T-49 days and counting...

Progress:
-Buy plane tickets
-Buy plane tickets from Bangkok to Chiang Mai through Air Asia
-Find a family member willing to pay our storage rent every month
- Get shots (Typhoid, Hep A, Tetanis) Waiting on this until we get to Asia, and we're on the fence about whether to get them anyway.
-Buy backpacks
-Buy walking/hiking shoes I'm using my same shoes I've had; Wesley has picked out his and just needs to pick them up.
-Get passports I have mine, still waiting on Wesley's. Pray that we get it SOON.
-Get essentials: travel clothing, travel items ( clothesline, drain stopper, toilet paper, travel towels, earplugs, laptop, bug spray, sunscreen Will get in Asia)
-Get enough money pledged/donated to last the full six months in SE Asia (estimated to be a minimum of about $1,000/month if no major travel in that month... currently need $4,000 $3,??? $2,??? more for the minimum.
-Save enough money for a plane ticket back home, as the plane tickets we bought are one way. (estimated: $1,000-$2,000).
- Find a temporary home for our puggles.
- Get plane tickets from Gulfport to California

***

I love crossing things off my list.

I haven't been blogging here much because we are currently in the stages of transferring my blog to the Revolutionary Life website. But, if that doesn't happen within the next few days, expect a nostalgic, sad, and bittersweet post concerning how I feel about moving out of our first home as a married couple.

Travel clothing

I am a skeptic of travel clothing. A part of me fears it is just another bandwagon that consumers get on in an attempt to be trendy and spend more money.

However, being on the road for the next 6 months with only:

6 t-shirts
1 dress shirt
1 pair of jeans
1 light weight pant
1 cargo pant
1 long skirt
1 undershirt
1 rain jacket
1 hiking shoe and
1 sandal/flip flop with tread

...I can't afford to be cheap in my selection.
Hence my anxiety about shopping for travel clothing.

Thankfully, as you can read in my yard sale post, God provided us with the finances to do some needed shopping today at Gander Mountain. Since some people have requested for pictures, I figured I'd show you what we purchased today.

For Ashley:

Kicker bag by Kavu. I need a purse to carry my things in when we are walking around, and this is like a secure, miniature messenger bag. Mine is not quite as cute as this one, but just as efficient.

The North Face Womens Venture Jacket. First of all, I have never until now jumped on The North Face bandwagon. I have problems justifying the ridiculous cost. And yes, it is weird to be taking a jacket overseas where it can average over 100 degrees. However, for downpours you will inevitably be caught in, as well as for comfort on cold bus rides, this jacket was ideal. It comes with "pit zips", which I knew nothing of until my travel clothing endeavors began. It's basically zippers in the armpits that you open for ventilation. Heavenly. Wesley got the men's version in blue. We also figured this would be a good investment, as neither of us have an actual waterproof piece of clothing.

I had a really hard time finding any pants. This is the story of my life, and it is especially the story with travel pants, which are not the most flattering pants in the world. I am still in the process of finding a pair.

Shirts on the other hand, were fairly successful:

If comfort were a shirt, I am pretty positive it would be a Kuhl shirt. My goodness, these shirts are SO soft. Travel clothing is not known for its excessive trendiness or general cuteness, but I think Kuhl has made an honorable attempt.



This one is my absolute favorite. Brown is a good neutral color to have on the road. You don't want too many printed things or, because we are taping for Season 2 of Revolutionary Life, you will look like you're constantly wearing the same thing. The flower print on this is subtle enough that it won't make a difference. The shirts are a blend of polyester and cotton. When you think polyester, you think itchy, awkward disco pants suit, but combined with cotton... *sigh*. These will be super easy to hand wash and dry and will be durable enough to stand the test of wear and tear on the road.

My second Kuhl shirt


I also bought one more light-weight t-shirt with a cotton/modal blend.

Mentionables that I have gotten prior to today:




Pink bandana from Claire's. I could have gotten a neutral color, and may regret this...but I just love the idea of a pink bandana.




Kelty 2500 Redwing Backpack for women. It is designed for women, complete with curved straps. I love this bag. Let's hope it loves me, because it's going to be on my back for 6 months.


IPod touch. I found the 2nd generation on Craigslist for half what it's worth. While I am planning on boycotting Craigslist, I'm glad I didn't before I saw this steal. This really was a need. I dreaded trying to share our ipod back and forth on the trip during long bus rides. Now I can have my own IPod and also skype, blog, check email, download music, etc wherever wifi is...which may not be many places, but it will still be great! There are tons of free applications, including a Bible app with passage look up. Awesome. Of course, I will not use it as a means to ignore anyone.

For Wesley:



He got his own little slice of comfort with the Kuhl Elite Cafe Crew t-shirt. One of the coolest things about this shirt is it is blended with Coffeenna, "fabric made from recycled coffee grounds. The fabric naturally enhances the evaporative cooling to help keep you drive and comfortable with excellent UV protection"- from the tag, haha.


Under Armour zip off pants. Pants and shorts in one.


White Sierra Trail pant. Another zip off.


Wesley got his backpack at a yardsale a few months ago for $12. It is a Jansport backpack.
He has several shirts that fit the cotton blend required.
He bought some Merril laceless shoes, but they didn't fit him right so he is on the hunt for some more shoes.

Currently needed:

Ashley: 3 more t-shirts, 1 long skirt, 1 light weight pant, sandals, hiking shoes, hat, sunglasses, lightweight scarf

Wesley: 3 more t-shirts, hiking shoes, sandals, hat, sunglasses.

Both: Macbook.

As I left the store clutching the receipt, the tangible evidence of what we spent took my breath away. But I have to keep reminding myself that this will be the majority of our wardrobe for 6 months.

Yikes.

Our Yard Sale

Deuteronomy 15:10
Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.

Deuteronomy 28:12
The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.


***

God truly blessed the work of our hands this weekend. We were really dreading having a yard sale, but knew there was a possibility of raising money toward our trip. So, we sucked it up, and got to work at the last minute. We started gathering things together on Tuesday, I put an ad in the paper on Wednesday to be advertised Friday and Saturday, and we made a mess of our tiny duplex. At times I felt like pulling my hair out. We had to move our HUGE wardrobe outside four times. I was weary.

But in those two days, we raised enough money to put toward our travel clothing as well as a laptop. We are currently waiting on purchasing the laptop, as we are believing for a Macbook, which is what Wesley really needs. When we have down time on the trip, he will need to contribute toward the editing of video footage, and will be unable to do so without a Macbook.

I practiced what the Bible talks about; speaking what you believe to be true. I started speaking that we would sell all of our big furniture for what we were asking. That would round out to be about $500. I knew we desperately needed that money, and didn't expect to gain very much money from the other little things in the yard sale. $500 was my goal. My expectation.

The first piece sold for $25 more than we had asked, because a dear friend of mine contributed extra toward our trip.

But then the buying was at a standstill. I got nervous. I was claiming this, why wasn't God blessing that?

(side note: We humans are so silly sometimes, you know? If things don't go exactly how we think they're going to go, we automatically assume God must be playing a cruel trick on us. If we could only understand God's infinite Love for us!)

A man came by that owns a furniture store, and was wanting to give us $150 for all of the rest of the furniture. This was ridiculously low, but tempting. It was our second day of the yard sale, and we were exhausted from moving things back and forth. Yet we both didn't have a peace about giving this man our furniture for that price, despite the fact that no one else had come by to buy it up. We had only sold the table and chairs that day, but no other furniture. Praise God we listened to His voice, or else we wouldn't have been blessed with what was to come.

We left the furniture out even after the yard sale was over because we didn't want to haul it back inside. And of course, that was in God's plan. One woman came by and immediately put a down payment to hold one of our pieces. Granted, it was $120 less than what we had originally asked, but we had a sale! Then, we had three inquiries within minutes after I prayed that the wardrobe would be sold. We just said goodbye to it a little while ago, and it sold for only $50 less than the asking price.

The amazing thing about this is that the support from the yard sale was almost double what I had for a goal in my mind. We sell God short so often. He desires to bless us, but we don't BELIEVE for it! I am so very guilty of this.

At one point, a lady came inside as I was packing something up for her. She started looking around at our stuff and asked Wesley if we were selling our t.v. He immediately stated that we were, and before we knew it, our t.v. was sold right out from under us, haha! Wesley joked that he is like his grandfather, who once sold his kitchen table right out of his house!

***

God has always blessed my hard work. But I truly cannot do anything apart from Him.

I am a HUGE believer in tithing. I began seriously tithing in high school, but not with the faithfulness Wesley and I have today. My motives to begin with were mostly because I felt it was something I had to do, and I also realized that when I did so, God would always bless my finances. Granted, I might not be filthy rich, but He always supplied my needs and then some. So, I gave to receive a blessing. But this experience has really helped me to realize and understand that it is all HIS. None of it is ours, no matter how much we work for it. And just like Abraham with Isaac, once we give things to God, He will bless our sacrifice and will often give that thing back to us in much better shape than when we gave it to God. I wonder how much that experience with Abraham and Isaac strengthened their relationship that day. I'm sure it made it a million times better, because the father and son left the experience with a greater respect and understanding for each other. Isaac respected and knew his father as someone who would give up his own son to follow God, and Abraham respected and knew Isaac in that he honored both God and his father so much that he would lay down his life.


God has never let me down. How often I let Him down. It's heartbreaking to think about it.

I LIVE for these experiences.

Blessings

James 1:6
But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

Progress:
Buy plane tickets
-Buy plane tickets from Bangkok to Chiang Mai through Air Asia
- Find a family member willing to pay our storage rent every month
-Get shots (Typhoid, make sure we have had Hep A,B,C shots, Tetanis)
- Buy backpacks
-Buy walking/hiking shoes
-Get passports (in process)
-Get essentials: travel clothing, travel items (clothesline, drain stopper, toilet paper, travel towels (1), earplugs, laptop, bug spray, sunscreen)
-Get enough money pledged/donated to last the full six months in SE Asia (estimated to be a minimum of about $1,000/month if no major travel in that month... currently need $4,000 $3,??? more for the minimum.
-Save enough money for a plane ticket back home, as the plane tickets we bought are one way. (estimated: $1,000-$2,000).
-Find a temporary home for our puggles.

***

Praise GOD that we have found someone willing to keep our puggles! I am, however, still being the apprehensive mommy. Please, pray that our "children" will be safe while we're gone :)

I have been in awe of God's provision. He continues to amaze me. I was feeling discouraged a couple weeks ago. My dear friend Becky encouraged me by telling me stories of how God provided for her mother in times of financial stress. I was encouraged by the stories and began believing for the money.

The very next day, someone handed us a check for $320! Yesterday, $150 came in! This morning at Wesley's work, there was a drawing and guess who won a $100 Visa gift card? Wesley, of course!

I am waiting for a recent updated report of the money we have received, but we are definitely under $4,000 needed for the trip! Yay!

Our second biggest need right now besides the money for the trip is a laptop. Mine died about a year ago and we never had the extra money to get another one. But guess what? I KNOW we're going to have enough money to purchase the laptop we need. Dusty with Revolutionary Life encouraged me to begin speaking the things that I believe. That's difficult for me, I'm not going to lie. It's not that I don't believe in my heart that God will provide (although my faith does waiver sometimes), but speaking it out loud is foreign and awkward for me. Dusty gave me some great verses that support speaking our needs into existance. Unfortunately, I didn't write them down =( But it is Biblical to verbally state your needs and state that you BELIEVE you will RECEIVE.

So, the next step in our fundraising is to have a yard sale this Saturday and Sunday! I am believing for a good turn out to raise funds as well as raise awareness for Revolutionary Life!

Blogs with a purpose.

Since preparing to leave, I have tried to link up with as many organizations/people as possible and promote them.

This week, I'm specifically going to promote blogs that are connected to organizations.

-Katie Davis with Amazima Ministries in Uganda. This one started it all for me.

Katie's blog is amazing. I rarely make it through a post without crying. She is simply a girl who felt called to Africa, and listened to the call. She started an organization and has currently adopted 14 (and counting, it seems!) children to mother and care for...all before the age of 22. I mean, if that isn't a testament to God's grace and a picture of Jesus, I don't know what is.


-Renee Bach with Serving His Children in Uganda.
Serving His Children has a Feeding Program, Medical Program, and Malnutrition Rehabilitation Program. Again, Renee saw a need in Uganda, and decided to use the love of Christ to fulfill that need.

-Gwen Oatsvall and Suzanne Miller Mayernick with 147 Million Orphans. These two mothers, while going through their first adoptions, decided to start an organization to aid children in Uganda Haiti, and Ethiopia. In addition, they offer adopting families the opportunity to sell their products so that they may earn money for their own adoptions! 147 Million is the estimated amount of orphans currently living in the world. Their products are SUPER cute (the necklaces are gorgeous) and a great way to promote awareness of the orphan crisis as well as support families and children.

-Blogs for a Cause is a great blog in which the owner, Nikki, makes blog templates for people for a small fee which goes to help different international organizations. Not only are there links to hundreds of different "blogs with a cause", but she also helps support organizations with her talents. Brilliant!

-Orphaned No More A blog that sells bracelets to help a family bring their child, Isabella, home from China. The bracelets are super cute, and what better way to get accessories then to know that you're helping bring a child home so she will be orphaned no more!

-Women Doing More A wonderful blog by a woman that gives opportunities that others can participate in. I LOVE how each post has a "What you can do" section to show the reader how they can get involved!

If you're in a position to have a blog, I hope that you'll take the time to promote some very worthy causes. We have been given the gift of networking. Let's use it!

Progress.

-Buy plane tickets
-Buy plane tickets from Bangkok to Chiang Mai through Air Asia
- Find a family member willing to pay our storage rent every month
-Get shots (Typhoid, make sure we have had Hep A,B,C shots, Malaria pills)
-Buy backpacks
-Buy walking/hiking shoes
-Get passports (in process)
-Get essentials: travel clothing, travel items (clothesline, drain stopper, toilet paper, travel towels (2), earplugs, laptop, bug spray, sunscreen)
-Get enough money pledged/donated to last the full six months in SE Asia (estimated to be a minimum of about $1,000/month if no major travel in that month... currently need $4,000 more for the minimum.
-Save enough money for a plane ticket back home, as the plane tickets we bought are one way. (estimated: $1,000-$2,000).

-Find a temporary home for our puggles.

Wesley, Rollie, and Rush in Gatlinburg, TN.

The last need is so heart-wrenching for me. They're our babies. We celebrate their birthdays for crying out loud, haha. They are inside dogs who don't mind being outside, but don't want to sleep outside. I realize this may have to be adjusted if they live with a family that can only have outside dogs. They MUST be cared for together, as separating them might cause even more stress on them. As it is, I am afraid they might have problems adjusting because we take such good care of them. They are our little cuddle bunnies, as we affectionately call them. They love to play outside, but once inside, they will immediately cuddle up next to you and go to sleep. I have a recent picture of Rollie cuddling with me. I was laying on the bed, and he literally came up and plopped down, settling right into the crook of my neck, and went to sleep. They are some of the most loving dogs I've ever owned. I hate to have to leave them. I think that will be one of the hardest things for me.

Would you like two puggles for 6 months to 1 year? ;) Whoever accepts the "boys" (as we also call them) will be given a medium monetary amount to take care of them while we're gone. They need lots of love and caring. They are excellent watch dogs, whether the object of menace is a cat, a garbage man, or someone actually threatening.

God is continuing to answer all of our prayers. I know He will provide a good home for our babies. I start to worry about it, but then I remember that God sees the bigger picture, and I KNOW He will provide for all of our needs.

Philipians 4:19
And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

La Musica

When I can't travel, I like to listen to songs that help me take flight. I believe everyone who enjoys to travel should have a travel playlist for those agonizing 9 to 5ers (or 8 to 4:30ers, as the case may be) where you are inside all day and can't enjoy the outside world.

In my humble opinion, there are five requirements for songs in order for them to make it to the final travel playlist. Most songs on my playlist will fill all five requirements, but sometimes less. There are songs that may have a few test runs, until I decide that they really aren't travel playlist material. But the following criteria are to be met in order for me to include the song on my personal playlist:

a) As listed, first it must make you want to travel. You have not made a successful travel playlist until you absolutely feel that longing to get in a car and drive away-- blasting the song through your speakers, rolling the windows down, and taking off.

b) At least some songs must be linked to previous trips you have taken. I am a collector of songs that remind me of different memories, and feel that a successful playlist is not complete without these. Whether it be a random song you heard on the radio and loved, or a song playing at a gas station when you picked up some gummi worms for the ride back...the possibilities are endless. Whatever brings you back to that time.

c) It must give you the travel tingles. If you love to travel, you know what this feels like.

d) It must put images in your head of travel. Whether it be scenes from a particular movie that involve travel, or your own personal experiences, or places you hope to one day see.

e) It can always be listened to with the windows rolled down.

---

All this to say, here is the current travel playlist I am working with. It's rather short, because it takes quite a bit for a song to STAY on my travel list without me kicking it off.

*Disclaimer: this is my own personal playlist. If you like the songs, great! Add them to your playlist. However, if you don't agree, don't judge me. Just don't do it! LOL.

1) Ventura Highway- America It takes me back to visits to California. Even though I haven't lived there in over 22 years, it's still in my blood. Oh, how I love California.

2) Hard Sun-Eddie Vedder This reminds me of the first few minutes of the movie "Into the Wild". I didn't finish it due to content in the movie, but one day I'd love to see the edited version of it. The link provided shows pretty much the gist of the story. Chris McCandless's story is one of the most fascinating stories I've ever heard. I encourage you to read 'Into the Wild'.

3) Wagon Wheel-Old Crow Medicine Show Just a good song to listen to on a nice, open road.

4)Penny and Me-Hanson No playlist is complete without Hanson ;) And this song truly has a great sound.

5) Boston-Augustana I love the beautiful piano music. This is one of my favorite "windows rolled down" songs.

6) Pretty much the ENTIRE 'Elizabethtown' soundtrack. It is one of my favorite movies, and captured the essence and feel of a road trip in a movie like no other movies have. I dream of the day I can make a scrapbook map for someone! But particularly, the ones that really get my heart racing are:

My Father's Gun-Elton John
Free Bird-Lynyrd Skynyrd
Don't I Hold You-Wheat
Square One- Tom Petty

7) Cruisin'- Huey Lewis and Gwyneth Paltrow Hello? Cruisin is the title of the song. 'Nough said. ;)

8)Dancin' in the Moonlight- Toploader I can't help but dance around in my car when I hear this.

9) Brick House-The Commodores Speaking of dancing around, especially if I'm driving alone, at some point in my road trip, I have to dance around for a period of time. One time, I was driving home due to a break at college. I got tired of my cds and put on the radio. Suddenly, this song came on, and I literally could not control my urge to dance around in the car. It made me feel SO much better too, because the trip had grown a little dull. It energized me for the rest of the trip. I definitely recommend you dance around at some point during your road trip. It adds to the whole experience.

10) Return to Innocence- Enigma I understand this is probably central to me, because this song really has nothing to do with traveling. Yet somehow, I get the travel vibe from it. I love to turn it up as loud as it will go and sing the Native American parts. One of my favorite songs.

11) The ENTIRE album Share the Well by Caedmon's Call. Reminds me of my time of preparation before going to India in 2005. Particulars are:

Dalit Hymn
International Love Song
Sarala
Mother India
Share the Well

12) Michael Jackson is SO great for road trips. I guess it's probably during the times when I want to wiggle around in my seat or just sing really loud. My favorites are:

Black or White
The Way You Make Me Feel
Will You Be There
Bad
Beat It
Don't Stop Til You Get Enough

13) Motorcycle Drive By- Third Eye Blind Oh my. I could listen to this over and over and over again and never get tired of it. A MUST for my playlist.

14) The Climb-Miley Cyrus Perhaps this is why I put my disclaimer. Or maybe I'm referring to Enigma. Or something else. I was skeptical of Miley, but she really has some good songs. Another song that is a must on my playlist is "Party in the USA."

15) John Hiatt- Have a Little Faith in Me Piano songs and road trips are such a beautiful mix. And if you haven't seen 'Benny and Joon', please go out and rent it now.

16)Vann Morrison- Into the Mystic

17) Life is a Highway- as sung by Rascal Flatts

18) The Zephyr Song-Red Hot Chili Peppers


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That's all I have for now. I'm sure there are others, but I can't think of them right this second. This will be a working list :) Were there any that you hadn't heard before? What do you think? Let me know!


Now, let's hear what songs you would pick and why!