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?

Things We Miss About America

Late-night drives
Hiking
American nature
Pop-Tarts
Starbursts
Skittles
Dr. Pepper
Rockstar (Acai Berry)
Monster (Lo-Carb)
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart’s roast beef sandwiches
IHOP
Denny’s
All breakfast cereals
Laying on lawns
Cinnamon rolls
Vanilla Coke Zero
Snow
Olive Garden
Guru’s sweet potato fries
Driving a car
Papa John’s pizza
Sandwiches
Good bread
Good cheese
Good chocolate
All good candy
Cooking steak
Swimming pools
Hot tubs
Dishwashers
Dryers
Reliable Wi-Fi
Google Text
Cha-Cha
Beto’s breakfast burritos
Seeing the American flag
American breakfast foods
McDonald’s pumpkin pies
Carl’s Jr.
RedBox
Cheese/Salami/Crackers
Cheap pizza
The inexplicable yet palpable feeling of being in America

When My Stomach Tried To Kill Me

A couple months back I woke up in the middle of the night with unbearable stomach pains. I tried to tough it out, but it got so bad that me and Kami had to take a taxi to the emergency room at Bangkok General Hospital. They gave me a morphine drip and did some tests but couldn't find anything. They were gonna let me go home, but I told them the pain wasn't gonna just go away on its own. So they admitted me and put me in a nice room (paid for by BYU's wonderfully all-inclusive HTH international insurance plan) and then got to work on me. Here is what I went through (in no particular order): gastroscopy, stomach ultrasound, blood drawn 3 times, 4 and a half liters of laxative medicine, suppository (not my finger), enema, 360-degree stomach X-ray, sedated twice, a colonoscopy, threw up once, countless bowel movements, hemorrhoids, and 6 needles. Not to mention the pain. Oh, how it hurt. Eventually, they just gave me a bunch of pills and I took them and now I'm better, but I don't really know what caused it in the first place. Probably just gas. :P

Hymn Psychic

A month or two ago we were late to church. In the taxi on the way to church I jokingly started singing "Come, Come Ye Saints" as if I was singing the opening hymn together with the rest of the ward. When we got to church, the congregation was singing "Come, Come Ye Saints" as the opening hymn. Creepy...

Intentionally 'No Subject'

It's been almost a month now since our last update. Weston intended to write this next one, but he never had a chance to. He even posted the subject on our blog dashboard. Well, I tried to come up with a subject that's as cool as the one he thought of, but I couldn't. So here we go: the 'no subject' blog.

What happened this past month? First of all, Weston was sick with this unbearable pain in his stomach. On June 3 at 4 AM, I woke up with Weston groaning next to me. He walked around the room and couldn't sit for an hour. So we decided that we had to go to the ER at the Bangkok Hospital. We got there at almost 6 am. The doctor couldn't figure out what was wrong so she gave him two shots of painkiller to see if the pain would go away. It did for an hour. Then the pain was back again so we decided that Weston would have to stay at the hospital. He ended up staying there for the night and got all the necessary check-ups (He might post what check-ups he went through later. He was about to do it, but he was just afraid that it's too gross for some people :P). The next day we came home and it was the weekend so Weston was able to take a little rest from work. But when he went back to work on Monday, the pain came back. So he left work early and went to the hospital again. It was so stressful. I was worried that it would be something severe. But anyway, he seems fine now at this moment as we are awaiting the check-up results. Hopefully, the results will favor us.

I finally finished that translation and I'd never been happier...literally. Now I'm just waiting for the check. It's supposed to come at the end of this month so I'm excited. Once I get the check, every effort and all the hard-work I put into this job will pay off. Can't wait!!!

I started working at a new place. It has a pretty nice working environment. Everyone seems welcoming. But I still miss Milan Crosse. I finally know the reason why I didn't get my salary last month. Someone in there is being dishonest with the company and everyone in the company. It was shocking. It hurts to know that someone who you think is your friend stabs your back...all along. I'm not mad, but sad because I know that our friendship will never be the same...

June 16 was Weston's birthday. We didn't do anything much because I hadn't gotten my check at that time. We just enjoyed the day together. It was nice and I loved it. I think the highlight of the day was when we made cookies...actually more like when we tried to find all the ingredients to make cookies. That was a hassle! We didn't want to get any imported ingredients that the supermarket had because they were too pricey. Instead, we got local ingredients and improvised substitutions for some of them. The cookies turned out great. Weston is very talented when it comes to making cookies. I also love the steaks he makes. I am not a steak-lover, but for Weston's steaks, I just can't stop drooling over them! I didn't have any birthday present for him except a letter I wrote to him. I need to try to be a better wife...

Last Monday was our 5-month anniversary. We got ourselves some spaghetti and just had good time together. We were too tired to do anything. Working is not that bad...just the commuting to and from work that is torturing us.

We are planning to go to Cambodia this weekend to renew Weston's visa and also to visit Angkor Wat. We'll let you know how it goes.

There are many things going on in our lives. And we are grateful to know that we are not doing them alone. Besides support from the family, we also have our Heavenly Father who has got our back. We are very blessed and fortunate to be able to be together in spite of all the hardship. I'm grateful for all the sacrifices Weston has made to make it possible for us to be together....

Colonel Kai-U Fever!

Ok...so after all the terrible things that have been said and done, an incredible and relaxing phenomenon is happening in Thailand: "Colonel Kai-U Fever!" Colonel Kai-U (kai-u is also the name of a traditional rooster raised to be a fighting cock), or his full name, Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnert, is the Spokesperson of the Centre for the Resolution of Emergency Situation and became well-known, especially among Thai ladies, since the "Red Day" happened. Being a military guy, added with his good-looks and a calm character, it is not hard for him to be the talk-of-the-town. Thais have always had something for people in "color" (meaning in the military). With his appearance on TV every day, several times a day, and with dark circles under his eyes, which turned darker every time he was on TV, Kai-U fans put up a blog to vote which eye cream he should use. There are comics, fliers, and forwarded emails about him everywhere! Recently, he was voted to be more famous than the forever-famous actor Ken Theeradech. Thai people are goofy! I love it!

Anyway, things are going great here with us on the other side of the world. Weston started working at the school. I can tell he doesn't like his job that much. Two hours of traveling each way to deal with unruly kids does not sound like fun work. But he knows we have to do what we have to do. Things will get easier though...I believe that.

I'm almost done with my current job. One more day to go. I have two possible jobs lined up and both are about PR. One is PR for an agency and another is PR for a company. Both sound good. As long as I don't stay jobless for more than a month, everything sounds great!

Translating.....oh translating. I thought it would be fun but it's actually torturing me. I'd rather translate a novel than a book full of technical words about film making. I need to finish the job though. So we can earn more money for this month.

The power was out for 3 hours the other night. It was so hot that I kept tossing and turning on the bed and finally fell asleep once the A/C came back on. Weston slept through the whole night because he was so wasted. The heat makes me sick. And it's unbelievable that this statement is coming from a Thai person. Seriously, something's wrong with the world. It's almost like living in an oven. I'm cooked.

One of the missionaries who taught me the gospel is coming to visit us tomorrow. I'm excited to see Jeannette again because I haven't seen her for 10 years. She still can speak Thai which really surprised me. She's incredibly smart! No wonder why she's becoming a doctor pretty soon.

The Land of "Smiles" and the "Peaceful" People

Thailand is called the Land of Smiles and Thais are perceived as peaceful people. But what has happened in the last month, especially the last week, proves that particular concept wrong. Being a Thai, I am in deep sorrow to see that we, Thai brothers and sisters, have sought one another's lives and put "the other" in the enemy category. The government called the red-shirts terrorists. The red-shirt protesters called the government tyrants. People started to take sides. Anger and outrage were expressed in many ways. The picture of a red-shirt guard, or a so-called black-shirt, kicking a tied-up soldier in the face while other red-shirt colleagues cheered is unforgettable. It is absurd. The guy was just doing his job as he was commanded. The video clip of soldiers hitting protesters without hearing their pleas is a hard reality. Maybe it's time for Thais to rethink if they are really peace lovers as they've been trying to portray themselves to other nations. I am not on either side. And I am not indifferent either. What's wrong with "both" sides is that bloodshed doesn't bother them. I only pray that one day everyone will come to an understanding that the only solution to solve the problem is love and it must start with giving, not taking. Sacrificing one's own goals for everyone to win together isn't called weakness, but it should be praised as an imperishable strength.

Sorry if this seems almost like venting. But my heart has been burdened by some actions of some members of the Church who react to the situation poorly. But again...everyone has choices and who am I to judge?

On the first night after the curfew was announced, we were down on the street getting some food. All 7-11 shops were closed. Tops supermarket was the only place that was open and it was packed with people. The shelves were almost empty. We managed to get some water and some instant noodles. Fortunately, we still had some food in our little food storage. I was so grateful that the Church teaches us to store food and water. The Lord is clever. Following Him will always lead us to safety.

There are many things going on this month. I quit my job as a Public Relations Manager. I didn't want to, but the company's liquidity is in bad shape and there's a high possibility that the company won't be able to pay me for this month's work. I am still looking for a new job which is not easy. Maybe I am being too picky. Anyway, I got a freelance translating job for Eclipse: The Illustrated Movie Companion. The money isn't that great, but at least it's some money until Weston gets paid the first month for his English teaching job. We both have a very strong testimony that as long as we faithfully pay a full tithing the Lord will take care of us. It has always been that way.

It was our 4-month anniversary yesterday. It was a good anniversary. Weston was really sweet. He got me a card with a sweet note in it. He also got me some red roses and a DKNY Be Delicious perfume (In Thailand, we sell small portions of perfume for a cheap price). Me? I forgot that it was our anniversary. Weston said that we probably switched our roles. I work outside the house as a main provider of the household and forget our anniversary while Weston stays at home, does laundry and cleans the house and remembers every anniversary :P I am thankful to be with him through both smooth and rough times. He is the best I could ever ask for.

Damon or Drag Queens?

There's never a good way to start these things. Maybe I should just explain the title of the blog. Half-babies (or ลูกครึ่ง in Thai) are half-Thai, half-Caucasian (ฝรั่ง) babies, and the fact of the matter is, they are just better-looking than everyone else. The parents can be ugly as a brick, but if one is white and the other is Thai, their kid is gonna go places, especially when you have a pair of lookers like me and Kami. We'll just have to make sure they don't know how attractive they are as they grow up so it doesn't go to their heads. I gotta figure out a way to keep our aesthetically-blessed children humble. Maybe we'll have to raise them on a farm.

I downloaded Green Zone with Matt Damon today so me and Kami could watch a good movie together for our Friday night date. Instead, we ended up staying at her mom's house watching the Miss Tiffany's Universe pageant on TV. Sounds like a good trade-off, right? Put off watching an intense action movie until later so we could watch a bunch of bikini-clad beauty queens... "Queens" is the key word there. All the Miss Tiffany contestants are dudes ... post-op (กะเทย). If you've never been scared to assume that the pretty Asian girl you're ogling was actually born a female,Google "Miss Tiffany" or watch some videos on YouTube and you'll be cured of that naivete real quick. Kami loves to trick me by asking if I think some Thai celebrity chick is good-looking, and only reveal that it's actually a man after I've already admitted the unspeakable: some of them are actually pretty (barf).

Me and Kami will probably switch off writing in here, but I just wanted to get things started. Married life is swell. Sometimes it is like living with a missionary companion 24/7, but a missionary companion who is actually your best friend and also female (a huge improvement). I love this woman I chose to marry. I do what I do to contribute to her happiness and well-being, and when she is happy it's a heck of a lot easier for me to be happy. Right now, we're both happy, and sickeningly in love. Expect more news from this part of the world soon.