Home is where your eyebrow lady is.

If home is where the heart is, then my home is in Bloomington and another random place in Indiana, Chicago and Peoria, Pittsburgh, New Delhi, some small town in Ohio, Spain, in various towns around Nebraska, and, oddly enough, in Bangkok. I personally like to think that home is where your eyebrow lady is at. It took me 3 years to find a fantastic eyebrow threading shop in Chicago (it's right at Belmont and Clark, called Ideal Salon for all you Chicagoans. I'm also currently looking at Chicago on google maps and crying so it's fine.) but it only took me 3 months in Bangkok (probably because I now know the value of having your eyebrows threaded on a regular basis. Gotta keep those eyebrows on fleek.) And I even have a hairdresser here. Life is getting real.

This past week I've viewed an art gallery featuring photos of Chicago and returned to the airport to pick up a friend. Bangkok feels like home now sort of.

First off, going to an art gallery where the "art" is pictures of your old life is jarring on so many levels. I knew the places she had captured on film- I've stood on those street corners and seen that skyline. And to be standing in a hot bar in Bangkok, viewing my old life was weird. There's no other way to explain in. Like this means I officially no longer reside in Chicago, right? Ironically, during my solo dinner, I met a man wearing a Wrigleyville Goose Island t-shirt and proceed to have a long conversation about Chicago which equal parts exciting and odd. What is happening, BKK?

A collage of Chicago. I felt all the feels and teared up at the sight Red Eye like who would have thought. 

Second, going to the airport to pick up a friend is also weird like 5 months ago I was being pick up from the airport, wearing a blue tank-top and long black skirt, not knowing anything about Thailand or work or even how to say hello and now I'm giving directions to the taxi driver in Thai! Like this is what 5 months does to you. It was incredible to host someone for the first time and made BKK feel much more like home.

New friends and exploring Chinatown!

I wore the same blue tank top to the airport, a tradition I will continue I've decided, and I dressed up extra fancy for my solo night viewing the art gallery. It's weird how places become your home is the strangest ways possible. Who knew that some low-quality Chicago photos or a long trek to the airport would cause such feelings of pride to bubble up!

So, for me, home is where you eyebrow lady is, where you host friends, and, most importantly, where you view photos of your old streets/city/life. Bangkok, you're not a bad home. 

An explanation of life around here.

So, first off, thank you for all your emails and messages and keeping in contact with me! I cannot stress how much this helps affirm my being here! It encourages me more than you know and keeps me accountable to working and growing and living missions. When I first came to Bangkok, I was just getting the lay of the land, learn who's who, what's the mission and heart behind the foundation, what my role will look like. Now that it's been almost 20 weeks (WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE) and it's the start of the new year, I figured I'd explain some key people and goals we have for this year! I'm not going to explain everything and everyone, because there's so much happening. But you can check out CREATIVE LIFE'S WEBSITE and get the low-down there. Also, SIGN UP FOR THE CLF MONTHLY NEWSLETTER. You'll get real-time updates about all the programs going on and I'll be contributing on behalf of Mina's Whole Foods so it'll really easy to follow our progress. Also there will be recipes.

Okay, first thing to explain. Creative Life Foundation aka CLF aka the foundation. This is a Thai foundation, or non-profit, that was founded by the American organization, Word Made Flesh, or WMF. You can read more about the story behind CLF and get to know the directors, Tim and Amy, on CLF's website.

The most important part of CLF (in my super bias opinion, obvious) is Mina's Whole Foods, a social enterprise which I help run. Mina's Whole Foods is committed to providing nutritious and affordable healthy foods that promote healthful living and create meaningful jobs. Mina's Whole Foods was officially founded in 2013 by Amy and Mina. Mina is a rad woman from Nepal with a huge heart for her family and finding freedom and can whip up a mad meal in under 30 minutes. I am constantly reminded, most of the time on a daily basis, how blessed I am to learn from her. You can read her story on the CLF website. Seriously, just go look at it. It's cool and it'll help you understand what we've got going on here. Mina's Whole Foods makes amazing, sugar-free peanut butter, vegan pesto, roasted garlic humus, and a raw cauli salad and we sell it every other weekend at super trendy and delicious farmer's markets around Bangkok. Everything is amazing and Mina's consists of 75% of my diet. Oh, if you want, check out our Facebook page HERE!

A distinction to note: Mina is a person. Mina's is the business. Note the apostrophe.

At Mina's, Mina and I are working to expand our production and profit. Right now, we employe a few part-time workers, mostly on what we call "production days", which is the 2-3 days before a farmer's market. This has worked for a while but due to the rapid demand of Mina's, which I played no role in for the record; this increase is pre-me being here, we're looking for someone full time. This links directly with my day-to-day work. I'm connecting with high-end grocers, health food stores and new farmer's markets to find additional places to sell our product which will generate an increase in profit and allow us to higher additional help to keep up with demand. I do a little bit of marketing and customer engagement, a little bit of sales, a little bit of accounting and a little bit of errand running.

At a market! Mina also makes these amazing veggie momos which are to die for!

So what's the significance of this work? The vision, and reason Mina's was started, is to provide meaningful work for women that empowers them. When women control the household budget, there's in increase in spending in children's education and an emphasis on providing healthy food. Additionally, Mina's provides jobs to women seeking freedom from poverty, oppression and some of live's greatest tragedies. My personal goal, and I need you to hold me accountable to this, is to hire one full-time staff and implement consistent business systems that allow Mina's to operate at full ability.




Mina leverages her gifts for others in a way that really challenges my sometimes passive and apathetic view of others. I wish you could all meet her. She's a gem and a revolutionary. May you go out and leverage your life in a way that impacts others!

A post india reflection with all kinds of photos.

"So. Today was memorable to say the least. I'd opted to attend a rally in memory of Savitribai Phule, a revolutionary leader in India's history.  Before the sun even rose, I boarded a train with two TruthSeekers. We rode in the silence as early mornings without coffee is hardly the time for small talk. Also they speak Hindi and I don't so that's a small bump in the road. We got in to Gwalier and were lead to a small guest house for chai and chatting. Again, don't get the language so I just smiled a ton. Then we went drove to the rally and 100% of it was lost in translation and I was bored about 73% of the time. But if there's an event held in the memory of a radial, revolutionary female leader that celebrates powerful women in the community, I'm there. 

After sitting for 3 hours, we pile back in the car and drive to the train station but the tickets to get to Agra were sold out. We went back to the guest house and I stared walking around the garden due to sitting literally all day and going stir crazy. I was motioned back to the car and, with no institutions of what's happening next, we went off. I'm sitting here thinking we'll catch the 6pm train but then we pass the train station. Okay, so we'll take a bus. Nope, passed that too. We pull to the side of the road and I'm confident were getting out and hitchhiking but the driver starts talking to someone on the road and the translation I understood was "yes you can totally ride on the roof, just throw your bag in the back!" Alas my translation needs some work cause no one hopped on the roof of the car- we just gained another bag. Then, I'm 100% sure we're coming up on a bus station outside the city but it turns out to be a huge religious gathering. At this point, it's been 30 minutes and we're still driving in a car packed to the roof with people  and pass a sign that say Agra 100 km. Okay so we're driving in this overly cramped car all the say there. Got it. 
(Now I'm assuming many do you haven't driven the road from Gwalier to Agra but it's terrifying. Too many moving parts and horns. Not enough seat belts or obeying traffic laws. Oh and there are also tons of cows roaming this road.) So, as if packed road trip can't get any more sketchy, we literally were 2 inches from hitting a cow. If it wouldn't have turned its head at the last second, I swear I could have check doing a Hindu cow barrels off my bucket list."

A journal about India, just to give you a clear picture of how I spent my time. Dodging cows and mistranslating Hindi every day. It was incredible. 

Things I learned:

• God transcends culture, class, caste, race, location, time, etc.
• When God calls you, he  does actually have a purpose and use you, despite how much you question it
• The only thing you can do during stressful times is find the humor in it. Like when your tuk-tuk takes the longest possible way home or you get dropped off at the wrong location and spend 30 minutes walking around, trying to find your hotel
• "Everything will be clear tomorrow" - a gem of wisdom from my friend which is true. Things will be confusing but tomorrow, or in a week or 8 months or 32 years, things will be clear.
• Everyone deserves love and belonging and God's salvation 

This trip refreshed my faith and is making me so excited to do God's work here in Thailand! And, hopefully, I get to go back sometime. I think I connect with the food on a soul level because who doesn't like hoy, oily bread and bowls overflowing with lentils. I think Indian cuisine is the only food that allows me to fully express my love and devotion to lentils. I even brought a bag of lentils home with me because I'm that committed to living my best life via lentil consumption. Let's see how many times I can say lentils in this paragraph! Anyway, I also got to learn some OG Indian recipes, like lentils (okay, I'll stop!) and red curry sauce. I'm currently replicating these meals in BKK to fool my soul into thinking we're still in India. I think it's working! 

I miss the colors the most. Everything overflows with vibrant hues. The saris drying over balconies whip in the wind, the food is packed with colorful vegetables, the trucks and buses have hand painted, vivid patterns on the sides and the old monuments, mosques, and gardens shows their ancient complexion.

India, you're incredible.

Goals from this trip: Be a little more hospitable  

 Laugh more often and take life a little less seriously 

 Wear color and celebrate small things because every day should be a celebration

And above all, love and encourage others because being a human is hard and we all need a little pick-me-up.

Seeking truth in Delhi

I am in Delhi and it is just as colorful and wonderful and heartbreaking as last time, only this time I'll have photos to prove it. I spent my first two days exploring Jaipur and met the most wonderful people along the way- people who translated the bus drivers Hindi instructions and leant me their phones and made sure I was back on the bus before it left the rest stop. In Jaipur, I had the pleasure to meet the kindest hotel manager who gave me a map of the city and suggestions of where to go, a group of young professionals who offered me chocolate and chatted while sipping coffee, and the most amazing rickshaw driver who drive Macklemore around the city and couldn't stop talking about his love for all things American. It was a good trip for my soul.

And now I'm back in Delhi and spend the first day of 2016 walking through the slums of Delhi and meeting some shinning lights in the midst of the darkness and dispar of the caste system. These ladies and their fearless leader believe ever child has a purpose deserves a chance and it is our duty to give back and give what we can go bring God's kingdom on earth. And their leader, a fearless man and TruthSeeker boldly carries out this vision, a vision he once questioned and doubted. I was blessed to spend the whole day with him and hear parts of his story. This man comes from a low background but was educated by missionaries, which lead to his conversion as a child. For the past 5 years, he has been running a school in a slum for children who are professional pick picketers. What was the most impressive part of his story is how he wrestled with the burden of teaching these children. He told me how, for the first 3 years he taught, he didn't want to and continuously asked God why he was teaching these children. Dispite his doubts, he showed up for the kids and for the furthering of the kingdom. His faithfulness is being rewarded as God continues to provide and show up. This faith is beyond inspiring. I wish you could hear him talk about his plans and goals for the school- he is a wise and thoughtful dreamer. This past year, he was able to send a young boy to private school due to the generosity of donors. When describing his work, he brings to mind a forest fire. He says, "you only need one flame to start a forest fire" meaning, you just need that one member of the group to ignite the others.

While it's sad and challenging to see people treating others as less-than, it is even more encouraging to work alongside TruthSeekers.  Y'all, I'm currently chilling in a room with the assistant to a local magistrate is sitting alongside a Shepard. If that's not kingdom level reconciliation, I don't know what is. I'm so grateful to learn from the selfless and kingdom living men and women here in India. I'll be back, I just know it.