Weddings, proposals, celebrations oh my!

I left for the states just in time to make it to my nieces 3rd birthday! I miss all the little ones' parties so I was thrilled to make it to one this year! The kicker was I didn't tell my family I was coming in so early (well except my mom of course) and so that ended up being pretty awesome watching everyone's reactions! Time at home is always so wonderful and no matter how long I'm there. I never want to say goodbye or leave. But as you know - all good things must come to an end.

This trip home was jam packed per usual with so many awesome trips and celebrations. One of my very best friends got married and another was proposed to! 

Ashley's wedding was just perfect - the weather was gorgeous and everything about her day went so smoothly. The speeches were complete tear jerkers, both Jared's and her sweet father's speech. Berks and Ryan (the ring bearer) were darling throughout the whole day. Ashley was such a stunning bride and was all smiles. I always feel so blessed to be apart of these monumental times in my very best friends lives. Living so far away it's always nerve racking whether I'll be able to swing a trip back so when I'm finally there and a part of the day it's the most wonderful feeling.

And for the proposal - Lacie got engaged!! I met Lacie on my first day of work at my very first 'big girl' job - Ferguson. I showed up and they explained I'd be training for months with a new girl from NY named Lacie - and Viola! the rest is history! Lacie met Stephen years ago at Ferguson. They are such an amazing pair and just so in love. Long story short - Stephen planned the engagement, sparing no details, and decided to involve many of Lacie's closest friends. The proposal was a complete surprise to Lacie and I have to say I've never witnessed something so beautiful in my life! It was straight from a youtube video that you see and ball your eyes out to. Watching it all unfold and seeing Lacie's reactions were priceless. Enjoy this little video to help get a better picture ; ) 

Sadly the one wedding I had to miss was Amanda and Ryan's in Riviera Maya, Mexico. However, thankfully I did get to celebrate her, mini bachelorette style, in Cape Charles for a weekend! We had so much fun catching up, going to the beach and eating lots of good food of course :) Here are a few pics from the beach weekend with Erica and Michelle too <3

I spent the 4th of July at Moe and Gale's little paradise at the lake and it was such a great way to end my trip to the states. Tons of little kiddies running every which way, great food, and celebrating the good ol' USA!

It was so wonderful to see everyone and I can't wait for Christmas! 146 days away! Not that I'm counting ; ) #christmasismyfavorite #loveitloveitloveit!

Happy Songkran!

The Thai New Year called Songkran is currently taking place all over Thailand and me oh my is it quite the celebration. Alo and I had heard about it back when we lived in Indonesia and we even tried planning a trip to Bangkok just to get to experience the holiday, it just never worked out. I didn't get to be here for it last year due to the pre-wedding planning back home so this was officially my first year!

For those of you who aren't familiar with Songkran... let me give you a bit of a run down of this glorious Thai holiday. Basically, the entire country runs around with water guns, hoses, buckets and talcum powder and drenches each other with it ALL day long. Yup - thats right - one BIG water fight. No lie.

Whether you are a priss pot who prefers not to get wet, a backpacker looking for a good time, or a 70 year old elder - everyone joins in! It's basically impossible not to so you might as well come to the party packin' (a watergun that is!).

I can't hardly describe just how intense the water fight is. For example, today, I was in such a cluster pile of wet, powdered, water squirtin people I could hardly stand because the crowds were pushing from every direction possible and the only thing you could do was lean into your strangers arm - EW! (and this is coming from the girl who hates when strangers hug her for a photo op on a hot day-more less this). Also, from the moment you walk outside of your apt, constant water will be shoot in your face. And don't forget about the talcum powder with water. They wipe it all over your face and body to 'bless' you. For those of you who wear contacts like me, it's not exactly the coolest. At one point I almost buckled down and bought the science class type clear glasses they were selling on the street. Heck - next time around I'm wearing straight goggles. Laughing? Trust me. You'll already look silly dripping from head to toe and covered in wet talcum powder, you might as well add goggles to the mix!

Obviously it's the land of smiles and everyone's usually happy but over Songkran the locals and foreigners are extra friendly and all around excited. Every person you pass or stand beside in the water fight acts like your best buddy from way back. And then of course they pour ice cold water directly on your head (can't even count how many times this happened!). The holiday creates a comradery amongst everyone and everything is done in fun. Although many times I did seek revenge after being harassed in the face with water guns - it's only natural!

Beers are sold about as cheap as ever along the sidewalks of the water fights along with lots of food. Why anyone would stop and have a snack while water is constantly flying through the air is beyond me, but hey maybe they were super hungry.

As if Thailand wasn't already amazing enough, Songkran raised the bar! I've never experienced a culture that has as much fun as the Thais! Sawadee Pi Mai!

Enjoy the video :)

"We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” – George Bernard Shaw

Songkran 2014 Thailand from Carrie Stump on Vimeo.

Exploring the underwater world!

This past weekend Alo and I finally checked an item off the bucket list - DIVING! We have now lived in Asia for almost 2 years and we decided it's time to pony up and just get it! No more excuses!

SO happy we did. It really was one of the most amazing weekends I've had in a long time!

I have to admit, even though I was the one constantly pushing for us to get our diving and the driving force behind it actually getting planned and booked - I was still a bit scared. I think more than anything the thought of not being able to do it or enjoy it was where my fear was coming from. I am the type of person who hates to start something and not finish it. I always follow through. So the thought of possibly failing scared me I suppose? Or as one would say...I was being a weeny!!

The course was 3 full days with a half day of book work and videos but we just did those early or later after our day of diving. We couldn't believe how much diving we got to do on our first day alone. We did all our skills in the shallow water at the beach and then headed out for a 25 minute dive and a 45 minute dive later in the day. I felt like I already had the hang of it and it was only day 1! For the remaining 2 days we worked on skills part of the time and did 4 more dives. We officially have 4 dives logged in our SSI books! We decided to go with SSI instead of Padi because it's cheaper and they are essentially the same thing. You can dive with either certification anywhere in the world and both are highly accredited except Padi just spends way more money on marketing and has been around longer (i think?).

It was just Alo, me and our instructor Bonnie, who has been diving since she was 12! Kids can start learning and diving at age 10! Can you believe that? Crazy! So needless to say she was highly knowledgeable and being underwater was pretty much second nature to her.

Now that Alo and I are open water certified we can dive anywhere in the world up to 18 meters! And since the world is made up of 72% water - i'd say we have plenty to explore! ; )

My favorite fish we saw included: a baby yellow spotted boxfish (seriously might be one of the cutest things I've ever seen!), anemone clown fish and the anemone(coral) they live in, and a scribbled filefish. Alo loved the blackspotted puffer fish (seal faced fish) and the lionfish.

Ko Lipe island is now at the top of my list of favorite places I've visited and I have so many photos to share - you'll understand why! I'll save those for the next blog!

Instead of bombarding you with a million photos from our diving experience I figured putting them in a short video would be more exciting to see :) Enjoy! xo

Cherish time.

As I unpacked my scarf this morning that I bought last night from a local shop, I admired the unique cream clocks adorning the black fabric. The clocks made me think about time. How precious time is. And how you can’t get it back.

This then immediately made me think about flight MH370. The missing plane. The hundred some families waiting in complete agony, hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. Alo has commented on how obsessed I’ve become with the news of the missing plane – but for me it really hits close to home. Malaysian airlines is a very common airline in SEA and constantly pops up on my Skyscanner searches when planning our weekend trips or visa runs. It’s not just about the airline specifically, but that Alo and/or I are constantly hopping on planes for one reason or another. He travels so much for work and I will meet him when possible. But we never fly together. Very rarely. It makes me think of how I would feel if he or one of my close friends in SEA was on that flight and for days no one could tell me ANYTHING. I’d.go.crazy.

It’s been four days and still no sign of wreckage or any answered questions. No real leads and it seems to me officials are just as lost as ever. A total of nine countries are collaborating and searching for the plane with twenty some ships and aircraft. Please pray for the safe recovery of the passengers on the flight as well as their loved ones waiting anxiously to hear an update. I can’t even imagine what they are going through right now.

Hug your husband, your mom, your grandparents, your pup, your children or your best friend extra tight today and remember how lucky you are. And remember time. Time is a gift and should be cherished. 

2014 is already full speed ahead!

I was really hoping that 2014 would be a nice long relaxing year because 2013 was just wild! In so many wonderful ways but one cannot live like that every year! But really - where did January go? And I feel like February is already so booked up it will be gone before I know it. I've also reminded Alo that we live so incredibly close to paradise yet we've only seen the beach a total of maybe 5 days since we've been in Thailand and we need to try to change that this year! We explored this country more when we didn't actually live in it! But of course he reminds me of all the other amazing places we have been exploring which is very true but I am ready for some beach time! So here is to time slowing down and seeing more pristine beaches in 2014 :)

Alo is heading to the good ol' US of A tomorrow! I'm always a bit jealous they don't ask the wives to join of course but happy to have some time to get things done at home that I wouldn't normally do when he's around! I'm on a mission to get a desk so I can set up my own office! Working from home either takes place on the couch, bed, or kitchen counter stool because we don't have a kitchen table yet or a desk! Baby steps. I'm thinking a trip to Ikea is in order one evening :)

The magazine has been keeping me super busy and I'm really enjoying it. Learning new things along the way and meeting so many new people in Bangkok. Here is a link to our site if you'd like to check out our latest issue online - click HERE. Below is a photo of some of our team at the magazine from our January event - New Year, New You!

I also am doing a 30 day online course to learn about freelance writing and how to market yourself and get more jobs so in my free time I'm trying to catch up and read the daily lessons (1 per day). I would love to eventually get published by a travel magazine or site I follow so I figured this would be a good learning experience and help me reach my goals.

Alo and I are trying to get back into a healthy lifestyle and working out consistently again which we are excited about! I'm also trying out this whole 'juicing' fad tomorrow by purchasing about 6 different kinds from a company called Me Juice here in Bangkok. I'm not doing the 'juice cleanse' but just simply replacing breakfast or another meal/snack with a juice to see how they taste and make me feel! To be honest the only juice I have tried from a different company here was horrible in my opinion - so I'm hoping these are a bit tastier ; ) I'll keep you posted!

In case you aren't up to date on your Thailand news - there have been protests happening here in Bangkok all the way back to Thanksgiving. I won't bore you with all the details since after all, that is what the news sites are for.The protests have seemed to stop since the elections on Sunday however the "concerts" as I like to call them are still in full force as well as the road blocks. I refer to them as concerts or festivals because all throughout the day people are on stage singing and bands are performing, tons of food vendors have lined the streets as well as locals selling any attire that is red, white and blue. Conveniently, the colors are our national colors as well so I've made sure to pick up a couple pieces to sport on July 4th! We are starting to wonder when all the protests will ever end. But as long as the one in our neighborhood stays peaceful we are ok with it. Here is a quick video I snapped when walking by the other day.

I'm really hoping to back track and catch up on so many blog posts I never got around to writing such as India, Bhutan, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and Hua Hin! Don't be surprised if the trips happened months ago ; )

Hope everyone is surviving the polar vortex and keeping warm back in the states! The hot and humid weather is back in Bangkok and here to stay. I really enjoyed the cool months of December and January - I occasionally even got to wear a light scarf or cardigan without sweating!

And one last thing - Happy Birthday to my Dad!! Hopefully Mom will be reading this out loud to you since we all know you are technologically challenged and don't use a computer ; ) Love you lots and wish I could be there to celebrate!

xoxo

Sawasdee 2014!

Happy New Year all!! Wow - where did 2013 go?? It was by far one of the fastest years for me yet! I'm hoping 2014 goes a little slower :)

I reflected back on 2013 and realized I had many "firsts" this year :

1. Got married! (twice! to the same man of course)

2. Took the first step in following one of my passions - photography! by taking my first course!

3. Got my first 2 articles published in a magazine!

4. Got my first job as Features Editor for a magazine!

5. Was Maid of Honor for the first time in Erica's wedding :)

6. Visited an elephant retirement home and learned about all that goes into taking care of them.

7. Blessed by a Bhutanese monk on top of a mountain overlooking the Himalayas.

8. First Christmas away from home EVER! And first one with Alo!

I also decided to make a list of all the countries I've visited so far and I'm at 26 and counting! I have been to more than Alo - oh this steams him! ha!

In 2013 I traveled to America(twice!), Tunisia, Thailand, France, Cambodia, Laos, Bhutan and India.

Hope you enjoy the video below of 2013! I wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous new year! Love and miss you all! xoxo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0_iwdBMJXQ

Happy (belated) Halloweenie!

This year I was so excited to be in Bangkok for Halloween! Last year I exposed my inner Martha Stewart by making chocolate covered pretzels with bright fall colored sprinkles and a darling 'pumpkin' cheese ball. Let's face it - there was no celebrating going on in Tunisia. This year however, we live in a city that - to me -  never sleeps...so I knew I could count on some serious festive parties!

I was certainly not let down! So many top bars and restaurants had dedicated Halloween events and went above and beyond with their decorations and their employees' eerie and  frightful looking costumes! With the vibrant red wounds painted on faces and dark black stitches etched on top - they really didn't skimp on details.

Alo and I went as Mr. & Mrs. Waldo! Alo wasn't oh-so-excited about dressing up but he wasn't stopping me! However after I fell madly in love with a shockingly bright red wig I nicely told him he HAD to be Waldo ; ) Otherwise my outfit might have been quite confusing to onlookers. Little did he know - I picked the most awesome costume idea ever! People were LOVING it! And he really had a blast 'playing the part' - don't try to deny it Alo! 

Oh and the biggest highlight of Halloween...I won a new phone!! I have hated my phone for SO long and have been desperately trying to find a used from from the states to bring over here but never had such luck. Phones in Asia are SO stinkin' expensive it's not even funny. So voila - thanks to Halloween and my mad skills of filling out raffle entries - I won a new phone!! When I received the email that I had won days later - I literally jetted out of the house and ran straight to the bar to retrieve it! I think the man thought I was a bit cray cray ; )

Hope everyone back home ate lots of candy for me!! xoxo

Where's Waldo? 7-11 Thonglor!

Where's Waldo?? Can you find him?

I still had to bake something this year of course...

Oh and one really big thing that also happened right after Halloween - one of my very best friends got ENGAGED!! Congrats Maggie and Neil!! I'll be a dear and start planning your honeymoon ; ) teaser below...