This and That

I have been inspired by my friend Allie Pyles' blog about all her crafting projects and re-doing of chairs and such. So about 3 months ago I took on the project of creating a vanity for myself because bathrooms here don't have any drawers, cabinets, or anywhere to put things. So I began the search for finding an old desk, sanding it down, repainting it, adding on knobs, and distressing it.

I have never done anything like this before, but it made me really excited to have a hobby or a craft to do while out here. It was an adventure to say the least. Finding spray paint beyond the standard red, blue, black, or white was a several week challenge (and that is only one of many obstacles I faced). I also told myself I was not going to work on it unless it was a "fun" thing to do, I didn't want this to be a task, but rather a since of "getting away." So it took me about 2 months to finish, but I really like how the vanity turned out. You can't really see the antique look it has in the picture, but I do love it.

Then came the chair...I looked online for chairs I liked and printed off a few pictures to take to the lady who custom makes all our furniture. I knew I wanted the cushion to be built in so I had to go to the markets to look for fabric for the cushion. I looked for months and couldn't find what I wanted because the markets are filled with Asian looking fabrics (who would of thought right?) and I didn't want that. I even looked for some when we went to Singapore, but came up empty handed. I eventually bought a bag/purse I liked and had it cut up to make the fabric. So I sent it off to our lady asking for a petite, feminine looking white chair. I got close...but I am still happy.

It was a fun project to work on for the last few months, and I kinda want another one now. In the mean time I just have to figure out how to keep the rats and lizards out of the drawers. I am one eye shadow and hand cream down :(

On a totally different topic, above is a picture of our time last Sunday at the Khmer church in Prek Pneu. This is our 2nd time we have been to this church, and we always leave feeling blessed that these Cambodians so openly take us in to their service, hold our hands, give us kisses, and ask us to return. We look forward to the years ahead of build relationships with them. The picture is of me talking with the children with the help of the pastor, Sam Rach.

Lastly, here is a video from an organization here called Chab Dai, thats sole purpose is to help link all the NGOs in Cambodia working to end child trafficking to one united front. It is a great community of organizations that share resources, time, energy, people, and money. Asian Hope has gained greatly in being a part of this network. I am in the video for a short bit at the end. This is my claim to fame...about 600 people see this video so I guess my fame might be small. Really this is more for our moms out there :)