Bangkok and Hong Kong

We had a few days in Bangkok and it was really good. We staying in the Baiyoke Sky hotel which is the tallest building in the city, with 85 floors!!!! Our room was on the 49th! The view was incredible. Monday, while everyone was in meetings, Janis (my boss' wife) and I took off to explore the city. We went to the Grand Palace and temple. The temple is mostly made of gold! The grounds are huge and it took us about an hour and half to get through it, and even then we skipped over some things. The buildings were incredible to look at, either covered in gold or very detailed mosaics. It was a super hot day and you have to wear ankle length pants and sleeves (short sleeves were fine) and we were told that flip flops weren't acceptable either but they were....so my feet were sweating for no reason. Once we finished in the temple we were debating whether we wanted to find a market or go for a long tail boat ride. But decided we didn't really have the time for the boat ride. So we jumped in a Tuk Tuk, which is a motorcycle with a little cab attached to it. Great way to breath in all that smog! It was so much fun though, we weren't planning on taking a LONG Tuk Tuk ride but it ended up being about an hour! We got a really good rate to get to a market but there are a few stores that if the driver stops and we just go in and look he gets free gas coupons. So we agreed to stop at two of the stores and he was very grateful and gave us the ride for free. We ended up only getting maybe 10 mins at the market before we had to be back at the hotel. But the adventure was worth it, we had a lot of fun. OH and Sunday night we had a SUPER good dinner on the 79th floor of the hotel, we had a private room where a group came and sang to us and the tables were set up so beautifully! AND THE FOOD! it was amazing, it was edible and I didn't have rice!!! Well, besides the rice in my delicious sushi. It was so nice to have some food that was tasty not blah! After dinner five of us (Samantha, Chris, Janis, Graham and I) decided we wanted one of those wonderful Thai foot massages again....well, the place we ended up in was umm, guess you can just say it was sketchy and a bit gross, the massage was ok but the enviroment and stuff around us were very entertaining, Sam giggled almost the entire time. We walked away with some great stories at poor Chris' expense.
Our last night in Bangkok we went to a night market, which was very big and so much fun!!!! I barley spent any money and came away with so much stuff!!!! By the end of the night I was so tired and wishing I was going straight home, and skipping over a night in Hong Kong. Now I'm glad I didn't.
I arrived in Hong Kong and was still undecided as to how I was going to get to my hotel. As I was looking into it I met a lady from New York that was staying in the same area as me so we took the train together and then I hopped on to a free hotel shuttle from the train station. The traffic in Hong Kong is BEYOND insane! We didn't go very far but it took forever to get there! It is bumper to bumper, I don't know how any of the cars move! I found my hotel so easily and got checked in with no problems, and the room is really nice too. I found my way to the Star Ferry (this was on last seasons amazing race) terminal to cross the harbour over to Hong Kong Island. The harbour is incredible! It's so busy with ferries, yatchs, bardges, cruise ships! The sky line is breath taking with all the tall buildings. Once I got over on the ferry I got on a public bus to Victoria's peak where I took a tram (furnicular? tram) up the mountain to a view point of the city. By the time I got up to the top it was dark and the lights of the city were breath taking!!!!!! So colourful and just so many skyscrapers, I think a few of my pictures turned out. I got back down the peak and across the harbour just in time for the laser show! Every night at 8pm all the buildings do a laser and light show, it's kind of like our symphony of fire but with the lights of the buildings, spot lights and lasers all going to music!!!! I"m really hoping my videos turn out cause it was really impressive, with lights of all colours running up and down buildings and lasers dancing through the sky! I've had a great time so far. It's 9:30pm and I think I'm ready for bed and will just wake up when I wake up. I have to head to the airport around noon tomorrow so I don't think I will really put to much effort into doing much in the morning, except relax...that makes sense do nothing right before my 12 + hour plane ride. Well, Starbucks and McD's are right outside my hotel so a walk to Starbucks will definetly happen in the morning. :)
I'm almost home and I'm excited to get there. See everyone real soon :)

Happy Elephants

Hello again,

Today is our last day of the conference. Things have gone really well. It's another packed day of sessions etc, but we do get our two hour break in the afternoon and we're going to a craft market. Yeah, tacky souvenirs :)
Yesterday I actually got to ride an elephant!!! There was probably close to 50 of us that went, and it was incredible. It's really wierd to drive down the road and see an elephant in a field like we would see a cow at home. The place that we went to wasn't in the best condition, you get on the elephant and they take you on a 20 min ride down a dirt path. Our drive jumped off part way through the ride to take pictures and I got to slide down on the the neck of Sumbat (our elephant). It was so cool!!!! Just the pace of the walk is really neat to feel. After the ride there was another elephant that I got my picture taken with, I got to sit on his tusks and then he picked my up with his trunk!!!!! AMAZING! I have some really good pictures of it all. But I"m using a pretty old computer so I can't get them on to my blog or facebook :( So everyone will have to wait till I get home. The funniest part of our time with the elephants was Carl..... he is a larger man and wanted a picture taken on the tusks and being lifted up. While he was in line the elephant seemed to be eyeing him and we were thinking he was worried cause Carl is a larger man. Well..... he wasn't scared...... he actually really, really liked Carl. We'll let your imagination fill in how we knew. But I don't think I have laughed so hard in my life! Even the chinese people around us were pointing and laughing to the point of tears. I don't think Carl will be living down this story for a very, very long time.
After dinner last night I hung out with our Latino representatives for a bit and practised my Spanish and now have places to stay in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Columbia, Paraguay and some more friends in Honduras :) At about 10pm a group of six of us went for Thai foot massages! This was just over an hour long and was incredible. It was a full leg, arm and back massage....and it only cost $6!!!! Unbelievable. We may be heading back tonight, it's a great treat right before bed, and after shopping for a couple of hours we many need it. Reid is the guy that has set up the elephant ride and the massages, he's the guy to travel with, finds all the great places to go and great deals to go along with it.
Today is my last full day in Pattaya and tomorrow we head to Bangkok until Wednesday morning. I can't wait to see the city, I've heard it's pretty fun.

Giving up on learing to speak Thai

Hello Everyone! I have finally figured out how to get onto the internet here! I am having a great time and just game inside to coold down! It has to be around 35 degrees today, yes life is rough. The conference has been amazing!!! The first night we got here we caught the tail end of the ACE (athletes, cities and events) conference, which was a world wide conference of all sports ministries (not just AIA). There were over 700 people attending this conference from all over the world! I went to a bit of their last evening session, and it was AMAZING to see that many people from all over the world (some countries I have never heard of) worshiping God together! All of them here for the same purpose, to seek God's will in how to reach people with His love. Our conference AIA World Leadership Conference started on Wednesday and it has been so busy ever since. I was helping with a lot of the administration side of things, getting gift bags ready and paper work ready for check in...those kind of fun things. We have about 130 people here, from 65 different countries. I have been a greeter for the sessions and we have had fun trying to greet each person in their own language. I have given up on Thai though....after three days of saying thank-you to the Thai staff, I learnt that I was really saying Good Morning... yeah I'm sure some of them had a good laugh at the dumb white girl. Wednesday and Thursday I had about 30 mins to an hour of free time, we've just been walking on the beach and exploring the streets around us. Pattaya is a very big, busy city and unfortunetly is the one of the largest sex trade tourism cities in the world; needless to say it's not a very pretty city.
Today I have a bit more free time and a lot of us are off to ride elephants!!!! I can't tell you how incredibly excited I am!!!!! Apperently they will even let you sit on the trunk and the tusks to take pictures!! I'll feel like I'm on Top Model!! haha :)
Tomorrow for free time we have a 90 minute shopping trip to a hand craft market, you know how much I LOVE tacky souvenirs :) yeah!!! Tomorrow (Saturday) is our last day in Pattaya and Sunday morning we head to Bangkok for our Global leadership meetings, there will only be 30 of us for these meetings.
This time has just been so amazing to meets so many people from all over the world that are using the gifts and passions that God has given them to fulfill their greatest passion...to reach out to people with God's love. I live in a multi-cultural country but I am still blown away when I look around the room and see 65 different countries represented, a true rainbow of God's creation sitting right infront of me.
Well, I have to go now....gotta get ready for my elephant ride! I hope everyone is doing well and I'll try to write more later :)

Drinking Starbucks in Hong Kong

Well, it's 8:00am Tuesday morning...for those of you at home it's only 4:00pm Monday afternoon! I am drinking my decaf tall soy Carmel Macchiato from Starbucks as we wait for our flight to Bangkok. The flight from Vancouver to Hong Kong was smooth, long but smooth. I slept for only about 4 or five hours...each at one hour intervals. But I still somehow feel rested. I watched three movies..."I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry", "Hairspray" and "License to Wed". I had plenty to keep me occupied for the 13 hour flight!! I'm glad the next one is only about three hours I think. Well, since I've just been on a plane all day there really isn't anything exciting to type yet. Looking out on Hong Kong from the airport, all I see is smog. I can't wait for the return trip when I get to stay here for a night and actually get to see the city up close and breath in that fresh smoggy air.
Well, bye for now....next time I'll be writing from Thailand sweating in 35 degree weather...enjoy the rain and wind storms everyone!!!!!

Time to breathe?

My sister and I
for formal night

On the cruise

Well, I had an absolutely fabulous time on my cruise! We were on the ship for five days and four nights, the entertainment, food and ship were great, but even better than that was my travel companions. My sister was able to join me, thanks to our fabulous mother watching the kids during the day till Jay got home. And there were 12 other from my work that came on the cruise as well. It was so much fun spending time with each of them and getting to know some of their spouses a little bit better.


My favorite part of the cruise was getting to dress up every night and go dancing after dinner. My wonderful sister and my friend Katie stayed and danced with me till 2 am most mornings....they looked beyond tired. But I thank them for letting me dance till my hearts content :)
I paid dearly for the week off of work. This past week was extremely busy at work trying to get things organized and ready for Thailand. I leave tonight and think I have everything ready. This is going to be interesting.... I have never had to have things ready for a big conference before, but I'm pretty sure I'm ahead of the game, if I'm not....it's too late now :). The place our conference is at is right across the street for a beach and I am praying that I get to step foot on the beach at least once :) One of the most interesting parts of this trip is going to be my day in Hong Kong. On my way home I have chosen to stay in Hong Kong by MYSELF for a night.... this should be interesting. I am staying in a hotel that was recommended by at least five different people, so it must be good. And have suggestions of things to see, but this is the first time that I'll be in a really big city, by myself, where I don't know anyone or know the language! It will be an adventure :) At least I know I'm going to a nice hotel so if all else fails I'll enjoy a few movies if I get cold feet to go explore on my own. I don't think I'll have time to sit, relax and breathe until I get to Hong Kong, I hope I'm not going to be too tired to enjoy it.
Anyways, I pray that everyone is doing well, and if I have internet access I will do my best to update my blog.
Enjoy the rain while I enjoy weather in the high 20's hahaha

Traveling again! A cruise, Thailand.... all in a month..WOW!

The last couple of months have been a rollercoaster of emotions. I had some very good days and some very heartbreaking days.

My family has seen some better seasons, with the loss of two aunts and a cousin with in two months. We miss Pat, Louise and Angi very much. Voids in life that will not be filled. But with God's grace and comfort everyone is getting through.

The good days have been very good. I started my new job with Athletes in Action (AIA) at the beginning of September and I am loving it. It's so much fun being an admin assistant in a ministry, surrounded by people that are passionate about what they do. Getting to hear the stories, every day, of what God is doing around the world is amazing. After only a few weeks I found out that I was going to Thailand for a World Leadership Conference!!! I am SO excited, we have approx 150 AIA staff coming from over 60 different countries. In order for me to go on this trip I had the daunting task to raise support for my flight, I needed about $1,600 and only had a month and a half to do this. Well, my God is a big god. I was very nervous that the amount that I needed, if it all came in, it would be down to the wire! But Like I said my God is a big god, and He loves to surprise and wow us. Through friends and family that share the same passion that I do, over $2,000 came in in only two and a half weeks!!! I am blown away and deeply touched by everyone's support! With this job I will get to go on other trips and projects and will have the opportunity to do hands on Ministry once again. I am so excited! God knows my passions and has put me in a job that I enjoy and that I can use my gifts in. I'll most likely even have the opportunity to go on project to Paraguay where I can use my Spanish!!! God knows how much I love to translate, and knows my passion for Latin America! This year is going to be a fast paced interesting one!!!

Tomorrow starts a few weeks of extrem CRAZINESS! I leave on a cruise tomorrow morning...get home, and home for a week and then am on a plane to Thailand! I am really looking forward to this cruise, there ar 14 of us going and I am so excited to spend time with each of them. And am even more excited that my sister is included in that 14! Tammy and I always have some interesting stories when we go places together, and some very good laughs.

Stay tuned for some more exciting stories of travels.... cruising....Thailand and a day on my own in Hong Kong! That one should be interesting, if not terrifying!

What's next.....

Last weekend I had the chance to visit a senior couple from the church I grew up in, Mr. & Mrs. Kielan. We had a great visit, I love hearing their stories. I had the opportunity to thank them for the impact that they have made in my life. If it weren’t for Mrs. Kielan and two of her friends (Mrs. Wolfram and Mrs. Miller) I don’t know where I would be today. They were persistent little ladies; I would go to church with my Grandma JUST to keep her company, nothing else. Well, these three little ladies, every Sunday would insist that I check out the youth group. Finally I went, just to get them off my back, I had full intentions of only going once to say that I had checked it out and didn’t like it, there done. But I loved it and it was there that I learnt that God loves me, so a journey began to seek out God and get to know Him. It wasn’t till years later though that I learnt that being a Christian was so much more than a life style or belief system but a personal relationship with God himself. Today I walk, run and crawl my way through life with God guiding me through. All thanks to three very persistent ladies, and it was awesome to get to say thank you to one of them.

Now with God’s guidance in life another adventure is about to begin. I have been working with Campus Crusade for Christ in the Finance Department for two years now and it’s been a lot more fun than I thought working with accountants could ever be. I have worked with an amazing team and now have some life long friendships. But now it’s time for a change and a new challenge. I was nervous to quit the Fairmont and take off to South America, and now God has set a new challenge in front of me. I am transferring from Finance to our Athletes in Action ministry. Could you get two departments that are any more different than these twos??? The job description is huge and intimidating and more than one person has told me that I am nuts for making this move. But I know for a fact that God’s hand is in it and it’s Him who is leading me there. And who am I to argue with God. This week I had the chance to be up in Whistler at the AIA meetings and got to meet a lot of the people that I will be working with. They are all amazing people with a huge desire to serve God and tell the world about His love for them. I’m so excited to join this team and be part of their ministry. I will officially start in AIA on September 4th. Let’s see what God is going to do next!

I’m going to try really hard to update this blog more often now. A lot of people have been harassing me that I don’t do it enough. So here goes my best shot……

Starbucks, babysitting and infections

It's been awhile since I have posted here and a few things have changed. I am a bit busier now than I used to be. I got myself a second job! Yes, I do believe I am insane. I am working part-time at Starbucks, the addiction is back full force. I just can't help myself with my discount it's easier to justify!!!!! So far I haven't really felt it change my social life or been too tired. It's been fun, I've enjoyed learning how to use the machines again and interacting with the customers. I think I was really missing that people connection. Having a second job will hopefully help me get out of debt enough to get me back on a plane! I can't believe how stir crazy I get in such a short time. I just got back from Europe in October and I already really, really want to get on a plane.

This week I'm off from Starbucks which is a good thing. Charlene and Dave (my roommates) are in Mexico for the week and I am taking care of Raynae (their five year old daughter). They left yesterday and I have survived my first two days. She's a great kid so it's not a tough job. Yesterday she had a birthday party at Castle Fun Park and then I took her to a fair. We had SO much fun on the bumper cars, by the third time on them she was driving all by herself.... although we were going in a lot of circles. Today in church we got to watch Deep Sea, the IMAX movie. Since Dave wasn't there to lead worship, they changed things up a bit. The movie was amazing, I don't know how anyone can watch something like that and say that there is no God. God's existence and His hand in creation is the only explanation there is to how amazing this world is and how it works. After "church" we went to the zoo with my friend Ann and her daughter Emily and niece Faith. The girls literally ran around the entire zoo!!!! They all looked so incredibly tired afterwards. YES, mission accomplished!!!

I guess the most "exciting" thing lately is last Thursday a beautiful infection popped up on my thigh. Went to a clinic and the doctor just told me to put hot compresses on it and that would be good enough. By the weekend I could barely walk and my entire thigh was swollen and red, with all the clinics closed or with really odd hours for the long weekend, I had to wait till Monday to get in and get some antibiotics. It has gone down but is not gone completely. I went to my family doctor on Friday and he confirmed that it is in fact staff infection (I know that's not the right spelling for this), and he thinks this steams all the way back to the staff infection I got in Ecuador TWO YEARS ago!!! The first few months I was home I was on antibiotics six times for staff infections that just kept popping up all over my body, the last time being an extremely bad ear infection. But doc said that your body can store staff for quite awhile if you don't totally get rid of it. So it's decided to pop it's ugly head up again. He extended my antibiotics for another week, being 17 days in total!!!! I am really praying that this just kills all the staff in my body. The infections are so painful and ugly. With this one I have been so exhausted, I don't know if it's the antibiotics or just my body fight so hard against the infection. It's still swollen a bit and the doctor has threatened to drain it if it doesn't go away soon. For those of you how know me well...... that is really NOT an option for me!!!!! They will have to put me out or tie me down to get a needle that close to me to drain my leg! Disgusting and immunization shots are hard enough for me!!! Anyways, that my gross gory details...I actually saved you the really bad stuff, my sister actually has a picture of my leg! YUCK!!!!!

Well, I will once again attempt to post here more often. Life just gets in the way sometimes.

Good bye PUKING!!!!!

I write this post with tears in my eyes, tears that are really beyond tears of joy, God has set me free from a stonghold in my life. Some of you know bits about my story and other know nothing. For about 6 years I suffered from anxiety or panic attacks. These attacks would occur at any time and sometimes were debilitating. Even going out for dinner with my closets friends would bring on anxiety attacks that would send me running for the nearest washroom to throw up. It was easier to stay home. Well, about two and a half years ago, (Sept. 13Th, 2004 to be exact) God healed me of my anxiety. This was the day I left for my trip to Ecuador. Since I have been back I have been adjusting to this new found freedom from anxiety, and it's been weird but very cool. It's been almost two years since I've been back and there was a couple of situations that I've probably subconsciously been avoiding. These situations would be the biggest triggers for an anxiety attack and would bring on the worst attacks (involving throwing up in parking lots, pulling over on the road to throw up etc). And I guess in the back of my mind I doubted how real or how much God healed me. Did his healing in my life have a limit? Why would I really deserve this healing? Well, in the last couple of weeks I have found myself in these situations. And in my sinful human nature I doubted God's faithfulness and his healing in my life. God gently reminded me of his love and patience with me. My life verse is Philippians 4: 6&7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request before God, and the peace of God that transcends all understanding will guard your heart in Christ Jesus". God covered me with an amazing peace in these situations. I had a "normal" level of nervousness and at some points was totally relaxed. It was the strangest most foreign feeling for me, it was liberating. I am truly thank God for the years that I suffered with anxiety, they were the hardest most frustrating years but they brought me to my knees in front of Jesus. I was 100% helpless and had to learn to rely on God. And he has carried me through and has shown me his faithfulness, despite my doubts. He sent me angels disguised as friends, who really let me lean on them and they carried me through with their prayers, they fought on my behalf when I couldn't fight on my own; and I know they are still praying for me. It's been such growing process and I know that God is beyond amazing and will always be there to hold my hand and carry me through; my doubts are nothing compared to God's love and compassion for me. He has healed me and I am eternally thankful to him and give all the glory to him!!!!!!

The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith,
the beginning of true faith is the END of anxiety!!!

- George Mullen