free disney on your bday

thinking about coming to visit us? come on your birthday & go to disney free!

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/disneyparks/en_US/WhatWillYouCelebrate/index?name=FreeOnYourBirthdayPage
you'll need to register beforehand on the link above...


If you already have a pass, be sure to register, too because you can get other gifts -- one is a free gift card to use at the parks... here are some faqs...
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/disneyparks/en_US/WhatWillYouCelebrate/index?name=WDWCelebrationFAQsPage



ok -- i need to update this blog!

first camping trip

moss park... orlando, florida while dad sets up camp... we slept snugly in mike's 3 man backpacker tent (translation: small)
love to hike with dad...
... and chill with mom
around the campfire
happy campers

island retreat

at the end of our last recording, we had a couple of days to relax... the local people we worked with recommended a little island not far from where we were working... not much to do but roam around, collect shells, and snorkel a bit...the sunsets got better & better... just what we were hoping for.

(click picture to see it bigger)

more from toroweap

couldn't resist posting a few more pics from our summer adventure...memories...
for more info on this amazing place, go to: http://www.zionnational-park.com/toroweap.htm

picasa

my darling husband downloaded picasa & started the arduous task of organizing all the pics we've taken since we got married... almost 4 years ago... very few of which i've organized & almost none of which i've printed out...bad.
anyway, he came across some amazing pictures like this one... from our drive across utah, on our way to colorado from the northwestern rim of the grand canyon. gorgeous.

summer

here's mike & me in our bungalow on Ko Jum... when we arrived in krabi (the closest city to the island), the locals tried to convince us not to go to the island because, "nothing is on Ko Jum... no one is there... it is closed!" what's the problem? we were even more convinced it was, in fact, where we wanted to go. we were often the only ones on the beach, save a few stray dogs. it rained most days, too... we didn't mind.

we had a wonderful visit with my mom & grandmother here... Grandmother said she really felt like she'd been "immersed in Thai culture" :). Here we are on Doi Inthanon, the highest mountain in Thailand....
and wearing the silver jewelry we made at a local studio... with some training from the master jeweller, we did the designing, heating, flattening, cutting, soldering, shaping, and polishing ourselves!

we've been painting our new office.... the previous color was an appetizing cross between cooked salmon & pepto bismol. here i am jamming out to johnny cash & trying hard to paint a straight line between "brittany beige" & "olive grove" (i'm a freehander). i am also working on curtains... found a great deal on some thai cotton... under $1/yard.

gardening... we've been planting all kinds of stuff.... cucumbers, basil, oregano, LOTS of tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, a flower i can't spell (thanks for the seeds Sandy!)... can't wait to make salsa & spaghetti sauce! mike made a lovely garden in one corner of our yard.... but you'll have to wait for pics.

all for now!

ireland

O Ireland isn't it grand you look--Like a bride in her rich adornin? And with all the pent-up love of my heart I bid you the top o' the mornin!
John Locke
"The Exile's Return"

if you haven't heard, after our last recording trip, i abandoned my husband for 10 days and went to ireland... a good friend had been planning to go there on her sabbatical and was without a travel partner at the last minute, so i obliged her...
the really miraculous thing was that we were both able to get free plane tickets through our frequent flier programs within a couple months of the trip and even arrived in dublin within an hour of each other!
we drove our way around the south to glendalough, avoca (for all you ballykissangel fans), wexford, kilkenny, waterford, cork, killarney, the dingle peninsula, galway, clifden/connemara, & all the beautiful roads in between surrounded by goats, sheep, cattle (sometimes on the roads, as well) and fences made of stone.... we saw tons of buildings, abbeys, castles, rocks, ruins, shorelines, churches, graveyards, & gardens... all considerably older than the country of our birth.
the place was gorgeous and the people were just beautiful... they were always friendly & welcoming... a few times we were approached by strangers on the street who thought we looked lost & did not want to mug us, but actually wanted to help us...
if you'd like to see oodles of great pictures of ireland, debbie, and me, go to debbie's ireland photos on snapfish... you'll need to get a login if you don't have one, but it's easy... let me know if the link doesn't work.

faR&R away from the city

mike & i saw an article in a local magazine about ko jum... an island not a lot of people have heard of (yet) down in the south of thailand... we've been really busy -- & itching to go somewhere "lonely" for a while -- & decided to go for it next week since we'll be in bangkok for work...

just had to share with you the correspondence i had with the sweet thai man who owns the "beach bungalows" we'll be in.... i didn't edit anything so you could get the full experience...

(this is his response to an email from me asking him about the difference between the 2 ends of the island where we will be staying... we had already spoken on the phone, which was an equally delightful & cultural experience)


Dear Caryn
I just get my mail today after already have conversation to your goodself, the diffirence between Nort and South are:
1. local people call nortern part Ban Koh Pu and Southern part Ban Koh Jum end up with the island have two name.
2. northern have high mouthen the highest in the regien while the southern are flat land.
3. more resort on the south than the north because the road access to the north beach is resently constracted,
This may help you to know abit about Koh Jum and Koh pu before arrive their.
Since we have quite limited choise of food on the island and no refigirator to preserve food because no public eletric supply may I ask you very ood question that can you take see food? so we can prepare proper row meterial food for you.
Best wishes
Paul (Somporn Sangsuwan)

note that we are staying on the NORTH end of the island, "ko pu"... the one with high "mouthen" (mountains) and less "resorts" (mostly just little beach huts that run around $7-$12/night)... and that neither end has electricity... we are very excited about the fresh "see food" (fish & whatnot)....