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Our Lives in 2011

Here are some of our most memorable experiences in 2011.

- We reunited on Jan 20 after being apart for almost a month.

- Celebrated our 1 year anniversary on Jan 21.

- Held our receptions in Utah and Colorado.

- In summer, we drove to California to attend Juj's wedding in our no-AC car. Weston had to hold an ice block the whole time on our way back. I think we got pretty sick after the trip. Also, we stayed with couch surfers in San Diego for two nights. The first night we stayed with a French couple who were the nicest people. And the second night we stayed with a post grad student. They are non-members who are very successful in what they do. They are very kind and accepting. They sure made our first experience with couch surfers humble and unforgettable.

- We hosted a couch surfer from Australia. He stayed with us for almost a week. Hopefully, we paid it forward and made his first experience with couch surfers memorable as well.

- Dealt with car problemsssssssss. We were so glad when we finally got rid of that car. Thanks goodness.

- Deep cleaned the house before we moved out. The biggest cleaning I've ever done in my life!

- Visited Norway for 2 weeks! We stayed with Weston's host family when he was an exchange student for a year there. The country is so green and beautiful. The quality of life is great. Food is healthy. So healthy that we actually had to hide our snacks & sodas in our room because we felt like we were gonna pass out all the time (Sorry Gunn). Anyway, living cost is really high so we didn't get to do anything much. We visited Weston's old high school where he learned Spanish in Norwegian and got nothing out of it. Hahaha. We got on the sailing boat owned by Weston's host family. We had lunch on the boat and swam in the freezing ocean water. We did manage a one-day trip in Oslo and that was awesome. But because transportation fares were expensive, we walked a lot. I remember we felt like our legs were about to fall off. Will I visit Norway again? Of course. When I have money.

- Traveled to Jordan for Weston's study abroad and stayed for 4 months. Awesome! We got to visit so many amazing historical sites. So many! The country was brown. The buildings were brown. Weston actually thought Jordan had a law that every building had to be brown. It turns out that everyone is just conformist. The food was not so impressive. I guess it's a curse for being a Thai. We have very picky taste buds. I do like their dessert though. Anyway, the apartment we stayed in was nice. Half of the tenants were BYU students and professors. The other half were prostitutes. Hahaha. The water situation was tight. We had to preserve water as much as possible. Weston understood the condition well and took a bath at least once a week. Hahaha. There was a strayed cat that liked to play no-blinking game with me and tried to sneak in our apartment when I didn't look. I learned (was forced by my own choosiness) to cook many dishes. No Thai restaurants in Jordan. My daily routine was to wander in the Muktar Mall. When I was more comfortable, I went to fresh markets nearby. I had to wear baggy clothes all the time which I didn't mind. Jordanians like to say Nee How Mah to me because they thought I was a Chinese. We got pretty sick with the gas truck and its annoying music that drove around our apartment 5 times a day. We heard the call of prayer many times during a day. I actually really liked it. Our youngest traveler, Locke, started to mimic the sound "Bok Bok". The coolest place we visited in Jordan was Petra. I love our trip to Jordan.

- Ended our amazing trip in Israel. What a perfect way to end the trip! Again, we got to visit so many amazing historical/biblical sites. Israel was so beautiful. The food was great. The people were beautiful. Weston was like "What the heck?! Natalie Portman is everywhere here!" Hahaha. We were in Israel for 10 days. The first couple nights we stayed at a nun's convent in Nazareth. Beautiful. The next couple nights we stayed at a hotel on Galilee. We got to swim in the sea of Galilee. Beautiful. The rest of the trip we stayed at the BYU Jerusalem Center. We got the whole view of Jerusalem from the sacrament meeting auditorium. Love love it. We got to visit the Western (Wailing) Wall, the Gethsemane, the Garden Tomb and many many more. Oh man....how much I love being there. I would definitely revisit.

After living in suitcases for almost five months, we were ready to be back in America. We flew in to Denver and stayed with our loving family for Christmas. We opened our gifts and shared our memories. There was no better way to end our 2011.

Image by Kristi Boyce (She's such a good photographer).

My dearest hubby...

I am very grateful that today you ordered pizza for dinner so I didn't have to cook. It was very nice of you to download my favorite show and finished watching it with me even though you thought it was a really lame episode. I was thrilled that you also gave me a back massage because my neck and back have been hurting. I am very grateful for everything you've done for me. But...can you please do one more thing for me tonight? You know? I've been having trouble sleeping and you were so nice for not getting annoyed when I slept in super late. Don't get mad at me ok? But while I'm putting all my energy to fall asleep, can you please STOP snoring? I feel like there's someone firing a machine gun in this room. And I am not brave enough to fall asleep in a war zone....

Love you the most,

Your sleep deprived wife

A very long long night

I've been having trouble falling asleep at night. It's 3 am and I'm still wide awake! I tried to close my eyes, relaxed and laid very still on my bed but I just couldn't shut my brain and stopped thinking about nothing! (I would be totally fine if tonight I come up with a million-dollar business idea. But all I can think of now is a bowl of yummy fruit pop cereal. Grrr!) And the old counting-sheep trick doesn't rescue me from this misery either.

The sheep looks way too happy to let me fall asleep...

I don't think I have insomnia. I never had trouble falling asleep before. I usually am capable of sleeping anywhere, anytime. This is very unusual. I just hope this problem doesn't persist though....I need my beauty sleep :P

Or maybe my dark circle would turn out beautifully like this?

I am a bad blogger!

Yes...I am a really bad blogger. Last time I posted something on here was almost a year ago. Unbelievable! Anyway, I'm back with a new blog look. Did it help redeem myself a little? Hopefully?

Thailand and its people are suffering with big floods at the moment. The more I read the news, the more worried I get. It seems like the flood will not go away any time soon. Usually, the government will try to keep the flood away from Bangkok because it is the financial center of the nation. They couldn't do it this time. The prime minister announced that what's happening is as severe as the flood back in 2538. People are starting to stock up their food supply and many supermarkets are out of canned or ready-made food. I hope the situation will get better and no more people will be harmed or injured.

Despite the suffering and sadness, I see the kindness of Thai people pouring down from everywhere. Tons of foundations and emergency centers are set up to relieve the damage. People donate their money and/or physically help in packing and delivering emergency kits. The King of Thailand, who has been in the hospital for quite some time, gave an order to set up his hospital room as a work center to enable him to work and look after his people even though he himself is not well. The princess Sirindhorn was seen on a truck helping out the suffering without being broadcast on the royal news. Many actors/actresses risk their lives driving through the rapid current to give food and basic needs to people who are trapped in villages. A successful businessman, Tan Ichiton, the founder of Oishi drinks in Thailand, demanded to stay in his factory with five other employees so the rest of the employees could be rescued from the area. In his interview, he informed that his 3 billion baht worth of newly-invested machines were destroyed, but with his optimistic personality, he encouraged everyone to stay strong and keep fighting. He even shed tears over the loss, and perhaps his own discouragement, but still acted strong and refused to leave the factory with the news crew. An old beggar was seen donating all the money he had in the donation box. Not to mention soldiers who work nonstop to provide conveniences to people. In the darkest time, there's always a beautiful light shining on everyone to give peace and happiness. Thai people have been disunited for quite some time. This natural disaster may be a wake up call for all the Thais to love their brothers and sisters and return to be a peace-loving people again...

I am proud to be a Thai!

Bittersweet

Last night Weston left Thailand to go back to America. Even though I know I'll see him in a couple weeks, it was hard for both of us because we were always together in this last year. I hope he will get home safely and I'll get to talk to him soon....I miss him already...

With the whole visa thing, I came to realize the importance of the Plan of Salvation and how scary it is to be separated from the people you love 'forever'. I've learned so many things in these past couple days. And I am very grateful for the gospel and the hope that it gives me...

While I was all nervous and really stressed out about the interview, I found this scripture.

"Therefore, let not your hearts faint, for I say not unto you as I said unto your fathers: Mine ^aangel shall go up before you, but not my ^bpresence.

But I say unto you: Mine ^aangels shall go up before you, and also my ^bpresence, and in time ye shall ^cpossess the goodly land (D&C 103: 19-20)."

He always knows how to comfort us :)

Merry Christmas!

-Kami

Life Is Great "Because of" Difficulties

I wrote this message about 2 months ago. Never got a chance to post it because I was just waiting for the show to be on TV. But now Weston is about to leave on the plane back to America. I figure I should just post this to show you how much I adore him....

Well, it's true. Without difficulties and trials, life would be disappointingly boring. I was thinking about our lives and I am just grateful that everything doesn't come to us so easily. Weird? Maybe. But because nothing is easy, we learn to be more patient and to develop eternal perspectives, which helps us to remain happy no matter what happens.

To prove my point, I'll give the example of my cute-and-cuddly husband. Almost 2 years ago, Weston came to Thailand to become a rock star. He tried to get on the Thai TV show called "Dan Dara" which in English means "Promoting New Stars". It's pretty much a singing competition for everyone who is good at singing. Two days before he would be taped for the show, he hit a truck. Sorry, Weston. You probably disagree, but yes, you hit the truck, not got hit by the truck. :P Anyway, that hurt his legs real bad and he missed out on the opportunity to be on TV.

Two weeks ago, Weston got another chance. The producer of that TV show called him and said they would like him to be on the show! Two years later! This past Monday, he went to the studio to do the taping. He did wonderfully and I was really proud of him. Seriously, I fell in love with him all over again. Hahaha. Anyway, he got to the final round. But did he win? Just like I said, nothing comes easy. Nope, he didn't win and yes, we lost out on 20,000 baht (sorry, babe :P). Oh, and let me tell you, it's not because of his singing ability that he didn't win, but his choice of the final song. Anyway, it was a great life experience. All I could say is that Weston won over the crowd...and even the judge.s :) And that's all that matters.

Today, Weston is still not a Thai rock star. But he's definitely getting closer to being one compared to two years ago. Difficulties and even failures are steps to success. And sometimes, no matter how hard we try, we might not always get what we hope for. But that doesn't matter. We will win the hearts of our judges: our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. And that's all that matters :) Don't you agree?