Sunday, December 6, 2009

Not Me Sunday's

Well I have taken this idea from my friends blog.  I always love reading her Not Me Monday's and it gives me inspiration so I thought I would try out Not me Sunday's since that is the beginning of our week.....

Well.
1. I did not bake 10 dozen cookies with my friends and try to decorate them all in about 3 hours
2. I did not run 8 miles and think it was fun
3. I do  not have a husband that shows his emotions about life to other people, and he does not inspire me to be a much better person every day!
4. I did not teach 6,7,8 graders about music today and did not have one of the best days ever.
5. I did not try out 4 different dinner recipes last week and have success with all of them....according to Norris.
6. I did not stay out all weekend past my bed time and regret it this morning when I had to go to school.
7. I did not go out and buy a new treadmill so that we can run at home and not worry about trying to fit it all in at school.
8. I did not receive my visa to get into India which leaves in 12 days.
9. I was not so tired and lazy today Norris and I ate veggies and sandwiches for dinner.

I am so happy that I have a husband that shares his emotions with everyone.  He is such a sensitive guy that Loves me and My Father.  I love when he is playing his guitar and leading us all into a better place!  I love him even more at that moment...How blessed I feel!

Oh what a beginning to the week!  But only 2 more weeks/13 more days before INDIA!!!!!!

Monday, November 30, 2009

Grad School and Thanksgiving!

Well,
    We have had a fun start to fall/winter here...  Norris has been accepted to Grad School at Creighton University in Omaha Nebraska!  We are super excited!!!!!  He will begin it right after Christmas and graduate summer 2011!  Now the program has a very long title that I never seem to get correct but it is something he is going to be very good at!  It has to do with stopping conflict between different people and international relations!  He is super excited about it and so am I.

We had a great Holiday weekend.  We had our 3rd Thanksgiving this weekend and filled our stomachs once again!  We were invited to a celebrate with some other Americans and the food was wonderful!  They have been here for a while and they had some wonderful Egyptian spins on Thanksgiving Dinner!  One thing they did that I can't wait to get the recipe for was rice for the stuffing!  IT WAS WONDERFUL!!!!!  I had never had brown rice stuffing before but I never want to go back to normal stuffing again!  It was sooooo good!  We also had some eggplant dishes that were phenomenal and of course wonderful conversations!

It is great to have conversations with people from all over the world!  It is fun to hear different perspectives on things!  Having never left the US until a year ago I have a lot to learn about the world!  It has been fun traveling it and picking up different traditions from other people!  I hope these are traditions that we will continue to carry with us for the rest of our lives!
Two days after Thanksgiving Norris and I decided to throw a party!  We love throwing parties!  We had some friends over that did not travel for the EID.  We made some Fo-Mexican and played some games!  We learned this new game called QUELF!  If you have not played it you must buy it!  It is sooooo random and stupid and hilarious and fun!  There was one point that Norris had to build a fort and hide in it until his next turn.  Right after that I had to hide under the table and be a cat and there was singing and dancing and all sorts of craziness!!!!  It is like the "office" with the amount of randomness that it has!!!!  But when you are playing with fun people then it doesn't matter how silly you look!!!!!!

I give Thanks to the Big Man all the time for allowing us to come back!  We are so grateful that we can grow in friendships with our friends at AIS and HCC!!  They are so wonderful and they make us feel so welcome!  I can't imagine how different our lives will be because we have spent time here!  We will forever be changed for good.........    

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Thanksgiving

Well this year we are going to get to have three Thanksgivings!  It is so much fun to eat tons of Thanksgiving food in a place that we never really thought we could!  It is great to hangout with so many different people and enjoy good dessert!!!!!!  I think that is the best part, the apple pie and pumpkin pie all with Ice Cream and whipped cream!!!! YUMMMMM......
Well I thought I would make a quick list of some of the different things I am thankful for this Year:

 GOD
 A great Husband
 Wonderful Friends
 Great New Friends
 Good Jobs
 Great Family
 Great In Laws
 Wonderful Country to live in
 Opportunity to travel the world
 Fun times playing and singing with my husband
 Wonderful Friday Mornings

These are just some of the things that have come to my head!  It is great to be reminded of all the things that happen during the year and throughout your life!  Try it.......

Sunday, November 8, 2009

An evening with the Hams!

So I just thought that I would like to share what an evening looks like through the eyes of the Hams!  We do not get to see many of you often so we do not get to share with you the rituals we have begun since our marriage over 4 years ago!  WOW I can't believe it has been 4 years!!!!
Well we have really gotten into running lately!  I guess for the past year and a half we have run almost every night after a day of teaching!  After we get home we sit down and decided what we would like to eat.....veggies with rice or veggies with noodles!!!!!  Then when we finally decided which one we want more Norris measures out the water and I begin cutting the veggies!  I have found that over the last 3 years I have grown to LOVE the evening dinner meals with Norris!  It is so great that he is so willing to help me!  We have about 30-40 minutes with no interruptions (except for cuts on the hands and boiling over noodles!!!!!!!!!)  It is great to just have time to really talk with each other, because if you have ever eaten with Norris you know there will not be much talking once he gets the food!!!!  I LOVE IT!  Well after we finish cooking we decide which movie we are going to watch!  usually we just have it on as background noise because we usually need to veg. out after the long day with the students!  I never knew how exhausting teaching could be!!!  Then after we have talked for a while we either head out for a walk or we curl up in bed  say our prayers and are out for the night!!!  I have to say I love these little traditions we have made with with each other!  It is soooo wonderful to be connected to someone in such a real and personal way!

I was thinking the other day that we should have a Husband appreciation day!!  You know just to say thank you for them trying to read our minds but failing because we never just tell them!  Buying chocolate for us and then us getting mad at them for doing something so sweet but we are trying to be on a diet!!!!  Having them buy flowers for us but having no vase to put it in!  Dealing with us when we cry for just NO REASON!!!  Dealing with us when we just want to be petty and depressed!!!!!!!!!!!  Yes I do think we need to have a husband appreciation day!  They are just the best!!!  I LOVE YOU NORRIS!!!!!!

Saturday, November 7, 2009

October through words!

Well it was quite a busy month this month.  Having a full time teaching job has been crazy!  Trying to clean the apartment with all the nasty dust has been a full time job of it's own!!!
       Well things I have tried to accomplish this month:
                1. clean the apartment more often
                2. cook more meals for dinner
                3. talk with friends from back home
                4. keep up with plans for my students
Well they have not been the largest goals but it has been fun to try these things!  I did ok with number 3 talking to my friends!!!!!!!!  The cleaning has definitely taken last place!!!!!!  Oh well there is always another day another week to do that better!!!  I have enjoyed trying out new recipes some times!!  I tried to make dirt cake a week ago and it was disastrous!!!  I forgot that I did not have instant pudding and the only type of pudding they had was strawberry......it was quite interesting!  Also we do not have cool whip we have to use whipping cream and whip it ourselves!!!!  It is really good though but the dessert as a whole was not quite a success!!!  Oh well we can try it again a different day!!!
We had a great time celebrating Norris's birthday and then we went to a night at the ballet!  It was the most interesting ballet ever!!  I felt bad for the Juliet!  She was almost dropped 3 times by Romeo!  We thought there might be an early death scene but they did make it to the end!  Our favorite people to watch on the stage were the ones in the back that never danced!!!!!  They just stood there and waved their arms about!  I thought Norris was going to loose it in the middle of the show!  There was a visiting lady from England, and I am not sure she has been here for too long!  She had been here long enough to be frustrated but not accustomed to the culture and the talking and cell phone use that happens here!  In the middle of the second act she turned around and LOST it on a row of young people!  They still did not stop talking but I think it made the lady feel better!  As we say here..."It is always an adventure"  "Why ask why"!!!!!!!  

October through pictures!

Norris's 27th Birthday!The Ballet "Romeo and Juliet"Canadian Thanksgiving!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Seasons of Change

Well as Norris and I were walking to our bus stop the other morning we noticed that the seasons were starting to change.  It was quite cool and we were reminded of the wonderful fall changes in the states.  It was always so much fun to see leaves change up in Petoskey.  It was like a rust colored rainbow!  It was so beautiful.  Well we did notice that afternoon that times might not be changing as drastically as we thought.  That afternoon it was about 100 degrees.  It is strange to us though that it is almost November.  The year has been so short and it feels to us that it should only be the beginning of September not the middle of October.  We are getting very excited for Thanksgiving though.  It is getting so close!  I can't believe that it is going to be here in about 6 weeks!!!

well there has been quite some craziness this week at school......
first- we have been getting late to school for the last two weeks because of some construction so....with much debate with the school we were finally aloud to leave 15 minutes early.....Yeah for the furst time on Thursday I got to school before classes started!!!
second- because of this new change in time my friend was a little late in the morning....so in her hurry to catch the bus she fell from her high heels and tore a ligiment in her ankle.  It was the worst she is now in a HUGE cast on her leg and I know that it has to be sooooooo uncomfortable
third- After many doys of not being able to use the air conditioning at the school they have finally approved that we can use it again!  Yeah....soooooo starting on Sunday our kids will actually be able to focus and not be soooooooo hot!!!!  Still hot but not soooooooooooo hot!
fourth- we like to have potlucks with the teachers at the school and we had one last night!  On the way home from that another one of our friends fell and sprained her ankle!!!  We think there might be a curse on our ankles!

Other than that it was a pretty normal week!!!!!  Hope yours was too!!!!! 

Sunday, October 11, 2009

training

Well as some of you know Norris and I are planing on running a marathon in February. Well as we noticed today that only gives us about 4 months to run it!!  that is not long!  I have been struggling to get back into the grove of running since my half.  I love running but i feel that I can't get past the 3 mile mark!  I ran 4 the other day and today I did 3 1/2 but I just keep feeling like I am not going to make it past 4!!!!  I am sure it will but man it is getting tough!  I hope that in the next couple of months I will be able to add some miles on!!!

It would help if I was able to sleep at night!!!  The airport is doing some construction on one of the run ways and the planes are going right over our house!  I am going crazy!  As you know I don't like planes and to have them going over the apartment every 5 minutes I think I am going to go crazy!  Oh well!  it is just when I wake up in the middle of the night thinking a plane is crashing in my building it is tough!  Oh well!!!!!  Life goes on!  We really love it here so much!  We are so glad we came back!  Everyday we are reminded of why we came back.  It is such a blessing to be in his will!!  At least we try!  We are searching for it everyday and I guess that is all we really can do!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

"The Office"

Well, yesterday I threw Norris a birthday party all themed from the office!  It was pretty fun!  We had a great time gathering with friends.  We did a traveling party.  We began in the reception area of the office then we moved to the conference room.  We had some pizza and enjoyed some charades.  I think I made them a little to difficult but I think people had fun!  After pizza we came to the Annex and sang happy birthday and had some cake!  The cake was very good made by one of our best friends!!  She is a great cook!
      I think the best part about the evening was the "That's what she said" skit they had to do!  We have everyone in teams and they had to come up with a skit that ended with "that's what she said"!  We were laughing so hard!  There was this one skit and they were pretending to be Norris teaching and I thought I was going to die!  Scott nailed the impression of Norris and he has never even seen him teach!  It was awesome!   

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Norris' 27th Birthday!

Well last Friday Norris turned 3 times 9 as he calls it OR 27!  I can't believe it!  We are getting so old!!!  Just kidding!  We feel so blessed to have these 27 years of life and plus the last 8 together have been even better!!!  I can't begin to imagine my life with out him!  I guess that is a great thing!!!!  We have big plans for his birthday this Friday!  It should be fun!  If you are in the area swing by!!!  We are going to party office style!!!!  For his real birthday we had the time of our lives!  We had church in the morning and again that night!  We had a rocking time!  What better way to spend a birthday but at Church!!!  I can't think of one!!!!

Well I did cut my hair!  I liked the length of it but I did not really like the style so.....I decided to be assertive and go back the next day and have them fix it!  I SHOULD KNOW BETTER!!!  Now it is even worse!  I do not really like it but the great thing is IT IS HAIR!!  It will grow back and now I know not to go back to that place!  Live and Learn I guess!!!

The school year has finally started!  I think it is going to be a good year!  I am going to love Middle School way better than High School!  They are so cute!  Especially my little 6th graders!  Now if they would just talk a little!  I guess that is not a bad thing!!!  I am sure after a couple weeks I will be begging for them to be quite!!!  I hope we can have a smoother year as we go than what we started with!  The only thing that is hard to swallow for me is the fact that we can't have air conditioning!  It is about 90-95 degrees and it would be nice to have air!  I am not sure if my kids will be able to stay awake if they can't have air after lunch!!!!!  As a matter of fact I am not sure if I will be able to stay awake!!!  Oh well there are worse things in life than not having air!!!!

2 tim 3:16

Sunday, September 27, 2009

To Cut or not to Cut?!?!?

Well I think I might take the plunge and get quite a hair cut tomorrow!!!

I have been able to meet some new and amazing people lately through the church and it is fun to have some couples to hang out with.  Well I have meet a girls who wants to get her hair done and I offered to show her around and I need to get a hair cut so I think I might take the plunge and get it chopped off!!!!!!  I am not sure if I will be able to have the courage when I get there but it still will be shorter that it has been in about 6 years!!!   We shall see tomorrow!!!!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Thoughts for the day!

So Norris and I were talking yesterday about our plans and life in general.  We are talking about getting out of school housing and getting our own apartment.  This made us think for a few minutes about all of our apartments.  We have lived in 5 apartments in 4 years.  Although this one we have lived in twice!  Well if we do live in a new apartment it would be 5 different apartments in 4 years!  I think we like change!  I think if this is any indication about the rest of our lives we are in for a fun ride!!!!!  Anyway we are looking forward to things in our future but oh my what are they going to be?!?!?!  Oh well I guess we will find when it happens!!!  I guess we will find out when we need to know!  I wish we could plan it all out right now and know what is going to happen but I guess that really can't be the case!  Someday we will know and some day we will be able to settle down and have the house with the picket fence and  rose garden and little kiddies runny around our ankles!    SOMEDAY!

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Very Expensive Banana's

Well Norris and I are back in Cairo and we still have not started school!  Not until the 3rd of October now!  No worry to us we are enjoying the time to spend together.  It is getting a little boring at times but we have had plenty of things to keep us busy!  We have been doing our Tae Bo and taking walks and going to the store before they all close for the three day Eid!
Today we decided to walk to Korba (about a 30 minute walk from our house) and go the the starbucks in the neighborhood!  It was a great day for a walk.  There actually were clouds and a little bit of a nice breeze!  Fall is definitely upon us!  Well we went to starbucks so Norris could do some planning and I could read the 4th Harry Potter book!  Yes sadly we have become obsessed with these books and movies!  They are cute plot lines with great friends and fun adventures!  Anyway....after we had our nice cold drinks and enough reading and planning we decided to run to the near by Metro Market and get some water and a couple other things....(SODA!)  Well while we were there we decided to get some fruit because sometimes they can have a better selection of fruit then our place.  We picked up some mango's, peaches, and bananas.  A couple of Sodas and water and we were good to go!  We got up to the counter and the lady said it was 175 pounds.  WHAT!  That is like $40 dollars and there is no way it should be even close to that!  Well we were not really paying attention so we gave her a hundred because maybe we heard her wrong.  But sure enough she asked for another hundred.  Well we gave it to her because it is quite difficult to get into a discussion with people and the language barrier!  Well I looked at the receipt to see if I could read it and to my surprise it was in English and I read IMPORTED DOLE BANANA'S 104 pounds!  WHAT $20 dollars for banana's!  Well Norris and I started laughing!  There was nothing we could do we had already bought them and taking things back does not qutie work very well especially produce!!!!  Apparently Norris did not know he was feeling home sick for some Florida Banana's!  We were laughing so hard the lady thought we were crazy!  But Norris felt so silly!!!  Good for me though because now I can get a special treat for our apartment!!!!!!!!!  What a funny day!  No dullness around here!!!!  Those better be some GOOD banana's!!!!!!! 

Monday, September 14, 2009

Elephants!

Well the last couple of days in Chiang Mai have been pretty awesome.  We flew like monkeys at the flight of the Gibbon.  That was really neat.  It was different Zip lines we went on all across the rain forest stuff.  It was not quite what we thought it was going to be but we did enjoy it!  Then we went on this trek up a mountain to a waterfall and it was breathtaking!  I love waterfalls and they have plenty for us here in Chiang Mai.  I think the best waterfall we saw was the one at the National Park.  It was the biggest waterfall I have ever seen.  Now I have not been to Niagra Falls but it was pretty cool!  There was definitely no swimming here because it was way to fast and strong.
We have meet some really cool people on our outings.  This is the low season so there are not many people around.  That has been good and bad.  It has been good because there have not been to many people on our tours so we can have a little more fun getting to know them.  When we did our trek to the waterfall we were with one other couple and they were so cute!  They had just gotten married and they were on their honeymoon!  They were Irish but they lived in Australia.  We went whitewater rafting and it was crazy!  Never really thought I would do it but I am glad we did!  Then today was the best day of all!  We got to spend an intire day with the elephants.  It was AWESOME!  We each got our own elephant and we bathed it, feed it, rode it, swam with it, oh yes and checked its poo!!!!  We needed to see if our elephant was healthy!  MINE WAS.....very wet poo!!!!  I think the best was swimming in the waterfall with him!  I will not be able to spell the name right but it was something like Puchong.  He was so cute!
Puchong was about 7 years old and he was quite rambunctious!  He waned to eat everyone elses food!!!  He thought the grass looked greener on the other side!!!!  I loved him!  I think I liked his tongue the best!!!!  He would suck my hand in his mouth when I gave him a snack and he was sooooooo cute!!!  I won the best elephant prize and it was a big kiss from my elephant!!!
We went on this long trek through the jungle and it was down pouring!  It made it sooooooooo much fun!  Norris kept saying he felt like we were in Swiss Family Robinson!!!  It really did feel that way too!!  Any moment I just knew we were going to see an Ostrich run by!!!!!  The rain did make it challenging though for our elephants!  It was very slippery but they made it just fine!  My was the youngest and he kept trying to get in the front!  He wanted to go very fast!!!  Norris elephant was soooooooo cute!  She was older and fatter and was NEVER full!  She ate the entire time!  Every step she took was only to find more food!!!  Every time I turned around I could hear her crunching on some new bamboo or sugar cane!!!  She was adorable!  We learned many words to help our elephant but I am sure they did not really listen until their trainer said it!  At least mine anyway!!!!!  Any time he saw his trainer coming he got very excited and wagged his tail and ears almost like a dog!  It was very cute!!!
Just a couple more days and then back to Egypt.  It has been nice to get a little change of scenery before we hunker down for a long year of teaching!!  We feel so blessed that we were able to come back to Thailand!  We really do love it here!!!! 

Friday, September 11, 2009

Chiang Mai

well it has been a great start to our Chiang Mai trip.  We have only had rain once and it lasted for about 20 minutes and it was while we were hiking to the waterfall.  The only sad part about the rain was that we could not take our camera up to the waterfall.  We have been able to see some amazing things!  The Lord is so good to us. 
So far we have been able to see the Zoo which was awesome!  I have never seen panda's before and they were soooooo cute!  then we went to a couple temples so that was fun....  I think so far the Zoo and the treking we did today has been our favorite!  The Zoo was great because there were so many different animals, from Panda's to Monkey's to deer.  We did not look to long at the deer seeing how we see them all the time in Michigan and Indiana.  I also got to see the Koala's.  They were sooooo cute!  I really do like the Zoo's!  It would be a great place to take kids to also becuase there were all sorts of placed they could play.  May favorite was the snow globe.  The Thai people were very excited that you could go in the globe and play with snow!  We decided that we did not need to do that...we see it enough!! 
Today we went hiking through the jungle.  It was pretty awesome!  We climbed right through the river and it was beautiful!  We thought the waterfall was amazing.  It rained on our way up to the waterfall but it was incredible!  We loved it!  We also went to an Orchard farm and butterfly farm!  We saw somw amazing butterflies.  They were huge and they were sooooo colorful!  The orchards were really nice but I am sure if we had been there during the summer or spring it would have been breath taking! 
Our hotel is awesome!  We are the only ones staying here right now!  The joy of the low season!  They are a wonderful family that takes care of us very well!!!  They do everything we could possibly need.  We have a great pool and they are the best cooks ever!!!!!  We can't get enough Pad Thai and Chicken Parcels!  They are sooo good.  Oh and the spring rolls we eat with every meal!  I will say they are not as good as aunt Doy's but even I know better than to wish for that!!!! 

Monday, August 31, 2009

Running Again!!!!

Well I have decided that I am going to run a full marathon this year. Last year I ran a half marathon and it was crazy hard! I am glad I did it and I am not sure why I feel inspired to run a full one but it has been a dream for about 5 years so I figure I better get my act together!

So today was the start of the training. IT WAS BAD. I think it was the most polluted day we have had here in Cairo! What Luck! Oh well I was still able to do some! It was not as long as I wanted to but when it gets cooler outside it will get easier! It is nice though because Norris is training too and so are some of my closest friends here! We are going to either run one during the easter break or we are going to meet somewhere to run it this summer!!! OR MAYBE BOTH! I hope both! I figure if I am going to train I might as well do as many as I can to just get it over with!!!!!! No I really like running. I know it is strange to hear, if you know me at all! It is a great time to have some ALONE time! I really enjoy that time to just listen! I am not a good listener but I can try to listen then!!!!

More to come as the training continues!!! Oh and Plus I get to go to the pyramids tomorrow!!! I LOVE THIS JOB!!!

Friday, August 28, 2009

HOME

Well we made it back to Egypt! We are thrilled! It is great to be back at the school and it will be great to see the kids again....whenever that may be! We have been closed down for the next month due to many factors...some of them interesting but we will take the extra days of vacation if it is forced on us!!! (Sense the sarcasm) We think we may go on a trip so that will be fun!!! It has been great to reconnect with friends and people that we love! It has been hard to get into a routine here but I am sure that once we start school in October or whenever we will finally get into one!!!!!

We love you all!

Sunday, August 16, 2009

L.I.F.E.

So....you wanna go back to Egypt. That is a song by Keith Green. Norris and I have heard it a couple of times this summer. We are going back to Egypt. We are really excited! We had NO idea we were going to be going back until about 4 weeks ago. I was in Italy and Norris called and said he did not think he should be going to Law School. The great thing about that....I was in Italy!!! We did a lot of praying and contacted our director from school and we were able to get some great jobs again and we just knew that was what we needed to do! We are very excited! We leave on Tuesday and we start the next 2-3 years of our lives! We are not sure what we are going to do with these years but we know that God has it all planned out!

It made us chuckle a little because we really thought we had the next three years planned and they did not involve a different country but we are thrilled! We know this is where we need to be! We loved it in Egypt and we are excited to get back and see the friends we made last year! It has been a struggle though because we will not be home until next Christmas. We will miss our friends and family! We know that lots of things change over a year but we just have to go where the Lord wants! Thank you for your prayers!


Sunday, August 9, 2009

4 years of bliss

Well maybe it has not all been bliss but the last 4 years have been pretty awesome. My hubby and I have spent some great years traveling. We did not really know we wanted to travel but the Lord made it pretty obvious to us this last year. We had one of the hardest times in our lives last summer. (it was not that tough...but praise the Lord it was the hardest thing we have gone through together.) We were glad we went through it though and we would not change our situation for anything. We did not have a job and no one would hire us because we had to much education and we did not have car our an apartment or anything! We pretty much just had the clothes on our back and our lap top!!!!!! Well he was breaking us and making us follow him and not our own ideas! We are so glad he got a hold of our hearts! We then moved to Egypt because it was the only place we could get a job. It was the best year of our life and now we get to go back! We are supper excited! We are going to be living there for the next two years! We are thrilled to see what the Lord is going to do with us! We just try to live one day at a time but I guess it is human to try to live a year at a time or sometimes more!!! When we think about what he has done for us in the last 4 years we can't wait to have 4 more years! It may not be perfect bliss because we are on earth and nothing is perfect BUT it is as close as I imagine we can get! What a wonderful gift marriage is! I am so glad the Lord created man and women for each other! Being Married is the best!!!

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Birthday's

Well I can't believe it but I am 27 years old......... Now I know that is not THAT old but it still is a strange feeling! When I think about what I thought my life would be when I was 27 other than being married to the best person in the world, my best friend, and wonderful supporter, not much is what I thought. I am sure most girls dream about the white picket fence and the babies and the cars. I am not sure I dreamed about the while picket fence but I am sure I thought I would have a house, and babies and a car!!!!!! Oh but GOD IS SOOOOO GOOD!!!!
I really don't have any of those things. No car, no house, no babies, nothing. But I have a closer relationship with God than I have ever had and I have an incredible husband that loves me and cares for me and LOVES GOD!!! We might not always make the right choices but we do our best to do what the Lord wants. When I look at my life even in the past 9 years....the time that Norris and I have known each other this is what I see:

Fun new friendship blossom
Deal with difficult life problems
Marriage to the best man ever
Finding close girl friends I will stay close with the rest of my life
getting a new family THE HAMS
Graduating with a Bachelors and a Master's!
Moving to Atlanta
Moving to Cairo
Trying to start a family (well talking about it anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Wow what an adventure to go on in just those last 9 years!!! Now Norris told me that being 27 is like being 9 three times! Now if I have done all that in the last 9 years....I can't even being to imagine what the next 9 years will have for us! It is so nice to think you have a plan for your life and then GOD comes in and says......."Do you want a better plan?" "One that will take you where you can't go yourself and one that will make you grow closer to me?"
YES YES YES YES!!!! That is the plan I want!! Just 9 years where has it taken you??? Just think about it. Where did you want to be? Are you glad that God took you where he wanted you instead???
"Oh Lord lead us where you want us to go!" "Surprise us and lead us in places we never thought we would go!!!!"

Friday, July 31, 2009

Coming Back

What a weird feeling to be back in the states. It is nice to be back but it feels strange. The world is at our finger-tips. It is funny to turn the knob on the shower and know it is going to be warm....
going to the drive through to get any food you could want, what simple joys we take for granted. Or just being able to walk down the street and know I am free to say what I would like. I should not always but I have the freedom if I wanted to. It is fun being back and seeing friends and family but it is a weird transition. My life has been changed in ways that I can't always express to people who have not been there! That is why I am glad Norris and I had these experiences together! How wonderful to be so close to my hubby from the Wonderful year we were able to have! What a great blessing!

What does the future hold???? That is the million dollar question! How exciting that Lord knows exactly where we are going to be! no worries for us! Just faith.....I hope we have enough during the hard times!!!! With him we will have enough!! He is MORE THAT ENOUGH!!!!

One thing we have had the joy of doing is DOCTOR appointments!! YUCK! Being gone for the year we had a lot to do! We needed to go to the Eye Doctor and the Dentist! Well why does it have to be so expensive! No fun at all!!! Oh well know we are healthy....or at least on the way to being healthy! We have a couple more dentists visits but what else is new!!!!! But I will get my new glasses today so that is fun!!!!

"Oh Lord help us in the future to focus on you and not THINGS! Help us to keep you as our focus and direct our path for the future!"

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Times be a changin'

Well I am leaving Italy in about 48 hours! I am a little excited but I will be sad to say goodbye to this beautiful country! Although 5 weeks without my husband is long enough!!! It was a great time to meet new people and learn to grow as an individual!
It was a great program to work with and learn about different operas! I love Madame Butterfly and it was a joy to learn it even better, covering Butterfly. Someday I hope that I will be able to perform the role. It is funny how life changes though and I wonder where the Lord will take us and whether or not I will sing opera for the rest of my life. It has been quite a whirl-wind year and I look forward to seeing what he is going to do for the rest of our lives! When I am back in the states I will hopefully be able to right more!

Thanks for those of you who have followed my blog while I was in Egypt. See ya in the U.S.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Memory Verses!

So my friend Emily and I are trying to memorize these 60 verses and it has been quite a challenge! Right now we are still on the first week but it is fun!!! I am memorizing 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Galatians 2:20! I have the 2 corinthians because it is the verse for the Gospel Team I was in while in college and the Galatians one is fun! I think I will have it by saturday night!

Italy has been great! It is very cold and rainy but it is fun! It is the most beautiful place ever! I have a couple friends that I go and run with and it is some of the prettiest mountains and green hills I have ever seen! I think going from the brown sand of Cairo to the green of Italy has been fun! What an interesting World the Lord has made!!!! He has showed us all beauty in everyway we could want!!!!

HE IS SOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Italy

Well I made it to Italy and after about 30 seconds I missed my babe!!! It is going to be a great time and I am glad I made the decision to come! It is funny how different the scenery is here in Italy compared to Cairo!!! It is so green and hilly! Well I guess it is more like Mountains! They are so beautiful!!!! I have loved how green it is! It really does look like a picture! everywhere you look! I can't wait to fill up my memory card!!!! It is a photographers dream!!! I love it!!!! I am glad that I found a Cafe to have the internet and I am able to talk to people! I hope you all have a great fathers day and I hope to continue sharing with you through these experiences in Italy!

OHHHHH I forgot to say it rained the first day here!!!! It was fun to see it and feel it!!!! The only thing was that is was VERY cold!!!! I forgot I would be in the mountains!!! I will have to buy an umbrella I think!!! Well Love to you all and I hope you have a great Sunday!

Memory Verses for the Week:

2 Corinthians 5:17
Galatians 2:20
Memorize them with me if you want! Two a week for the next year!!! I think I can do it!!!

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Taxi Cabs

Well it is official! Norris and I finally got in our first car accident! It was not fun but we were all able to walk away! That is such a great blessing! We were luckily not in a normal cab, that would have been very bad. We were in a van heading to see some pyramids we had not seen yet! The driver slammed on his breaks when he saw the guy in front of us stopping and he tried to stop and then the people behind us did not stop and there you have it! What is really funny is all the people got out of their cars "Said"/ "Yelled" what was on their minds and then when they all knew everyone was fine they all got in their cars and drove away! We I think got the worst of it, we lost some of our bumper but we were so glad that every one was fine!! It is scary here because there are some crazy drivers.
Like my friend and I were coming back from another friends house and we hopped in a cab and he stopped to get some water. Random!!! But whatever you get a little used to it! Well he put his parking break on and that did nothing! I looked over and Emily and was like, "ummm I think the car is moving" and he was definitely not in the car anymore! When he saw the car moving he came back and just moved the wheel so that when we hit the curb we would stop!!!!!!!!!! That was hilarious! And then you know there are just the people that fly about 120 miles an hour just because they can!!! Needless to say you need to just give up worrying about your life when you are in a cab!!!! You get a lot closer to the Lord during thoes times that is for sure!!!!
Anyway we just got a little bump and our necks are a little sore but we are very blessed that that was all that happened! Many times the accidents here are bad. It is sad to see the cars and to hear about the accidents so we are very glad our car accident was not that bad!!!
Just learning how to let go and Let God!!!! He knows all things and he has control of all this and nothing surprises him!! WOW What a great thought, I am glad I do not have to worry!! It is a very freeing feeling!!!!
"He is good all the time, all the time He is good!!!!"

Monday, May 25, 2009

Girls Night

I think it is great that no matter where the Lord puts you he always surrounds you with people that love him. Tonight I get to hang out with some of my friends and I was just thinking how great it is that the Lord even allows me to have these friends. I know I will be leaving soon and my not see them again but I know that they have changed my life. They have helped me to grow and the cry and to laugh..and to watch a LOT of Jane Austen movies!!!!!! I know that I will always be able to call them or write them and they will be there for me with words of encouragement, or scripture to help build me up or to celebrate with me over little things!!

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow"

These are just 5 of the reasons we needed to come to Egypt this year!! I know that is a selfish reason to look at what we needed to get out of this year but what a blessing!!!!!!!!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

The Khan





One of our favorite places to visit here in Egypt is the Khan il Khalili. It is a great place where you can bargain and get great Egyptian things. It really is like Aladdin. People are all around you saying "How much do you want", "pretty scarf for a pretty girl", "do you want me to take your money?", and many others!! It is always fun to go and try to bargain with the people. It is so great! People scream out to get your attention and it is fun to see how many countries people will think you are from. The best one I got was Chinese! I am not sure that I look anything like a Chinese person but hey I will take the complement!! If you are ever in Egypt you must go and visit!! It is one of the most fun places you could people watch in the world!!!

Friday, May 22, 2009

Cairo




Well sadly we only have 4 more weeks left here on this great adventure! It is funny how the Lord brings you to a place kicking and screaming and then changes your heart so that you never want to leave!!! I will be sad to leave but we are excited for Norris to start the next phase in our lives! I know that he is very excited to not be teaching any more and to start the next phase of his life that he thinks the Lord is taking us!! It will be great! It will be hard to adjust back to life in the states but I know that it will just be for these three years and then we will be on to other adventures! Babies, new countries and new careers!! The next four weeks will be jam packed with exciting adventures and sad goodbyes! What a joy it has been to meet all these wonderful people! They are so loving!!! We love them all and hope to be back next summer!!!! En Sha Ahla!!!!!!( if the Lord wills it!!)

Now onto finding an apartment, getting phones, setting up internet, buying a couch and bed, getting books and pencils and paper for school......and the list goes on!!! What a busy time we will have in August!! But we will just follow the Lord and he will always lead us!!!!!

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Busyness

I find it funny that our human reaction when we get busy is to steer away from reading our Bible and talking to God. At least for me anyway! How funny that when we feel so over whelmed with things we tend to step away instead of stepping closer!!! BUT the minute you take a moment and read your Bible and talk to him everything seems to work out! NO it does not go away by any means but he seems to make it that much more manageable! It is so great that he can take everything away from us and make us search for him. He had to put me in Cairo with no friends, family Television....yes I am blessed that he has given me Norris for I am not sure what I would do with out him, but he took everything else away..... It is always when I want to talk to my family and friends that they are not there or it is to early in the morning or our Internet is not working and the only one left is him!!! Isn't that great!!! He is there...he should not be the last one I look for to talk to but the FIRST!! Why did it take Cairo for me to get that!! I guess I am just slow and HUMAN!!! With only 7 weeks left I hope I can learn everything he wants to teach me while I am here! This has been the best 9 months of my life and I never want to go back to who I was before! I love my friends and family but I finally get what he says in Matt, Mark, and Luke....He is my family! He is all I need! That is scary because even as I write it I think would I have what it takes to REALLY give that all up! I am not sure I would but he would provide the strength if I needed it!!
Even while he teaches us little lessons ( and big ones) he still blesses us. He brings us down to a place you never want to be and then he gives you everything you need plus a thousand, million, trillion!!!! He is so wonderful and gracious.

From one of my favorite new songs.....
"The Lord is Gracious and Compassionate. Slow to anger and rich in Love. He is good to all, He has compassion on all that he has made. As far as the east is from the west, that's how far he has removed our transgressions from us. Praise the Lord oh my soul praise the Lord."

Random thought of the day!!!!

Friday, April 24, 2009


Norris practicing his Olympic run!

Friday, April 10, 2009

Good Friday

Today we talked about how God could allow his son to go through the pain and suffering he needed to go through. How could God let that happen! Well it was interesting to hear how the MINUTE after the curtain broke and the ground shook. God did not let the Lords pain last a minute longer than it needed to be. The minute Jesus died God began to bring his judgment. I never really thought about that. I always just focused on the cross which is great but i never really looked past it. It is great to know that we serve a God who is here for us. He is not going to let us suffer a minute longer than we need to. If he let his Son go through tough times we will have our share of tough times BUT.... joy comes in the morning!!!
I am excited to celebrate our first Easter in Egypt. What a great place to think about his sacrifices. We think life is so tough because there are no lines, crossing the street is frightening, and i can't understand enough Arabic yet......but that is nothing compared to what Jesus did for us. He took ALL the SINS of the WORLD just for us! So that we could BE FREE!!! WOW What a great God!!

Matthew 27:50-51 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split....

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

New Friends

It is pretty funny. I have been here for almost 9 months and I am stilling meeting new teachers from the school. The other day we had a birthday party for a friend and there were a couple of teachers there I had seen before but not really talked to. It was great because I was seated by one of the ladies I had not really talked to. It was neat because her sister sings at HCC sometimes with us and it was great to meet another member of their family! We found out that we got married the same month of the same year! It was fun to talk about the joys of marriage and just get to know another Christian teacher!
Then one of the teachers asked if we could go for coffee the other night and it was great to hear about her life and all the things she has planned for her future! We had never really talked just the two of us and it was great! She is a great follower and it felt good to be lifted up by someone that I don't always get to talk to! She is going to be quite busy to do all of the things that she wants to do in her future! God has placed a lot of great ideas in her heart that are going to be awesome when she does them!! It is wonderful to know that you can be lifted up by people you may see all the time but not really "talk" to them! It is so nice to listen to people and be listened too! And you know coffee is always fun too!!!! (well i just really go for the sweet drinks that don't really taste at all like coffee!!)

I am just great full for all the people that God has allowed me to meet this year! They have changed my life in such a wonderful way and I will never be able to forget them!

Friday, April 3, 2009

The Nuss Marathon




Well Norris and I ran a half marathon today and it was tough. Norris did great and came in second place running at 1 hour 45 min.!!! He is so awesome! I never in my life thought I would be able to run a half marathon. I am not a runner but I really wanted to have a goal outside of singing and being a good Christian and trying to be a good wife! I thought running would be a fun hobby to take up! Well at first I did not like it at all but as I was training I really started to love running! I was told by many that running this marathon would be fun and a great experience. Well part of that is true! There were many times as I was running that I did NOT think it was fun! But I really do think it was an incredible experience! While you are running there is no one there but you! No one can make you continue except for you! There were many times I wanted to hop in a cab and have them just take me to the finish line but I made it! I ran the whole way and even got lost in the process!!!
When Norris and I first started training I did not think I would make it three miles! And today I ran 13.1!!! It was a long and difficult process at times! I got really frustrated when my knee started to bother me! I was not sure if I was going to make it and I was really nervous it would give out on me! But the Lord allowed me to make it through with no problems at all!!
While we were running I soon was in last place and as I was running I was reminded of a couple of verses:

2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge will award to me on that day....
Hebrews 12:1 Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith...

It is great to know that it does not matter how you finish or what time you finish but if you have faith and keep your eye on the finish line you will be rewarded! I hope that as I live life I can keep my eye focused on that prize and the end of the race. I hope I can run a steady race and not get taken off the course but to stay focused on him!

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Thailand on the Islands





The next excursion we went on was to 7 different islands. Norris says that there are over 26,000 so we did not see that many but the ones we saw were amazing! They were just like what you would see in a magazine. The first island we went to was bamboo island, but Norris and I looked and we did not see any bamboo!!! But it was very sandy and just great views!!! Then we went to a couple of the Phi Phi islands. There is something like Phi Phi doone, and Phi Phi lake..... and many others. Then we went to Maya Beach which is where they filmed the movie "The Beach". It was really fun but there were a lot of people that day! Then we went snorkeling in this bay! It was really fun but the water was a little low and the fish were right on top of you. They were really pretty but not afraid of people at all! I did not like touching them it made me feel very weird. The coral was really near and bigger than I had ever seen before! (well really I had never seen any beacuse it was the first time I have ever snorkeled!) Then we took the boat out to the middle of the ocean and snorkeled there! IT WAS AWESOME! The water was a little deeper and you could just float over the top of everything. It was sooooooo cool! There were colors of fish I had never seen before! Next time we go we will splurge and get the underwater camera! This time we will just have to do our best to remember! That is o.k. it was so awesome I think I will remember!
Well after our day at sea we were ready for some chow so we went to this little BBQ buffett. it had a bunch of fish and chicken and every Thai thing you could want. While we were eating this group of people came in and sat at our table. They started talking and you could tell they were Americans. Since we have not heard that in a while Norris was interested in saying Hi! So we had a great talk with these people and asked them what they were doing in Thailand. They siad they had been there for 5 weeks and they were making/acting in a move. It is called "the lost medallion" You all have to go see it when it comes out! They were really nice and we swore we knew one of the guys and when we got home we looked up the movie and it was really fun to see them.
Well we really liked the honeymoon and we feel truley blessed that the Lord would allow us to have this experience! Next time we go we want to go to Chaing Mai to see the northern part of Thailand!

thought of the day: LOVE

Well it has been a great weekend! Norris and I were able to sing with our friends on Friday at our MEETING! It was amazing! It is so wonderful how HE shows himself! We have had the best time learning new songs that we did not know in the states. We have loved meeting new people to show us new things! That is the great thing about having a GROP of people from over 20 different countries!! HE is everywhere!!! It is awesome! We talked about washing feet and how it was such a show of love to HIS disciples! Even the disciple who betrayed HIM! What a symbol of love! HE knew before HE meet judas that is was going to happen. Yet HE was still willing to go through the pain just for me and you! WOW! Read John 13. We had it read at our wedding and I do not think I really understood it then. I am sure I do not really understand it now but maybe I do a little more! What a choice HE made to love us and die for us! What a choice we can make every day to not complain, lie, and gossip! I know it is hard and we may stumble but we can try and have a heart towards HIM. I think that he listens to our hearts even when we stumble. He knows our every move and loves us in spite of what we do. Even when we deny him three times he still loves us!! WOW! We love you HCC!!!!!

Saturday, March 28, 2009

VIDEOS!

Well Norris and I were finally able to convert our videos AND put them on line! It is very exciting! This is from our first couple of months in Egypt! We are glad that we can finally share them with our friends and family!

Kayaking down the River!

This is the beginning of our kayaking trip with the alligators! It was just beautiful!

Norris Feeding Klong!

This is Norris feeding our Elephant Klong! She was so much fun to ride on!!! We are feeding her little pieces of bamboo. She loved them very much! She would bow some times when she was really glad to have her snacks!

Norris Swimming!

This was Norris swimming in the hot springs after our 3 hour kayaking excursion! There was this rope that you could swing on that he and a couple other people were doing!

Friday, March 27, 2009

Thailand Krabi (Elephants and Alligators!)






Well, the last couple of days we spent in Thailand were just as great as the first part. We went down to Krabi and spent a lot of time in the sun and on the beach. One day we went on this excursion we found and went because it said there was elephant trekking. All I wanted to do was ride an elephant. Well it also mentioned that there would be some canoeing and possibly swimming if there was time left. Well we thought that sounded great! I was not thrilled with the idea of canoeing but Norris really likes to do that so we were able to compromise and he could canoe and I could ride and elephant. Well we got picked up in the morning and taken to this other hotel and then picked up by our excursion guides. Well we drove for about 45 min. and got to this place in the middle of nowhere by this river. It was very pretty and just what you would see in something like the Amazon River. It was very neat! Well as we were sitting on the dock to get ready to go in the kayak some people looked over and said "is that an alligator?" Just like it was nothing! I was like "WHAT!?!" I am not good with water any way and then having alligators in it did not make it much easier! Well there was nothing I could do we had to get in the kayaks and go down the river! i was terrified! But, I got in and Norris did a good job of steering us the right way!
We were floating down for about 2 or 3 min. and I was just getting used to it when Nichole, one of our new friends we made, said,"Are there piranha's in this river?" Again "WHAT" Well our guide said "Why yes there are!" Oh dear I thought I was going to lose it but I knew I did not want to get out of the kayak! Well there was nothing I could do now so I just tried to calm down and take pictures! When we came to our first cave I thought again I was going to die but we make it through! I finally gained courage during the next caves to take some video and it was awesome! There was so much to video and take pictures of! I think that even though I was terrified it was one of the best parts of the trip! Well after the 3 hour kayaking we went swimming and the time was beginning to run out and we did not think we were going to get on our elephants! It became quite funny because when we asked the other people in our tout they said there were no elephants! "WHAT NO ELEPHANTS?" That make me very sad but after the swimming they dropped Norris and I off with the elephants and everyone else went back to their hotels! They missed out let me tell you!
Klong was the cutest elephant ever! Our guide was so funny and he jumped off of her and just started walking in front of us and going into the woods! Klong would stop and try to eat all the time and she would just stare at the dirt! We thought she was so cute! It was the best time ever! While our guide was in front of us and Norri tried saying all the commands the guide was giving here and she started going really fast! (Well fast for an elephant) It was so funny! We really enjoyed our time on that trip!!!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Thailand






Well we have not really had time to write about Thailand since we got back so get ready because here we go!!!

It was awesome! We fell in love with the whole country! They were wonderful people and it was just the greatest time ever! We spent our first couple days in Bangkok and we went to Khao San road where there is a lot of shopping and backpackers. It was neat to see all of the different things that Thailand sells compared to Cairo! The people were definitely not as pushy but they still caught your eye as you walked by! We bought so many things it was crazy! We just loved everything and plus it was our honeymoon! How do you not spend a lot on your honeymoon! Well after the time spent there we walked around and saw a lot of temples! There were temples everywhere you looked.

They had the biggest buddhas I had ever seen! And also so MASSIVE plastic chickens that you could buy and get shipped home!!! Kind of interesting! Anyway we also went on this boat cruise on the main river that runs through Bangkok and it was awesome! We started out on bus and went up to the old capital of Thailand. We got to see a bunch of ruins and experience a lot of the old culture. Then we took the boat down the river and got to see a lot of the city! For us it was the best way to see Bangkok in such a short amount of time! It was cool to see the Grand Palace and all the other great things along the river! Plus the food was amazing!

We found this lady who made the best egg rolls and noodles ever! I think we ate egg rolls everynight! No....if you were wondering they are not as good as aunt doys! Her's are still the best! Anyway we ate a lot of food and it was the best food ever! After my cooking anything would be great but this really was the best food ever! This was our first 3 days! We had a great time and we loved to see all of God's different creation! It is so great to see how different yet similar we all are! He is so amazing and creative! It is such a blessing that we have been able to visit so many of his people! They are all so wonderful and unique in thier own way!

It is great to serve such a great God that would give us the opportunity to travel! Such little joys that we do not desirve but he allows because he loves us so much!

Well tomorrow I will finish the rest of our Thailand trip! Tonight I am way to tired!!!

SURPRISE!!!

Well today at school Norris and I were talking about what we should for the second Easter we get in April. Many of our friends are going to Rome and Turkey and Tunisia. We were not sure what we were going to do. We thought that we need to stay here but I was getting sad that then next time we would travel it would be after Law School and that is 3 years away! I know that it is silly but I just love traveling and any time free makes me want to go and travel!!! Well needless to say I was a little sad and Norris and I had been talking about it for a while! Well today I was in Norris' room and he surprised me with tickets to Greece!!!! I can't believe it! He was trying to keep it a secret but it only lasted for about an hour!!
I was so excited I can't stop planning what we are going to do! We are only going to be there for 4 days but I am so excited!!! I think it will be a beautiful city and I can't wait to see it!!

Monday, March 23, 2009

10 weeks left!!


Well we have only 10 weeks until we are off to NYC! We are a little excited but also quite sad to leave this great place! It has been so awesome to see where God has brought us! We are trying to decide where we are going to travel for our last adventure while in Egypt. We are lucky that we get 2 Easter's. We get to celebrate the Coptic Easter and the protestant Easter! We want to travel for one of the holidays. If you have any advise we are open and willing to get advice!
These are our options:
1. Tunisia
2. Luxor
3. the pyramids again...
4. Greece...but $$$$$$

Anyway if you have an opinion we would love to hear it!
Well I am exhausted and I am not sure this blog really makes any sense so I am going to head to bed! To much running for the marathon!! Much Love to you all!!!

Ang and Nor

Saturday, March 21, 2009





Some of our fun adventures of our time in Egypt! We love going to the pyramids and all over! It is a very different thought of beautiful! I never really thought dust and sand was beautiful but really it is quite amazing!

Our Life


Norris and I have been traveling for the last year all through Egypt, France, Thailand and soon Italy. We are teaching at the AIS school here in Egypt! It has been quite the experience. We have loved it and now we are looking forward to our new move to NYC. Norris is heading off to Law School and he is going to be a great lawyer! I can't wait to see what God has in store for him! If we can ever figure out how to put videos and pictures on this thing then we will share them! So far.....no luck! They just keep loading and loading for about 45 mins. but I can't wait beyond that! So.....I hope we can show you some of our adventures soon!