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!

Summer Vacation is HERE!!!

My Bags are packed and I am on my way to the airport!!

SUMMER VACATION has ARRIVED!!!!

Keep me in your prayers as I travel. I could definetly use them

Mona is coming out of surgery today. Please keep her recovery in your prayers also!!

Love you all and see some of YOU very very soon.

My Roomie's Blog

Lindsey is my roomie and she is pretty much amazing. That is the best word I have to describe her.

She finally started a blog and now I have competition. Just kidding. She posted some great entries about Anita my house helper and our visit to her house. She also has some great entries about teaching English.

I was going to blog seperately...but honestly she did a great job and I am tired...so i will send you to her blog! Enjoy.

http://outtakesfromindia.blogspot.com (there is also a link on the top right...click roomie)

Weekend with the Maholtra's

This weekend I spent the weekend with my neighbors the Malhotra's! Mona will be having surgery and I will be leaving the country so we thought we should spend some quality time together.

We went to a Country Club Resort!! It was so wonderful! I went swimming for the first time in India and even got to lay in a Hammok!! It was pure BLISS!!!

Lindsey and I were talking about how easy it is to spend time with the Maholtra's. They aren't the typical Indian fam and we feel totally at ease with them! They are family to us both and we adore their daughter Erica. I think she's the smartest four year old i know!

We enjoyed many things together... food, swimming, talking, laughing, spades, and the wonderful game of UNO.

Snail Mail

My Grandfather is 77 years old and he is my most consistant letter writer! Every month or so I usually receive a letter that has been written on his type writer. My grandfather is like many in his generation that is content leaving computers to be and sticking to his trusty and well known type writer. I never got personalized letters from him in the states- so moving overseas has benefited me and helped me get to know him better! It's amazing the different perks there are for moving half way across the world. Here is his most recent! It is precious and I had to share it with you!!

Dear Alicia,

Just a note to say I missed you in May,

as well as in other months every day.

Although soon you will on your way,

coming to Texas without delay.

With many thing from your adventures to say,

by your family you will leisurely lay,

Be with your friends becausethere will be time to play.

Then back to the place God wants you to stay,

from here and there people will pray.

The Lord is with you and will not sway,

from the promises He made today.

Love, Grandad

Happy 23rd Birthday Angela!

This is my beautiful cousin Angela. Both of our moms were pregant at the same time and Angela is only 4 weeks different in age than me (I was born on July 18). Therefore- as cousins we have always shared this special bond. We both went to the same elementry school, middle school, and part of high school. Not only were we in yearbook together, but as kids we use to play barbies, house, and dress up in her mom's closet. We have some great memories as kids but unfortanetly not that many recently.
Unfortanely over time we grew apart from each other and I missed out on having a great friendship with her from high school till recently. The older I get however, the more and more I appreciate her. I hope that we can start a new friendship and be the "best friends" cousins we were always meant to be. You are amazing Angela and I want you to know that!!!

These are the things I love about Angela.

1. She has an amazing heart for people! She loves even at the risk of getting hurt.
2. She loves people and people love her!
3. She loves to have fun and socialize (just like me).
4. She has a heart the size of India.
5. She loves to sing ( i remember listening to country music with her)
6. She loves to talk and talk and talk.
7. She is very artistic and uses her skills well.

I love you Angela! Happy 23rd Birthday. I am looking

forward to seeing you SOON!!

Saying Goodbye...AGAIN

I am learning that saying "Goodbye" is a normal thing around here. It seems like people are always coming and going. You automatically develop close bonds with people overseas because you both have the same interests and heart for the work. I feel like all I do these days is say goodbye. So tonight, I had to say goodbye again to 3 friends.

This is Kenny, Heather, & Megan. They have been working with university students in my city and now it's time for them to back to the good ol' USA. They will all be pursuing some type of higher education in the future. Megan and Heather throw the BEST parties ever! Your presence will be greatly missed here!!! I love you all!

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

These are some pictures that show you INDIA. Pictures that captivate my heart!

Women Making Roti at Sikh Temple
Me in Puja Practice A Slum
An Auto Rickshaw...My form of daily transportation
A school in the slums
Shoes!!
My favorite lane to shop
An Indian Fire Station
Old Delhi...Chandi Chokh
My helper Anita's children
A Tailor in Kullu
Chaudry...writes bhajans and sings beautifully