The Best of 2012

Now that a new year has begun, I've decided to recap some my favorite memories of 2012.  Here goes:



April 14

I was asked to be a guest speaker for an English class at Tunghai University here in Taichung.  They had been reading my book, Prince of Alasia, so I came as a visiting author.  It was really fun to interact with the students and watch the readers' theaters they had prepared based on some of the chapters.  I felt like a celebrity autographing their books at the end!












May 20

My second book, In the Enemy's Service (sequel to Prince of Alasia), was finally published in Kindle format, and later in paperback.  I love the cover art by Jack Lin.


June 12-15

Floyd and I took a brief vacation to Penghu, an archipelago just off the coast of Taiwan.  Our boarders Natasha and Isabel (who had lived with us for the last year) and their parents own a bed and breakfast there, and we were able to stay with them and reconnect with "our" girls.  They showed us around and we had a great time together!

June 28-29

My grandparents, Frank and Carolyn Jordan, brought the extended family to Solvang for a night to celebrate their 60th anniversary.  Since Floyd and I were spending the summer in California, we were able to be there too.  We watched the musical Little Women, enjoyed some tasty meals together, and had fun walking around and seeing the sights.

September 14

Floyd and I celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary.  In honor of our first decade together, we decided to have some professional "couple pictures" taken.  (Missy Sparrow did a great job - check out her photography at http://melissasparrowphotography.blogspot.tw/.)




















November 21-25

I had the opportunity to attend a teachers' conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where I presented a workshop about self-publishing.  I really enjoyed the experience and hope to do it again sometime.  After the conference, I had time for a brief tour involving such unforgettable memories as riding an elephant and petting tigers!



























Watch a short video of my tiger encounter


December 14-30

With just a couple of days' notice, my sister Julie was able to fly to Taiwan for a visit!  Adding to our full house, my brother Jimmy, sister-in-law Erin, and adorable 14-month-old niece Sienna (who previously we'd only met over Skype) arrived a few days later.  (Their visit had been in the works for months, so Julie was the only surprise.)  Floyd and I had a blast celebrating Christmas with them and showing them a little of our life in Taiwan.


















Thank you, Lord, for so many blessings in 2012!  I can't wait to see what 2013 will hold!

Tiger Kingdom, Thailand

After the elephant camp, the tour package I bought in Chiang Mai took us to what's called the Tiger Kingdom. It's basically like a zoo with just tigers, and for a small additional fee, tourists can actually go inside the cages and pet them! I found it completely mind-blowing that I was almost the only person in our large tour group who wanted to do that! 

 So, for the equivalent of about $15, I got to get up close and personal with three full-grown female tigers! At the keeper's instructions, I got to pet them, handle their back paws, wrap their tails around me, lie down with my head on their backs, and rub their tummies! The keeper was nice enough to take pictures and video for me with my camera; click here to watch a short video of my tiger experience. 

(Fun fact I learned: a group of tigers is called a "streak".)

After the tiger experience, our tour guide took the group to our third destination.  Click here to read about my visit to the Orchid Nursery.  A beautiful as it was, nothing could hold a candle to lying down on a tiger!

Did you see my post about our first stop?  Click here to read about my visit to Mae Sa Elephant Camp.  Or, click here for pictures and descriptions of Chiang Mai city scenes, including night markets and a tuk tuk.