Telunas, Indonesia

I'm in the middle of moving, sitting in the now empty living room of our apartment taking a break from cleaning. I probably should've hired someone to clean, but I felt kind of guilty hiring someone because there's really no good reason I can't clean my apartment myself (besides the fact that my swiffer got packed and loaded).  

Anyway, while the packers were wrapping away yesterday, I finally managed to get my pictures from our Easter weekend getaway up.  This year, we celebrated Easter at Telunas Beach, Indonesia.  I'd heard rave reviews of this retreat from many friends.  It's a small place with huts over the water, in the middle of nowhere.   There's no TV or internet there and you can only reach the place by boat.  This place is so remote, Google maps can't even find it.  

Fishing boats - we rode in one of these to Telunas


Welcome to Telunas - we were greeted with yummy fruity drinks

Our chalet


Walkway to the dining hut


Beautiful view of the sunset from our patio

In the mornings, they brought tea and coffee to our hut so we could enjoy it on the porch.

The first morning, we forgot to tell them what time to bring the coffee so Andy went out to get it for me.

What a great husband!

We signed up for a jungle trek on the second day and went with a group of Germans who were also living in Singapore.  We took a boat to a nearby island and cruised on one of the inlets to our starting point.  It was like a scene out of "The River", just without all that weird supernatural stuff.

Jumbu growing in the jungle - these are my favorite fruit!

We trekked 2 hours to a waterfall and went swimming in the pool.  The water was super cold, but it was so refreshing after 2 hours in the hot and humid jungle.

Andy taking a jump from the ledge into the pool.


Refreshed by our swim and ready to hike back!

The rest of the weekend, we enjoyed the activities the resort had to offer.

We kayaked to a nearby island and explored a little

Gorgeous beach


Enjoying the beautiful view

We also did some swimming.  The resort had a high dock that you could jump off at high tide.  Andy decided to jump.  It was about 6 meters high...I chickened out and just took photos

      

I did manage to jump off the low dock :-)

One of my favorite activities over the weekend was shrimping.  We caught shrimp the old fashioned way with these tools that were basically forks with long handles.  We were each given a headlamp and we walked along the shore after the sun set looking for little shrimp.  The shrimp's eyes would reflect the light from our headlamps making them more visible.  Once we tracked them down, we speared the shrimp with our forks.  Andy and I caught a total of 24 shrimp! Too bad they were too little to eat. 

It was a wonderful and restful weekend spent relaxing in nature.  It was definitely a great way to celebrate Easter and be reminded of the beauty and wonder of God's creation.  

Alrighty, guess I've taken a long enough break from cleaning.  Time to get back to wiping windows!  You can see the rest of my Telunas pics in this album.

Moving (again)!

      

Well, it's about time I made the official announcement seeing that I'll be on the move in one week (eeks!).  We'll be hanging up our expat statuses and are moving back to Houston!   I'm excited, but things are moving fast over here, and it's hard to say goodbye to friends, organize, and oh I forgot to mention, plan a trip to New Zealand before we leave.  Yeah, we're a little crazy.  

Next Friday, we're heading out to New Zealand for a last hurrah in the Eastern Hemisphere for awhile.  We'll be in New Zealand for two weeks, come back for a couple of days to take care of a couple of administrative things and then fly out for Houston on May 16.

It's been a bit of a whirlwind since we only found out about our move a month ago and received definite confirmation a couple of weeks ago.  Luckily, the company is moving us so I don't have to do much physical work for packing and loading, but of course I'm trying to do a little organizing since we'll most likely be downsizing and putting things in storage.  

Now you may be wondering, downsizing?  That means we're gonna be in an apartment - why not buy a house?  Well it looks like we may be returning to the East in a year or so.  Right now, the plan is to be in Houston for a year or so and then move to Shanghai.  Life is never dull over here!  Obviously things can change (just like how our Singapore assignment was cut short), so I'm just learning to trust God and His plan for us and take life one day at a time.

On top of all that, I've had to say goodbye to many of my friends this week since next week will just be crazy busy.  I've met so many interesting people and had so many great experiences in Singapore, it makes me sad to leave.  But, on the flip side, being back in the states means being closer to family, which is a big bonus.  

My Favorite Things: Chicago Edition

Alrighty, now for some of my favorites from the last leg of my trip - Chicago.  Amazingly, while I was there, it was 70 degrees and sunny in the middle of March (yes, that just shows you how behind my blogging is).  For me, it was perfect jeans and a long sleeved shirt weather, but for those cold-blooded Chicago-eans, it was tank top and shorts weather.  Guess I've acclimated to the hot weather in Singapore.  

While in Chicago, I got to hang out with a couple of my childhood best friends.  One of my friends has 4 wonderful kids, the youngest is only 6 months old (and the only boy).  It was my first time meeting this little cutie pie porker:

This cute face just melts my heart!

While Dad is at work we....go to the park and take pictures!

Mom and her cutie

Newly promoted big sister

Rocking the fauxhawk!

It's planting time!

Big girls photo shoot time

Sister love

She was pretending her plastic toy knife was a popsicle and refused to put it down for the pictures

This girl is getting so big!

Me and my girl

Here goes our portrait attempts

Almost got everyone looking at me and smiling....I'll take that

Fun on the grass

Of course, there was some crying.  I mean what kid really enjoys being 

forced to sit properly and smile for the camera over and over again.

And of course, when one cries...eventually everyone starts crying

But, with a few hugs and some tickling,

Everyone is happy again :-)

::edit:: I forgot to include a link to the rest of my Chicago pics so here it is!

My Favorite Things: Texas Edition

So, continuing on with my trip around the US, my second and third stops were in the great state of Texas.  First we went to Dallas and visited with my in-laws and got ready for my sister-in-law's big day.  Despite the dreary and cold weather, it was a great wedding at a beautiful country club.  Here are some pictures from the day:

Getting ready for the big moment!

Walking down the aisle

The Kiss

First dance with a couple of little crashers

Kids watching the father daughter dance

And if you remember in a previous post, I gave you a glimpse of the latest dress I made.  I got to debut the dress at the wedding!

Of course, no visit to Dallas is complete without my favorite canine - Beau the bulldog!

Andy and his mom

After our time in Dallas, we headed down to Houston to visit a few friends (mostly me) and do some work (Andy only).  I got to take a trip out to my old neighborhood and visit some "old" friends.

There were lots of silly pictures

There was also a chase around the living room as I tried to take pictures

     

One final self portrait of the bunch of us

While we were in Houston, we got to eat at our favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurant - Cafe Pita.  This place has the most amazing Bosnian food at even more amazing prices.

        

Cafe Pita - Guy Fieri featured it on his show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives (but we found it first!)

One of my favorite dishes - Stuffed Peppers

We also got to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary in Houston!  Andy took me to Mark's American Cuisine.  It's housed in an old church that has been converted to a restaurant.  

Interior of Mark's

Oysters

My ginormous lobster and shrimp plate - pretty sure my cholesterol was sky high after finishing this.

Can't believe we've been married for 6 years already!

As usual, my time in TX was too short, but I had Chicago to look forward to!  I'll save that for my next post.  The rest of my Dallas/Houston pics are posted in this album.