Blogging at naptime.

"Writing can be a pretty desperate endeavor, because it is about some of our deepest needs: our need to be visible, to be heard, our need to make sense of our lives, to wake up and grow and belong." - Anne Lamott And this is why, more than 2 months after my last entry, I am dusting off this space in an attempt to inhabit it once again. I made one New Years Resolution this year. And it was to write something, anything, every single day of the year. I made it to January 3rd. But now I am being terribly inspired as I read through Anne Lamott's "Bird by Bird" where she will slowly reveal to me every single thing I ever needed to know about writing (I have lofty demands..) and a tad bit uninspired as I spend forty hours a week refilling vacant copier paper trays, sweeping away the unsightly remains of mangled staples, visiting the exotic land of "bulk mail," and entering numbers into a computer that each reveal the generous donations of people giving back...

Josh and I became quite the "accomplished" (perhaps too generous a word) cinematographers during our time in Cambodia, and to show that in its fullness, I thought I would post some of our personal favorites here so that the thousands who flock here daily would have easy access to our videos in one concise post. Oh the hours of research I am saving people..... First, my personal favorite, our Batman video, where Josh discovered previously unknown courage. And I discovered video sound effects! Next, our "Crib." The place we spent nearly 3 hours total when not out with teams :) And finally, our extensive series of discovering the lost ruins of Angkor. We needed a hobby.

First of all, as a public service announcement I would like to share that I think Blogspot is out to get me. Because for all of the time I spend attempting to format the layout so that the pictures and text line up just right (to perfection!), I will look over at my husband's computer as he's reading through and see things completely out of place. So please feel free to use your imagination in regards to what the page should look like if it is not aligning properly on your computer. Thank you. In other news, it has been quite the week for Josh and I as we watch the calendar days pass by and the one marked with "Josh and Michelle Depart" draw closer and closer. Pretty surreal. And yes, that day is TOMORROW by the way! Wow. In an important piece of news, I had intended to end my time here by maybe working on my tan a little this week before leaving (I have very clearly defined priorities), but rainy days combined with a general dislike of being in direct Cambodian s...

With nearly every team that has come to work with us in Cambodia, we have ended our time with them by spending two days in Siem Reap, a growing tourist destination in northern Cambodia. It allows the teams some down time to reflect on their experience, get a break from having rice for 3 meals a day, visit Angkor Wat, ride in tuk-tuk's, and finally get to have things like ice, fresh veggies, and dairy :) It's the little things in life... Josh and I have often joked throughout our time here about our plan to move to Siem Reap and base teams out of there rather than Phnom Penh. It just makes sense! There is an airport, excellent Mexican food, and we would of course reside at the "modest" Cozyna Hotel for a reasonable daily fee that would include breakfast, a swimming pool, cable TV, and a hotel staff who all believe my husband's name to be "John." (He finally just went with it, thus fulfilling every young man's dream of having an alias...) We love this...