A Life Update

You may have noticed that I have been a bit absent from this site lately.  There has been a lot going on in my life these past couple of months- from being in Canada, moving into a new house in Thailand, from teaching English and to finding out some devastating family news.  I don't really know where to start, so I might as well start with the worst of it.

In June, we headed back to Canada for a 5 week long visit with family and friends.  We were so excited to see everyone again, be back in familiar surroundings, and enjoy some camping, and other activities while we were home.  It was going to be great.  Little did we know, our world would be turned upside down.

After a week and a half of being home, we found out some devastating news.  My brother Ben was diagnosed with colorectol cancer.  This news came as a complete shock.  Ben is 30 years old, married, and with 2 small children, Brooke (4) and Kendal (1).  He is one of the hardest workers I know, and also one of the strongest people I know.  He's my big brother and I've always been so proud to be his little sister.  Sitting beside him in a hospital bed was not what I pictured myself doing over my visit home.  As hard as it was to be there taking in the painful reality, it was even harder leaving him at the hospital at the end of the night, let alone leaving for Thailand 4 weeks later.  Fortunately, he eventually was discharged from the hospital, but put on a biweekly chemotherapy schedule.  Every two weeks, he goes in for treatment.  He is able to leave later that day, but the chemo is still pumping into his body for the next two days.  For the last few weeks of my time at home, Zack and I spent time with Ben, Amy, Brooke and Kendal as much as we could while attempting to stick to plans we had made to see other friends and family while we were home.  I left Canada to head back to Thailand with an extremely heavy heart.  I am learning however, to find comfort in small ways.  I know that I am not in control of this situation.  Being in Thailand doesn't mean I can't communicate with my brother to see how he is doing, or it doesn't mean I can't fly back if I feel the need.  I see Ben's positivity and Amy's loving support and I know that God is there.  I see the support of not only close family and friends, but strangers who don't even know Ben.  Coming back to Thailand was not easy, but I am choosing to see the hope and the light in the situation.  The last two times Ben has gone in for chemo, I've been across the other side of the world but have felt present in his situation.  The night before the last two chemo rounds, I have witnessed beautiful sunsets.  It may sound cliche, but this brings me comfort.  I know that God has a plan and I am choosing to trust in Him.  Amy referenced a song lyric in her last blog post that goes, "In Oceans Deep, Our Faith Will Stand".  To read more of Amy's blog, where she shares about their journey, click here.

I'm not going to lie, the first couple weeks back in Thailand were extremely hard on me, emotionally.  One thing that made it harder, was moving to a new house.  We left our apartment in the heart of Chiang Mai, and moved into a house about 5 km out of town (it may not sound far, but compared to where we were before, it feels like it's far!).  I was already emotionally tired coming back, and then coming back to a completely new neighbourhood, in a house that didn't quite feel like home (yet) didn't help the situation.  I'm happy to say now though, that I am adjusting a lot better.  Our house is feeling more like home and I am starting to learn my way around the new neighbourhood.  I have yet to take more photos, but here is a photo of the outside:

A few other things that I've been up to since being back that are noteworthy:

1) A week in Vietnam

Though I was a bag of mixed emotions during this trip, I enjoyed our trip to Vietnam.  Zack had done all the planning and even left the locations a surprise.  In a quick recap of the trip, I didn't love Hanoi but I loved Hoi An.  Hanoi was exciting to visit but a little crazy (crossing the street just once was about all the stress I'd like to handle throughout my day).  The weather was so hot and humid making it extremely tiring to walk around.  The good part was there was street food absolutely everywhere.  Hoi An was a lot more chill.  We had bicycles while we were there, so we rode on paths through rice fields, watched the sunset on the beach, and enjoyed all the shops and restaurants in the old town.  The photo below was taken in Ninh Binh, which we ended up visiting last minute because of some bad weather coming through where we were originally headed.  We enjoyed the drastic landscape and spent our time riding around on our rental motorbike and doing some scenic walks.

2)  Teaching at a two week English Camp

The day after getting back from Vietnam, I began working at a two week English Camp.  The camp was on a beautiful eco farm 30 minutes outside of Chiang Mai, so I enjoyed being there throughout the days.  There were only 6 kids (all Chinese) but unfortunately they knew little to NO English.  This made it extremely difficult to not only teach them but to get to know them.  I tried my best to teach through fun activities and playing outside.  The kids unfortunately were not always the most responsive but hey, I tried my best.  I think it was good for me to get back to working (even though I was exhausted by the end of the two weeks!).

3)  Becoming ... PARENTS
Yes, you read that right!  We are officially....... the owners of a beautiful little black cat name Baby Mama. :)  Baby Mama was previously owned by a friend of ours who moved back to the states but could not bring her along.  Her name (because I know you're probably wondering about that) was because of how she came to live at our friends place.  She used to be a stray, and would often come back to our friend's place for food.  Our friend noticed that she kept becoming pregnant, but unfortunately never saw any of the babies.  It was then that Baby Mama was taken in by our friend to get spayed.  Throughout her recovery, she stayed close by, and therefore formed a close relationship with our friend. I am loving having her around, though she has caused some uproar with the other cats in the neighbourhood.  There is one cat in particular who chased poor Baby Mama up a tree only to have Zack later hop a fence and climb up.  Lol, let's hope that doesn't happen again.  We do love her and are happy that she already feels at home with us.

To sum up my last couple of months, it's really been a roller coaster ride.  I realized coming back to Chiang Mai that I really hadn't been taking the time to do the things I love, which in the end does not benefit myself or anyone else around me.  Now that things have slowed down a bit for me, I am finally getting back into my groove.  Making things, getting outside, adventuring, taking photos, writing, and finding my healthy balance is what I look forward to this next year in Thailand.  I was recently told by a close friend of mine how lucky I am to have recognized the precious gift of creativity within myself.  I believe everyone has it inside of them, but those who choose to utilize this, will find amazing opportunities to find a greater control of their emotions.  Basically, utilizing my creativity as an outlet is the best thing I can do to stay positive in times of weakness and also be a support to those around me.

If you do believe in prayer, please pray for Ben.  Him and the rest of the family could use all the prayers they can get.

If I know one thing, it's that if anyone can beat this, it is him.  Let's help him do this.

Sarah xox


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