Two weeks of silliness and fun with Ambo!

Many of you might ask... "Alicia, What have you been doing since you have been back in India?" (I mean after all I haven't posted anything in like 3 weeks... My apologies). I have been entertaining my sister Amber! I can't tell you how wonderful it was to have my sister here in India WITH ME! There is this indescribable feeling of having someone come and visit you that was a friend/family member pre-India! It was great to have both of my worlds in America and India come together for the first time.

Amber and I have always been close and I am not exactly talking about age...even though we are only 1 year and 17 days apart. Because we were only a year a part we partcipated in all the same activities in high school and even college. We were on the same cheerleading quad for two years, served on Student council, and NHS together along with yearbook. I even followed her to Dallas Baptist where we both eventually lived in the same apartment complex and took it the the extreme and graduated from college in the same ceremony and even got to sit next to each other! We have always had a friendship that was unique. Over the last few years of college I think we grew a little bit apart, but I think we are working towards getting back to where we used to be! I mean we are sisters after all!

Amber is an amazing person. She is often misunderstood but those who know the "real" amber truly have find a rare and precious jewel. She has an amazing heart to serve the Lord and to grow in a closer walk with the Father. She has a wonderful and guenuine heart for people of all ages...she sees the beauty in people that I don't always see. She challenges me to love more deeply and to love unconditionally. She has kind of quirky personality and man can she ramble! It really was a joy to get to be a part of all her ramblings...even though it can get long!! Amber...you are amazing and don't ever forget that! You are a daughter of the King and you are beautiful!!

So what exactly did we do? We did everything! The only thing we didn't get a chance to do was watch a bollywood movie and i didn't get a chance to cook her indian food (ants got in all my spices...boo). However, we did get to tour the city, spend time with the important people in my life (Mona, my roomie, Anita, & my teammates), and see the ins and outs and normality of my life here. She handled India so great! Amber is really adaptable...she was a trooper!

Below are pics of the other things we were up to..




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Mona had us over for an Indian dinner (yum) and the we had a henna party!



Anita, my house helper, invited us to her house again. She lives in a slum and it was neat for amber to have the experience of sharing a meal in the slums. This was one of amber's favorite memories. She also fell in love with Anita the same way Lindsey and I have.



Ghand Ji's memorial site



Mona & Amber... this picture makes my heart sing. Two of my loves coming together...beautiful.


At my favorite coffe shop...Oxford Bookstore.



Teammates!



This is us in a saree showroom shop. I am so glad amber got this experience. You sit down and they bring all the saree's to you and spread them out until you choose one! It is always most fun shopping with an Indian, so of course Mona filled that role. It was really really fun!



Here is a picture of Amber and I on our way to the airport today. So my hair is a little windy...that is the life of a rickshaw. She definetly got to experience first hand the good ol' rickshaw as we went all over the city. Its always an experience!

BUS! (finished in hindi) That is all for now. Hopefully the next post won't take so long!

Meet the Extended Fam (mom's side)

meet the fam cont....

I had a unique opportunity of seeing all of my family on my Mom's side! We all met at the lake and had a great time! All of the aunts and uncles and cousins were reunited. I can tell that I am getting older because I was content to sit in the water and tan. I had a lot of fun chillin' with the ladies in the water rather than skiing on the boat with all the boys!

You forget how much you love and appreciate family until you get the lucky privilege of being together again!

For J & K

Happy 23 to ME!!!

I have had the privelege of sharing my birthday with my sister Shannon for the past 23 years!! HAPPY 26 SHANNY!!

It was fun to be in the country to celebrate with my parents and my sisters!!


- We went to my favorite hamburger place in Bulverde- BEEFY's Backyard.

- Then we went to a new mall in San Antonio! It is this beautiful outside mall. It reminded me of the one in Short Pump in Virginia (FPO).

- Then my fam, my grandparents, my friends and Shannon's friends all met at Texas Road House birthday dinner.

After dinner...you guessed it... we went to STARBUCKS!!!



Amber and Daddy



my sisters...i love them!



Starbucks with the Parents and Lisa (mom's best friend)



Me, Amy(college roomie) and Carli (best friends from HS)



Me and my daddy!

Meet the Extended Fam (dad's side)

My Dad and Ben (my second cousin)


My Mom and Kirra (my second cousin- Ben's sister)



Blake and Me ( my second cousin & Ben & Kirra's sibling)



Tye (Dad's brother), Traci, and my cousin Kiley



Ben and Kirk (ben's dad)



My sisters, Tammi (my cousin) and second cousins




Tammi (Ben's mom) and Ben



Blake and Kiley



Me and Kiley



Tammi and Me



LOTS of family!!

Pics from the wedding!

Reunion of My Best Friends

Before I left for India I was worried about my friendships that I was leaving behind. I wondered if they would be the same. As I was sitting on the plane, I began to think about my friends and wondering if thing would be akward and all of us would've changed.


This is not the case! It seems like there has been NO TIME that has passed since we all saw each other! It has been such a beautiful reunion with the woman in my life that I love so much and have shared so many memories with! I love them all so so so very much.

I have not had too much culture shock. Its seems really normal to be here. I kind of feel now like I have two place to call home! Isn't that a blessing. I know that by the time I finish here I will be really excited and ready to come back to India!!

I still haven't seen the parental unit. I will see them the day of the wedding!

Stay Tuned for Rehersal dinner and wedding...

First days in America!

I found myself incredibly ancy the last 1.5 hours of my long 12 hour flight. I was giddy and excited to be around people who spoke my language and I new what everyone around me was saying!! I was so excited to go through customs and have the passport stamper guy be American! Wahoo. I was greeted by Hannah and Ashley my sweetest and dearest friends in the whole world!!! It was a joyful reunion with lots of running and big HUGS!!
Immediately after I arrived we went straight to the tailor to get my bridesmaids dress altered. We also did a little shopping cause I got to attend a my first and only shower for Hannah. But I gave away all my skirts and dresses...so I had to go SHOPPING! It was kind of a weird cultural moment but I persevered.
The next morning I had breakfast with some of my favorite woman and mentors from my home church! It was so sweet of them to take out their time to hangout with me! (thanks ladies)


This is Hannah and Cameron!!! In 2 days the future Mr. and Mrs. Whitley. I thought you should meet them.

A Day in Seoul

I arrived in South Korea!! This picture to the right is the downtown area of my sisters hometown. This is what most of Korea looks like. My time here is really really short so we decided to take a quick trip to Seoul (the Capitol). We found this aweseome tour bus in Lonely Planet. We chose the downtown line and it stops at every major/important place in Seoul. It takes about two hours BUT you can get off and get back on at whatever place you want! It was a pretty sweet deal.





Look...It's Ambo and I after a year long absence and me beside the bus!

One of my favorite stops was the Seoul Tower. It is sometimes called the "Needle". This reminds me of the Reuion Tower in Dallas and the Tower of Americas in San Antonio. You go up the elevator, your ears pop, and then you get to see the whole city from the observation deck.



Look! I found India in Korea?! Pretty crazy huh. I still haven't quite figuired out why they list different cities ..but it made for a fun pic.











Amber and I decided to eat lunch from the street venders. The pineapple was a success, but the hot dog wasn't so much...I am still trying to figuire out what kind of meat it was.


Palaces in Korea are pretty popular. Amber has never been to one and supposedly she has gotten a lot of flack for it. I went to a palace and wasn't all that impressed honestly. I thought their palaces were religous...not so much...really its what it says it is... a palace.


Tomorrow I am going to my sister's school and meeting some of the teachers she teaches with! I am excited...then we head out for America!!! I can't believe it.

Pray for my luggage. As I was boarding the plane in Chiang Mai they took my carry on to put in the cabin...I haven't seen it since then. They lost it. Since it was my carryon it had everything important in it!! Pray they find it please!!!

Happy Birthday America!

This is the first FOURTH of JULY that I have spent out of country. But the wonderful thing is that I was surrounded by hundreds of Americans!! We had early morning sessions but then they took us to Grace International School. It is the coolest school I have ever been to!

There was everything but fireworks to enjoy. We had basketball court, softball, the world's largetst swimming pool, cold drinks, and lots of the typical fourth of July fixin's. We had hamburgers, hot dogs, cole slaw, corn bread, snow cones, punch, and etc!! It was awesome!

We even took the time to sing America Happy Birthday!! It was a pretty fun fourth!!

The JOY of Thailand

I took the midnight flight from India to Chiang Mai and arrived at 7:30 AM. Needless to say, I was pretty tired when I arrived. Instead of sleeping the next day- a group of us decided to spend the day pampering ourselves!!! We got pedicures, haircuts, ate beef, and drank Starbucks!!

YES... THAT IS BEEF!! We were reunited after 6 months!

I have been attending lots of meetings, workshops, enjoying some coorporate worship and catching up with old friends! The new prez of teh SBC is heare talking to us and its been nice having the time to sing in my heart language and hear some good teaching! I got to hear Gary Chapman speak to us singles on the Five Love Languages. What is your love language? Can you guess mine?



This for all you FBC Irving folks! All of us are finally reunited!!



Me at STARBUCKS!!! Let me just say i was giddy!