Our first full year in Asia: Lauren's 24 hours in America saga

In early May, one of our teammates went to the capital city for some visa processing and to see a doctor about some back pain she had been experiencing for several months but that had all of a sudden gotten much worse after a fall. The doctor tried some therapy for a week and then said that she was still getting worse and needed to go back to America for surgery. So, I, Lauren, flew up to meet her and switch out with another teammate on her last day of therapy, a Monday.

From Monday to Thursday, our days consisted of lots of waiting and a few errands I needed to run. Waiting and waiting for insurance to approve her flight home and get her on a plane. All of this while her pain was getting worse and worse each day. My nights consisted of lots of phone calls while America was awake and trying to figure out why the flight wasn't being approved faster. Finally, on Thursday our company had had enough waiting and booked the two of us on a flight for Friday afternoon.

Our flight from the capital city to America wasn't very eventful. Had your typical fun people watching sights that I always enjoy like this one….

This lady had an inflatable neck pillow that also doubled as a blood pressure machine or at least looked like it

But, when we arrived in America, little did I know the rude awakening of culture shock that I was in for and all the stress it would take to get back across the world to home.

We arrived in DC to find out that the connecting flight customs had been closed for the night which meant that we now had a hour and a half to get a wheelchair from one airport terminal to another, through customs and back. Impossible for anyone who ever thinks they can do it. Lucky for us, there were storms in our flight path which had our flight delayed. We didn't know that as we were going through all the stress though. We made it through customs and to our gate in time for a 20 minute snack and then on our plane to Nashville we went.



I was beyond blessed to be landing in Nashville since that is where my oldest sister lives, which meant a 28 hour layover with my family! Of course we would have the issue of the airline losing our luggage on our last flight though and since our stuff was spread throughout my bag and Bekah's small roller, we couldn't have the suitcases sent to both addresses. Luckily, the airline was able to get the luggage to my sister's house by 9am the next day and then we were able to get them to Bekah's aunt that afternoon.

Evelyn once again stayed up through her bedtime to greet me at the airport.

Playing in the backyard with my two favorite girls

My 28 hour layover in America consisted of lots of fun with my nieces, hugs to my parents and family, shopping at target and petco for our puppy Coach. Even though it was only 28 hours, it was some of the best 28 hours I could have asked for. But, as I arrived at the Nashville airport at 5am for my 6:30am flight back across the pond. Little did I know what all would be in store for me at the airport.

As I was checking in the United computer system crashed, meaning that I had to wait an extra 10 minutes for them to get it back up and running and then resubmit all my info. Then I rounded the corner for TSA and I've never seen anything like it at such a small airport as Nashville. It was 5:20 and I had 45 minutes until my boarding began and a very long line to work my way through. At every turn in the line, I would explain my situation to the person in the next turns line to see if they would let me skip them and every response was a rude NO. Enter culture shock, I was in a very ME focussed culture now who didn't see the need to show love and grace to someone in need. Much different than where I live I thought and so on came the tears and hate of America. Please don't get me wrong, I do love America just like I love where I live now but in that moment, I hated every American in that line and America.

I finally got through TSA at 6:25 and had 5 minutes until take off time. I didn't even bother with putting on my shoes, I just grabbed them and ran. I made it to my gate at 6:29 and to my dismay, no plane. The plane was overbooked so they gave my seat and 15 other peoples' seats away and took off. More tears. I stood in line with about 80 other people who had missed other flights wishing I was on that plane as far away from this place as possible and yet here I was getting more time with my family. My experience with Americans became better as I stood in that line though and met a couple going to Thailand to do similar work that we do and the love they showed me and care for me as I cried will be forever remembered.

When I finally reached the ticket counter there were no available flights for that day which meant I would be on the same flight routine just a day later. I called my mom and of course got a "I told you we were cutting it too close" talk from my dad but then excitement as they now got one more day with me before goodbyes for at least 1-2 more years. We went back to Kalee and Dillon's house and exhaustion and jet lag hit, I slept off and on pretty much the whole day as I rode in the car to lunch, the American pickers museum thing and the grocery store for steaks. I slept the whole time my family cooked for me, but I had two adorable girls alongside me which made it all worth it. A confused Evelyn and Collins as I said goodbye again that night before they went to bed and a last night of snuggles with Evelyn on the air mattress before back to the airport again the next morning. This time arriving at 4:30 and I was at my gate at 5am, so crazy!

Harrison worked with my airline to get back to our city from the capital city and I was finally back home with Harrison and Coach just 8 days after leaving him and after a crazy journey to America and back.

Our first full year in Asia: Train Ride Sagas

As many or all of you already know, I am the worlds worst at keeping up on our blog. I write our monthly newsletter updates and stay pretty consistent with that but I fail at keeping people up on just the life outside of ministry stuff.

August marks our first full year here in EA without summers spent in America and it also marks the first year that Harrison and I both haven't moved over the summer! We finally have made a home, for now! It's kind of funny because as all of our friends were leaving us this June, I found myself going through every room in our house getting rid of old clothes, things we have accumulated that we don't need etc. My body and mind are so used to the typical summer routine for the past 8 years that it wanted me to do it now. Nothing's wrong with a little decluttering though :)

Throughout this past year, we have had some really funny experiences, some learning moments and some I-can't-believe-this-just-happened stories. To commemorate our one year anniversary of living here I thought I'd blog some of them for you to read and laugh or cry with us.
I'd like to start with some of our more popular ones that people love hearing/laughing at or I guess you might say grieving with us over all the crazy things we experience here. I feel like most of these have come due to traveling in this crazy country, and so I would like to begin with our train ride sagas.

Us with our 6 bags and 4 carry-ons just before checking in

We arrived here August 13th and had a meeting we were supposed to attend August 18th, we waited til we arrived here to buy plane tickets because they are usually cheaper in country. But low and behold, on August 13 Harrison goes to our friend's apartment for internet and there is not a single flight available to the city our meeting is in. We are talking a city where there is one or more flights every hour from our city to theirs and there were none! So we decide to check a city north of there where we can fly in then train 2 hrs and yet once again no tickets. No tickets the day before the meeting or the day after it starts. No tickets available 2 days before it was crazy! So we agree we will have to bear the 20-24 hour train ride there and go to check train tickets and there were also none! As in there are 3-4 trains every day going to this city through different routes and none of them were available for us to buy beds for. Only thing available was hard plastic bus seat for 22 hour ride, no thankyou! Luckily those leading the meetings agreed that that was not ideal nor necessary so we missed our meetings :(

We did get to finalize our lease and other details with our landlord while missing the meetings

But our train saga story did not end there. Over the spring festival we also had to travel to the same city for more meetings. Our team was all in Thailand at an event that we were not a part of so we decided that since we had the time to do it we would train there and save over half the price for us to fly. We set it up to train up a few days early so I could go shopping at ikea and so we bought our train tickets. The day came to ride the train.  We rode the hour and a half bus ride to the station from our house, got mcdonalds for lunch and had all of our other meals for the next 24 hours in tote that I had cooked and we walk up to the security check and are told we are in the wrong city. What?! Our train tickets were from the city we wanted to go to to our home city instead of from where we live to there. As to why in the world they would sell us tickets departing from the city we wanted to arrive in, I am still confused but part of it was my fault as they asked me to check them the day we bought them, I looked at the tickets saw the two city names and said we are good, not realizing the order of the cities listed, oops. So after standing in multiple lines trying to get our money refunded and a train for the next day booked, we finally were able to leave the train station with tickets for the next morning to leave and head back home with all of our bags, go to sleep, then wake up early and do it all over again. Of course the second time we were able to get on the right train. And believe it or not we actually enjoyed our ride with movies, card games, chicken salad and pizza!

Harrison laying on his hard sleeper bed for the 20 hour train ride!

Once again we wouldn't be living in a crazy transportation country if we didn't have yet another story or travel saga as I have begun to call them. We once again were going to the same city for this summer with 25 students. Having learned from all of our previous mistakes, we had a friend help us book our train tickets online, made sure they were going to the right location and we even went to the train station to pick up our tickets a day earlier to be extra careful. We drive up to the train station and harrison goes through all the crazy security checks now to get to the ticket booth, stands in line, then gets to the teller and they won't give us our tickets. Why? Our middle names are not listed on the reservation. I had our friend book our tickets by train another time and had no trouble with my middle name not being there, but this time they weren't budging. Our first and last names were right as well as our passport number but they couldn't/wouldn't let us modify the reservation. All they would do is refund us 80% of our amount and then us have to buy new tickets. Of course that train was now full but they did have one earlier the next day at 9:30am. So we went with that and after much long tension we left the train station with train tickets for 9:30 the next day.

Harrison in line at the train station trying to fix the ticket problem

Now given that we were going away for 5+weeks and Harrison was wanting to bring his new bicycle on the train, we left earlier than needed the next morning and had a driver friend take us and standby for in case we couldn't take our bike. We get up to the second security check and they say sorry your train is canceled. What? It's raining so your train has been canceled. Note: late June through mid to late August is the rainy season here and it rains every day for 30 minutes or 2 hours but it's a normal thing that happens all the time and is definitely not why that train was canceled. So back to the same window we were at the day before to once again change our tickets. This time we had bought the soft sleepers meaning that instead of being stacked 3 beds tall in open compartments we would be in a compartment that has a door and only 4 beds in the room.

Inside of a soft sleeper train cart room

We get to the ticket counter and they first say there are no more soft sleepers available for the day and very few hard ones. I'm like oh no not again. It's a little after 8am and the ticket lady says oh wait we have soft sleeper seats left on the 8:30am train would you like those? Yes! So at 8:10 we leave the ticket counter running to the security check home alone style. I'm toting a small roller and larger one, harrison is wheeling his bike and has his large pack on his back along with his backpack. We looked like the Clampets. Anyway, we run through ticket and security check, harrison gets to the top of the stairs and starts riding his bike down the hallway to our train gate to hold it and get there just in time as they hadn't even started the boarding yet! PTL!

Lauren, just as we reached the line to board, could rest knowing we made it!

We then get on the train to be told we need to take the bike apart and find a way to store it which luckily we do and then about 4 hours in we find out that we are on the longer train meaning it's 22 hours long instead of 20 but we were so happy to just have gotten on that we didn't care!

Harrison taking apart his bike to store it on the train

KFC is often the meal of choice for families on train rides here 

We did finally have our first smooth train ride when we trained home in August! We were about due one I'd say! Ikea purchases and all made it on and no canceled trains, just a 3 hour delay getting home once again due to rain.

watching a tv show on the train

The Kitchen Renovation

One of the hardest things about being 6'1" and 5'10" and living in a country where the average height for males is 5'5" and females 5'0" is coking in a kitchen built for someone who is 5' tall. Bent over washing, cutting, preparing and cooking brings about a lot of back pain which is why when we moved here for longterm I had a kitchen renovation at the top of my list.

We originally planned to stay in one apartment for 6 months while we found another that had only the "shell" of it complete so that we could alleviate the issues of trying to change what was already there. Even knowing that designing everything would be a whole lot of stress. Luckily, day 1 here we were meeting our landlord to pay the 6 months rent and she asked us what she could do to get us to live in her apartment longer. Because Americans are known for taking good care of their homes and she had experienced that with her previous renters, she was willing to do almost anything to keep us around.

So, we made our list:
1. THE KITCHEN! It's countertops hit us both about mid thigh and there was hardly any storage. We had purchased a desk and used it to bring in some drawers and a storage area for our oven but that was about all the storage we had.
2. Paint the apartment! All the walls were white and we asked if she would let us paint it and told her we would pay for everything involved.
3. Bathroom changes. Our guest bathroom's shower head is above the toilet and our toilets don't hold any water in them. We also have low sinks.

She talked to her husband and agreed on the painting and kitchen and said she'd look into bathroom issues in the future. That was not as big of an issue to us and so we agreed and signed a 3 year contract to stay here and make it our home long term. I was so excited! Now I could start hanging pictures and not thinking about how everything has to be packed back up in 6 months because now it's our home for good!

She jumped on the kitchen renovations and had someone come measure and draw our design 2 days later. We were so excited and honored that she asked for our input. Of course our only Americanish option was white cabinets and we chose the only stainless steel countertop that didn't have flowers or polka dots on it. We ran some paint colors by her and bought our paint to paint before the kitchen renovation.

12 days later we had our dining room and living area painting complete and it was renovation day!!! We both rescheduled our classes for the day and anxiously awaited with Harrison's friend Caleb. 2 pm was the set time and our landlord showed up with her husband at 2 excited for the new kitchen and shocked by the paint. She literally told us 5 times that she loved it and couldn't believe we had painted it ourselves so quickly! We waited and waited and finally 2 1/2 hours late the kitchen renovation team arrived.

They said it would take 2 hours and I couldn't believe it so I had my timer app on my iphone going just to see how long it would take. The demolition part took only 20 minutes and I was so shocked, they were so fast. They installed the cabinets and everything was going smoothly until they realized the oven wouldn't fit in the hole. They hadn't taken into account where along the wall in the kitchen it would be and because of the gas pipe it couldn't go all the way in and stuck out about 3 inches.

Now in America we would probably send back the cabinets and have them rearrange the order of things to move the oven but here our friends were thinking on their feet and not wanting to come back another day. So, they took the cabinet doors off another area and put the oven there. Using a spare door that they cut in pieces they framed the oven, covering the gap between the oven and walls. They then cut some off of one of the doors to make the two cabinet doors fit where the oven was supposed to be.

It was impressive how they were able to make it work but it also slowed them down a bit from the quick demolition and start of the installation. They cut the stainless steel there in the kitchen and out in our stairwell with sparks flying and an oxygen tank blowing oxygen into the room because of all of the strong fumes. It was a sight to be seen that's for sure and surprisingly it was all still complete in just 3 1/2 hours (cleanup and all).

 Before and after.... the best way to tell the difference is in the window.

We are so excited to now have our counters at a decent height and tons of storage and our favorite yellow desk still fits in just fine!

Now, back to more decorating and our DIY furniture projects. Stay tuned for more....

Our first DIY!

So we have moved across the ocean to east asia and we can update you more on the moving and settling-in process. But first, I (harrison) want to tell you about a little DIY project we did this week. While out shopping for some furniture for our 9th floor apartment at the used furniture market, Lauren found this gem of a desk. This yellow, rustic-y, vintage-looking home decoration caught Lauren's eye and there was no turning back. It didn't hurt that it was only about $25 USD (US dollars).

We got it home, along with our other items we purchased and put it in the corner of the living room until Lauren figured out exactly where she wanted to put it.

A few months ago, we had some other american friends who were moving and needed to sell their stuff. We were able to purchase their (nearly) american sized oven which is like gold in these parts for women who love to cook. Most ovens here are the size of a toaster oven or a small microwave.

Well, the large oven was sitting in its place, on the floor in the kitchen for lack of counter space and that's when it hit Lauren. "Why don't we move the desk into the kitchen to give us more counter space and put the oven in the hole (where the chair usually goes)?" So she got our her measuring tape and measured... and wouldn't you know it, the desk was about 4 inches too short.

Well, after being inspired by (and I'm ashamed to say it) Pinterest and other blogs like www.ana-white.com I wanted to build/create some way for Lauren to have what she wanted there in the kitchen and me feel like a man in the process.

I went out to this pile of old junk that the builders and movers throw their scraps into and found some pieces of wood that would be perfect to use to elevate the desk, after some work. Lauren and I put our heads together and brainstormed what we wanted to do then I went out in search of somebody with some power tools.

I found him.

After he watched me measure out what I wanted and drew lines for him to cut, he got to work cutting. He finished cutting the wood into strips for me then we worked together hammering nails into the blocks to keep them together. (all of this service cost me $9USD!) I hoped that this would be what we needed.

When I got home, Lauren was waiting eagerly to try them out. And guess what...Perfection! the blocks gave us enough room to slide that oven right in there.

After 2.5 hours of digging through a scrap pile, brainstorming, measuring, cutting and nailing, now the oven has a home and Lauren has more counter space and drawers (which she had none of before the desk).

Transitions and farewells

I feel like this past year has been a huge transition year for us, and even as hard as living in transition can be it has been such a great year growing together and being around family for a year. Even though we've spent most of our year living on the road and out of a suitcase, I am beyond thankful for what this year gave us, especially with family.
My first niece Evelyn (Kalee and Dillon's first) was born 6 weeks after I arrived in East Asia, my first year there. A super early comer she was as she wasn't due until mid December and came September 30. So, living overseas for two years, we didn't really know each other, other than by our skype dates and the summer I came home and held her nonstop. This year of being home has been such a blast with her. She started walking just in time to walk down the aisle for our wedding, we got to celebrate her 2nd birthday at the beach, and we spent many days with her playing on her new bike and pretend cooking eggs. (She has a fascination with eggs)

This year not only gave me time with Evelyn but also time with her sister, Collins, my second niece. She of course also came early but not quite as early as Evelyn. I remember getting the call while at a Bible study with some friends of ours in clayton and immediately getting on the computer booking my flight home to be there for it all. I didn't just get to be there when she entered the world, but I also got to spend about a week there in the hospital with her and kalee! I will never forget the joy of holding her in the nicu and getting to feed her each day. I know she doesn't really know much about me yet and her view of knowing me will be from Evelyn telling her about me and our Skype dates, but you just can't take away the joy and connection I have to her by being there and being a part of everything.

As hard as farewells are and are becoming for me here lately, they bring experiences that I don't think I would have ever intentionally had with these two girls if I wasn't leaving them for several years. Just last week, we went to stay with the Peaks before flying to Colorado and Kalee let us come take the girls out of daycare for the afternoon. Words can't express how fun it was to go sneak into Evelyn's room and pick her up from nap time. Now, her excitement was very limited when we drove off and left mama at work, haha. But, after about 10 minutes of screaming "ba ba" she fell back asleep and awoke very excited to see her larlar and shushu!

We spent the afternoon having tea parties, cooking in Evie's kitchen, dressing and undressing our dolls, pointing out colors, and just having fun together laughing and hugging. By far the best part of it all was after dinner when she crawled up on the couch beside me and we watched Mickey Mouse clubhouse on my computer for about 2 hours straight! That experience was a great farewell as my time with her from here on is more limited. I hope for more time of cuddling on the couch watching shows but if it doesn't get to happen again, I have a great memory to always remember with her.

Another great thing about my last year with Evelyn is that she is now becoming a phone talker where even when I would be in North Carolina sometimes and she would be staying at my parents house, she would call to talk. Most times it was just a hey and a I love you but about a month ago it was a conversation! She told me she was at her papa and hoddie's house and told me a few things she had done that day and that she loved me. Now talk about melting my heart! That was when I realized that my not being here with her for 3+ years isn't going to stop our relationship together. Even though I will be a world away from her she can talk to me and it will grow to be much longer than I love you! We can still watch Mickey Mouse together one day, maybe not laying on the couch together but as she grows more and more she can tell me more and more about her new school and new home in Tennessee and most importantly she can tell Collins about larlar and shushu! I long for the day when she is older and we might just be able to convince her mama and daddy to let her come spend her summer with us at camp larlar and shushu! What a joy that will be!
Now, as great as this farewell stage has been so far, I know that come the end of July it will be heartbreaking. We are excited to meet our first nephew and Mallory (my sister) and Ron's first child, Hudson, and to spend a week with him. But, we know of all the kids, he will have the least memories of who we are. So, as hard as it will be to say goodbye to someone we just met, we will trust The Lord he will not forget who we are through the years of Skype and phone calls and he will love us just as much as Evelyn and Collins do. We won't be there in person for his big milestones but we know we will be just as much a part of his life as everyone else around us. I am most definitely already extremely partial to him as his name is so great! And I pray for him that he will one day be known for great works for the kingdom much like the Hudson who went before him many years ago. I long to one day be able to tell him stories of Hudson Taylor's work for The Lord and to have him come experience the life he lived with us. Hudson Davis Kelley you are and will always be very special to me.

13,000 miles of our life

So, we've been very MIA on the blog and so I figured the best way to show why would be a map of all of our travels these past 5 months. Halfway into mapping our travels I ran out of destinations on google maps so I had to improphize to show the journey just not how many times we took it or our stops in between points. Since Christmas we have put over 13,000 miles on our car and this is what that looks like....

So, now I think you will know why my blogging opportunities have been slim, ha. I will have to say that as much as I might have complained along the way from living "out of our car/suitcase" at times these past 5 months have been such a blast and incredible time, seeing the Lord work in incredible ways and growing closer to each other in our marriage.

No, I will not bore you with the details of each journey but I will share some highlights from these trips with you all....

While in Florida for the month of January and beginning of February we met some incredible friends who we are incredibly blessed to now have as a part of our lives. I love having friends who can relate completely to this stage of life that we are in now as they are living it too.

We got to celebrate our first Valentine's Day together as a couple by cooking some chinese food while back home in North Carolina and I got to experience the life of living in a state that gets SNOW! These you can read more about in previous blogs where I was better at sharing.

We got to visit Lenoir Rhyne and see the impact Harrison has had on the students there as he is a legend that lives on with many of the guys there. And, go to a wedding in Johnson City of one of those college friends!

We also got to visit Harrison's college roommate and wife in Knoxville,TN and spend a few days there with them. It was incredible to see how many people we met who were excited to hear about what we are doing in East Asia!

From Knoxville we returned to North Carolina to have the pleasure of the arrival of my mom and sister and 2 nieces for a youth spaghetti dinner fundraiser held for us at our church in Clayton... and man was that an incredible weekend! The youth have all become such a huge part of our lives and it was awesome being honored by them as they acted out a skit about us. And, we got to take my nieces to the Marbles museum in Raleigh which was an adventure for sure!

The weekend before Easter, we rushed to Alabama for the last few days of my "memaw's" life. Sitting by her bedside singing hymns as she prepared to meet the Lord and my Pawpaw in heaven was a memory I will always be thankful for the Lord blessing me with. She was such an incredible influence in my life as she most definitely spoiled me rotten!

Our wedding was at Memaw's house

While in the Alabama area the month of April we spent a lot of our time on the road. Visiting family and friends in Birmingham several times as well as Montgomery and Auburn.

We bought baby chicks for Easter that lived about 3 weeks until the dogs attacked one night

Celebrated the soon to be born Baby Kelley!

Got to spend lots of time with this cutie and on her new bke!

We also ventured to Louisiana to visit a church there to share and to get a mini one day vacation in New Orleans while on our way back to Alabama!

Then on to Nashville to meet with friends there and Harrison ran his first 1/2 marathon! I ran the mini marathon too. In the cold rain but it was lots of fun!

From Nashville we headed to Montgomery to celebrate my mom's birthday!

Then it was on to Dothan, AL then Destin, FL where we got to visit with our East Asia friends and see friends we had not seen in years!

After Destin we had a daycation with Kalee and Dillon and the girls at the Georgia aquarium and then at the braves game! Chop Chop!

 After the braves trip we were headed North stopping in Norcross, GA for a 3 day conference with our great friends from our life group in FL and many others!

Once back in North Carolina we spent Mother's Day at the beach with Harrison's parents!

And.... Harrison got his braces off!!!!

And then the packing-up-our-life week began as we packed or sold all of our belongings!

After the packing and selling was over we headed back down to Alabama for one of my best friends' wedding and some family time.