Mom & Dad in Thailand

::sigh::  It's good to see you again, Blogger.  ;)


Let's get down to business:

Back in January....

my mom and dad flew to thailand.  

THIS is a BIG deal.  

We had SO MUCH FUN.  We thor'ns, we beez tah-ight, so we had a lot of catching up to do.  Good thing we had this fabulous hotel to enjoy for a week.

Le Meridien Chiang Rai --- same hotel that mixandmatchmama (link to the right) stayed at when her family visited Bachelor Seanzie in Chiang Rai.  i know, don't even get me started again.  Even though I have a house just about 15 minutes down the road from the hotel, I stayed with my parents to maximize time with them.  We started off the week by touring my neighborhood and my favorite places to go, enjoyed dinner at our hotel, Sunday morning with my little home group church, lunch in a tree house (ish), ;) and shopped at the Night Bazaar in downtown Chiang Rai.  

Here's a glimpse of the rest of the week:  (I had some trouble with the format of the pictures.  what's. new.)

This was the moment when I realized, "Wow... my mom and dad are in Thailand."
We drove by the famous Chiang Rai clock tower right on time during it's light display with traditional Northern Thai music playing.

On Monday, mom and dad visited my workplace.
So glad they got to see this dream school.  

My beautiful momma read to my kiddos. 

On Tuesday, we took a long-tail boat up the Maekok River in Chiang Rai to an elephant camp in the Karen Village (perf.).

On a boat in Thailand.  Does it get any better, Dad?  (except maybe if it was a yacht?  ;)  

This was one of my favorite days ever in my life.
Nellie is riding on top of the elephant's head now, by the way.  

If you're wondering how we got this picture, my elephant guide hopped off the elephant and took several [excellent] pictures.  

On Wednesday, we took a taxi up north to Doi Tung, the location of the Queen's garden.  We toured a museum, visited the Queen's mother's house, then only got to see the garden for about 15 minutes.  =/  It started raining.  Bummerrrrrrr, but thankfully it was buy 1 get 1 hh back at the hotel.  s'all good.  =]

Then on Thursday,

Dad's turn reading!  It was International Day at school, so they got to be here for the many talents displayed, international food, special dress clothes and celebrations of all the countries represented at our school.  

On Friday, we flew to Bangkok: 

Our awesome hotel in Bangkok.

W. 

View outside our 12th floor hotel room.
Bangkok is SO BIG, y'all. 

Once again, felt like a dream. 

Learning about Thailand :)

This isn't exactly the famous "floating market," but it is similar.   

We climbed up a [steep] old temple called Wat Arun.
 It is covered in  tile mosaics and was built hundreds of years ago.  

Here we are in front of Wat Arun...  Do you recognize this location from my FIRST DAY in Thailand??  :)
... like my skirt [scarf]?  ;)  Can't wear shorts in a temple. 

Aren't my parents pretty?  We had dinner at the hotel restaurant on the patio.  

Aside from just seeing the sights and experiencing the Thai culture, I needed my mom and dad to come to Thailand to experience this life, to taste the adventure and diversity of living in a different culture, to meet the real people and feel the heart of God for them, to see me thrive in an environment that doesn't include cowboy boots, cocktails and cobblestone roads.  I wanted to them to find out what it is that I love about this country, to see that I am more than okay here in Thailand.  :)  

We had a BLAST, laughed a lot and ate fabulous food the whole week.  

I am so thankful they could visit!!!!!  =)  



 

Bloggerrrrr I miss youuuuu

Prepping for a big day at school tomorrow and all I want to do is BLOG!  

SEE YOU SOOOOONNNN BLOGGERRRRRR~  

=)  

heeyyyyy :) 

praying kids

teachers on Teacher Day - I didn't know I was uploading the "silly" picture.  internet is slow tonight, there's no goin' back, so let my first introduction of the CRICS staff be a silly picture.   can you find MOI?  ;)  I'm making a very "moi" face.  

side yard and backdrop of my beautiful school

ISN'T THIS PRETTY??? 

I only stay at school till sunset so I can take pictures.



kidding.
(this is the view outside my classroom back door!)

i know

i know, i know.  

It's been over a MONTH since my last update.  That doesn't mean I haven't written....  

I just found a way to pack 25 hours of activities into 24 hours/day, as my parents would say.  

And since I am ultimately in Thailand to give Jesus not Katie, that is not okay. 

So, blogger gets the back end these days.  

Some time soon (maybe after grades are due this week? and after I've re-prioritized and disciplined myself to actually receive the daily bread that IS offered to me constantly, even though I just stare at it or ignore it) I'll have time to just sit and write and write and write and then watch Smash and write some more.   

Laterzzzzzzzz....

Next Up....

Mom & Dad in Thailand.    :)  Here's a preview: 

 

The Breadth of Irony

... It extends across the Pacific.

Oh, irony.  You weird, weird THing.  emphasis on "th."  

You may need to read through this post a little slowly, or a few times to really get all the wild irony in each instance.  Not all ironic situations I find myself in get documentation.  These are too weird to skip, though.

1. Last Bachelor-talk, really.  for this month at least.  =]  
Okay.  
I promise I'm not obsessed with this guy.
But you are not even gonna believe this story.
  
In a few recent posts, I mentioned a dream I had about The Bachelor.  (Can I just say, it's been hilarious how many friends have sent me emails or messages about the new bachelor and how watching the show makes them think of me, and also how he freakishly reminds them of a former-significant-solid-buff-blue-eyed, blond-haired man I had in my life?)  Anyway - here's a quick re-cap - I dreamed that Sean came to Thailand for the filming of his show and he secretly began falling for me instead of the contestants.

Well, about a week after I had that dream, a friend sent me a message to say she had just read that Sean filmed his last few episodes in Chiang Rai.  

YA, I know. 

I said I'd only apply for the show if I knew Sean was The Bachelor, and there's no way of knowing beforehand. 

TURNS.OUT. 

kt moved to Chiang Rai, 

Sean became The Bachelor, 

kt dreamed about Seanzie coming to Chiang Rai, 

then he did indeed end up IN Chiang Rai as The Bachelor.  

omgah.  seriously?

::shakes head in an "oh, the irony" cliche motion::  


2. An Old-Acquaintance
Remember how I went to that Christian Educator's Conference back in November?  About 600-800 Christian Educators from around Asia attended, and all day long the first day, I kept seeing this lady that I swore I knew.  After the 4th time of running into her, I followed her up an escalator (haha, creeeperrr).  At the top, I stopped her and said, "Hi...uh... I think I know you."  Just then, I read "Rebekah" on her name tag and remembered.  "... Did you happen to teach English to some Somal*an refugees at an apartment complex on E. Berry Street?"  Y'all, that was 6 years ago.  Go ahead, you who always comment on my crazy-good long term memory... roll your eyes; I did, too.  


Rebekah:  "Yes, did we teach together?" 
me:  "Well, sorta... I subbed once for ___, and I know it's weird that I remembered you, but I actually just thought "gosh she looks familiar," and it wasn't until I saw your name tag that I remembered how I know you."  By the look on her face, I could tell she really was trying to remember who I was.  
And I was thinking, "omg kt, that was freaky."    

Rebekah:  "Hmmm, I'm trying to remember.  Do you happen to know A.V.?"  
me:  "Mmm, no, I don't think so."  
Rebekah:  "Oh, well I thought maybe you were there when she was teaching.  She's so sweet, I thought maybe y'all were friends.  She ended up marrying my son." 

Just then it hit me.  NOW I REALLY remember her!  As I was leaving the class, we stood outside my car and had a good conversation that led to her trying to set me up with her son.  I reminded of her that, and THEN she remembered who I was.  

Rebekah:  "Ohhhhh, now I remember you!  You drove a cute little Jeep!" 
me:  "Yep, that's me!  How weird to run into you, and I can't believe I recognized you!" 
Rebekah:  "I know small world!  Well, do you happen to be married or dating now?  Because I have this nephew... do you happen to know L. P.?"  
me:  "OMGosh!"  (L. P. is your nephew?!?!)
me:  "OMGosh!"  (L. P.'s bro & sis-in-law are friends of mine!  They're in my Life Group at home!  Y'all are related???) 
me:  "OMGosh! I know A. V.!!!  I stood NEXT to her in Yoga at L. P.'s sister-in-law's house for several weeks last year!"  

Not 1 connection. 
Not 2 connections.
But all 6 degrees of separation, folks.  She now lives in China but took a break for the conference in Chiang Mai.  We caught up on life during lunch, and Nellie & I went on a night safari with her and her friends one night.   It was a very sweet blessing for both of us to reconnect.
I love it when stuff like that happens.  :)  


3. A Run-in in Bangkok
You know in When Harry Met Sally, they're singing karaoke to Surrey with the Fringe on Top, and Harry spots his ex-wife?  

Sally: You sure you're OK?
Harry: Oh, I'm fine. Look, it had to happen at some point. In a city of eight million people, you're bound to run into your ex-wife.

No, I didn't run into any exes.  But THIS is SO WEIRD, and it reminded me of that line in When Harry Met Sally.  One morning on our trip in Bangkok, Nellie and I needed and take the Sky Train---Let me mention real quickly that Bangkok is one of the largest cities in the world with a population of about 10 million people.---  We ended up at a train docking station that we'd never been to, and I look over at the waiting station next to ours and said, "Hey, I think I know that guy."  He turned around talking to a friend and I said, "Yes, I do!  He works at Grace!"  Grace is an international school in Chiang Mai where I had visited for a curriculum survey trip about a month before this.  We stepped aboard our train and a rare thing happened - hardly anybody else in our section of the train car.   Usually it's too packed to find a seat, but divinely (although I have yet figured out the reason), we found ourselves on this e m p t y train car, so we sat down next to this guy and his friends.  He recognized me and so did the friend that was with him, the 2nd grade teacher from Grace!  I thought it was funny that I teach 2nd grade and music, and I ran into the 2nd grade teacher and the music teacher from Chiang Mai, but we all ended up on this random train car in Bangkok.  

That was enough irony for me.  "Woooow, that is SOooo weirrrrd.  What are the odds?"  

But THEN, 

The next day on our way home, we stopped in Chiang Mai for a bit to see a friend and enjoy the city for the day.  I checked my email at a coffee shop and read one from Mom that said, "Hey, I was just talking to Diane, who said she knows someone at Grace International School in Chiang Mai.  His name is ___ and he's the music teacher there.  I told her I wasn't sure what the odds of you knowing him are, but that I'd go ahead and ask."  I checked the time change between here and Texas, and Mom sent that email almost to the exact hour that I was running into this guy in Bangkok.  

I KNOW, RIGHT?!

When I find myself in situations like these, I ask myself - 

Does this mean I'm supposed to be here or something?

Because while there is a reason for everything, 

- The Bachelor coming to Chiang Rai doesn't mean I was supposed to become the dramatic "twist" of this season. 
- Reconnecting with Rebekah doesn't mean I should be dating anybody related to her.
- And receiving an email about a guy I know in Chiang Mai who I ran into in Bangkok on the day this email was sent from Texas doesn't necessarily mean... well, actually I still can't figure that one out.  That was weird!

Instead, I'll just believe that everything happens for a reason, not always for me to figure or find out. And that sometimes, no matter how wild and crazy or how small and simple of a moment it is, I'll just trust that it's God's way of telling me, "Don't worry, kt, you're right where I want you to be."  

Oh, irony.  Sometimes I think you're really just divinity and confirmation in disguise.  Other times, maybe you're just around for a good laugh and an entertaining story....  :)  

Change

You know how you can say a word so many times that it begins to seem like it's not really a word at all?  Without fail, the word "change" brings to mind the song "Chain chain chaaaaiiinnnn, chain of fools," and once that got stuck in my head just now, I began to sing "chain chain chaaannnggeee," and now the word "change" doesn't even feel like a real word anymore.  and that song doesn't even make sense for this post.  OH WELL!

what er ya gonna do???  =]

January brought some really big changes.  *typical of you, january....*

One of my new FAVORITE people moved back to the states to get mawwiieeeed.  I'm SUPER excited for her, but I already miss her!  I was BLESSED to get to know Leneigh Brackney and am thrilled to get to see her again in Texas! It's so great when you can meet someone and just *click.*  How divine that she ended up becoming my teacher assistant in the 2nd grade classroom.  Leneigh played many roles on my Thailand adventure.  

I especially knew 2nd grade would live happily ever after when I found out her favorite movie is Baby Mama (insert Amy Poehler's pre-natal yoga "what what" sound) and one of her fave tv shows is NEW GIRL (disclaimer: I may not agree with everything on it, but you know what, that show is HYSTERICAL).  #schmidtzie #schmidtism #schmidtbaby 

#hashtagsoutsideoftwitter
#yeahso

Aside from being tons of fun, Leneigh is diligent, mature, disciplined and motivated.  I learned so much from her initiative and discipline.  Having her in my classroom everyday ushered in an awareness&accountability of my daily decisions within the classroom, my responses to discipline opportunities, how my character shone (or shadowed), and the thing is, she didn't say anything about any of those.  I think it was Christ in her, as well as an unexpected but useful self-conciousness that grew me and shaped me further than I would've on my own.  I am grateful to have had a "buddy" in the classroom who got my jokes and recognized the times that I needed help or encouragement.  I'm so, so thankful for someone to change up the dynamic when we traveled, to make things feel at-home when we shared dinners or watched movies.  She is a lovely, new lifelong friend who once again, when I met her in the staff room before school began, I had no idea how she would be used in my life.  
Maybe someday we'll serve together again.  :)  

iloveit that Anthony came to visit Chiang Rai for two months before they both headed back to the states.  Blessed by them, indeed!  

New Year's Eve

First trip to Chiang Mai, first tuk-tuk ride

2nd graders and Mustache Day

CRICS Christmas Program

With Leneigh's departure came some rearranging. Here we go with some oldies again:  "When it's time to change, you've got to re-arraaange!"  

Leneigh had been teaching the three K-6 Elementary Music classes, so I took them on.  Music Education is something I've considered studying, and particularly I've had some interest in Music Therapy.  I'm looking forward to exploring a) music ed.  b) different grade levels  c) teaching outside of regular core content.  Today was my first music class....grades 4-6...quite different from my 1st and 2nd grade babes.  ;)  

Any advice on how to get 6th grade boys thinking that Beethoven and Schubert are cool is gladly welcomed.  =]  

Some elementary supervisors at school helped me spend some hours getting my schedule worked out, but we have a plan that seems to be working so far... and guess what, Leneigh, it's actually better than it was before.  

Like I said way back in my very first Thailand post, change is good.  
Growth
Learning
Exploration
Discovery
Understanding
FUN
APPRECIATION. 

I'm expecting all-of-the-above with these new changes.  I think these are reasonable, likely and attainable expectations.  

Leneigh Brackney (and any of my former music teacher readers), I'll do my best to make ya proud!  

Our first music class today began with the following apropos: 

Psalm 95 
1 Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. 
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. 
3 For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods. 
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. 
5 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. 
6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; 
7 for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.  Today, if you hear his voice, 
8 do not harden your hearts....






And just one more thing for the road - Bananagrams and John Denver at Charlie's Resort

October 2012

Julie & Julia

*Wrote this blog on December 21st.  It's one of those I mentioned in my 12/31 post titled "2012," that I wrote but never published for the public.  Letting go... published.  :) 

Good Morning, Christmas Break.   

I awoke with a smile on my face, probably not for any reason that you'd guess.  

I dreamed last night that while Sean Lowe from The Bachelorette was filming his season of The Bachelor, he was secretly falling for me even though I wasn't a contestant on the show, and it was the new "twist" of the most dramatic season of The Bachelor in Bachelor history, because ya know, we put our hearts out on the line.  Also, the whole show was filmed in T h a i l a n d (yeah, I know, dreamin' alright!).  He met me here, and I was so excited because even though we met in Thailand, I knew he could two-step because he's from Texas.    

hey, maybe it could happen?  ;)

I think it's hilarious that I literally woke up smiling.  Haha.  Embarrassing?  Slightly.  

But it's Real.  

And for some reason, that's what this blog has become. 

Very, 

very, 

real.  

So on that note  - I'm in a good mood.  And naturally, I turned on Bieb's "Mistletoe" after I woke up and realized the dream I'd just had.  

Next.

Relate.  Relate.  Relate.

and relate again.  [be mindful of the title]

#1:  I find joy in cooking.  I get lost in it.  Sometimes I follow a recipe, but my preference is to treat cooking like a piece of art.  It is.  It is art, creativity, and science all mixed into one.  Add to that nutrition and bent rules, enjoyment, pleasure, generosity, hospitality, variety, limitless possibilities - For me, to cook is to rest.  And I need more of it. 

#2:  I blog.  I document my life and send pieces of my raw emotions, my adventures, my opinions and even some of my p r a y e r s out into CYBERSPACE, wherever that is.  I wonder if anybody reads it, and I wonder who I'm writing to, sometimes.  Most of the time I feel like I'm just talking to myself.  Interestingly, my own self is the audience that can't wait to the turn the page or read the next chapter...  

#3:  Although Julie Powell was turning 30 in the movie Julie & Julia, I am one week away from 27.  Still young and enjoying my 20's.  However, glaringly aware that i. am. single.  i am single.  I am single, and there are things I can do right now in my life that I couldn't do if I had a new little family, which is perhaps part of the purpose in why I am still single.  That doesn't change how many of my friends are having babies with their cute husbands right now, though, and how I, like Julie Powell, wonder how good of an idea it is to document my life and my feelings on the internet.  I am embracing where I am, though, or at least trying to.  Remember that "Thankfulness Changes Things" post?  Still ringin' true, my friends.  It's still true.  

Ya know,

Sometimes...I think Facebook...is a thief. 

of joy.  

...and a catalyst...

for comparison.  

Have I said this before?  I've certainly thought it.  On the other hand, sometimes the connections made via Facebook are priceless, especially when you move across the globe.

#4:  (back to the focus of the post - my life related to Julie & Julia)  Julie Powell sat at her desk with blogger open and contemplated the depth and reality of her blog content.  I do this every time I open my webpage to write.  The direction of my blog has steered away from "teaching in thailand," and instead has become a place where I process the restorative moments that I did indeed expect this year.  

Hello joy, hello adventure, hello humility, hello contentment, ... hello lamentation.  

Julie Powell opened a blog to record 365 days of cooking new recipes.  I opened a blog for recording my experiences and adventures in Thailand.  She ended up with character growth.  I'm finding some identity growth.  

Psalm 139 comes to mind again.  Search me, God, and know my heart.  Test me and know my anxious thoughts; see if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.  

#5:  Given - half the movie is in France.  #leduh 
#6:  Meryl Streep is in it.  Nothing for me to relate to here, I just like that part.  I think she's fabulous.    

As a result of watching this movie, I have made up my mind to take a Thai cooking class.  My Thai friends can still teach me, but I've always wanted to take a Central Market cooking class - so, why not try an authentic Thai cooking class right here in Chiang Rai?  

Small side note - I think watching American movies are extra restful for me here because it looks familiar and sounds familiar.  Everybody speaks English, and it forces me to sit down and be still.  

Writing does the same thing.  

I swear I'll write about life events rather than my thoughts and feelings about Chick Flicks someday soon.... The Christmas season has been unbelievably busy [bizzy].  Joyous, particularly magnifying of the Sovereignty of the Christmas story, pretty stressful, and bizzy.  

It'll be okay if you go watch Julie & Julia now and don't like it. 
I'll still love it.  
:)