10 out of 245

Fact: It is currently day 245 of the 365 days of 2011.

Oh, the things you learn about me from the items I choose to take pictures of...some of them are insightful and deep, reflecting on truths that I am learning...and some of them are just fun and reflect nothing by the randomness that floats around in my head (and trust me, there is A LOT of that)!!

That being said, I am posting 10 more photographs from my picture-a-day project...

203/162...spot-on gift

I love fun jewelry and so I was super excited when one of my English students, Sotheavy, gave me this necklace for no apparent reason beyond wanting to bless me. I was even more touched when I found out that he made it himself.

205/160...addiction

I admit it...I have become addicted to iced milk coffee, or in Khmer..."cafe dteuck dah goh dteuck gahw(k). (I know you are all trying to say it right now!) I never drank coffee in America and yet, here I am wishing and wanting to have one of these tasty little treats every day...in large quantities. The actual flavor of the coffee is good, but then they throw in the sweetened condensed milk, and buddy, you have a winner! They only cost about 50 cents so when I have a craving in the office, I smile nicely at one of the boys I work with and offer to get them one as well if they will jump on their moto and buy me a coffee. There is little wonder as to why I love them...the coffees, I mean, though the guys are pretty great too.

213/152...noodle phenomenon

My friend, Eileen, introduced me to the famous Chinese noodle restaurant. GREAT food...cheap prices...authentic and fresh. The guy stands outside and makes the noodles non-stop throughout day. We got huge bowls of noodle soup (campbell's doesn't even deserve compare), a plate of 12 dumplings and a huge plate of garlic green beans and it was $3 each. I am looking forward to going back soon!

214/151...dragonfruit

Walking down the street in Phnom Penh offers a lot for the senses...sights, sounds, smells (and not always good ones)...I very rarely taste things as I walk, though. This fruit was an exception. My friend and I saw this huge stand of organic dragonfruit, one of the things that America is greatly missing out on! In an effort to make a sale, the vendor cut one open and let us try some. I have eaten the white ones a lot, but never the red kind. These were SO good, but the red definitely stains your fingers.

215/150...it's about time

I finally paid some long overdue attention to my hair, getting it trimmed and colored. It is now all back to brown with no more three-toned nonsense going on.

221/149...firsthand account

I asked one of my students to write a testimony of what God did in his life during his time in the Harvesters class. I will be including a translated version of it in my next newsletter.

227/138...shining through

Being that it is the rainy season, I see a lot of the inside of my umbrella. As I was taking this picture (in the safety of my dry room) and saw the light on the other side, I had one of those "get ready, a lesson is coming, God wants to teach me something" moments. The umbrella guards me from the rain, but eventually the rain stops and I can stand in the sun again. I can't stay under the umbrella forever or I will miss out on the good stuff. God covers me from the rain...during the times when I am weak and my heart is hurt, He hides me in the shadow of His wings. But eventually, I have to step out from the shadows. Stepping out is risky. Life is challenging and sometimes it hurts. But not forever. And the warmth of sun...the warmth of God's love...makes is all worth it.

229/136...rambaldi?!

This is the design on the wall around the church. Often as I look at it, something inside of me involuntarily jumps with an odd mixture of emotions that I can't quite make out and yet, I must say, makes me feel a little embarrassed by. This design is eerily similar to the Rambaldi symbol from Alias. If you are not an Alias fan, well, then you are going to find me even more peculiar than you might have already thought up to this point. If you are, however, also an Alias fan, you probably have the same mix of 1. fear (thinking that Rambaldi...and thus Sloane and all his minions...have some sort of connection to this place), 2. worry (that one day the world is really going to end with a giant red ball of water), 3. excitement (that there is a chance that Vaughn will come save my life...wouldn't that be great!), and 4. foolish (because none of it is real). Commence laughing at me...now.

237/128...i don't like hell

I am not attempting to state the obvious or to say a "bad" word, but just wanting to point out a little funny irony that I find in the Khmer language. The word for spicy hot in Khmer is "hell"...so when people ask me about the food that I like and don't like, I have to tell them "Ahwt joel jet hell" which means I don't like spicy...I don't like hell.

239/126...gleekin' it up

I love Glee. I mean, REALLY love it! So when I found out that the one and only real movie theater in all of Cambodia was going to be playing the 3D Glee concert movie, I was elated. This is Eileen and I, in all our Gleek glory. I had to display a great deal of restraint to not bust out singing through pretty much the entire movie.