July 25th update..

I apologize for a slow week of blogging! I did have a semi-full weekend of activities! Friday was my day off and it was wonderful. I slept until 9:30 and went to the gym at 10. I'm used to going alone (or with Mom) at 7:30, so it was different to go with my sister and have her push me on machines I'm not used to! My routine is to run 3.5 or 4.5 miles, and then I'm done. Jessie runs less, and does more machines. Most of the afternoon I worked on a video that I've been creating to send to my friends in Cambodia. I went swimming in my own pool.. for the first time all summer!! Friday night I met some wonderful ladies at church and we scrapbook'd until after midnight. I only got 3 spreads done in 6 hours, but I did have alot of fun and I'm now motivated to scrapbook more this week. My intentions are to have it completed before the Ford family reunion in mid-August. It appears far away, but considering I have 200+ pictures and could spend 1 hour on 1 or 2 pages.. I need to keep focused! Speaking of motivation, this afternoon I cleaned my entire bedroom! That required unpacking from college and unpacking from IWU, neither of which I had done. I also realized why I feel like I have been re-wearing the same old clothes. I hadn't unpacked my suitcase from camp either, and all my clean laundry was sitting in a hamper in the corner of my room. haha!

more Picnik fun!

Did you already clean your entire desk and office?

Work has been very slow in the office this week. The one secretary that can usually keep me busy has been off since Monday and I have not had much to do. So after organizing everything I could find to organize, I have been catching up on blogs and emails, losing numerous Scrabble games, and creating a file full of pictures on picnik.com, a free and easy photo-editing website. The entire purpose of this post is to display a few of my newest and favorites. Enjoy!

Bucket List

It's taken me about a week to write this list. I put alot of thought into it.


Things I want to do before I "kick the bucket" [die]::
Help my friend Pagna go to college.


See someone's life changed significantly because of my kindness.

Be used as a Spanish translator for a sermon.

Be fluent in Khmer (language of Cambodia).
See a previous relationship be reconciled.

Then visit Racar, Ecuador and see many friends there.

Drive a motorcycle through Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Write a book (no dream of being published, only the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment.

Go on an African safari.

Be the prayer warrior I want to be.

Donate a ponytail to Locks of Love.

Ride a horse on the beach at sunset.

Sell [a significant portion] of my possessions and give it to the poor.

See my Dad surrender his life to God.

Stand behind the pulpit at Brookhaven with my husband and say, "Hello, we are missionaries and this is what we do.."

The big birthday girl!

My niece Leah turned ONE on July 6th. This afternoon Jessie, my parents and I are going down to the house in Fishers to celebrate with her. I can't wait for everything she will learn in the next year!

And from her special day::

The cake! What a mess!

Opening gifts!

Sitting forward in her carseat!

To see more go to her mommy's blog HERE.

He's alive!!

I have a good friend named Alex who is a Mexican immigrant.  We met at church last July and we have been good friends since, even during the short period that he lived almost 2 hours away from Marion.  If you have been a frequent customer of Los Nopales, or La Charreada (Elwood & Marion) you have likely seen him there.  Anyways, obviously we were not in contact while I was away in Cambodia; and when I returned three weeks ago, I could NOT get ahold of him!  Two numbers I had for him were both disconnected; the third was a work number, and his restaurant could only tell me that he left.  I was pretty distraught.  I didn't think he was planning to return to MX so soon, but I was afraid he had.  Well he finally called me on the 4th and I am so happy that my friend Alex is still alive, and still lives in Marion!!!

Alex on Christmas day at my house.

Kampong Chhnang '09

This is a picture diary of three or four days spent in the province of Kampong Chhnang.  It was my first trip there, and I definitely want to re-visit again next summer!

With the exception of our time in Phnom Penh at the Bible college, all our meals were eaten out.  So this isn't a rare picture.  Every morning in Kampong Cham, each of us had a small loaf of crusted bread with jam, and a slice of pineapple.  For lunch and dinner?  Rice! (White or fried, with meat or vegetables of course.)

This is Pastor Kimsan, the President (or the Superintendent) of the Wesleyan Church in Cambodia.  He is a really kind man, and I enjoyed the few conversations I was able to have with him (between my very poor Khmer, and his poor English.)  Here he is doing what he usually did while our team was doing ministry, napping in the hammock!  hehe.

These are of course just cute little boys from our English classes.  I can't tell you any of their names, because at that point I didn't know how to ask "What is your name?" and I wouldn't have understood them even if I knew how to ask!  This particular village had never seen "whiteys" before, so it was exciting for us and them!

This is (Pastor) Paroath and the widow who graciously allows him to live with her, and to hold English classes and Sunday services under their home.  Our team fell in love with his ministry, so we decided together that we wanted to do something to support him.  We decided to cut back drastically on our living expenses and the 7 of us shared 1 large room at each hotel we stayed in.  We also made more humble decisions when choosing restaurants and menus. At the end of the trip, we had saved enough money to build a small structure for Paroath to use as a classroom and sanctuary.

This is very similar to the structure that Paroath will build with the money we gave him.

This is the widow's home, and below are a few desks and chairs with a whiteboard. Her yard is also very large for many children!

I used these homemade cards to teach the alphabet in my English classes.  I also had 2 foam alphabet puzzles, and the children loved competing to see which team could complete it first.

I loved playing ball with these little boys!  It was simple - we just tossed it back and forth.  This is how I learned my khmer numbers!  Muy, bpei, bpai, bpoun, bpram...

Visual aids is definitely the best way to teach English as a second language, so I collected small toys to teach a variety of lessons.  Animals was my favorite!  If you can click and zoom this picture, look at how happy Paroath's face is!

A Mobile Upload: My crazy brother

This is my brother-in-law Jeff.  I love him alot.  I bought him (and both my sisters and parents) this lovely I love Cambodia t-shirt.  When I get married and live in Cambodia, and when he comes to visit me and his brother-in-law and his nieces and nephews.. he will love Cambodia too!

Big Barbee Lake & Indiana Beach!

Sunday afternoon I drove to Warsaw to spend a few days with a family that my sister and I have babysat for about 8 years.  This winter the Haneys moved away about an hour away, and now live on Barbee Lake.  Sunday night we grilled out, and went boating.  I forgot how much I loved the water!!  Especially after I learned how to water ski last summer at Table Rock Lake, near Branson.  Then Monday, Tom and I (& another young girl) took the 4 kids to Indiana Beach.  We had beautiful weather, the lines were short, and the kids really were very good.  I also made a friend there, his name is Rafael.  It was a really good day.  Yesterday I was able to sleep until almost 10:30, then spent the entire day watching the Disney channel with Olivia (7 yrs), and playing outside with Garrett (right) and Grason (above).  I made the long drive home this morning, then met Dr. Pettis at Ivanhoe's for lunch.  We talked about his trip to the Philippines, my trip to Cambodia, and our next trip to Mozambique in May 2010.  Tomorrow will be my first full work day at IWU, then I leave for another week of Fairmount camp on Sunday!