thoughts & prayers for the week

For there is no one like our God. 

There is no one like our God. 

There's nothing that can stand against You. 

There's no stronghold You can't break, 

No life that You can't save. 

Our God, You never fail.

--Hillsong "You Never Fail" 

The lyrics of the song above have been my prayer the past few days.  There has been a stirring in my heart lately, a desire to know God more fully that just cannot be satisfied.  So I sit here today, on this hot, humid Saturday searching my Bible for answers & praying & thinking & writing, hoping for something.  And I don't even know what I need or what God's trying to say.  But I feel it.  I feel it in my bones & morrow & the deep trenches of my soul.   And in the midst of this waiting & wondering, there is this peaceful whisper that's been saying, "You're okay.  You aren't broken or unworthy.  I love you and if it was only you in the whole wide world, I'd still choose to die for you."  And I'm just letting that sit there, in that deep place in my soul that only God can reach & touch & make whole.  

So I'm writing to ask that you pray with me.  Will you pray that God will just touch that tender, broken piece of my heart that I've tried for so long to fill with other people & money & success & things just just keep failing me?  Will you pray that I listen & forgive & grow in ways I never imagined?  Will you pray that God will sustain me in my work and through the day-to-day struggles that seem so overwhelming sometimes?  And will you pray that God will use me, in big or small ways, in very normal day-to-day moments or extraordinary ways.  But nonetheless, that He would use every single talent, gift, ability, moment of vulnerability and streak of energy I have to make the world better for one or many, all for His glory. 

God, there is no one like You.  Thank you for using all things, the good & bad & ugly, for Your glory.  Forgive me for the ways I've hurt others and made huge, gigantic messes when I was meant to do things differently for Your glory and instead I blew it.  I'm so thankful that Your grace is sufficient and that there is no life You cannot save.  Mine included.  I need saving.  I need saving every single day.  May I be all that you intended me to be when you created me & thought up my personality, my distinct laugh, the things I'd be good at, even the things I would struggle with.  You know what You are doing.  You are God, and I am not...and for that I am thankful.  You're in charge...let's go places I never dreamed but You've wanted to go all along.  Amen and Amen. 

Chang Mai, Thailand

After a really fun week exploring Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, my mom and I jetted off to Chang Mai, Thailand, for a week of relaxation during my holiday.  I choose to visit Chang Mai because of the famous Loy Krathong (Lantern) Festival that was happening during my time off work.  I had also heard great things about Chang Mai and the variety of activities to do outside (which is something I miss since moving to the dusty, concrete city of PP).  We arrived in Chang Mai on Sunday, November 1, a few days before the actual festival started.  However, there were still tons of things going on in the city, so we jumped right into the activities.  After arriving and settling into our hotel, we decided to head to the famous Sunday Night Market which is located in the center of the old city.  A few streets are closed down and vendors set up tables of amazing handicrafts and souvenirs.  My mom and I are avid shoppers, and these weren't just the run-of-the-mill junk souvenirs you find in the markets  There were some pretty incredible finds.  I found some amazing, hand embroidered tops for around $5 each, great beaded jewelry, and some ceramic, hand-made elephant tea cups and matching teapot.  We went crazy!  And only ended up spending about $60 collectively for about 4 bags of great, one-of-a-kind finds (Woot! I love SE Asia prices).  The city was also decorated for the lantern festival so we walked to a few temples and admired the colorful decorations.  

Here are some pictures from our first night. 

Lantern Festival decorations at one of the temples in the Old City. 

Pictures don't do the scene justice.  So beautiful and colorful. 

On our first full day, we went to the Elephant Nature Park which is an elephant sanctuary for domestic elephants that have been abused in the logging and tourist industries.  We got to feed them, bathe them, and interact with different herds throughout the whole day.  It was incredible to be this close to the elephants.  It was scary at times because these animals are huge and still somewhat wild, so if they got spooked, they would trumpet and move around really quickly which was a little unnerving.   We loved it though and had a great day.  It was definitely worth the money especially know it was going to keep these elephants safe and happy.

Cheesing with my new friend. 

Baby!

The elephant kitchen.  Most of the fees to come to the park go towards feeding the elephants.  The amount of food that is required to feed them daily is absurd!  There were tons and tons of fruit everywhere. 

This is bananas....B-A-N-A-N-A-S.

Bath time.

Our elephant.  And no, I am not throwing water on my mother...it is actually going on the elephant. 

Hey there big guy :) 

Waiting at the "kitchen" door for a snack. 

Oh hi, you are close. 

Photobombed by an elephant. 

On Tuesday, November 3, we decided to explore the temple of Wat Prah That Doi Suthep which is a Buddist temple located on a mountain above Chang Mai.  It provides great views of the city below. In order to get to the temple, you've gotta climb a lot of stairs to get to the top, but it's well worth the climb. We wandered around the temples, looking at the beautiful, extravagant details, and enjoyed a great view of Chang Mai from above.  There was also some shopping and food vendors along the road on the way up so I got to enjoy some fresh strawberries (which don't exist in Cambodia most of the time or are sold for a ridiculous amount of money) and other tasty Thai treats. 

Here are some pictures from the temple.

stairs on stairs on stairs.

After the temple, we decided to go back into town to do some shopping and look for a place for dinner.  Now, I know we were in Thailand, but there are just some days where I can't eat other grain of rice or meal with noodles.  Sometimes I just need something else, so we decided we would look for a more "western" restaurant.  We found this great little cafe that looked straight out of Restoration Hardware or Pottery Barn and decided to give it a try.  We had the most amazing passionfruit drink, pasta, and caesar salads.  It was delicious and a much welcomed change from Asian cuisine. I think even my mom was a little tired of rice and noodles.

Passionfruit drink in the biggest jar ever....so delicious. 

Refreshing and pretty. 

On Wednesday, November 4, we spent the day cooking at a Thai cooking school.  We started first thing in the morning and began with a fun trip to the market.  One of my favorite things about SE Asia is looking at all the crazy and unique food in the market.  There is so much variety, exotic fruits, 20 varieties of rice (who knew!?), fresh fish and meat, and lots of tofu (my favorite!).  After exploring the market and grabbing some fresh ingredients for the class, we went back to the cooking school to start cooking.  We made plate after plate of delicious Thai food, stopping after each item to sit and enjoy it.  I made Pad Thai, fried veggie spring rolls, Tom Yum soup, green curry paste, and a green curry stir-fry.  It was delicious.  I don't know how successful I will be cooking this stuff at home, but we did get a complimentary cookbook that included all kinds of traditional Thai recipes.

Fresh grilled fish...with the bones still intact.  Makes for interesting and complicated eating. 

Tofu for dayszzz

Barrels full of rice. 

Pad Thai...that I made!

Tom Yum soup (super spicy) and fried spring rolls. 

On Thursday, November 6, on our last full-day, we decided to get outside the city and explore the surrounding mountains.  We opted for a trip to one of the most incredible waterfalls I've ever seen. It's called Buo Tong Waterfall (better known as "Sticky Falls").  It is a waterfall that runs over limestone rock formations.  The limestone feels like sandpaper which makes it "sticky" and easy to climb.  When you first look at it, you think there is no way that you will be able to climb it since any other waterfall that steep would be incredibly slippery, but not so with this waterfall.  It was so easy to climb, absolutely no problems.  We climbed all the way to the top!

Thai Tuk Tuks

Stick Falls.  isn't it incredibly beautiful?!

Mom wouldn't stop taking pictures!

Close-up.

Second Tier.

Waterfall selfie.  I'm so Asian now, taking selfies.

Getting by with a little help from the rope.

As I said earlier, we were in Chang Mai during the Lantern Festival so there were lots of activities going on around the city.  On Thursday night, we holed up in Starbucks with some hot chocolate until the parade began which was beautiful and elaborate (as are all decorations in SE Asia).  The parade headed towards the river with all the people filling in the road behind the parade as it moved.  Once down by the river, people began releasing lanterns into both the sky and the river. There were literally thousands of lanterns floating in the sky.  It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in my life, pictures really could not do it justice.  We opted for the more traditional floating lanterns to release and walked down the river to send it off with a wish and prayer for the year. 

Pure beauty.

View from one of the temples in the Old City.

Lantern Prep.

There they go!

Crowds of tourist letting go of the lanterns.

Lighting our floating lantern.

Putting the lanterns into the water.  All the lights on the water in the background are all floating lanterns.

After walking around the city watching the lanterns for a few hours, we decided to head back to the hotel.  Our flight back to Cambodia left the next morning, so we needed to rest and pack.  All in all, it was a great trip.  I am so glad we were able to experience the incredible festival in-person.  It was such a beautiful city, and a true highlight thus far of my time in the region.  I loved sharing it with my Mom too :)

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Shew, the past few weeks have been a whirlwind.  As many of you know, my mom and one of her friends came to Cambodia to visit me in late October.  My mom stayed a total of 2 1/2 weeks in Cambodia, spending one week here, one week in Thailand traveling with me, then returning to Phnom Penh for a few days before heading back to Kentucky.  It was a much needed visit, and we had a blast. 

The first few days Wanda and Rhonda were in Cambodia, they spent their time exploring Phnom Penh while I worked.  They did all kinds of stuff, visiting the Killing Fields, Toul Sleng, Silk Island, and even did a Khmer cooking class.  They were busy, busy!  

On Thursday, October 30, we left for Siem Reap which is located in the Northern part of Cambodia.  It is almost the most popular tourist town in Cambodia as it is the location for Angkor Wat, the famous temples that were built around 1150 A.D.  Pictures of Angkor Wat are plastered everywhere in Cambodia, and when you run a quick Google search on Cambodia, it is generally the first 100 things that pop up.  I had never seen the temples in person before so I was anxious to explore them. Anyways, we hopped on a plane at around 10 am and arrived in Siem Reap 45 minutes later.  We got picked up by our hotel, Angkor Rural Boutique Hotel, and headed there to settle in.  This hotel was beautiful.  I had searched and searched for a hotel before my mom arrived because I wanted it to be the perfect one.  I found this eco-tourism hotel on TripAdviser, and after they offered me a great discount, I booked it.  It's out of downtown Siem Reap, tucked back among rice fields in a small village.  The owner employs local villagers to work at the hotel and teaches them English.  She has big plans for the community!  We arrived at the hotel, unpacked a bit, then ordered lunch.  We had a fantastic Khmer lunch by the pool overlooking the rice fields. 

Here are some pictures of our hotel. 

There was a day bed on the porch.  It provided the best place for afternoon naps and hours of reading.

The pool and restaurant in the background.

Chicken, beef, and rice for lunch.  Yum.

Checking out the accommodations.

The rice fields.

One of the best parts was the complimentary ox ride through the village.  The owner employs a local farmer to take tourists on a fun little ride around the village.  It has just rained, and the roads through the village were not in the best condition, so it made for an extremely hilarious and bumpy ride...but it was tons of fun.  We got to see all the homes tucked back under the palm trees.  We past children who would yell, "Hello Madame!" and chase after us.  It was really fun and a great way to get outside of the touristy town of Siem Reap and enjoy the country-side. 

Loading up for the ride!

Scenes from the village.

Rice, so much rice!

Our cute little driver.

We finished up our first day in Siem Reap at a great Khmer restaurant called Chanrey Tree.  It was delicious, and I was especially excited because they had the traditional grilled squid with Kampot (local) pepper dish which I had wanted my mom to try.  It's literally the most delicious thing.  Ever.  In the history of all the world. We walked around the Night Market and did a little shopping as well.  We headed back to the hotel early to read and get some sleep in preparation for the next day of sightseeing.

On Friday, October 31, we headed to Angkor Wat bright and early.  Angkor Wat is the most famous temple, but it also a archeological site that tons of temples make up.  There are lots and lots and LOTS of temples.  Therefore, you have to be strategic when visiting Angkor Wat especially if you only have one day.  We opted for the larger circuit which took us to the three most famous temples: Angkor Wat, Bayon Temples, and Ta Prohm (known for the trees that have overtaken the temples, as well as the film location for Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was filmed).  We started early in the morning and by around 3 pm we were done, not so much because we were done roaming around, but because we were so hot and exhausted.  We felt like we had seen the best parts of Angkor Wat and headed back to our hotel hot and ready to sit by the pool. 

Here are some of the pictures from the day.

Ta Prohm

Ta Prohm

Ta Prohm

The details were just beautiful. 

Ta Prohm

Ta Prohm

Selfie in the Temple.

Angkor Wat

On Friday night, we headed to Siem Reap for dinner and a little shopping.  We found a great little Italian place called Il Forno (great recommendation from some friends back in Phnom Penh).  We enjoyed some pasta, wine (only me), cheese, and chatted about the day.  We finished up with some last-minute shopping and souvenirs.

Pub Street--aka Tourist Central in downtown Siem Reap.

Saturday night was spend hanging out at the hotel, sleeping, packing, and enjoying some more shopping and eating in Siem Reap.  I watched a movie on HBO which was exciting since I don't have great TV back in PP.  I was also just extremely excited to lay around and do nothing.  Overall, our trip to Siem Reap was awesome.  It's so different from PP; I appreciate the trees and greenery since there is basically no nature in the big, dusty city of Phnom Penh.  Rhonda left on a flight at around midnight, and my mom and I packed our things as we were heading to Chang Mai, Thailand, the next day for week two of our adventure!