer. She would have been in high heels in Singapore.

 

that was the worst night of no sleep I think I’ve ever had. All day in Houston today and it’s going to be a long one. BUT Tori comes home tonight and my other sister too. My family will be ALL together by the close of this day.

ate dinner in heaven tonight. I think I might have shed a tear when we left. It’s official, Chipotle is the food I’ve missed the most.

 

will have an awesome day. Today is all about family, friends and food! BBQ and Mexican in the same day shared with people we love. We are so blessed!

 

thinks it’s probably not normal that seeing weeds and dirty cars is comforting.

 

is thinking I could probably make the Guiness Book of World Records for the most caffeine consumed in 10 days.

just has to say that it is SO good to be home. Sitting by my daughter in church, listening to my son play his guitar with the band, sitting within arms length of some incredible friends/family and getting hugs from so many special people. All is right with the world if but for today. I’m soaking it all in and storing it up for the inevitable dry spell to come.

 

Good morning, Dallas!

thinks she’s finished shopping. And she needs to be. Time is short and our suitcases overfloweth.

the girls in this house totally just creamed the guys in Cranium!!

 

The sunshine is abundant and beautiful. God could not have given us more perfect weather. But my heart is forecasting dark clouds and rain.
(we were not looking forward to leaving this girl!)

Chipotle!!!!! I totally stuffed myself. Again.

has a very full day of trying to fit it all in before we leave. I’ll start the day by taking my mom out to breakfast and end the day with juicy steaks and a whole lot of fun stuff and necessary details in the middle

has worn a jacket all day long just cause I could.

doesn’t want to go to bed. Somehow it seems like if I stayed up all night my time here would last longer. I’m SO not ready to leave. Or pack…..

is about to consume one more Texas bbq meal and will soon be heading to the airport. Unfortunately it’s not an April fools joke. So long, Texas. You have been good to me. We’ll be back………

 

is back……after an excessive amount of time in an airplane seat. We really enjoyed our Qatar excursion though!! Thanks so much Kevin and Julie!!

 

So, we arrived back in Singapore after 2 weeks, start to finish, and felt like we’d travelled the globe, never slept, played hard, shopped alot, hugged alot, cried a little, ate way more than we should have and were ready to go back.  We did make a bee line for our favorite Asian and Indian food as quickly as we could though. Even though Texas is and always will be home, we continue to enjoy and give thanks for our adventures in Singapore. We are blessed!

Feel like doing some good?

Here are a couple of opportunities for you to help make this crazy world a better place if you find yourself with some extra cash and a giving heart.

In Singapore:
Friends of the  Sok Sabay Orphanage in Cambodia are offering an evening fundraising event. Friday, April 23rd. Dinner. Dancers from the orphanage will be performing and “giving trees” with all sorts of goodies will be available. Tickets are $75SGD. A good friend who is helping out with this event promises we will not be disappointed. My family is going and we are really much looking forward to it. Hope to see you there!

From wherever:
Daraja Children’s Choir is gathering supplies and clothing for this season’s choir kiddos. Even $10 here can make a difference and it’s SO easy!!! They are trying to cover all of the khaki’s shorts and capri’s BY THE END OF THIS WEEK. Go. Shop. Now!

Sponsor a child from a  trusted organization which I can personally recommend:
BrightPoint for Children
Compassion International

Or send a donation to IJM to help the fight in seeking justice for the victims of  sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression around the world.

Here are a few of my other favorite ways to “do good” and get something on top of a full heart in return:
Land of A Thousand Hills Coffee (the. best. coffee. and chocolates too! they DO ship to Singapore. A little pricey but totally worth it!)
Cards from Africa (these are brilliant! and makes me enjoy sending out cards even more)
Toms Shoes (buy a pair, they give a pair. they don’t ship to Singapore yet, ugh…)

I’m sure I’ve missed one or two but this should get you started. Of course there are ways to serve without spending money. Those are extremely important as well and honestly should be carried out on an “as you go” basis. Matthew 29:19-20. This post just happens to pin point ways to help with cash.

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10

Living in SIN

I guess I should explain the title. When checking in our baggage at the airport, the abbreviation for Singapore is apparently SIN. I just think that’s comical.

We’re back to “living in SIN” now after two weeks in Texas. Can’t say I’m too happy about that but it is what it is and I do like having 4 bathrooms to 4 people again.

Obviously, we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off while away trying to cram as much into 10 days as we could so blogging didn’t make the priority list. I’m back to having more time on my hands now, though, so I’ll catch you up on our trip over the next few days.

Today is Easter and we are eternally grateful for the eternal life that we have through Jesus’ death on the cross. Blessings to you all and may you realize what Jesus has done for you so that you may have eternal life with Him as well. John 3:16

Unrelated to any of this, Anna just came upstairs and in her sweet and mature 11 year old voice asked me, “Mom, do you want me to scramble you some eggs cause I’m scrambling me some?” She offered to fix me breakfast. So sweet and a little sad at the same time.  She’s growing up way too fast.