Thursday, April 30, 2009

So about this gum thing... UPDATE

Ok, so I am now convicted (Thanks, Jenny. Of all people...) that we probably shouldn't be bringing gum into Singapore since it's "technically prohibited".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewing_gum_ban_in_Singapore

I suppose it's true that we'd be sending our kids mixed signals and not setting a very godly example to them and others.

Stink..... So no gum will be brought into Singapore by the Stunz family. Unless we can figure out a way to claim is as necessary for "theraputic value". Okay, okay... I give! No gum.

This section of the wikipedia article was particularly interesting:

In the mid 1990s, Singapore’s forbidding laws began to receive intense international coverage and attention from civil rights activists. The U.S. media paid attention to the case of Michael P. Fay, the American teenager who was sentenced to caning in Singapore for vandalism (spray paint, not chewing gum). They also zeroed in on Singapore’s other peculiar laws, including the "mandatory flushing in public toilets" ruling. It was around this time that Singapore developed its "nanny state" image, where the movements of every citizen are constantly scrutinised and dictated by the government. A common joke is that Singapore is a "fine" country, a jibe at the large number of fines Singapore imposes for acts like jaywalking.
Singapore leaders responded by arguing that as a sovereign state, Singapore had the rights to formulate its own policies based on its own unique political and cultural values.[
citation needed] Besides, they argued, these policies would result in greater overall benefits for the country. When a BBC reporter suggested that overly draconian laws would stifle the people's creativity, Lee Kuan Yew retorted: "If you can't think because you can't chew, try a banana."[3]

So about this gum thing...


Tori, Anna and I love gum. Stride, wintergreen is our favorite. Jakeb and Tommy hardly ever chew gum so they couldn't care less. We have read and heard from various sources that Singapore is a pretty strict place in terms of cleanliness, among other things. We have to make a detailed listing of every video we're bringing in for their strict censorship laws.

One of the things we have read and heard is that gum is not allowed. I had told Anna early on that surely we can bring gum with us and chew it in our home. Undercover, if you will. Then I read on the governments' customs website that gum is strictly prohibited so not to even bring it in. Really???

If you know me, you know that I am completely willing to comply to rules. We're going to live in their country and we should abide by their rules. I'm totally fine with that but I just have a real hard time believing that chewing gum does not exist in a modern, civilized country. So, I emailed a trusted source, whose name I won't mention to protect her privacy, :) who lives in Singapore and she said that indeed, gum is there. It's true that you can't buy it there as stores are not allowed to sell it, but it's there. People buy it in other airports or on their trips back home or they go across the border on the weekends and bring it in. She said they all chew it but they just don't throw it on the ground or stick it under their bus seat. It's such a relief to know they're not going to catch you chewing and make you spit it out like your 3rd grade teacher and then haul you off to prison.

I decided to google "the truth about gum in Singapore" and this blog post came up. I laughed out loud. You have to go read it.

So, we're taking some gum, and we'll chew it in our home and dispose of our contraban before leaving the house. If we forget to spit it out, I guess we'll have to swallow it.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

And the winner is......

http://stunz.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-much-is-it.html

The total dollar amount for the change bucket was $87.87. This means that......

I WIN!!!!! I love winning!

I didn't cheat and they know it. This was a completely legitimate win. I posted the guesses before I even touched the coins to bag them. Anna went with me for the first bank run and Jakeb took the rest today.

Tommy was off by $65.40 and I was off by only $13.02.

So, after I take my $10 bucks, we have $77.87 leftover. Not sure what we'll do with it. Does the winner get to decide? I think so.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Children's Museum - Houston

Anna reminded me that I never posted about our trip to the Children's Museum in Houston. The kids and I went a couple of weeks ago and I posted the pictures on my facebook and then sort of forgot about it. We did have a great time because after all, whether we're 41, 18, 16 or 10, we're still children!! The newly remodeled museum is incredible! We spent way too much time on the "educational" stuff and then we discovered the massive and incredible play area and wish we'd had more time. Seriously, though, when you go, don't go to the play area first because you'll never leave and you'll end up not even going to the educational stuff. And it's all good! Either plan more time overall or enjoy the educational stuff quickly and leave more time at the end for play. :)

We went on a Thursday and we timed it just right. Homeschooling and college hours afford us a flexible schedule so I wanted to arrive when all of the regular school field trips were leaving and before the free hours began at 5pm. (It's free after 5 on Thursday's and it's insane!) We got there around 1:30 and stayed until 4:30. It was not crowded at all because the school kids were gone and the other crazy people were all waiting until 5 to get in free. Definitely not worth fighting that crowd! It's only $7/person anyway and it was worth every penny!











Monday, April 27, 2009

How Much Is It????


One of the things on our list of things to do before we move is to get rid of all of our coinage. We aren't going to put it in storage and it won't do us any good in Singapore so we might as well cash it in and go out to eat or something.

I took a change jar that I had in the kitchen and added my coin "collection" from my car to it and cashed it in the other day. It was a sandwich size ziploc full and ended up being almost $64! It did have alot of quarters in it, though. Tommy and I have bucket of coins that we've been collecting for almost our whole marriage. It's mostly only pennies and we don't put change in there every day so it's probably not much but we thought we'd have some family fun. We all put in our guess as to how much money we think it is and whoever gets the closest will win $10 of it and then we'll go out to dinner.

After taking out the Chinese and Canadian coins, a bullet of some sort, dry cleaners tags, pocket lint, strands of hair, 2 guitar picks, pecan hulls, a Mr. Gatti's game token!?!, and mood ring, yes a mood ring, and various other interesting pieces of junk, I'm going to take it in to the credit union over the next few days, a little at a time so I don't break their machine.

It's interesting how the guesses turned out. All of us but Tommy have changed our guesses a few times before this post. Tommy even had some people at work guessing. Tori spread all the coins out and they ended up in the shape of a rabbit. She googled the year of the rabbit and 1963 and 1951 came up, thus 63.51. She says rather competitively, "That, my friend, is Chinese, and it will win."

No one knew what anyone else guessed, until now.

Tommy - $153.27

Andrea - $74.85

Tori – $63.51

Jakeb – $61.37

Anna - $55.28

I'll post the results.

The First of the Lasts



Anna is a part of the MP3 team in our Children's Ministry at church. They lead out in our children's worship time on Sunday mornings and have choreographed dance moves to help motivate other kiddos to participate and enjoy their worship time.

She's been a part of this group for well over a year, maybe even two, and LOVES it. Until now...

Yesterday was her last time to serve in MP3. It was a reminder to me that we are really beginning to experience our "lasts" before we go.

As I lamented about this with a friend in the hallway at church, after I went and took pictures of Anna "doin' her thang", this friend cheerfully reminded me that even though there are many "lasts" now, we'll get to experience a lot of exciting firsts very soon. Thanks for the perspective, Cindy S.!

Great job, Anna! Your dad and I are so proud of your passion to serve God and His Church and you do such a good job at it! It will be fun to find our places of service at a new church in Singapore.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Bottle Tree Park - Singapore

Dedee and Jenny, I thought of you when I watched this. All of this food, except the mushrooms, looks yummy to me but I promise we'll find some normal food for you when you come! There's always McDonald's and Starbucks. We also hear there's a BBQ place with red and white checked tablecloths and everything!

This is a place that I found from one of the Singapore blogs I read. The park is called Bottle Tree Park and I'm pretty sure we'll end up visiting there. I wonder if we'll ever be able to understand what they are saying in this video? Chopsticks and strange food, here we come!!


Saturday, April 25, 2009

Brain Mush

We've made a lot of decisions related to the move this week and thought through a lot of stuff. Throw in a couple of allergy ridden kids and homeschool and our brains are mush. I've got a few blog posts formulating but haven't had time to sit and really polish them up.

So, as anxious as you are to read post after post on the Stunz family blog, you'll just have to wait.

Hope you have a great weekend and get to do something fun!! We will be turning our "home" into a "house" this weekend. The moving chaos begins as we clean out our offsite storage unit, move our piano to my mom's house and begin turning our rooms into onsite storage units.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Oh My!!! Mexican Cheesecake

CHECK THIS OUT!!!

It's gorgeous and delicious!! And sure to bring some "oohs" and "aahs" wherever you take it. It's one big, yummy, gluttonous cheese fest!

I got the recipe from an incredible baker/friend, Erin M., probably 5 or 6 years ago. I've made it once before for Thanksgiving about 4 years ago and have been wanting to make it again for the last several months. I finally did. Yum!!!


Mexican Cheesecake

2 cups crushed Tortilla chips
2 T melted butter
Put in bottom of 9” spring form pan and
bake at 350 for 15 minutes


1 C Cottage Cheese
2 ½ C shredded cheese
1 can (4 oz.) chopped green chiles (drained)
24 oz. Cream cheese (softened)
4 eggs
¾ C Chopped Jalapenos (can use fresh for hot or mild in a can – can add a little juice)
In mixer, combine above ingredients, add to crust and bake for 45-50 minutes at 350.

1 8 oz. Sour Cream
1 Container (8 oz.) jalapeno cheddar cheese sauce (it’s hard to find this sauce so you can use cheese whiz mixed with some of your leftover jalapeno’s or queso dip in a jar. I used the queso dip and it was great. I had a little leftover for the garnish as described below.)
Mix together and top the cheesecake. Bake another 15 minutes.

Leave cheesecake in oven while oven cools to make sure it’s done.

Store in fridge overnight or for several hours to chill and then top with:

Knife around the pan to loosen the cheesecake and then release it from the pan. Put in on your serving dish and spread a little of your cheese dip if you have some left over the top to help the garnish stick.

Outer circle – chopped green onions
Middle circle – chopped tomatoes
Inner circle – diced black olives

Can top with a fresh jalapeno or a few of your sliced jalapeno’s.

Serve with tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Homeschool Update


We're pushing through our school work pretty hard these days. The kids are not enjoying it much but come the first or second week of May when they are finished with everything early and get to go to the Rec Center or play Wii whenever, I think they will thank me. For the most part, we'll finish all but one or maybe two subjects by the end of April. and then the rest by the second week of May. Jakeb has already completed Algebra 2 and is taking Geometry. It might take him a bit longer to finish that. Tori will be finished with her college semester on May 5th!! Yippee!!! She, too, has done so well this semester, juggling 17 hours in her first semester and working at Kohl's. She's amazing!

Jakeb has already completed a few areas of his English and he takes his last Chemistry test today. WOW! Anna is only two weeks away from finishing History and Science and has also already finished a few areas of her Language course. We switched gears with Anna's Math in February starting over with a brand new curriculum and will finish a year's worth of Math by the first week of May. Double WOW!! There's light at the end of the tunnel.

I have absolutely no regrets about homeschooling this year but it has been a major undertaking with everything else we've had going on. It wouldn't have been easy anyway and anyone that thinks homeschooling is a breeze seriously needs to think again. Without having Tommy's support and help, I don't know if I could have survived. Tori also helped me a lot with Jakeb's curriculum planning and bouncing off ideas.

It's been worth it, though. My kids have learned well and we've had lots of time together. We have field tripped together, laughed together, cried together, thrown fits together, and then laughed some more, and just learned a lot about each other and ourselves together.

We wont' be homeschooling in Singapore. Homeschooling was definitely one of our options but we really felt like being a part of a school would give the kids the necessary social interaction and keep us from being so secluded. We wanted the kids to be able to make friends and being in a school will be a good outlet for me to use my gifts and talents in volunteering. They will be going to an International school and making friends from all over the world like I did when I was a kid in an International school in Brazil. I'm really pretty pumped about that. My best friend in Brazil was from Japan. Their world as they know it and the direction of their future is about to take a wonderfully drastic turn for the good.

So the next few weeks, we're busy with school. Finishing up. Catching up (lots of grading for me to do). Packing up. Closing up the Stunz School. All in all, it's bittersweet.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

"We Don't Have To Make Our Beds Today" Day is HERE!!!


(That's Kim, our realtor/friend. Thanks, Kim!)

YES!!!

We still have to get through to closing on the 30th but the "SOLD" sign gets us a little closer to hearing the perverbial fat lady singing. I hope she breaks the glass on this one.

Honestly, we haven't made our beds for a couple of days now cause we've just been too busy to care but now, I really don't care. Oh, except for Tuesday when the appraiser comes. But after that, I REALLY don't care.

In a previous post, I said we'd celebrate this joyous occasion. Today, we celebrate. Not sure how, but we will. Any ideas?

Saturday, April 18, 2009

If you could see our calendar!

If you could see our calendar it would make your head spin. It does mine. When I hit that airplane seat I think I'll leave skid marks on the floor.

We leave for Singapore on June 17th, that's only 60 days from today, and our calendar is quickly filling up. Dinners and lunches with friends and family, appointments to take care of things, etc. Our google calendar stays up all the time on my computer. Oh, how I love my google calendar!!! We cannot make any plans without referring to it first. Everything has to be on the calendar. That's just our life these days. We have managed to reserve two weekends between now and June 17th when we will plan nothing if at all possible. They won't stay empty, there will be things to do on those weekends but we'll have them open to do whatever needs to be done or whatever we want to do if that should be the case. Every other weekend and most week days are jam packed!

Tommy and I went on a date last night. We haven't seen much of each other this whole week. He leaves for work at around 5am and gets home around 7pm. I had to cancel something with friends to make the date happen but they understood and it was much needed time together. Our dates these days consist of eating out, last night we had Mexican food, getting a tea or coffee at the local coffee shop, updating our calendar and our shopping list for Singapore items and our "to do" list of things we need to remember to take care of before we go. Last night we just sat in silence for a little while. Expressing a thought here and there but just sat. In the same space. At the same time. Nice..... Then we went grocery shopping! Fun, fun, fun. But, it was time away and time together.

Jakeb and Tommy left for the Gator Gallop, a local 5k race that Jakeb really wants to win. I've already baked 6 dozen cookies and put a pot of charro beans on for dinner and it's just 7:30am. Today also consists of a wedding shower, a lunch in Houston with the group that Tommy works with and their families who are all going to Singapore. We had to say no to some things today just to keep the time for this carved out. Then we'll come back for dinner and games with friends. Oh, and I'll need to finish up some school work with Anna on the drive to Houston.

I know I said in a previous post that time with family and friends is valued and a super high priority, and it definitely is! But there are things that just have to get taken care of and cut into our days and time for things we'd rather be doing like hanging out with you. If for some reason we don't meet your expectations of spending enough time with you, which I'm sure will be the case at some point, please accept our apologies and cut us some slack. We're trying. There's so much to do and we're really not lazy people so I hope you understand that we're doing the best we can. There's just so much to do. Oh, sorry, I already said that....

So, in trying to find balance and some peace and perspective in the chaos, I write this post. I'm not whining, I promise! We are busy, we're trying to live in the here and now while planning for the then and there. We are trying to "not sweat the small stuff", keep a positive and healthy attitude and a right relationship with God and each other (that's the key to making all of this work). Stepping back a bit and looking at the big picture, it's all very exciting and we're very grateful for the journey. We love that we're being given this opportunity and honored that we get to go and that the company Tommy works for would deem us worthy of the investment.


Speaking of calendars..... When are you coming to see us in Singapore? That's one calendar item I'd be delighted to add. Oh, and go get your passport! :)

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Girl's Day!


This past Saturday, we surprised my sister, Gwen, for her 40th birthday. Yep, now she's finally old like the rest of us. Well, almost. Her birthday is not until May so we really did surprise her by celebrating in April.

I spent an awesome day of shopping and eating good food with my three sisters and my mom. And then we met the whole family for a murder mystery dinner theater that evening. Family time and friend time is super precious to me right now. I don't know, something about moving across the ocean for a couple of years makes you take notice of what really matters. It's kind of almost like what it must feel like if you knew you only had 2 months to live. Not really, but kind of.

Anyhoo..... Very rarely do all five of us get to be together at the same time. It was a great day and I am so grateful to have had this time with them and to have this photo of us together. This will be one I will frame and take with me. Not to the grave, just to Singapore. :)

I heart my sisters and my mom!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

House/Move Update


Warning: This post may bore you so feel free to skim or skip. Just don't be offended if you ask me about something that I've written and I tell you to go read the blog. :) I've said before that part of the purpose of this blog is for me to journal. This post is written partly with that in mind. So this move and process will be documented for future reference.

Just wanted to let you all know that the inspections are all done on the house and nothing major was found that would delay closing. Negotiations are all done as well. That's a big relief! We should have a "SOLD" sign in our front yard soon.

The buyers of our house are a sweet young couple who will most likely be starting their family here. This has been a great family home since 1965, one where the children have all been tucked into bed and prayed with at night, played hard and enjoyed growing up here, and we're glad that it will continue on as such. They will be the 4th owners of this home since 1965. I think that's pretty incredible that a 44 year old house has only had 4 owners.

We prayed for someone to buy our house who would be good neighbors to our neighbors and we feel they will be. We have loved living here and we LOVE our neighbors and it will be hard to leave them. Along with our other friends and family, of course!

Unless something major happens, we are on for closing for April 30th and we'll rent back and stay in the house until May 28th. The movers will probably come on the 27th. What fun that will be! Ugghhh...

We have alot to do between now and then. Still alot of sorting to be done and getting rid of. What stays, what goes??? If it stays, where does it go? Storage? Trash? Someone elses house? If storage, then which one, ours or Tori's so she can get to it while she's here at college? An agent from the moving company is coming next Wednesday to help us get a better idea of how much can fit in a 20ft sea container and what to put in the 500lb air shipment. This will help us decide what to take and not to take.

We also have to find a home for our dog, move a piano, sell a car, empty out the attic (major yuck!), move out of our current storage building, get International Driver's licenses, purchase the other things we need to buy here that either aren't available in Singapore or will be 3x the price, finish figuring out how the global banking process works and how we set up Tori for banking here, make contacts for change of address and utility disconnects, complete our Will and Power of Attorney paperwork, spend as much time with our friends and family as we can. I'm sure there's more, in fact I know there's more but this list just exhausts me and probably bores you so I'm not putting anymore down.

Then, after all that is done, on May 27th or 28th, we will move in with my Mom & Dad until June 13th - taking over their camper and a couple of beds inside their house. Hopefully, those two weeks will be relaxed and we can just play with our friends and family. Hopefully..... If you are local, and you are related to us or consider yourself to be one of our friends, ask me about June 9th the next time you see me in person.

On June 13th our family of 5 will head to Dallas, probably in a Uhaul truck, to stay with my sister for a few days. I wish we could drive to the airport in the Uhaul. That would just be hilarious to me and would probably embarass the kids to no end. Can you imagine the looks on people faces when we start hopping out of a Uhaul and unloading our luggage??? Makes me laugh just thinking about it. We'll have already sold our Camry, we hope, and there's no way in the world we'd have a vehicle big enough to carry our bazillion suitcases. Picture 5 people each with three oversized suitcases and our carry on and backpacks! Well, Tori will only have two but still... that's 14 large suitcases and 5 carry-ons and backpacks.

We'll attend Tori's college orientation at UNT on Monday and Tuesday. Our plane leaves from Dallas on June 17th at 7am and Tori's will leave at 10am. The company flies us differently since Tori is not actually relocating there. It's a bummer.... but she's okay with it. We'll actually end up in Tokyo at about the same time and then in Singapore within about 30 minutes of each other. Tori will be on Dramamine the whole time so she won't even miss us.

If you made it this far, I'm impressed! You are a true friend!! Thank you for all of your prayers so far and please keep praying that things with the house and the move go smoothly from here on out. You'll be seeing pictures of Singapore before you know it.

My countdown clock says we leave 63 days from today!! We've been waiting for this since last May. It really is strange to think we'll be residents in a foreign country in just two months. That makes my head spin. If you see me and my head is spinning, please make it stop.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Easter Family Fun

We had some fun last night coloring eggs and making Easter cake balls. Some of my family came over to dye eggs and decorate cake balls. I don't think Bakerella would be to proud of us but we had fun. They really are hard to make, she even says so herself. I'm definitely taking this baking idea to Singapore with me. They are just such a cute holiday or birthday treat. Sure to be a hit! Thanks, Ashley D. and Cyndi R. for introducing us to these yummy little goodies.

What were supposed to be cute little chicks turned into slimey green monsters. I'm not sure that is Easter appropriate but, oh well.....











Thursday, April 09, 2009

Nifty 50!

Anna has been learning the 50 United States and their capitols. Tori and Jakeb keep going around the house singing this song from their elementary school days. They still remember it so I figured it must be a good one and that Anna should learn it so they could all three sing in unison or in a round or something. Yes, we're dorks.

You, of course, have to add "Texas" in the spot at the end. Of course!!

Can you name all of the US states? Their capitols? Bonus points if you can name the states in Singapore. Rhetorical question, btw. If you named all of the states in a comment to this post I'd totally accuse you of cheating.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivpUBvOeD1s

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Confessions of a Rebellious Bed-Maker


Yep, that's my bed. And it's made.

I'm pretty OCD about alot of things in my home but making my bed is NOT one of them. I've never been a fan of bed making and I'm pretty sure I never will and my kids probably won't be either. They're not now, anyway. :)

I am happy to pull the covers up and tidy it up but it does not need to be completely made. This is weird for me because I very much like for things to be in their place and in order. Maybe this is my area of rebellion that keeps me sane. Nah.....

If you come to my house on any normal day, you will probably find it fairly tidy and clean but my bed will almost always be unmade. And I don't make the kids make theirs either. I think it makes them love me more. It may even balances out some of my other nazi-style housekeeping issues.

We've all been making our beds since the beginning of February when we put our house on the market in preparation for our pending move to Singapore in June. It's just been a necessary evil in my opinion. It really messes up naptime too. Who wants to make their bed twice in one day???? Good grief!

So, as of today, we've made our beds for approximately 67 days in a row. I think that's enough for a while. The house is under contract and the inspector comes today. Hopefully, we'll be done with bed-making soon.

I guess I could be a good mom and say that since we're in the habit now we should just continue to make our beds because it looks good and we feel better about ourselves and have a better day when things are in order. You know, like when you dress up or take a shower. Instead, I say this almost daily along with the kids, "When will this be over???????".

The countdown is on for the "We Don't Have To Make Our Beds Today" day and I think I will plan a celebration.

Monday, April 06, 2009

Good NEWS Friday!

This post has nothing to do with the religious Good Friday - just thought I'd be upfront so you wouldn't be disappointed if that's what you were looking for. Although we do have some good things planned for Good Friday. Stay tuned.....

This post has everything to do with good news for our family and it just so happens to have happened on a Friday.

Last Friday Tori and Jakeb and I went to the company clinic to get them more shots for their Kenya trip. Jakeb ended up getting two more and we have to go back for the other one they needed because it was a series and the second dose would have had to happen on Good Friday and they're closed. None of that is part of the good news. Just sort of sets up the story. Oh! Except that we did get to eat really good Indian food for lunch with Tommy! That was a good part!!

Anyway... we then went for Jakeb's scoliosis check. This is the first bit of good news and to me, the best! His curves are still in the low to mid 30's, so as of now, no surgery or treatment is looming over our heads. He has a little bit of growing left. The dark spot in the lower left corner is his growth plate. You can see how much he's grown just since October. So we have to get xrays in Singapore in six months and get them to our dr. here for review and then we'll go from there. If Jakeb's curves stay as they are, nothing will be required and he will be fine. He'll have the same chance for back pain as anyone else with a straight spine does and the curves will not affect his internal organs. This was better than good news!!! I took a picture of his xrays on the computer screen while the dr. was out of the room. Sooo sneaky....

The image on the left is the new one and the one on the right is from October.

While we waited to see the dr., my cell phone rang and it was our realtor. We got an acceptable offer on our house after some lengthy and kind of strange negotiations. We went down on the price more than we'd have liked to but from the beginning, we'd hoped to be able to share this house with a young family and for it to be a blessing to them and even though we are getting less than we wanted, the blessing for us is that we get to close before we leave the country. So we signed the contract yesterday and now it's time for inspections and all that fun stuff. Hopefully that will all be good news too! It's not over yet... but we feel pretty good about it. We're scheduled to close on April 30th and then will rent back from the new owners and be out by May 28th.

The movers should come the last week in May and then we'll be homeless for about two weeks until we leave for Dallas and then out to Singapore on June 17th.

Which brings me to my next bit of good news... Tommy got our tickets to Singapore on Friday. So it's officially offical. Now that a boat load of money has been spent (company money), we are finally feeling like we're really going. Not that we haven't known that before but there was always this "what if" cloud hanging over our head. Now we have the sorting and packing cloud hanging over our head.

Even more good news is that I bought a ton of Bath & Body goodies and saved around $80. But that was on Saturday and doesn't really count for this post but I wanted to share. Bath and Body stuff just makes me happy!


If you are curious about our family's scoliosis history, you can read this post.

Thursday, April 02, 2009

You know you're moving to a foreign country when...


You know you're moving to a foreign country when...

...you have 5 or more lists going at the same time.

...you've lost one or two of those lists.

...you've struck gold when you find one of those lost lists.

...you get excited when you find just the right size box!

...your brain just automatically shuts down at random times and there's not a darn thing you can do about it.


You know you're moving to a foreign country when...

...you'd rather give it away than pack it.

...when you're glad that something breaks - it's one less thing to pack.

...you hold on to memories for dear life!

...you hold on to your family times and traditions for dear life!

...you hold on to your friendships for dear life!

...tears are often uncontrollable.

...get super excited about an email in your inbox from someone who has lived in the country you are moving to or who is moving there now are.


You know you're moving to a foreign country when...

...the family meetings that once happened maybe monthly are being called once or twice a week.

...you eat at your favorite restaurants like they're going out of business.

...you make your family eat all that random stuff you've had in your pantry forever so it can get cleaned out.

...when it seems that you spend the bulk of your days at doctors offices, dentists and ortho's to get things caught up and taken care of.


You know you're moving to a foreign country when...

...you buy 10 tubes of toothpaste, 12 deodorant sticks, 4 packs of underwear per person, 4 new pairs of shoes, 4 tubes of your favorite lip gloss and mascara, etc. etc. etc.

...you buy extra pairs of pants for your husbands long legs and size 11 ½ shoes because in Asia they don’t exist and if they did they would call them SUPERSIZED.

...you not only know why you need a 220/110 VAC step-down transformer but understand what the salesman from India is talking about.

...you have read the specs on all of your appliances and electronic equipment and know how many watts each of them uses.

...when minor depression sets in because you can't take your Kitchen Aid, indoor electric grill and Nespresso machine. Sooo sad.....


You know you're moving to a foreign country when...

...the only way you can have an intelligent conversation is when you have a spreadsheet open.

...you lose all dignity and put on a clown costume and stand in the street waving a sign that says “House for Sale – Come in and See!!” as cars drive by.

...you have memorized the baggage requirements and weight limits for all major airlines. Not to mention when all of their flights leave to your destination.

...you know the inside dimensions of a 20’ sea container and have diagrammed out exactly what pieces of your furniture will fit.


You know you're moving to a foreign country when...

...when you're walking through the house, stop dead in your tracks and realize you have no idea where you were going only to remember that, "oh yea, i was looking for that darn list!".


You know you're moving to a foreign country when...

...you and your husband make a list like this and post it on your blog!



Yes, I believe we're officially crazy now. :)

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Singapore - Tommy's perspective ...

Last year at this time Andrea and I were praying about taking a job that had the possibility of sending us to Singapore. We told the kids about it from the very beginning and asked them to pray with us. We accepted the job and for a whole long year the Stunz family has wondered if the potential of a thing would become the thing itself.

In the past year I have busied myself worrying – at times. Worrying whether the economy would mess things up and we would live in Lake Jackson forever. Worrying whether the projects I have done in the interim would keep me from going to the project I really wanted to be on – the one that would take us to Singapore.

I’ve worried about how to pay for everything. I have worried about moving to a country where we will live for approximately two years and us hating it. I have worried that we had to pass physicals and “what if we are not healthy enough?”

But you know what? Every time I have started worrying I could not worry for long because God has shown me in some way or another that He is in control and not me and that if I will just chill he would handle everything.

It is amazing how all of the timing has worked out – not always as fast as I’d like – but just right. The path we have taken in the last year is one I could not have predicted. It has had turns that were unexpected and seemed to be taking us away from the goal but each time they have worked out for the best.

As I think about what is still left to do in the next couple of months it can be a bit overwhelming. There are a hundred million decisions to be made and I don’t want to mess any of them up. But if … no … when I do make a poor decision (I am sure I already have) we will still be okay.

We have a house to sell and it would be nice if it sold before we went to Singapore. So I start asking myself, “should I give it away to anyone with cash just to be done with it?” But then I sit down and work the numbers and if the house doesn’t sell we are okay. Will it be a pain to close on a house while we are in Singapore? Yes, but we have made provision for that to happen. If we still own a house in Lake Jackson when we step on a plane bound for Singapore we will more than survive.

Our schedule is packed and Andrea and I have worked hard not to fill every second before we leave with something else. Deciding how to spend our time is sometimes harder than deciding how to spend our money.

I write this stuff not so anyone would feel sorry for us. We chose to move to Singapore and I am more than happy to put in the work it takes to see it happen. I believe the rewards far outweigh the risk and the work required to realize them. What is comforting is that it is not just on Andrea and me and the kids to make this happen.

This year has been a good lesson for me about worry. Although you would think I would have learned that lesson by now.

Fear is a poor chisel to carve out tomorrow. – Andy Andrews The Traveler’s Gift

Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
- Philippians 4:6-7 (The Message)