“Sarah, Wake up!”

After four days home I am still majorly suffering from extreme jet lag. I have been lying awake in bed from around 2am until 4-5am wide awake. So last night I decided I had enough of these sleepless nights I was going to get some rest! I took 2 Tylenol PMs with the intent of getting a good nights rest. And headed off to bed. Quickly I was asleep, peacefully.

Until around 1:30am, I hear Josh…”Sarah, WAKE UP!” Seriously…I am sleeping! What could be so important at 1:30am that I need to wake up from this peaceful sleep?!?

But, of course I get up. “What is it?” I asked Josh. “A snake!” He replied. “In the house”.

Yes, a snake in our house…Ahhhh….super disturbing! I rush downstairs to see a black and yellow striped snake moving from the bathroom to the laundry room. Josh is trying to corner it with a broom before it moves into the laundry room. I run to get a large tupperware bowl to trap it in(All I could think of). The snake is about 2 feet long.

As I return the snake wiggles past the broom and headed into the laundry room, right behind the washing machine…now what? We can’t possible sleep knowing there is a snake chilling in the house! Especially, since we have no clue what kind of snake it is!

So we roll up a towel, close the door, and stuff the towel under the door to trap it inside until we figure out what the HECK to do! So, we head to the computer to find out if it is poisonous. We quickly find he might be a king snake. Which is harmless to humans. So I tell Josh…”I’m going back to bed, We will get it in the morning!” Josh says, “Yeah right…I am not sleeping knowing their is a snake in our house, the girls will freak if they know!”

So, he wanders into the garage and finds a hoe to “scoop” the snake out of the back of the washer. Next thing I know I am hearing this banging noise and I head over to find out if he caught it. Nope, he killed it instead! Ahhhhh….I had no idea my husband of almost 9 years had that in him! The snake is lying in the center of the laundry room floor bloody and dead! I screamed and yelled at Josh…it was digusting! I could not believe he did that. I had intentions of letting it go free in the field! He said, “It was only going to come back! So, I had to kill it. It was my first reaction!” Turns out as he opened the door to see if it had move it was just chilling in the center of the room. So his instincts kicked in and he felt threatened and did the poor little guy in! I am going to have bad dreams about snakes for many many nights to come!

Josh said he was only trying to protect the kids from knowing there was a snake in our house. They would have sleep issues for years too! They already freak when there is a spider in their rooms! Let alone a scary looking snake! So, please DO NOT speak of this occurrence in front of them!

I was done with the snake mess and headed back to bed to try and get some more sleep! Hopefully, no more snakes think our house is a good place to visit in the future!

One day left

Tomorrow I will head home. What an exhausting vacation. With a wedding, all the wedding drama, all the family, flying half way around the world, the guilt for leaving Josh with the girls for two weeks, the humidity and heat, no cheese or beans and lots and lots of noodles I am ready to go home. Being away from Josh for that amount of time was too much…I don’t want to do that again! I did enjoy myself. However, all the other stuff got in the way of having fun…It was rather interesting having both of my parents on the same vacation for two weeks though…They got along very well too! Good job…That was also a stressor!

2009-06-30 Singapore 123

Today we are wandering around town and catching any last minute sights we might have missed.

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obsessed...

obsessed...

Sing Day 11 005Sing Day 11 044Sing Day 11 013The day was concluded with a group dinner (except Aaron and Nadine: it was date night) at a hibachi style restaurant…

Sing Day 11 035Sing Day 11 031Sing Day 11 050In the morning, I fly home to California where the weather is hot and DRY and the beans and cheese flow freely! I am looking forward to smacking Josh a big one! Thanks for a good family vacation everyone who was involved in me getting there. Next time I leave for 2 weeks Josh will be with me!

Heal Shaving Day

Today was a day of relaxation, eating, and shopping. After a lunch together, we all wandered in our own directions for some last minute doings…

Thailand Day 3 297Sing Moms Camera 1 127Matt enjoyed his first pedicure along with a heal shave…it was quite the adventure for him and kind of gross for Niki and I. I too enjoyed a pedicure and heal shave…nice and smooth!

Thailand Day 3 302While we were finishing our treatments in walks Mom and Mike, Dad and Darlene for a wide variety of treatments ranging from hair braiding to whole body scrubs…

Thailand Day 3 304The finished product on mom…

Aren't they cute?

Aren't they cute?

Later in the day we all (except Rob, Felicia, Ed,& Daniel: Left earlier in the day) hired a van to drive us the hour back to the airport. Thailand was great fun. I especially enjoyed the lemongrass soups!

Exploring Part 2

Aaron and Nadine on the Elephant

Aaron and Nadine on the Elephant

Matt and I

Matt and I

Thailand Day 3 173Thailand Day 3 216Thailand Day 3 222After our tour we headed back to the hotel to shower and relax. The nine of us then headed to a wonderful dinner…

Thailand Day 3 232Thailand Day 3 241I know it is a little fuzzy!

Complete with a rose for the girls at the end of the meal!

Complete with a rose for the girls at the end of the meal!

This was one of my favorite days of the entire trip! We all had a great time hanging out together!

Exploring the Island: Part 1

Today 9 of us (Mom, Mike, Dad, Darlene, Matt, Niki, Aaron, Nadine, and I) headed out on an elephant tour and expedition:

Water Buffalo Wagon ride!

Water Buffalo Wagon ride!

Dad riding the Buffalo!

Dad riding the Buffalo!

Thailand Day 3 023We thought after the wagon ride: “What did we get ourselves into? This is going to be a hokey tour!” Complete with a he/she guide!

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Thailand Day 3 014Folowing the wagon ride we headed off to the river for a canoe ride!

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Nadine and I

Nadine and I

Thailand Day 3 077Thailand Day 3 092My turn:

Thailand Day 3 103Of course it started to rain a little so I left my camera with Niki. When a portion of us were out on the river it REALLY started to pour! So all of us except Matt and Niki got soaked!

Thailand Day 3 120Thailand Day 3 115Thailand Day 3 106Thailand Day 3 123This storm was INSANE! We had so much fun! We were all laughing and smiling and enjoying the fun!

The rest of the tour will follow in the next blog entry.

Dinner in Thailand

After the boat trip we relaxed for a while and a few of us headed to dinner. It was very fancy but cheap and good!

I had the cashew rice, shrimp, scallops, calamari, and veggies, complete with a pineapple! Only $2.50 US Dollars.

Thailand Day 1 078Mom and I also shared fresh fish…

this fancy for only $8 US Dollars! WOW!

this fancy for only $8 US Dollars! WOW!

Nicole, Matt, and I

Nicole, Matt, and I

And of course no day would be complete without the local whiskey (Courtesy of my Dad, who of course dank it!)

Thailand rot gut whiskey and the country beer

Thailand rot gut whiskey and the country beer

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Day 2 in Thailand

Today we booked an island tour to Phi Phi Island and a few other spots.

Me!

Me!

We snorkeled, fed monkeys, swam at the beaches (including the “highlight” of the tour the beach from the movie The Beach this beach was insanely crowded!)

Maya Bay from "The Beach" movie

Maya Bay from "The Beach" movie

This beach was too crowed for us all. following this beach we headed to a snorkeling area and saw some cool fish. It was Nadine’s first time snorkeling…it was fun trying to get her to get in the water.  By this time of the trip my motion sickness began to kick in…I began to get VERY sick…what a horrible feeling it is to have motion sickness (I only began to get motion sickness after I had Regan…Thanks Regan!) Next we headed to see the monkeys on a different beach. The guides fed them bananas and soda(terrible, I know). Some of the tourists (us)  also fed the monkeys. Matt actually petted one! His wife made sure he washed his hands before he touched anyone.

Thailand Day 2 052Thailand Day 2 050By this time I was overtaken by sickness and I could not do anything but focus on getting off of the boat! We arrived on Phi Phi island for lunch and a sickness break! This island was wiped out by the tsunami in 2004. It now show many signs of rebuilding from the disaster.

A tree wrapped in ribbon as a memorial

A tree wrapped in ribbon as a memorial

Thailand Day 2 062Following this we headed to Khai Nai Island. A small island with basically nothing but beach and a drink/snack stand. This was a nice relaxing Island. We completed the day with dinner and SLEEP!

I had to buy the souvenir photo of myself. It was a funny framed picture…

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Monday-July 6th-Headed to Thailand

This morning we woke up too early and headed to the airport for Phucket, Thailand. The flight was a quick one (1 hour) from Singapore to Phucket. We all arrived easily and effortlessly to our resort/hotel in Kata.

Checking into the hotel

Checking into the hotel

After checking in we headed to the only whole group meal we have yet to have…A very tasty lunch that accompanied everyone’s picky and different needs. I enjoyed soup and noodles with beer…yummy…

Actually all 13 of us TOGETHER at the table!

Actually all 13 of us TOGETHER at the table!

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Lemon grass soup...mmmmm....

Lemon grass soup...mmmmm....

Noodles

Noodles

Lunch was followed by some wandering and beach time…

My dad is silly

My dad is silly

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Sunday-July 5th

Today is a day of recovery! Recovery from jet lag, Wedding stress, family dramas, late nights, Singaporean food…and so on…

We are preparing our bags for our flight tomorrow to Phucket, Thailand. We are going to be there for 4 days. I am excited to sit on the beach and chill. I am really struggling without my Josh here. I am realizing how much I take just being able to sit and chat or cry on his shoulder for granted in California. I really miss you babe. See you in less than 1 week!

Tea ceremony from the 4th

Tea ceremony from the 4th

Ed without a head...the family

Ed without a head...the family

And no Aaron in the picture too…as you can tell someone else took this picture.

Brothers and I

Brothers and I

Parents of the wedding

Parents of the wedding

The 4th of July in Singapore

Today started with a tea ceremony including Felicia’s family and our family. This was held at her grandmother’s apartment. Felicia wore a traditional tea ceremony outfit hand embroidered by her family. It was full of detail. After the ceremony we all were treated to a 9 course meal. The food was yummy. One course was chicken and the plate was served with a chicken head as garnish. Of course Daniel and Aaron thought the chicken head was meant to be eaten. So of course they both took the head and began to eat it…Felicia’s mother proceeded to our table to check on our comfort and saw the boys eating the head. She proceeded to inform us that the chicken’s head was only meant to be garnish. :) It was pretty funny…both of the boys stopped eating their chicken heads immediately.

Yummy, Duck!

Yummy, Duck!

I know the picture is blurry…but I thought I’d share it anyways…

After lunch we had a scheduled nap…I was wonderful!

The evening ceremony was held at a cute little French restaurant. Rob and Felicia created their own ceremony. Dinner was yummy. I actually had a steak. It was cooked perfect!

French fries!

French fries!

My little brother Matthew, his wife Nicole and I

My little brother Matthew, his wife Nicole and I

My brother Aaron and his girlfriend Crystal-Nadine

My brother Aaron and his girlfriend Crystal-Nadine

Daniel, Crystal-Nadine, and I

Daniel, Crystal-Nadine, and I

The ceremony and dinner was followed by a late night at a piano bar called Howl at the Moon.

Rob and Felicia

Rob and Felicia

The Newly Married Paetz Couple!

The Newly Married Paetz Couple!