But every time out ended with either a quick cheer or a prayer for strength. These girls are fighters! We didn't win our own tournament, but it was a good learning situation for the entire team, coach included.

Time out during an early game in our end of season tournament. Giving tips mid-game is harder than you'd think! Half the time, I just want to go out there and play the game!

This is Jasmine, a 1-year old little girl who has been at Mekar Lestari since she was 3 days old. She was born with cancer in her kidneys which has spread to her bones. But would you ever know it from that beautiful face?

This little girl had only been at the orphanage for a week. She was very trusting though and in need of a lot of love. I think she hugged on me for at least an hour!

Here's my class! We were on a field trip to our Christian Service Project, the Mekar Lestari Orphanage. They are all holding "gifts" for the children there.

Hey Liese! Remember the shopping cart? Amazingly, they keep one as a prop at M Photo Studio where we had these done! This brought back memories.

Who said grownups can't have fun????

The new group of Singles at SPH. As you can see, our group has grown, and we're minus a few people here!

This is Stephanie (our pianist for Toad of Toad Hall and one of the basketball players I've coached) and myself. The afterparty for the play was fun, but as you can see we were a bit tired. But hey, someone's gotta do the hard work so that everyone else can laugh!

I had two parts in the play. The first was as the usher in the courtoom scene. Here, I am dressed as the washerwoman who helps Toad escape from prison. By the final performance, this part was a riot! Everything from taking off skirts to stuffed shirts. And don't you love that look on my face!

Some of the teachers of SPH recently put on a production of Toad of Toad Hall...based on The Wind in the Willows. It was months of practice followed by some agonizing dress rehearsals (notice the script still in someone's hand??), but the crowds loved it!

Oh yeah, this is actually how we got muddy. Let's just say we are a fun loving group! We were washing mud out of clothing for quite a while! All in the name of good wholesome fun!

This is actually two Touch Rugby teams from SPH. We faced each other for the championship game. The team with green on the shirts (see it through the mud?) got 1st place.

And there's the winning Tug 'O War champions! Trust me, it wasn't easy pulling in all that mud!

The unpredictable weather the day of the Gathering left us with flooded fields, but we still managed to play Volleyball, Touch Rugby and Tug 'o War. Volleyball mixed 3 teachers and 3 students. We got 2nd place!

These are some traditional dancers who performed at the recent Scottish Highland Gathering in Lippo Karawaci. Very vibrant colors and quite amazing dance!

A very late night "out on the town." It was an evening full of events...a farewell party followed by go carting on top of a mall (no joke!), then a very late dinner at a mall in Jakarta. If you can't tell, it's about 5 hours past my bedtime in this shot!

Who said teachers can't have fun? We like to party with the best of them...Mr. Jonathan and I showing the others how to boogie.

The new group of "Lippo Ladies"...the Single Gals!! We're losing one next year as she returns home to Australia, but we'll add at least a couple more. We're a tight group, very supportive, our own little family.

Oh no! Terri doing Karaoke! Thank God there were only friends in the room because we all know that she CAN NOT sing!!

This is one of my favorite pictures taken this year. And not because it is in a bowling alley, though that's a nice plus! The two ladies with me, Liesl (in the center) and Amanda (on the right), have come to mean a great deal to me. Friends are what make this place "home" for me.

Our crazy dinner at Cafe Pisa! Around the table starting from front left. Judy, Amy, Katie's dad, Katie's mom, Katie, and Liesl (dessert being stuck in the side of her face).

We were recently graced with the presence of a wonderful friend, Sue Starling, who came into Jakarta with us last year. This was a "Singapore Reunion" dinner at The Eastern. In the back are those crazy blokes from Australia, Chris and John. Then you have the lovely ladies seated, from left to right, Sue, Jess, me, Liesl and Lynelle.

Dinner on the beach. It was a beautiful evening. Relaxation was the goal for our long weekend in Lombok. The suntan lines I still have prove that the goal was achieved!

Sunset in Lombok...this was the view at dinner our second night. It was an absolutely stunning sight! Off to the right you can see the men who were constantly trying to get our attention...t-shirts, bracelets, key chains, bookmarks...you can buy just about anything from those guys!

This is a view of the ocean from where some friends and I stayed in Lombok a couple of months ago. The water was so blue! And there was a beautiful coral reef where we were able to go and see all the wonderful sea creatures that live there!

Here are both the Boys & Girls SMP basketball teams just after winning the SPH Cup to end the season. Lots of hard work, and the added dimension this year of togetherness between the two teams gave us the opportunity be so successful.

Welcome to my world!

Welcome to the website that is all about my life and the things I experience as I travel! Right now, I am living and working in Indonesia so everything you see, everything you read, will be about this place and my experiences here. Feel free to post comments anywhere you'd like (you have to be a blogger member, but not have a website, to do so). Hopefully this will be a more up-to-date way of staying in touch with me than my newsletter has been recently!