Three Years Already

I honestly can't believe it has been three years already. I never could have anticipated how much moving from the country that I have always called home to somewhere new would have impacted my grief about the loss of my mom. I cannot tell you how many times I have had to tell this story with all of the new people I have met and the new relationships I have been developing. It seems that it's nearly impossible for me to tell a person something about myself without this coming up. It certainly is a part of me.

To be honest, I started this post about two months ago, and I still can't figure out what I want to say. I know that it makes me sad when I realize that Cade doesn't know or understand why we don't really talk about my mom. Strangely, it just doesn't seem to come up very much. It makes me sad when I realize how few pictures we have of her in those last years. It makes me want to be better about photographing everyone around us because you just never know. It breaks my heart when I think about the fact that she's missing her grandkids growing up. It's hard to raise my own kids and have questions for her that will never be answered. But, it brings me a lot of joy when I think about the fact that she is finally pain free and in a much better place. Selfishly, I just wish she'd been able to be pain free here on earth a little longer.

Week 15: Sacrifice

This week we thought a lot about the ultimate sacrifice: Jesus' death on the cross. I felt that nothing I could come up with could begin to match that. Hubby just brought me some ice cream, though, and apparently it's the good stuff--a (monetary) sacrifice for him! It's delicious!

Day 97: The sun was out when we got home from school on Friday, so we took the kids to play at the park in our complex for a little while before dinner.

Day 98: Saturday we took the kids screen golfing. It was the first time I'd golfed since I was in high school--quite an experience! A big sacrifice that I made for my husband!

Day 99: Easter was a busy day for us-as all Sundays are. Cade and I stopped at the park on the way home from church before we went to our friends' house for dinner. I did a little photo shoot with him, and he was a very willing participant--a big sacrifice for him! He is laying at the bottom of the slide (which just happened to match his shirt) watching something in the sky.

Day 100: Monday after school, the weather was warm (around 65 F!) and sunny, so we walked down the hill to get dinner. The trees are finally blooming!

Day 101: I picked up live plants for our friends on Easter, so I decided to get one for myself as well. I'm not sure how long it will last, but I'm going to give it a try!

Day 102: My students were doing a simulation in my Cultures class where they had to act out character traits of different cultures and then interact with one another. It was pretty entertaining to watch!

Day 103: When we got home from school on Thursday afternoon, the kids and the nanny had put together a table and chairs for Kennedy's dolls. They were having a tea party at their little table. So sweet!

I think my favorite photo of this week is the shot of Cade on the slide. It was such a beautiful day and we had so much fun--just the two of us playing at the park on a warm afternoon!

If you'd like to see others' work on Project 52, check out the links:

www.styleberryblog.com

Day 4: Low Ropes Course

Our second day at Telunas, we did the low ropes course after breakfast. We hiked up to a spot in the jungle behind the resort (it was short, but it was straight up!). It was pretty hilarious to watch the girls attempt the course.

You have to keep in mind that the simple concept of being in nature is new to these girls!

They did a good job, but it did take them a long time to get through the course. They all fell off multiple times at the end. I think it must have been a lack of concentration because I didn't have any problem getting through without falling!

Because the girls were so entertaining, I decided to stay and watch the boys and get a few pictures of them, too.

They were fast and were able to go through multiple times in far less time than it took the girls! Speaking of time, I really don't have the time to be doing this right now. I'd better get back to work!

Day 3: Jungle Hike

Our first full day in Indonesia, we went on a hike in the jungle. We actually took a short boat ride to another small island (there are so many!) to do the hike.

We hiked about 5K in until we reached a waterfall and a black(!) pond. The girls and guys went separately, so that we could set a pace for each group, and so that our guides could show us things along the way.

These were little, hairy berries that tasted like blueberries. We saw some really big spiders (thankfully from a distance), a lot of termites (that we did not taste), and a lot of rubber.

The girls did a lot of screaming (basically any time they saw one of the above-mentioned insects--or even an ant) which made it difficult for us to see any other types of wildlife.

We saw cows, chickens, cats, and dogs, as well as banana trees and palm trees outside some of the houses in the middle of the jungle. There was even a mosque out there!

By the time we reached the waterfall, we were ready for the refreshing water! The kids immediately started lining up to jump off the rock.

The water was so deep that I just kept going down after jumping off the rock. It took me a while to realize that I was never going to touch bottom and have something to push off of. By the time I started swimming upward, my ears were popping! When I finally got to the top, the kids were all talking about how long I had been under the water. I didn't feel the need to do it again after that. One experience was enough for me!

The trip back was pretty uneventful, though the girls were tired enough to be quiet and we got to see some monkeys swinging through the jungle near the end. That was exciting, but I don't have a good enough lens to catch a picture of them.

Many of the girls took a nap on the boat ride back. I sat back and enjoyed the ride through the mangroves. It was a very fun hike and it was so nice to be back in nature and out of the "concrete jungle" we call Seoul!

Happy Easter!!

In our typical fashion, we had a very busy, but very fun Easter day! The kids woke up extremely early and were very excited to see chocolate Easter eggs hidden all over the house. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any plastic eggs (nor did I put much effort into looking), but grandma brought some chocolate from the States, and I picked up some chocolate in Singapore, so we were not lacking for Easter candy!

We were also lacking in the typical "Easter basket", so gift bags had to work in a pinch...

After church, we did our normal lunch and then small group. Then we played at the park for a bit (it was around 60 F today--so exciting!!) and then had dinner with the other families in our small group.

Simon is British and fixed us a traditional "roast Sunday dinner" complete with Yorkshire pudding. It was delicious!

The kids enjoyed cupcakes for dessert while the adults had some decadent chocolate mousse.

And now I am utterly exhausted and must get to bed! Have a happy Easter!