Mmmmm......SUSHI

We are so lucky to have boys who are not picky eaters. In fact, they are adventurous eaters which is a good thing since the food in Malaysia is bound to be different than anything we are use to! One of their favorite foods is SUSHI. As a family we can put away a lot of sushi...we may need to get second jobs to support our sushi habit. :)

How's Everything Going?

Friends, family, co-workers are all asking the same thing...how's it going? How are the plans for the big move coming along? Are you guys stressed out? Well, after a few months of tracking down paperwork, running from one place to the next to get all the stuff we need, and packing everything we own into plastic bins to ship over to Malaysia...all the while continuing to work full time, homeschool our two boys and work on my latest degree...yeah, we are a little stressed. Our son Alex described it the best:

Happy Trails to You...

Kyle and Alex had their last day of karate class today and got lots of hugs from their friends and teachers.














"Don’t be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before we can meet again and meeting again, after moments or a lifetime, is certain for those who are friends."

Where Did it All Come From?

So yesterday was a BIG STEP in the "moving to Malaysia" process. John and my brother Ben loaded 53 rubbermaid bins that had been taped AND shrink-wrapped onto a Uhaul truck and drove them to the shipping warehouse. From there they will be driven by truck to Chicago, then by train to Los Angeles, then by cargo ship to Malaysia. A little voice in the back of my mind thinks I will never see these boxes again. It just seems implausible to this pessimist that it could all go without a hitch and my personal items will show up at our tiny island paradise safe and sound.

But after seeing the total on the shipping bill,(Yes, we went over our shipping allowance. Are you really surprised?) I realize that I have TOO MUCH STUFF. Even after giving things away and a big moving sale and packing things to store here in the U.S., I still had 53 boxes? That is just ridiculous.

Next question....IF my items actually do arrive intact, where on earth am I going to store 53 rubbermaid bins?

Don't Waste Your Life

Another amazing video by John Piper and the folks at www.desiring god.org

DON'T MISS THIS ONE!!

Our First "Malaysian" Experience

It just so happens that there is this couple at our church and the wife was born and raised in Malaysia and travels there frequently. They invited us over for dinner and cooked us an authentic Malaysian meal. It was DELICIOUS! Now we are even MORE excited to go! Especially if the food is that good. They told us all kinds of stories and information about Malaysia and showed us pictures and books that they have about it. It was a wonderful evening. As we were leaving they gave each of my boys some Malaysian money (10 ringgets each). They were thrilled! That is about $6 in American money.

Nana Candy and Kyle

My mom always has candy of some sort in her purse and she always gives it to the grandkids when she sees them. It is such a common thing for her that Kyle began calling her "Nana Candy" when he was just a little guy. He still does. Today the two of them spent the day together golfing and shopping at antique stores. I love that Kyle enjoys spending time with Nana Candy when other kids his age would rather be plaing video games. They had a blast (but Nana Candy beat him in golf by one stroke...so much for those golf lessons!).

In Honor of Our Upcoming Plane Flight to the Other Side of the World

This is absolutely HYSTERICAL!!!

One More Reason to Live in Malaysia...

SHOPPING!!!!! They have some really cool malls there. One that will be really close to us is called Gurney Plaza. It is 7 floors of shopping paradise.

Karate Kid

Our other little guy, Alex, tested for his yellow belt today in Karate. He did a great job and we are really proud of him. We are hoping to find a good karate studio in Penang for him and Kyle. But, come on, it is Southeast Asia...there HAS to be a karate studio somewhere, right?

Our Last Birthday in Michigan

Today is Kyle's 11th birthday. I can hardly believe it. It sounds so cliche to say "where have the years gone?" but it is so true. The most significant thing that happened in Kyle's life this past year was his baptism. He gave his heart to Jesus and Pastor Paul baptized him in Lake James in NC (my mom said it doesn't count unless you have mud between your toes! lol). We are so proud of you, our handsome little boy!

One Thing That Freaks Me Out....

This is the Penang Bridge. It is about 8 miles long and connects Penang Island (where we will live) to mainland Malaysia. I hate bridges...really hate them. And this one is really, really long. Yes, it is beautiful, yada, yada, yada, but I may need to be sedated to go across this bad boy.

A Great Video About Our New Job...

They're Here!

Now we can enter Malaysia LEGALLY. :)

Goodbye Ordinary!

I wonder when we first bought into this?
So satisfied with status quo?
Have we convinced ourselves that this is all there is?
All that is within me says we were meant to break free
and live like there's no tomorrow,
Love extravagantly,
Lead a life to be followed,
Goodbye Ordinary.

We were never meant to compromise,
Settle for mediocrity,
This life was never made to be a waste of time.
All that is within me says no more just existing

No more complacency
No more just settling this time
Goodbye to atrophy
For we were meant to be alive.

(by Mercy Me)

Why are you moving to MALAYSIA???

We get this question a lot...often from people who haven't the slightest idea where the country is even located. I could list the countless reasons why we want to do this but I thought I would do it with pictures instead of words. One picture is the view from our living room in Malaysia. The other is the view from the bedroom at sunset. Enough said. 53 days and counting.....

The Adventure Continues....

Next Stop: Penang Island, Malaysia!

That's right. In 56 days we will be boarding a plane for our new home...a small tropical island off the coast of Malaysia. We will be working at Dalat International School. Heather will be the Elementary School Principal and Curriculum Director. John will be teaching Computers. Kyle will be in 6th grade and Alex will start Kindergarten. Please pray for us as we start our new journey and especially for the boys as they transition from homeschooling to being in a classroom.

Dalat International School: www.dalat.org

A view:
View Larger Map


Some videos about it: http://www.dalat.org/jweb/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=708&Itemid=467

A TRAGEDY IN THE MAKING

"You may not be sure that you want your life to make a difference. Maybe you don’t care very much whether you make a lasting difference for the sake of something great. You just want people to like you. If people would just like being around you, you’d be satisfied. Or if you could just have a good job with a good wife, or husband, and a couple of good kids and a nice car and long weekends and a few good friends, a fun retirement, and a quick and easy death, and no hell—if you could have all that (even without God)—you would be satisfied. That is a tragedy in the making. A wasted life.

You don’t have to know a lot of things for your life to make a lasting difference in the world. But you do have to know the few great things that matter, perhaps just one, and then be willing to live for them and die for them. The people that make a durable difference in the world are not the people who have mastered many things, but who have been mastered by one great thing. If you want your life to count, if you want the ripple effect of the pebbles you drop to become waves that reach the ends of the earth and roll on into eternity, you don’t need to have a high IQ. You don’t have to have good looks or riches or come from a fine family or a fine school. Instead you have to know a few great, majestic, unchanging, obvious, simple, glorious things—or one great all-embracing thing—and be set on fire by them." -John Piper

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler,

long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood,

and I--I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

-by Robert Frost