Why Chiang Rai?

I'll tell you why! This weekend = crazy. Seven hours of driving for one day in Chiang Rai, Thailand's northernmost province. Though we didn't spend a lot of time actually there (it was a day-trip, after all), there were definitely experiencesof merit:

The White Temple, reminiscent of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia, is a modern Buddhist Temple with gorgeous architecture and an interesting depiction of hell.

Here I am, standing on the bridge over hell.

Ostrich Riding. My dreams of riding an ostrich since my days as a Swiss Family Robinson fan? Complete. The ride was surprisingly comfortable, but unfortunately this is just another animal abused by Thailand for white men's pleasure. I feel bad for the birds. But I had to ride one.



The Golden Triangle is the place where Thailand, Burma, and Laos meet. So, a seven hour bus ride and we visited three countries. Not too shabby! This place is also known for its illicit opium trade, but we stayed out of all that, no worries.

Thus, an eventful tenth week. I can't believe there are only three weekends left!

Jungle Adventures

Many apologies for not writing for so long!!! The past few weeks have taken place in the jungles of Thailand, and I haven't updated. Recent adventures include:

Flight of the Gibbon: Ziplining and rappeling in the jungle :). It was so fun!

Gearing up for Flight of the Gibbon-Emily, Me, and Jenessa

Swingin' through the trees like...a gibbon :)

2 Day trek with a hill tribe: We trekked across mountains, slept under mosquito nets, swam in quite a few waterfalls, cliff jumped, went down on a river atop a bamboo raft, and rode elephants. All in one weekend.

Rice Paddies in the hill tribes

The best way to swim

The best way to travel

At the end of that weekend, we celebrated the 4th of July by eating pizza, breadsticks, and chicken fingers, and going out for ice cream.

Happy Birthday, America!!!

Thais that Bind

Well, you've heard the rumors. You've asked for the story. So... I'm officially blogging my engagement.

Once upon a time a girl served her mission in Toulouse, France. On her mission, she met a lot of incredible people and made a lot of friends with other missionaries serving in Toulouse, France. One of them was Elder Kelley. She didn't know him that well, but thought he was an incredible missionary and a good soccer player. Because he was and is.
Toulouse, France ended, and the girl went home. And she missed her mission so much that every time she had the chance to hang out with other people from her mission, she did. She became friends with that Elder Kelley, who she found out was named Tyler. They became good friends over the summer and pretty soon he was asking her on dates. She said yes because she liked him.
These kids dated off and on all fall semester.
They became "exclusive" in January.
This girl was going to Thailand for the summer. She didn't know what was going to happen. Tyler didn't either. They talked about it. They talked and talked. And decided...they would just see! So the girl got on the plane for Thailand.
They talked and emailed. Then, one skype evening, Tyler told her he had decided he wanted to marry her. She asked him, "Are you proposing to me?!?!?" He said no because it was lame to propose on skype. She still counted it as a proposal.
Two days later, when he was at Yuba on vacation, she texted him "Yes."

After a little modern technology love magic, Briana and Tyler are getting married September 24 of this year. I count myself the luckiest of girls. Tyler is simply amazing. He makes me laugh. He makes my life an adventure. And he makes me better. He's the kindest, most wonderful person and I am so excited to spend my life with him!