I can still participate from way over on this side of the world, right? It's cost prohibitive to ship things from here. :( I've never tried it before, but I think I can buy an amazon gift card online and send it to someone if I knew who to send it to. Would that work?

We have a live-in nanny/housekeeper/cook. She has weekends off. We pay her $135 a week in USD which is actually about twice the going rate here. But we love her and she is worth it.

We discuss all manner of unusual, contentious, frivolous, etc., around here. What's one more? To the OP: no, I was raised in a middle class, blue collar family. My dad was a plumber and my mom was a homemaker. Not wealthy but not poor.

1pm in the afternoon in Penang, Malaysia, and it is 82 degrees and raining.

As you asked it... in my family and in my CURRENT situation... we make $50,000 a year in total and a family of 6 (if I include my live-in amah who does consume food and utilities since she lives here). We live quite well on that amount meaning my kids have piano lessons and tennis lessons and we go out to eat fairly frequently (although at cheap places, not nice restaurants). But we don't save very much money here. On $40,000 it would still be manageable but the extras would go. On $30,000 it would mean struggling and penny-pinching but still possible. I would say less than $30,000 would mean not enough to pay our bills and buy groceries. Not "poverty-stricken" but not able to make ends meet.

I have an Alice. Her name is Prema. She lives with us and cooks, cleans, takes care of my dd while we are at work. She has been with us for 4 years and she is family to us now. She loves us and takes care of us. We love her and take care of her. We attend each other's family gatherings for birthdays and holidays. She is amazing and we are very blessed. But no uniform. In fact, I think she may actually be the boss of the house. :)

Houses don't have the big water heater tanks at all in Malaysia. They all have instant water heaters that look like this: http://www.joven-electric.com/product_main_listing.php?category_id=2&series_id=9 And yes, we can run all 3 showers in our house at the same time and all have hot water without running out (since it heats it instantly). I really like it! Plus it saves money because it is not running on gas or electricity to constantly keep a huge tank of water hot. It only runs when you use it.

Cornbread dressing in a casserole dish Homemade buttermilk cornbread Chicken Boiled egg Chicken brith Celery Onion Sage Thyme

Yikes. I didn't even think about it possibly being illegal. Good call. I better check that out first. We will be in Michigan June 11- July 25. I would LOVE for him to see some really cool rockets!! It will be his 16th birthday so I want to do something special. I may just take you up on that offer! Thanks so much!

I have severe and chronic insomnia and I have had it for about a decade. Lunesta was a savior for me until I moved here where they don't have it. Now I take a low dose of ambien. I would die without it. Even with it I average 6 hours if I am lucky. Without it I might get 3-4 hours a night. I live chronically sleep-deprived.

I stopped wearing one about 5 years ago. My dh and both boys wear one all the time.

My ds (15yo) has developed a keen interest in rocketry and wants to get started. There are NO rocketry clubs on this island. I want to get him some kind of beginner/starter kit for christmas but I have no idea where to begin. I want it to be appropriate for his age but not "babyish" if that makes sense. Any advice?

It is significant in its importance but for me, it is not a point of division. While I would not attend an arminian church if I had another choice, I would if I had no reformed choice. I also do not believe it to be a salvation issue as long as they believe in saved by grace and not by works. There are other issues that I would leave a church over but Arminianism isn't one of them (unless it was rabid, anti-Calvinist Arminianism). Does that make sense? I don't feel like I am explaining it properly.

I recently shared my story of my mission trip to Papua at a staff meeting of 80 people. I was supposed to have 10-15 minutes. I went for 40. I had lots of pictures and interesting stories to tell, some heart-wrenching, others funny. By the end I asked the crowd to donate money to bring one of the Papuan teachers here for training and within 24 hours I had enough money to bring 3 teachers! The crowd was listening and interested the whole 40 minutes. It was easy to tell. They hung around afterwards asking even more questions. If it is a riveting story and you are a good story teller then they will listen for 45 minutes. So that's the first two questions you ask yourself: Is this a riveting story that most people would be interested in or was it just an important experience for me personally? And Am I a good enough public speaker to tell it in such a way that people will listen for 45 minutes? The honest truth is that it needs to be both or you may be better off shortening it to 20 minutes.

A snack A shower A nap That's what my moody teen gets when he is being really moody. I think I learned that from SWB. Every time he complains about something in his life he is required to tell me three positive things about his life. It's a family rule.

It is correct for Malaysia but it's hard not to be. The weather never changes except sometimes it rains. :)

I really don't know when or where. It's hard for me to imagine retiring. I love working...I love my job...and my youngest is only 3 anyways so it will be another 20 years probably until we retire. We have retirement savings/pensions, but when and where is a total unknown.

Me!!!! Only 6 months and 22 days until I can see her!

Interesting question. I have seasonal allergies and when I lived in Michigan my summers were miserable. But I moved here where it is 90 degrees and 90% humidity every day of the year and I have zero allergy problems. So maybe it is the type of trees/flowers here vs. in Michigan? So I guess I have no idea how I will be in any of those states.

It is a very popular series at my school!

Started Reading: Big, Dead Place: Inside the Strange and Menacing World of Antarctica by Nicholas Johnson Still Reading: God is Red: The Secret Story of How Christianity Survived and Flourished in Communist China by Liao Yiwu Smart but Scattered Teens: The "Executive Skills" Program for Helping Teens Reach Their Potential by Richard Guare The Collected Writings (So Far) of Rick Wormeli: Crazy Good Stuff I've Learned about Teaching by Rick Wormeli Finished: 48. Allegiant by Veronica Roth 47. The Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin 46. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn 45. Stealing Rembrandts: The Untold Stories of Notorious Art Heists by Anthony Amore (American Author, DD class 700) 44. The Gospel's Power and Message by Paul Washer (American author, DD class 200) 43. They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Persuasive Writing by Gerald Graff (American author, DD class 400) 42. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (American author, DD class 800) 41. Mariana by Susanna Kearsley (Canadian author, DD class 800) 40. Man Seeks God: My Flirtations with the Divine by Eric Weiner (American author, DD class 200) 39. When I Don't Desire God: How to Fight for Joy by John Piper (American author, DD class 200) 38. Inferno by Dan Brown (American author, DD class 800) 37. That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo (American author, DD class 800) 36. The God Who is There: Finding Your Place in God's Story by D.A. Carson (Canadian author, DD class 200) 35. Sandstorm by James Rollins (American author, DD class 800) 34. Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel (Mexican Author, DD class 800) 33. The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific by J. Maarten Troost (Dutch Author, DD class 900) 32. Bill Bryson's African Diary by Bill Bryson (American author, DD class 900) 31. The Millionaires by Brad Meltzer (American author, DD class 800) 30. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter (American author, DD class 800) 29.The Sherlockian by Graham Moore (American author, DD class 800) 28. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (American authors, DD class 800) 27. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (American author, DD class 900) 26. The Last Camellia by Sarah Jio (American author, DD class 800) 25. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (Ethiopian author, DD class 800) 24. Having Hard Conversations by Jennifer Abrams (American author, DD class 300) 23.The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe (American author, DD class 600) 22. The Infernal Devices #3: The Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare (American author, DD class 800) 21. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (American author, DD class 800) 20. Why Revival Tarries by Leonard Ravenhill (British author, DD class 200) 19. The Infernal Devices #2: Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare (American author, DD class 800) 18. The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (American author, DD class 800) 17. God's Big Picture: Tracing the Story-Line of the Bible by Vaughan Roberts (British author, DD class 200) 16.The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag: A Flavia de Luce Mystery by Alan Bradley (Canadian Author, DD Class 800) 15.The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner (American author, DD class 900) 14. Prodigy by Marie Lu (Chinese author, DD class 800) 13. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (American author, DD class 900) 12. The Disappearing Spoon: And Other Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean (American author, DD class 500) 11. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman (American Author, DD class 600) 10. A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World by Paul Miller (American author, DD class 200) 9. Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick (American author, DD class 300) 8. Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald (American author, DD class 100) 7. The Bungalow by Sarah Jio (American author, DD class 800) 6. The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen (American author, DD class 800) 5. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen (American author, DD class 800) 4. The Next Story: Life and Faith After the Digital Explosion by Tim Challies (Canadian author, DD class 600) 3. The House at Riverton by Kate Morton (Australian author, DD class 800) 2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (English author, DD class 800) 1. The Dark Monk: A Hangman's Daughter Tale by Oliver Potzsch (German author, DD class 800)

thanks for all of this great info! I have looked at Abilene briefly. My oldest is interested in Abilene Christian College.

We are reformed and would want a strong, healthy reformed/presbyterian/reformed baptist church. A good christian school means a school that is not christian in name only and teaches from a biblical worldview and takes the spiritual growth of their students seriously. Jacksonville sounds nice!

Probably a medium sized town near a large city so we can take advantage of other opportunities.

We will most likely be moving back to the states two years from now. It actually takes A LOT of planning for "re-entry" into American life and so we are beginning the process. We do not feel tied to any state in particular though our families are in Michigan (we don't plan to ever live there again). But I will need to transfer my education certificates which can take a while and we both need to look for jobs, etc. so we need to get started. We do want to live somewhere with warm weather most if not all year round. Where my dh, ds, and dd can play tennis all year round. With really good options for church. Also good Christian schools. Hopefully near Spanish speaking cultures since that is my second language and oldest ds is getting much more fluent as well. We want diversity in our lives. So we have chosen Florida, Texas, and Arizona as our strongest possibilities. If you live or have lived in any of those three states, can you tell me which city you lived in and why you love(d) living there? Thanks!!