I cannot believe that I am 5.5 months into this journey with 5.5 months to go! SO wild. They say it’s the fastest and slowest year of your life, and they are right!
For those of you who are missing me, I will be home right away! As soon as I left is as soon as I’ll be home. 🙂 And for those of you who don’t care either way, haha, well, you have 5.5 months to START CARING. Just kidding… haha. I’m in a silly mood…
I wanted to take the time to share my favorite and not so favorite memories thus far.
FAVORITE #1 (in no particular order)
Seeing so many familiar faces on the other side of the world!
^My friend Matt from Dallas came to visit me in Thailand. We rented a motorbike and drove all around the countryside. It was so beautiful and fun!! Thanks for stopping by, Matt!
^So check this out. I was walking through the night market in Vientiane, Laos and I recognized a lady passing by me. As soon as I placed her in my mind, I turned around and she was lost in the crowd. I immediately emailed some mutual friends (thanks Theron and Nicola!!!) and asked them to contact her on facebook, ask her if she was at the night market that Thursday in Vientiane, and give her my Laos phone number for her to call me. I got a phone call the next morning and we met up for a quick visit before she got on a bus back to Thailand!! This is my friend Uan. We were both students in SBS (School of Biblical Studies) at YWAM (Youth With a Mission) Montana back in 2008-2009. She is from Thailand and was visiting Laos for a short vacation. What a small world!!!! It was realllly good to see her!
^This is Luke. And this is what our friendship looks like, hahahaha. I also know Luke from YWAM Montana and YWAM Denver. He first came to Cambodia with YWAM and then fell in love with a Cambodian girl, and he and Ya are getting married this month! He lives in Battambang and I was in Phnom Penh, hours away, so we didn’t think we were going to be able to see each other. But he needed to visit the embassy in Phnom Penh for marriage legal paperwork – what perfect timing!! We met up for pizza. It was fun to catch up and annoy each other. 😉
Next week, I will be visiting the sister, mother, and aunt of a guy named Duc who my dad and I used to work with back at Dallas ISD. He is still in America working but most of his family is in Vietnam. I will visit them next week for the Lunar New Year and to give them a friendly hello from someone who knows Duc! So fun! Chúc mong nam moi!! (Happy New Year in Vietnamese!!)
FAVORITE #2
So remember my team did the Boost Up days back in December in Laos? For three days each, each of us were boosted by our teammates, something to encourage us with and make us feel special, especially around Christmas when we were all homesick! My days were the days just before Christmas Day. My team decided to throw me a game night. (I LOVE GAMES and my team never plays games, like, ever!!!) We played Texas Hold ‘Em 😉 and a new game I like called Sushi Go! My teammates were acting silly roles and our chips were hard candies. 🙂 Here’s a little clip of one of my big wins of the night.
MVI 0579 from Whitney Vines on Vimeo.
FAVORITE #3
I got to celebrate New Years at the beach with my squad!
^This is nearly my whole squad and some staff leadership on the beach just moments before the big 10-second countdown at midnight on December 31! I am in between the 0 and the 1. 🙂
^Here are some squadmates goofing around in the ocean. We were doing fun cheerleader stunts. I am the one on the right being basket tossed in the air doing a back flip!!! Cool picture, huh?!? (Thanks Janet/Chris for the photo!!)
FAVORITE #4
Falling in love with more than one kid!!! I love kids so much. I am known on my team for getting the most excited over babies and puppies. For my Boost Up days, they considered locking me up in a room with bunches of babies and puppies and letting me play with them for hours. Heaven!
MVI 3696 from Whitney Vines on Vimeo.
^This was my first heartbreaker Ezekiel. The family we were working with in Thailand have 5 kids and this is their youngest. I loved him and he loved me. Precious kiddo.
^This is Kantika. She lives at the mountain orphanage in Thailand. My team only visited that orphanage for one weekend, but that was enough time for Kantika and I to become the best of friends. We braided each other’s hair. We drew pictures of each other. She made me flower arrangements from flowers picked in the fields. We would swing together on the hammock. I miss this little girl. God, reveal yourself to her at a young age, that she may grow up knowing You and loving You, and we can play together again in Heaven!
^These are some kids from the orphanage we worked with in Cambodia last month. The littlest girl is Sravan (these spellings are going to be so very incorrect) (pronounced shray-vaughn), her older sister pictured is Sraka (pronounced shray-kuh), and the boy is Chanthal (pronounced shawn-tall). We bought them a Shapes poster and they loved it so much! These little crumb-snatchers stole my heart. I cried when we had to leave them. I miss them so much!!!! I have a watercolor drawing that Sravan, the youngest, painted. I will frame it when I get home. Precious treasure from a precious girl.
FAVORITE #5
Fooooooood and coffee!!!
^red and YELLOW watermelon at the village in Mae Sot, Thailand
^Edamame and an Asian salad at a sushi restaurant in Saigon, Vietnam
^our typical lunch at the orphanage in Phnom Penh, Cambodia: steamed rice (AT EVERY MEAL), veggie omelette, soup, watermelon. YUM. I will buy a rice cooker when I get home!!!! I am loving eating rice so much!
^this, my friends, is Roti. My favorite is actually banana and chocolate roti, but this picture is just banana roti. It’s sort of like a crepe with sweetened condensed milk poured on top with sugar sprinkled. Did I already post about Roti before? I wouldn’t be surprised. I loved it SO MUCH. I haven’t found it since Laos in December. I hear that Malaysia has it, for next month. Ahhh I must find some more!!!
^one of the best coffee shop finds on my trip so far: Brown Cafe & Roastery in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I love finding the best coffee all over the world. 🙂 This is me with a cappuccino, yummmm.
NOT SO FAVORITE #1
Getting lice. Eww. The kids at the orphanage in Cambodia (Sravan, Sraka, Chantal) pictured above had lice. I could see the bugs crawling around their head. But I let them sit in my lap. I let them cuddle up. I let them ride piggy back. I remember thinking in my heart that they were worth getting lice for.
And then I got lice. Ahhhh UGH!! Haha. I still believe that they were worth getting lice for, but having lice cussing sucks. :/ A HUGE THANK YOU to my teammate Steff (and a bit of Edie!) for spending HOURS pulling 50 bugs and 500 eggs out of my hair………… 🙁
^Lice shampoo :/
^after lice shampoo, after normal shampoo, plastered my head with conditioner (to make my hair smooth to comb out the eggs), and put a bag on in attempts to suffocate anything :/
^This is gross. I don’t know why I am telling y’all about this!!! Hahahaha. This is my teammate/friend Steff picking bugs out of my head. I. AM. MISERABLE. in this picture. 🙁
And honestly, that is my ONLY least favorite memory so far!!! God has really blessed me with health and a fun team and good friends and great ministry contacts and cute kiddos to love on and yummy food to try. Lord, continue giving me more favorite moments!! 🙂 All for You, Lord!!!!!
FUNDING UPDATE!!!
I ONLY have $1,000 left to raise for the rest of my mission trip!!! Wowza!! That means you wonderful people donated FOURTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS already!! Whoa!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! If you want to contribute to the next $1k, I would appreciate it!!!! For those of you who have committed to monthly donations, I am so so so very appreciative of your continued support!!!
If I add up all of my promised monthly donations, I think I only need about $500 or so. WOW!!!!! To give, click on the little orange “Support Me!” box at the top of this page on the donation status bar 🙂 THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!!!!!!!!!
I will let y’all know when I am fully funded. If you donate after I am fully funded, it will go to the AIM (Adventures in Missions) general fund. Also, I have talked to most of you, but if you are a monthly supporter, you need to call AIM (800-881-2461 or email [email protected]) to discontinue your monthly support. If you do not call/email to stop it, then it will keep donating to the AIM general fund.
Next blogs:
-MONTH 6 = VIETNAM
-Logistics!!!!!
I promise!! Stay tuned. 🙂
Also, I just started a Vimeo account. Look me up! – either by my name or email [email protected]. I will start posting short clips of my adventures on there. Fun! Actually, I think it works if you just click here: https://vimeo.com/user37408409 🙂 🙂 🙂
Happy Valentine’s Day y’all!!!
And a special Happy Valentines to YOU. 😉 🙂 xo
See y’all soon!
