This 'N That: March 2012

I'm going to scream.

For real though.
If one more person gets engaged. I am going to lose it.
I just don't understand why I feel like such an old maid at NINETEEN years old.
Really people, it's OK to wait. It's OK to do something more than high school and then get married.
I mean, to each his own of course. And each situation is different.
But for real. Stop it. Stop getting engaged.

What the....

WARNING: Do not read this post if you are pregnant, or have a weak stomach. Or have blue eyes....or purple nails...or are wearing green. Nah, just kidding... you can read it if you are all of those things. But seriously, this post is probbbably TMI. So yeah, just know that I warned you.

Well folks.
I am 90% sure that I have a parasite and am going to die.

Or, maybe I am just a foolish hypocondriac.

But in any case,

the weirdest thing happened tonight.

And I'm going to go ahead and tell you just how weird it was.

So a few weeks ago my innards started hating me.

But this wasn't a big deal really, because at the time pretty much all of our innards were hating.
So, I just figured there was a bug, if anything, going around.

Anytime I ate dinner, 20ish minutes later my stomach screamed at me and threatened to punch me in the face. Or something like that. But alas, my stomach was full of empty threats because nothing ever happened. I just felt lousy for a few hours and then just went to bed.

Soon enough, that issue went away and I was able to eat my dinner in peace!

Until tonight.
Ate breakfast, toast. ---nothing.

Ate lunch, this macaroni dish that I don't really love but ate anyways--nothing.

Ate snack, Mangos and Rice which Shayla ate also---nothing.

Sipped on Raspberry Lemonade crystal light all day long---nothing.

Ate dinner, rice and soy sauce basically---nothing.

So, now that you've judged me for my eating habits from the day, let's move on.
After dinner, Shayla and I dinked around on the computer for hours.
Then I Skyped with the people that gave me life.
Then I decided I probably should shower. So I did that.
And it's a good thing today was not a hair-washing day, because the water shut off on me.
Then I came back in the room washed my face, talked to roomies for a moment.

And all of the sudden...

BAM.

Nausea. Disgusting I'm going to vomit any moment, nausea.

So naturally, I just thought I was hungry.
So, I ate some dry toast.

Nausea persists. I lay on the bed, still chatting with roomies, laughing and such things.

Suddenly, jaw gets really tight, mouth starts to water like fiend.

I'm up, and ~~running~~ walking briskly to the bathroom.

Yep,
I bet I don't even need to tell you what happened next.

But I will anyway.
I totally vomited my toast!

All that discomfort for a tiny bit of stomach contents.

I just don't get it.

Like a big girl, I picked myself up off the floor,

and went back in my room laughing as I told the girls that I was just sick.

Yet my demeanor was totally fine! Chipper, even.
Marci literally sat up from her bed she was so astonished,

And Angee from her almost slumber!

I am aware I just blogged a whole blog about my vomit.
But seriously, what the......
this all happened literally within 15 minutes.

You can't tell me that days and day of nausea from dinner producing nothing,
and then 15 minutes of who the heck knows what producing not much either.
Is not from some brain sucking, intestine dwelling parasite.
I'm as good as gone I tell ya!

Oh, Hi.

Note to self...NEVER Google, "Parasite" on a quesy stomach. Oh. My. Gosh.

435

As I near the end here in Thailand, it's quite hard not to think of home. As much as I hate to admit it--I try to push all thoughts of home, what it's like, the people there and how excited I am to see them...as far from my mind as possible. I want to enjoy my last 36 (Oh my gosh...how sad) days here and not spend it thinking of home. But you know what, I just can't do it anymore! I LOVE Thailand, and the thought of leaving here is literally heart-breaking. But the thought of Home and everything that comes with it is oh-so welcoming. And i'm okay with that.

I love that the freeway runs directly through St. George, thus, taking 5-10 minutes to get anywhere. Unless you are my best friend, and are terrified to take the freeway.
I miss living 5 minutes from my best friend. The girls here have become four of my very best friends and I have a feeling we will be friends for a long time. However, there is just something about your best friend that you just can't live without ya know!
Menchies. I'm just going to come out and say it that I, Kaitlen, miss Menchies and all of it's frozen goodness.
I love monsoon season at home. Seriously, my very favorite season of the seasons. The other day, I walked into the bathroom downstairs at the school...and it smelled like poop. Poop and rain kind of, and it was a little dark in there...so it reminded me of monsoon season at home and I could literally feel my heart strings tugging with yearning for monsoon season. Yeah, Idunno why the faint smell of poop reminds me of that...it just does, okay?
I miss my car. I'm pretty sure I was cursing his name before I left because unlimited things went wrong with him before I left, and he got me my first ticket--(yeah, totally his fault for not stopping at that stupid stop-sign) but alas, he is a great little car. And I miss just driving to and fro blasting my music and sometimes even paying attention to the road.
I love downtown. Sure, the city put the most ridiculous and expensive carousel in the park to attract, idunno? Tourists? And yes, we all make fun of it. But really, it's charming and cute and down town is always a good place to be. I wonder how many cities can say that about their "downtown."
There are four families that live in this town that I happen to adore. As luck would have it, they even happen to be my family! Enough said really, I love St. George because not all, but lots of the people that I love, inhabit that area.
St. George is awesome because it's two hours from basically anything. Less time even! I love random trips to Zion, or Cedar, or Vegas or Kanab.
I miss the community. Maybe it's cause I just watched Varsity Blues...but whatever the reason, you can't beat the community! Tight knit..but not to the point where everybody is up in errbodies busssinesss. Sheltered but still pretty diverse. Big enough, but not too big. Couldn't have asked for a better place to grow up.
I could make this post last forever because it's clear that I love St. George wayy more than I thought I did. But I'm getting antsy, and I need to shower. Perhaps though, one of the things I miss most about my little St. George, is the big white reminder in the middle of the city, to just... do good. I miss my temple! We always joked that it was annoying because you can see it from pretty much anywhere in St. George...Including makeout hill. (Not that I ever went up there...sorry mom!) But seriously, it's funny how you realize how much you take things like that for granted when you don't have them. It's funny how you realize, just how much you need that little reminder.

If there were an "I <3 STG" T-shirt right, you bet i'd be wearing it right meow.

Meet the Roomies: Angee

Everybody meet Angee.
She's basically Six feet of amazing model-ness.
Seriously people, she's gorgeous and we all kind of hate her for making us always look like slobs.

Angee is one of the kindest people I have literally ever met.
She's always so willing to help, and very motherly.
It's true, she keeps us in line.

Angee is a perfect example of being true to yourself.
She's 100 % committed to her beliefs and she's not going to change that for anybody.
I know right? Beautiful inside and out. These people do exist.
You just can't make this stuff up I tell ya!

She's also hilarious.
She doesn't know it. But she definitely gives us some of the greatest laughs.
Her one-liners? Priceless.
She's patient with her three crazy "flat-mates" as we stay up far too late.
Laugh over the stupidest youtube videos ever so obnoxiously, and constantly interrupt her stories.

Also, she informed us the other night of this bit of golden info:
Since 2009 Angee has never skipped a day of BOM reading!
That people, is something to be proud of.
Love you Angela!

''Freakin Kip!"

Last week, we were summoned to Laos to renew our Visas so that we would not be kicked out of Thailand by the hairs of our chinny-chin-chins. While grateful for the lovely mini-cation and visa renewal....one thing is for sure, we could have done without the 'freakin kip.'

I feel like....we should give Laos credit for creating thee most complex and confusing money system literally, in the ENTIRE WORLD. Let me tell you why:

Kip does not come in anything smaller than a $1000 dollar bill. Really? $1000 is your lowest bill Laos? I find this a bit unneccisary.
When in Laos, sure they will take your Baht...but this requires conversions quickly in your head. 30 baht=1 USD....250 kip = 1 baht...1 baht= point something USD....7,000 kip=1 USD. See, i'm telling you, all sorts of confusing.
When asking somebody in Laos how much something is they simply reply "40" or "20" or "60" so you're thinking "Aww yeah so cheap!" Until you get up to pay and realize that they were saying 60,000 kip but were just to lazy to say the rest of the number. Fools.

So there you have it ladies and gentleman. Laos kip is the literal worst and you should avoid it at all costs if at all possible. Or at least have a calculator handy..

However,

Other than our Kip difficulties, we had a glorious time in Laos.
Such a relaxing little mini-cation and much different from our fast paced Chiang Mai trips.

The vacation started off like this.
After 6 hours of thee most terrifying van ride of our lives. And little to no sleep..
we passed out for a good couple hours before beginning our day.

Angee, Marci and myself decided to skip the massage Shayla and Dianna were participating in, and headed off to a Laos water park for the day! Despite our dissappointment upon arrival, and trying out the lazy river...which we quickly discovered was not working after the bottom was slimy and some Laos man shouted at us to "GET. OOUTT." we had a great time playing on the slides, playing some sort of ball game with 12 year old Laos boys and basking in the sunshine.

Okay, so this picture doesn't look that appetizing.
Annnddd this picture may in fact be nothing I ate, but what Shayla ate.
The point here, is that we at a lot of "normal" food. No rice for these girls this weekend!

Hooray!

Eventually we ended up here at the River Market thing-a-ma-jig.
Yeah, I teach English.
Anyways, it was fun! Lots of cool vendors and souvineers bought.
And I may or may not have bough the sweetest Shirley Temple shirt evvver here.

We could not document this part of our trip..
BUT it's important to know that we spent 23894327 hours at the embassy renewing our visas.

Okay, so it was maybe 2 hours. But man, it felt like forever.
Only to come back the next day for some more sunny lines, disgusting men, and obnoxious Russians. Sorry Russians, but seriously...a girls go to let it out every now and then.

We spent some time after the embassy (after a lonnng and heavenly nap of course)

exploring Laos by foot! We saw this pretty sweet Arch thing by the Capitol?
And then enjoyed some more souvineer shopping, eating and walking.
Twas a good day.

Of course we once again took advantage of the American food at our finger tips.
Or, the "Western Menu" if you whill...
Again, we devoured the most delicious milk shakes ever invented.
And experienced thee single best veggie burger known to man.

You may think I am exaggerating here.. There is no exageration here people! Food was delish.

We explored Laos some more that night by finding this nifty little fountain/monument thing.
Took some adorable pictures of ourselves...clearly.
And once again ended up at the River Market.
Laos treated us well and we loved our time spent there.
Country #2...check!
....now if only we could figure out a way to get around the freakin Kip...

Chiang Mai--Round Two!

We liked Chiang Mai so much,

we decided to go back for some more fun.

Ah Chiang Mai...

The place where time literally stops.

And far too much money is spent.

Bliss.

As usual, our bus rolled into Chiang Mai around 6am, we headed to our hostel, checked in, ate breakfast, And freshened up. This time, instead of elephants...it was Tigers!

Though the Tigers were a wee lazy and possible drugged? It was a blast! It was amazing to see how massive these animals are. But oh-so playful! A little nerve-wracking? Yes. Once in a lifetime? Absolutely.

Along the way we picked up a friend! This here is Nathan. He was on our bus with us and asked our opinion on a hostel once we arrived in Chaing Mai. He ended up staying at the one we were at, and hanging out with us for a good portion of the day. Fun to meet fellow travelers! And "foreigners"....though he is only from Canada. ;)

After tigers, we hit up a little local food place for some lunch.

Dianna (the shortest of the bunch) somehow ended up in the shortest seat at the table.

Thus looking reallll special for the remainder of our meal. Hilarious.

Not really sure what to do with the rest of our day in Chiang Mai...we did what any sane tourist would do... rented scooters for the day! You really can't beat $7 for 24 hours of pure joy. Suuuure it took us about an hour and two near death experiences to get used to driving on the wrong side of the road, crazy drivers, touchy breaks and even touchy-er gas...but get the hang of it we did, and from there there was no stopping us!

We decided to head up to the mountains that surround Chiang Mai and ended up driving through them for about two hours. Seriously, one of the COOLEST things I have ever done. One of those moments where you're just completely in awe that this is really happening, and that this is your life.

I feel like I have a lot of moments like that here.

One of my favorite moments with our scooters was Saturday night. A few of us took the scoot-scoots out for a little night drive around Chiang Mai. Awesome. There was just something about being out at night, not sweating your brains out, stopping at all of the little night markets, and seeing all of the lights and tourists of Chiang Mai that was seriously unforgettable.

While in Thailand, I've developed this obsession with taking pictures of my feet wherever we go.

Why wouldn't I want to document everywhere my feet have been in this country?!
So here they are--my tootsies in the mountains of Chiang Mai.

After our drive up the mountains, we scooted our way to this little Mexican restaurant we had scouted out earlier in the day--"Miguels." Let me just tell you, this place was heaven sent. All of us ordered massive burritos and probably devoured them faster than any human has ever devoured a burrito before in their life. Beans and cheese and a whole lot of enchilada sauce was enough to make five American girls very, very happy and content for the next 24 hours. We are a bit ashamed to say that this meal was probably one of our very favorites since being in Thailand. Shhh.... not that we don't love congealed duck blood....

We spent some time visiting some more Thai temples.

Honestly, I feel like we are visiting the same temple over and over again.

They are all soo similar. Like fireworks right?

Once you've seen one...you've seen em' all!
....still working on being cultured here, people.

Did some shopping of course. Did a lot of shopping in fact.

But most the time just felt like doing what this lady here is doing--napping ever so happily.

And of course, road some Tuk-Tuks.

Chiang Mai..

You did it again.

You managed to steal our hearts and our money.

Can't wait to see what Round Three has in store for us!

P.S...If there had been a "Soundtrack to my life" for this weekend.
This would have been the song. So addicting. Cannot. Stop. Listening.
Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxH5dAfgBFA

I'm still crazy!

It's been really far to long since I've blogged about a subject very dear to my heart.

You see, as you well know.

Unless you are new to this blog.

About 17 months ago I sent a boy who I'm quite crazy about off to a different country for two years.

He's been over there doing all sorts of cool things.

Getting hexed. Warding off beautiful Brazilians. Working tirelessly to be one heck of a missionary.

Dealing with interesting companions. Climbing trees. Baptizing like a mad man.

Becoming senior companion within six months of his mission. And Zone leader just after a year.

All the while, looking so good doing it.

Soo...
I think I've missed blogging about months 15, 16, and 17.

Forgive me. There's been a lot going on, okay?

But I just want you all to know.

I'm still crazy about that boy in Brazil!

Things are better than ever. He's working like a mad man. And supporting me in all my decisions.

EVEN if that means possibly being in China instead of the USA when he comes home....Ssshh...

And I'm loving my time here in Thailand. Grateful for his constant love, support and patience with me.

Blown away that in just under 7 months, that boy will be HOME.

Keep up the good work Cameron Dale.

So insanely proud of you.

Love you Unlimited!
Yens.

* Please note, I would attach a picture of said missionary boy at the bottom of this post. But alas, he is the worst picture-sender-homer EVER and I don't get pictures unless I beg for them for weeks before hand.----I'll start begging.*

Things Thailand Volunteers Say--Part Two

"I hope there are no spiders in my shoes again today..."

"Dang it! There is gecko poop on my bed, AGAIN."

"Does the shower shelf fall down on anybody else?"

"Who wants toast?!"

KONY 2012

After a day of sight-seeing, shopping, hiking and waterfall swimming in Thailand, it's hard not to take a step back and think HOLY COW I AM LITERALLY THE LUCKIEST PERSON ON THIS PLANET. Seriously, today was one of those days where your heart feels like it will burst right out of your chest because you feel so blessed and down right happy.

Then we came home, locked our doors, changed out of our wet clothes, took a shower, ate some food and lounged around. In peace. Then we watched this video. Are you kidding me right now? What an incredible world we live in where this is a possibility! Where technology and a little organization can put a stop to over 20 years of kidnapping, sex slavery and killing. Immediately I was humbled. Sometimes it's easy to take a step back and remember how blessed we are. And sometimes it's a lot harder to take a step back and realize how unfortunate others are.

So here is my soap box, telling you to take 30 minutes out of your day and WATCH THIS VIDEO. You don't have to donate, you don't have to repost...but at least you will be aware that this is really happening. Stuff like this really does happen. And we can do something to make a difference in the life of others. We can get the word out there, we can raise awareness, we can bring it to the attention of our leaders. We can keep them in our prayers.

I think this is a cause we can all agree on.

Twrue Wuv.

This last weekend was perhaps one of the coolest of my life.
Ake decided he liked it...so he put a ring on it!
Tang and Ake are now officially wed.
And let me tell you, there is nothing like a Thai wedding to make you incredibly wedding hungry.
Yikes. All in good time Kaitlen, alllll in good time.
But anywhoo. It was awesome and I loved every minute of it!
Yes, even the part where we were trapped upstairs for 3 hours waiting to get our makeup done.
And creating stories of bean burritos and quivering chins to pass the time. Hilarious.