It's true. As evidenced by the above photo, we are indeed still alive. I am simply the world's worst blogger. I'm sure you've noticed by now. If you can forgive me, and you still remember who we are, please read on to hear about what we've been up to!
Seeing as the last post was in OCTOBER (I really am the worst), I'll give a quick re-cap of what's been up with us since then.
We are continuing to get settled into our house. Furniture and decorative personal touches are being added slowly but surely, and having the house so full with four adults (Vince is here!) and a kitten definitely helps to make it feel homey as well. :) I'll share some photos of our home below:
...Just kidding. This and the photo below were taken near a city called Pai, where we went with Buddy for a Stone in Shoe business trip. Look at those mountains! Thailand really is a beautiful country.
Okay for real, though - here's our house!
We live in a small mooban (neighborhood) made of up mostly Thai people. Do to the immense language barrier, we haven't been able to get very friendly with the neighbors, but the people here seem very nice. They smile a lot, anyway. One interesting thing about this neighborhood (and most Thai neighborhoods) is all the DOGS! They run the place. There are at least two different "packs" and a barking fit can break out at any time, day or night. Crazy dogs.
Even still, we love our home. It's a great location, nice and quiet (except for the dogs, of course). We are fortunate to have incredibly kind landlords, as well. From the first time we met, they have been nothing but accommodating. They're a husband and wife duo, and they are wonderful. It's really a huge blessing as we've heard horror stories of farangs (foreigners) being taken advantage of by their landlords. We have had the polar opposite experience. The landlord even came by one day to pick up some furniture and mowed our lawn for us, just to be nice. Super nice. Here's a picture of us with them when we signed the lease:
Outside the home, we're getting adjusted as well! I'll post a few more pictures of "Thai life."
When we're not at the office or hanging out at home, we like to do all kinds of fun things here in Chiang Mai. There are plenty of nature hikes through nearby trails, waterfalls, and temples; there is a surprising number of top-class shopping malls; and the downtown scene is pretty fun, too.
Chiang Mai is a very old city, and when you go downtown, you can still see ruins of the ancient brick walls from the old city. What's fun is that surrounding these four walls is a square moat. Inside the moat are tons of bars, restaurants, shops, and hotels. There are always people from all over the world everywhere you look in the city. It's amazing how many different languages you'll hear when you're downtown for just an hour. One of the fun, touristy things about Chiang Mai is the markets. There's a craft-type market that goes on every day, there's a night bazaar that goes on every night, and there's a big market on Sunday evenings where about a mile of a big street closes down and is filled with small vendors and pedestrians. At these markets you can buy anything from grilled meat on a stick to notebooks to t-shirts to picture frames to crossbows to ...you name it, they have it.
We were really fortunate to have both my mom and Vince's parents visit us here in Chiang Mai for the holidays. It was a great time to relax, do the touristy things we never get around to doing, and try all the fancy restaurants we're too cheap to try on our own. ;) They were only able to stay for a few short days, but it was really fun having a family-style Christmas again (Alex and I were horrible at Christmas when it was just the two of us).
When my mom left to go back to Okinawa, she had to stop in Bangkok and invited us to go with her. Alex and I were able to spend a couple days exploring the nation's capitol. It was a great time! Bangkok is a great city if you're ever looking for a fun place to visit - all kinds of culture, history, and you wouldn't believe the shopping! Never in my life have I seen so many enormous malls. All you midwesterners - Bangkok malls puts even Woodfield to shame. Seriously. And dad, I know you won't believe me, but we didn't even buy anything! I think we were too overwhelmed by all the options. Maybe next time... I'll be ready.
This next photo's for Joe (my brother-in-law). Alex and I went to a pizza place and you'll never guess what they were showing on TV...
I promise we haven't been in Bangkok this whole time. I guess I just never take pictures of anything when we're here at home. I'll work on that.
In other news, I'm sure you've all been dying to hear about the kittens. Unfortunately, just a couple short days after moving into our home, Simba got sick. We took him to the vet, but he only lived another couple days. We're not sure what exactly was wrong, but he just stopped eating. I cried a lot. I still wish Nala had a playmate, but it was fun having Simba while we did. Nala, on the other hand, has always been a big eater, and she is getting HUGE! Almost full cat size, but just as cute and cuddly as ever. Her favorite past-times include sleeping, biting, cuddling, climbing up people or screen doors, and eating socks. I don't have any recent pictures of her on my computer, but if you want to see waaaay too many cat pictures, you should follow me or Alex (or both of us!) on our Instagram accounts:
me: http://instagram.com/jkrhode (or @jkrhode)
alex: http://instagram.com/wolf_rhino (or @wolf_rhino)
I've always been a cat person. Nala has converted Alex to the dark side. He'll deny it, but he loves her.
While things with Stone in Shoe slowed down a bit over the holidays, things are picking up again now that the new year is upon us. Buddy is back from traveling the world with his family, and Alex, Peter, and I are ready to get back to work. In case you don't recall, Stone in Shoe - Art That Irritates is the business we're trying to start. Our goal is to sell artwork that raises not only funding for anti-trafficking projects throughout Southeast Asia, but also raises awareness for the problem of human trafficking in general. Things are off to a slow start, but we really believe in the work we're doing. We're currently in the process of re-vamping our website and tweaking our approach, but we're really excited about this project. I can't wait to see where we are in six months or a year. Feel free to check out www.stoneinshoe.com to be the first to know when we re-launch! In the meantime, we also have a facebook, twitter, blog, and Google+ page we would love for you to check out!
Last, but most certainly not least, we have some exciting news! I actually think this won't be news to most of you, but just in case it is... WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!! I'm just now finally starting to look pregnant, but it still doesn't even feel real. I can't believe. I'm excited/nervous/grateful/overwhelmed/somanythingsatonce for this next chapter in our lives. I'm excited to see Alex as a dad. I know he'll be wonderful. I'm honored to be a parent with him. I just hope I can keep up! As of this past Wednesday I am 21 weeks along. Time flies like crazy.
We have an appointment this coming Tuesday where we'll get to find out if baby is a little he or a little she. I can't wait. We both feel like it's a boy, but I'll be honest... we've had some help "guessing." I'll let the video tell you the rest. :)
That crazy husband of mine. Never a dull moment with him, that's for sure.
Again, I am so sorry for the delay of this update. I've never been a good blogger, but I WILL work on it. Goal for 2014, I suppose.
Not that I'm very good at updating that one, either, but for anyone interested, I also have a personal blog here I post on from time to time. There's a recent post entitled "2013" giving a recap of our last year. Feel free to check it out, comment, share it, whatever.
As always, thank you so much for reading. Thank you so much for praying for us. For those of you able to financially support us, thank you so much for your support. We are truly humbled by and grateful for all of you.
We'd love to hear from you. Please please please feel free to leave a comment, or email us any time. Hope you're all doing well.
Much love,
Jess on behalf of the Sartores