Hello All! I just moved my blog over to Blogspot today! www.megan-mylifeasithappens.blogspot.com

The blog is still under construction. Please continue to follow me!

Hey Ya’ll!

I just went to Malaysia with Brian and Mary Beth last week to get a new visa so that I can stay in Thailand longer. We had a great time together! I kept forgetting to take pictures while I was there, but, I did take some of the beautiful view I had from my hotel room. Check them out ! ~ From the Land of Smiles

From The Land of Smiles has had a facelift .  Check it out and let me know what you think!

I am sorely tempted to switch this blog over to Blogspot, but, I can’t make up my mind if I’m going to or not.

How can one express the sweetness of Christ’s love? Are there words? Because when I try to describe His ever steady and unfailing love…I am speechless.  And when I think of how he has made me his daughter and the bride of his Son, I am so overwhelmed that all I can do is smile and cry. What have I done to deserve this love?  Have I not sinned against him and broken his laws? Have I not broken his heart with my rebellion? So why has he placed me in such a place of honor and trust? His love is just sometimes…unexplainable.

Sorry for the lack of posts lately! And I apologize to those of you that I promised to email updates to. For some reason I have been able to receive emails, but, not able to send any :/ . 

Last week the Stubenrauchs took the opportunity to go on a rare vacation while Mary Beth’s mother is here. We had  so much fun! We were by the ocean, which was a first for me, and it was beautiful! God’s artistic hand in everything continually amazes me. We didn’t do a lot except eat, swim, and sleep Haha! Actually, it was a very refreshing time for me. There were times that I could feel the Lord’s presence. To look at pictures of our time on the island click HERE. 

Tomorrow I start taking Thai language lessons with a woman nearby!  I’m pretty excited. My prayer is that I will learn the language quickly so I can communicate more with the people around me. Especially the two little girls that live in the house that I share with Christina and P’Thak.

Everything is going great here. I was able to talk with my parents and brothers this morning and last night. It was so good to hear their voices.

MB, Mrs. Clark(MB’s mom), and I just returned from going to the local gym to workout. The treadmill I went on just about took everything out of me, I think .  Well, maybe it wasn’t the treadmill so much, but, the fact that Thais don’t think it’s good for you to have air conditioning going when you exercise :/.  

I posted some pictures of my room! Actually, these are before photos because I got some new things to put in it yesterday but haven’t taken any more pics yet.  -

www.megan-picturesfromthailand.blogspot.com

Well, today is the day I will be saying goodbye to my family. Wow, I knew it was going to be hard, but, I didn’t think it would be this hard. Around two o’clock or so they will be taking me to Mrs. Clark’s (Marybeth’s mom) house to spend the night with her since she is much closer to the airport than we are. In the morning she and I  will be taking off to officially be on our way to Thailand! I am so excited .  But, for the moment, I am feeling like I could cry at the drop of a hat and go to sleep at any moment. Overall though, I believe God had given us all a lot of grace.  I feel so blessed to have a family like mine.

So, my other neat news?  My braces were taken off today!!! Yay!

On Monday, we left for a place called cleftRock to get away as a family so Dad and John could unwind from their most recent trip to Sudan and also to kind of prepare for my upcoming trip to Thailand. cleftRock is a retreat center for pastors and missionaries and their families. It is a wonderful, beautiful, and peaceful place set back deep into the woods. We had a great time together taking walks, listening to the birds, praying, eating junk food, playing games and of course, taking pictures . Below are some of the over 100 photos my brother, John, and I shot while on a walk together.  I took most of them because, well, I was a little bit hoggish with the camera that day . But we had a very special brother – sister time together. 

If you like any of the pictures we would really appreciate that you do not use them without our permission. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as we enjoyed taking them! God bless! 

The house we stayed in

This was the perfect name for our little hideaway 

John took this close up of the Iris – It was one of the only Iris’ there still in bloom

John wanted to take a shot of the parking sign He has a good eye cause I certainly wouldn’t have thought of it! 

I really like this pic of a fence that John took too

I took this one

John took this great picture

cleftRock was started by a couple who wanted to give pastors and missionaries a place to find rest, counsel, and quiet. Their own son was a missionary along with his wife and children in South America. Back in 2003 he was killed by guerilla rebels. His parents brought his body back to cleftRock to be buried at his favorite spot on the property. The next few photos are of his grave site and of the place surrounding it that was made for people to come to think and reflect. His family is still serving as  missionaries in South America. 

I have decided to return to the land of recipe blogs!!  I realized that I missed posting on Country Girl Recipes.  So, I have returned with some new recipes that  I think you will enjoy.  Rules are the same as before ( ) : if you use a recipe on that’s on there I would love to hear from you to know if you have made any changes to it or just to let me know that you liked it or not!  God bless you and happy cooking!

Here are pictures of my apron as promised! Please feel to once again let me know what you think. I appreciate any help I can get .

My trusty “not-so-happy-to-do-this” helper/model, Jeremiah!