Ambrosia!!!!

What can I say? God knew not to let me find out about this restaurant in downtown Santa Ana until about 2 months before we left for Singapore, otherwise I would be broke. Ambrosia is probably the best overall 'experience' restaurant I've ever been to and to top it off, we went just prior to coming to Singapore with our awesome food aficionado friends, Steve and Monica....what do I mean by 'experience' restaurant? Well, it has everything you could ask for in a restaurant or at least all I could ask for...great ambiance, great food, great service, great wine selection, live jazz band that will play whatever you ask them to, numerous private rooms to match your occasion however large or small - the best room, which we've toured before, has wall to wall cigars and you can smoke em right at the table. Oh, I'm not done yet. Just like an old castle with secret passage ways, one of the cabinets that has wall to wall cigars folds out to expose a secret passage way to the top of the theatre that is right next to us with private seating if you reserve that room...you guys gotta go check this place out...I'm not paying though :) :) But wait, there's more....there is a VIP lounge in the basement called the 'Vault'. It's actually an old vault and when you walk in they have large leather couches and chairs to chill out with friends...highly recommend this place. It was awesome to have a goodbye dinner with our good friends, Steve and Monica - enjoy the photos!

Inside our home (BEFORE the ocean container arrived)

I hope all these photos don't make it take too long for the webpage to load. My apologies if it does slow things down.

This is the main living area, what you see when you first walk in the front door.

Looking back toward the front door, this is what you see -- our dining area. The window is just for air. There is a wall outside the window, about 7 feet away.


On your left, while facing the dining area is a hallway to the bedrooms and bathrooms and there is also a door to the kitchen. What you see in the first kitchen photo is almost the entire kitchen. The only thing you can't see in that picture is what is shown in the third kitchen photo: the refrigerator and some more storage cabinets and drawers. The size of the kitchen and the bathrooms is going to take some major adjustment.













The door that you see on the right side of the first kitchen photo leads to the laundry area, garbage chute, and "domestic help quarters," which includes a tiny bathroom and "bedroom." We are using this space for storage. The "bedroom" is about 5 feet by 4 feet, if even that big. I don't think a twin size bed could even fit in it.




This is the master bedroom; one shot looking in and the other looking back toward the doorway. Actually, the door that you see in that second shot goes into the master bath. You can't see the bedroom door in these photos.


The photos below are the master bathroom. I didn't show a photo of the common bathroom because it looks pretty much like the master bath, just minus the tub and reverse direction.














The two regular bedrooms look the same. One is just slightly larger than the other. The larger room is GG and Elly's room. The other will be our "office." For anyone that was ever allowed to see our "office" at home in CA, you will know that this is code for storage/junk room. Honestly, I DO (and will) try my hardest to make it neat and organized and presentable but, if the past is any indicator, the "office" will continue to be an eyesore in our home.

Outside our new home

As promised, here are some photos. I'm going to do several different posts with pictures so that there won't be 20+ photos in one post. I wish I could figure out how to do one of those neat little slideshows like I've seen on other blogs but I will have to save that for another time. It's already 11 PM and my rear end and back already hurt from sitting in a child-sized wooden chair with a box as the "desk" for my computer. (You'll see what I'm talking about in a different post.)

All of the photos in this post show the outside of our development.

This is part of what you see when walking in through the main entrance. The building straight ahead is our tower.


The next picture is a closer shot of our tower. You can't see our windows because they are behind the palm trees on the right.

The next two photos are taken looking out of the windows of our condo. (We are on the 7th floor. I am dealing much better with this height than I dealt with being on the 16th floor at our temporary apartment.)

This photo is 1 of 2 of the pools specifically geared toward children. Can you see part of the red slide on the right side of the pool? Water sprays down into the center of the kids' pool from that big structure you see. There is also a play area right next to the pool which you can't see here.


The photo with the three colored pillars is actually the "adult" pool. The kids are allowed to swim in there but it is much deeper and larger. It is to the right of where the kid's pool photo was taken.




This is one of several BBQ areas that can be reserved. It is in between the kids' pool and adult pool you saw in the previous two photos.






The last two photos are more detail of the kids' pool and play area.

Checking in very quickly

Sorry to be absent for so long. We moved into our very own condo/apartment this past Saturday-Monday. Our ocean container (full of our items we shipped from CA) was delivered on Monday. The movers assembled and arranged the furniture that we shipped, which wasn't much, and unpacked the boxes that I wanted them to unpack. Because we don't have much storage space and very little furniture that can be used for storage (bookshelves, dressers, etc.), I decided to have the movers leave a lot of the boxes packed. I have a very bad feeling that it is going to take me months, if not longer, to work my way through all of this stuff.

I promise to post photos of our condo sometime (hopefully) soon. However, with a home full of boxes, my blog is taking a bit of a back seat. I actually just got signed up for internet service in our condo on Tuesday and was able to figure out how to get the modem and connection all set up on Wednesday afternoon. So... YEAH! I'm back online. But... aaarggh! I won't be around much. I'll get back in the swing of things soon, though. (I hope.)

P.S. I made a change to the look of the blog again. Hopefully it makes it a bit easier to read. Keep the feedback coming and I'll see what I can do with the HTML to work things out. :-)

The post about GG's first day of school

Today was GG's first day of school . . . EVER!

She went to a co-op preschool run by the moms of the kids involved and she went to learning center classes when we were homeschooling but none of those are the same as "regular" school.

While I can't say GG was excited about going to school, I am happy to report that it went more smoothly then I was expecting.

We had to get past the tantrum stage but at least that was while we were still in the privacy of our apartment. Here is what GG looked like shortly after the tantrum stage.

A few of the complaints GG expressed this morning were:

"I hate EVERYTHING here!!"

"I never want to go to school, EVER!!"

"I don't want to make any friends - - I only want my real friends from home."

But I have to be honest - I can't say that if I were in her shoes I would feel any better about the circumstances. We've all had to adjust to a LOT of changes but I think that it has been most difficult for GG. Overall, I'd say she is handling it pretty well for someone that normally

has a tough time with any type of change, much less a complete life change.

Once we got past the tantrum stage, GG did really did pretty well until she had to get on the bus. But even then, at least she didn't have to be dragged, kicking and screaming. She walked on her own two feet and I don't think she even cried. (Although I could be wrong since I wasn't actually on the bus with her.) In the photo below you can see that she needed some gentle help to get on but, like I said, she didn't have to be dragged!!!

And for that, I am thankful! Very thankful!!

The VERY FIRST post written in Singapore

I'm just checking in quickly to let any faithful blog-readers know that we made it safely. The flight went very well and, in my opinion, GG and Elly were terrific. I only had to tell GG"shhhh" a few times and other than that they were perfectly behaved. We all got to sleep for a good part of the flight.

We touched down at Changi Airport in Singapore at exactly 4:59 AM on Saturday, August 2. Funny. I think when I post this it may show that I am posting it on Friday, August 1. I haven't changed my location to Singapore yet in my settings.

Now that I've checked in it is time to go shopping for a few essentials, grab some lunch (it's already 1:20 PM), and, hopefully, take a few photos to post here.

"See" you soon. :-)

The post where I express my gratitude (and some sadness)

I'll be honest. There have been times before we made our decision to move, that I thought I wouldn't really miss my home and my life in CA. I don't know how I could have believed that. I guess maybe the stress and busy-ness of everyday life can make me lose sight of the blessings woven throughout my "everyday" days. As the time for us to leave gets closer and closer, I'm realizing more and more what I am leaving behind. And if that isn't bad enough, I think once I get to Singapore, it will get worse. I know I am going to miss my friends and family most of all.

I don't know how I could have missed seeing what was so clear -- I have amazing friends that I love and they love me. I can't believe how many people are praying for our family and how many people have made genuine offers to help us as we prepare to move. Right now I am making myself at home at my best friend's house (Jenny of "Home is Where you Start From"). Her very talented and generous husband did a whole bunch of work on our house for us as a favor. (That reminds me, I need to post a photo of our beautiful bathroom floor that he tiled.) Several of the moms from my homeschool support group bathed me and my family in prayer on Monday night - - what a beautiful blessing! And they plus others are keeping us in their prayers regularly.

I can't even list all the ways that friends and family have shown their love. (There are lots of other examples I could have listed.) I guess that's kind of the idea though, right? Friends are those that give and bless without condition or expectation of repayment or accounting/keeping track of everything. I don't deserve their friendship and I didn't earn their acts of kindness. Now that I think about it, it reminds me of how God freely gave me life in Him and I don't have to earn His perfect love.

So all that to say to my dear friends and family... thank you for all you do and say to show your love and friendship. Thank you for reminding me of Who loves me beyond all measure.

The post where I check in for just a few minutes

I wanted to let you know that I didn't fall of the face of the earth. I've just been incredibly busy. I knew I would be busy getting ready to move but I didn't realize it would be this bad. The good news is, I *think* I am almost done with a good deal of the craziness. I still have lists galore or things to do, calls to make, etc. but...........(drumroll)............... the house is almost entirely empty!!! And that is a huge accomplishment. I wish I had taken more pictures but, alas, you will just have to trust me when I say... there was an awful lot of STUFF in our house. I mean... how in the world did I end up with 3 different computers, 4 moniters, and 3 printers? (None of which were being used, by the way.) Thankfully I found an electronic waste collection event and was able to take care of all of that fairly easily... if you can call TWO trips with the back of a Jeep Grand Cherokee full of items easy.

The movers came on 7/14 and, silly me, I thought that would mark the end of craziness and I would have time after that to actually spend time with friends before we leave and kind of relax. HA! I know that I am truly a pessimist but, oddly enough, this is one clear example of a time when I was being overly optimistic. Then again, maybe it was just ignorance about how much work it really takes to get ready to move to another continent.

I had better go for now. I need to wake up early to drive from my parent's house to my house in time to clean up some of the trash and dust in our house before the painters arrive in the morning. Hopefully I will be able to post some more soon. I have so much to talk about!

The post where I let you peak

I don't have much time for blogging at the moment but I had to share a glimpse into my world. (Please try to hide your shock and disdain.)

And to think... this is just the tip of the iceberg.

I'll show you what it looks like later. Tomorrow we are having a Fourth of July party (combo b-day party for Elly) so very soon I will be hiding all of our messes in the room we call "the office." Ha, ha!

The post where I explain why

Why did we decide to leave the only place in the world we've ever lived and drag our two daughters away from the only home they've ever known? Pretty much it boils down to 1 giant thing and 2 big things.

#1- Faith - We recognize that God has always led us and helped us grow in Him when we follow. We have put all of this in God's hands and He has been the one that worked out the details. We're trusting that this opportunity comes from Him.

#2- Adventure! I've never thought of myself as the adventurous type. Definitely, Gander, my husband is an adventurer but NOT me.) I can't blame this on him, though. He's not dragging along his unwilling wife and children. Well, maybe one of the children is unwilling but I'm not. I'm excited (and nervous)! I know this is going to be a MAJOR change and it's not going to be easy but, WOW! How many people in North America ever have the opportunity to travel to Asia much less live there? How many families get to develop a wider view and understanding of the world and cultures through first-hand experience? We're leaving our bubble and going to see what's out there for ourselves.

#3- It's called "career advancement." Gander will be working directly for the president of the Asia-Pacific region of his company. He'll get international exposure and gain experience and skill sets beyond what he could get if he stayed in North America. It would be an understatement to say that Gander is an optimist and a dreamer but, even this, I don't know if he ever dreamed of an experience like this. I am so proud of him and I know he is going to do an amazing job!!

The post where I introduce my blog

It was about 1 month ago my husband and I traveled across the Pacific Ocean and set foot on the continent of Asia for the first time ever. Now we are preparing to move there for "who knows ?" how long. We're surrounded by piles and boxes of "stuff" and I am sweeping up miniature mountains of dust bunnies that have collected under/behind our furniture and belongings during the eleven years we've lived in the same home. My nose is stuffy and my eyes are itchy from all the dust. But in about two weeks our house will be completely empty and all of our belongings (with the exception of a few suitcases and their contents) will be either in storage, donated, or ready to ship to Singapore.

Since we made the decision to relocate from Southern California to Singapore, I've had so many people tell me things like, "You'll have to stay in touch. We'd love to hear about your experiences and what it's like in Singapore." I thought this blog would be the best way to let people join in our adventure, in a sense. I'll share about the experience of moving and, when we get there, you can read (and hopefully see plenty of pictures) that will show you what our new life is like. I'll be the crazy American walking around Singapore snapping photos like a tourist -- and all so you can "join me."

So I hope you'll enjoy hearing about everything. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know you're here. I'd love to visit your blog in return.