Twin Falls Hike with Monica and Dinda

This Sunday, I was so blessed to go hiking with my friends Monica and Dinda. It was awesome that it didn't rain while we were hiking and wasn't too cold (maybe 45F, so 7C). But somehow Dinda forgot to bring a jacket!!! Thankfully, Monica's mom had an extra one at her shop. :) We had a great time talking and hiking. Twin Falls is call that because there are two falls along the trail—but their not identical (maybe they're fraternal). Or maybe there is another set of falls that flow side by side. I'm not sure. Either way it was beautiful. We hiked about 3 miles (almost 5km). We were doubly blessed too because Monica and her mom treated us to veggie burgers for dinner from their shop! I haven't had onion rings in so long... as much as I'm a good vegan at home, it was nice to indulge in a little grease. ;)

Dinda, where is your jacket?!?!

This is the first waterfall that you can see at one point, hiking up. There was fog and mist, very dream-like. 
At the first waterfall! This look-out point is amazing. The fall is quite high—I had to Photoshop two pictures together to get the whole waterfall. At the very brink of the falls, you can see a little gnarled tree without any leaves. It's amazing to think how that little tree got there.

Hiking further up, there is the twin waterfall. Much tamer, maybe less than 1/3 of the size of the other. But, there's a bridge separating it from it's brother. Dinda's actually looking down over the first waterfall. If you look carefully, you can see the same little tree. It doesn't look far in the picture, but after that little tree it drops maybe 10 floors!

Monica making veggie burgers for as at their shop. Thanks Monica! She looks so professional in these pictures!

Wow! These burgers are huge! I can't imagine how big her brother's special burgers are: the "Monster Burger"—two patties, a fried egg, cheese, and grilled mushrooms!

Friday Night Dinner, Dolls and Bible study

This weekend, our church had some special guests, Steve Wohlberg  and Gilbert Navarro from White Horse Media. I did my best to help Esther prep some food—and I admit, I did play with dolls (but that was before I knew our guests were coming for dinner!). I've made a new friend, Dohyoo—we help tutor each other in Korean and English. I was so touched, she made a whole phonetic phrase book/ mini dictionary in Korean for me! It was so sweet!

Oh Agnes, how we love your food! And I'm so thankful you brought it, because I don't know if we would've had enough without it!!! I missed Agnes this weekend—she was graduating in California from the Theology department. Congratulations!

Natalie playing "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee" with Esther singing along. :)

Esther got taller than Eric. I hope I'm not hurting Steve's eyes with the flash, sorry!

My Life as a Rubix Cube and Grandma

Ok. So I've determined my life is like a Rubix cube. The cube I can solve, but God is the only one who can help me figure out what to do next. Each set of steps and turns I takes seems to make things more messed up and illogical, but following His directions, I know everything will turn out right. Feeling torn about staying close to help grandma is my biggest puzzle.

Make the flower. Solve for white.

Follow these notes. 

Do sequence for "fish." 

Remember to have Optimus Prime face you.

Now, isn't that simple?

Neah Bay Camp with the Everett church

Ok, so this is "old news" now, but that's better than no news right?

I was so thankful to share with my brother for the weekend with the Everett Indonesian youth, and was really blessed. Neah bay was so beautiful (but cold) – and I am always amazed at my friend Shirley's ability to be an *amazing* cook in any situation! I shared on character and my brother shared on forgiveness. God really blessed and touched many hearts – including mine. I am so thankful to have my friends in the Indonesian church; you guys have totally helped me through this tough time!

Here's links and pics from our camping trip courtesy of Yusuf and Roy... :)

http://yusufpanjaitan.com
http://palarphotography.com/

Cycling Camp in KosKong, Cambodia

During the May holiday, my fiance Seyha and I went to Kos Kong in Cambodia. It's part of his cycling / youth / health ministry future plans, and was a great blessing. As promised, there ARE mountains in Cambodia... and I was impressed by the big group of cyclists that took the 2 day ride out to the campsite. Our site was by beautiful waterfalls, and close to the ocean.

However for me, as stated by Dickens, "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times..." Taking the buses/taxi from Thailand, then to get on another bus full of Cambodian teenagers, sitting next to my fiance's cousin whose English is like my Khmer, while being on my period, and not knowing what's going on, being eaten by mosquitos, and then setting up the camp to realize there are 5 icky *wet* toilets, is not my camping ideal! (actually, I could make a whole new post – maybe even a blog – on my toilet experiences in SE Asia, but I'd rather not dwell on that) On top of everything, the most frustrating was having problems with my fiance and feeling isolated by language. I helped with the cooking a lot; there's not too much language involved in chopping vegetables. *sigh* Anyway, it was tough for me, but I'm happy the kids had a good time.




I'm not sure of the total number of cyclists, but I'm surprised that some of these bikes made it!




Our friends' two super-cute kids!

CPR and warm-up techniques.


To the beach!

Some channel or bay that goes to the ocean. Below is my tent-mate Noy, another cousin of Seyha's. I think not speaking the same language is ideal for rooming together, because I noticed it made us extra thoughtful of each other's needs. There was no way for me to really explain to her that she rolls around a lot in her sleep. It was very endearing.



Seyha on the left with the guitar, David on the far right, "no hands" across the bridge.

It wasn't a requirement before, but now I can only marry someone who can ride a bike and play the guitar at the same time (while singing, of course).



Sorry I don't have more of the waterfalls. It just doesn't occur to me to take a camera if I'm going to go swimming. Below is the *tinniest* barber shop ever, covered in ad-posters, but using the principles of decorating with mirrors to enhance a small space.