Letter To My Daughter(s)

Dear Daughter(s) of Mine,

Let me just start by telling you how much I love you. I love you from the very first moment I knew you were mine. I love you since that two lines showed on the pregnancy tests. I love you before you were here.

Now let me tell you what is on my mind. If I see you dress like nothing but less than what you should have worn, I'll drag you back to your room and wait until you change and come out with something appropriate.

My point is, there is more to than being "Eye Candy". You, my love, are a loving daughter of our Heavenly Father. Please don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I understand what it's like wanting to be wanted, popular, hot, sexy, and etc. But the thing is, there is more to you than that! It really bothers me when people say. . .ready for this?

M O D E S T  I S  T H E  H O T T E S T

Modesty and hotness though. . .do you really think they go along? Um, I don't think so! How can you be 'hot' while dressing modesty, covering up all the so called 'hot' parts of your body? The answer is simple, it is NO! Because,

modest is NOT the hottest!!

(surprise! surprise!) It's just not. How do I know? I was once you. I wanted to wear something cute, and by something cute means something that gets ATTENTION from the guys or even girls. But lucky me, I guess, I'm very self-conscience with my body so I didn't actually have the nerve to wear those super-short shorts or even a tank top. 

Modesty is our value. We have been taught to love and honor our body. I'm not telling you that people that dress immodestly are bad people. But I do think that they are trying to get attention. But what kind of attention would they be getting though? Do you think love at first sight comes from personality? I'm not gonna sugar coat this for you, so NO! People wouldn't know how wonderful you are until they talk to you. So there goes the first thing they see, appearance. So it's what they can see which also means what you put on for them to see. What you wear is what you advertise yourself so choose wisely. 

This is perfect!

You can not be modest/dress modestly only on Sunday. Don't be a hypocrite! You're better than that! If you are out there looking for someone special, how special would he be if he is only attracted to you because of what you wear? 

You are worth more than those tiny little bikinis or low-cut shirts. There is more to you than your beautiful legs, cleavage, or even your pretty face. You're worthy of all the great things in this world. You will one day find your best friend and fall in love with him. He will love everything about you and even when there's no make up on your face or when you're puking your guts off because of morning sickness. He is worth the wait. He is worth being righteous, modest and patient for. After all I found mine. =)

I love you,
Your Mommy

A Quick Catch Up

Just like the title says, this is a catch up post! So for those who didn't already know,

We've MOVED!!

We moved from our 2-bedroom apartment in Bangkok, Thailand to a log house in Vacaville, CA! Yes, we did move across the WORLD. Why?  Jonathan finished school!! He did! And I'm so very proud of him. He finished in 3 and a half years. Isn't he awesome? 

Jonathan showing off his degree!

O.K. enough bragging about the husband. We moved since Fall(November) last year. . .it's been almost a year! Melinda was 5 months old when we moved. It was definitely quite an experience flying with a baby. We learned that she can not fly longer than a 5-hour flight. We had 2 flights, first one was 5 hour so it was a piece of cake. Second flight was a 13-hour long. . .we (accidentally) shared a glimpse of parenthood to the people on the flight and might have even scared some of them. 

Waiting at the airport

We stopped in Korea for a layover and since then, Korean has been on our bucket list. We NEED to go back there! What a beautiful country! They have the most awesome airport!! Free wifi, free shower, free lockers so you don't have to carry your carry on around, ice skating rink, good airport food, free tours to go out and see the city, etc. We just love Korea! We went out to for some sight seeing on our own and of course we were lost. . .only for a bit though, A kind Korean man who spoke no English took us to the police man and we were helped after all. 

Gyeongbokgung Palace 

The only bad-ish experience about Korea was that we didn't check the weather before we left. So from 80s degrees Bangkok to 40s degrees Seoul we did NOT dress for it! Our poor baby had to suffer most I guess. Poor thing was so cold and decided to sleep though the whole outing trip - good for you baby!

Anyway, we made it to C A L I F O R N I A!! It's been really fun catching up with the family. Meli apparently became best bud with her cousins, especially Hanna. These two are best buds! I'm telling you Meli's first world was HA-NA not mommy. 

We are so happy to be here in California. There is nothing better than reunite with family and Round Table Pizza. The Bean and I have experienced out first real Fall, Winter and Spring, not to mention real American Thanksgiving, Christmas, Snow, 4th of July, Bounce House(for Meli), Cold Beach, and so many more.

First time in the swing

REAL Christmas tree!

The cousins on Christmas

Our Winter family photoshoot

My first snow experience

Our family back to where it all began

Meli's first time at the beach!

First time experiencing sand.

I should frame this right? I absolutely love this picture!

The Mackleys' Beach Retreat

 

Boogie boarding family style 

4th of July

This post is longer than I intended it to be (#sorrynotsorry). But basically a lot has happened this past year. Meli has grown so much. She is now a cute little T O D D L E R. This girl is one strong willed child. We love spending time at the parks. If Meli could choose, she would choose to spend all her time outside at the park in the swing! She has met so many milestones from crawling to walking, from first solid food to cupcakes. 

You know you can NEVER have enough headbands!

It's either swing or pool for this girl.

Swing mania

Birthday Girl!

Can you believe she is ONE!?

Matching tutu - mama's dream come true!

Isn't she so cute?! She is and she knows it!!

Our summer family photoshoot

On Jonathan news, he has been looking for a job. It's been a long, rough year but we are so very grateful for the situation. He has been able to spend time with us. It's so nice having him home. And we are also grateful for his parents for letting us stay with them while he's been looking for a job. It seems like L U C K is on our side now though. He has been having interviews with two companies and they seem to be getting serious. So we may or may not move in the next couple months! *keep your finger crossed for us. Prayers, positive thoughts needed here!*

At the moment, we are looking forward to Halloween. I learned how to S E W and made Meli and Jonathan's costumes (of course, I'll blog about it!). We are also looking forward for more Fall fun - pumpkin patch,jumping on pile of leaves, baking more pumpkin stuff, etc. 

I hope this post helped you catch up with what we have been up to and get all excited and ready for our next adventures!

World's WORST Blogger. . .nah

If there was such thing as World's WORST Blogger Award it would NOT go to me!

Over the past year I kept thinking/telling myself that I'm The World's WORST Blogger and felt guilty and bad over it. Here are the reasons why ;

- My last post was when I gave birth and now my baby is a T O D D L E R.

- I read other peoples blogs at least 3 times a week so it practically means I have enough time.

- I have logged in to my blog at least once a month but never actually posted anything.

- I have had some awesome experiences and made awesome stuff and people kept telling me to         blog about them but I never did.

- My house was too messy and I didn't want to take pictures plus I don't take good pictures.

- I actually REALLY want to blog. . .but I'm afraid nobody will read it.

And so many more reasons.

Until T O D A Y, This very day, I came up with the reasons why I would NOT have won that [stupid] award ;

- My baby who is now a T O D D L E R has been keeping me busy and it's OK for me to take time to adjust to this whole motherhood thing.

- It's easier to read rather than write! Don't get me wrong I love writing but I have never been so confident with my writing style. And majorly my English grammar.I could write in Thai (not really), but would you be able to read it?! So I'm doing this for YOU guys, can't you see?! O.K. not really. . . I can't really write in Thai and it's one of my BIGGEST shames. I have a hard time expressing myself in my very own language. I don't know why. That's just how it is. . .so can we move on now? Thank you.

- It is important to document experiences/events in our lives. And I actually have NO excuse for this one, so here I am, admitting that I want to be better at this.

- My house will most likely be messy for a good chunk of time due to the toddler that I mentioned earlier. And sometimes I'm just in a funk(surprise surprise!!) and get too lazy to move my bum and clean the house.

- I'm NOT a profession photographer therefore it's O,K. for me to not always have good pictures.

- I am doing this for me, myself, and my family! It doesn't matter if nobody else reads it. 

- I am NOT a blogger. I'm just a woman who happens to use blog as a tool to document some of my adventures so I can one day look back and remind myself of what a blessed life I have.

And so many more reasons.

So here I am blogging about blogging. I'm giving myself another chance. I want to make a different and I know that in order to do that I have to make a difference within me first. I'm grateful for my life and everyone in it. And if you are here reading this, thank you! Thank you for taking you time and reading this post.  I'm closing this with one of my all time favorite quotes. Be back soon! ;)