thai 4th of july

Our house has become the un-official holiday gathering place for our random assortment of friends here in Houston. It started with Easter and has continued with Independence day. We are people lovers. A holiday is not complete without a full house. Our great mix of friends and family always extends to include anyone else who might want to join the festivities. This holiday we had an especialy eclectic mix.

Our friends Kristy and James, along with their kids Issac and Levi are always part of the festivities. James invited some of his co-workers, living in Houston for the summer doing internships, to join us. They are from Thailand and offered to make us some great Thai food that included shrimp, squid, three types of soups and amazing spices. Another family, Aitran, Hugo, Phoebe and Andy, who just recently moved to the area, made some delicious spicy eggplant. Aitran is originally from China but also lived in Vietnam. Her husband Hugo is from Mexico and they have two great kids. Others at the gathering were; Lyle and Emily, along with baby Eva (Emily and Alisa volunteered together at a women's shelter and Lonnie and Lyle went to JR High together), Stephanie and Martin (Lonnie was the teaching assistant in a class Stephanie took in college), Sister Fisher and Sister Kendrick (the missionaries in our ward), Kelly (our neighbor) and Tim and Julia Nuttall (brother and sister-in-law to James and Kristy).

All together there were about 20 people here at the house and way to much food for us to finish. It was a great holiday.


James' coworkers from Thailand- Nee and Niran. They were amazing cooks and took the kitchen by storm. In the end we convinced them to only cook 6 of th 9 dishes they had planned.

The non-stop sampling that took place all day long. The missionaries, Aitran, Kristy and Stephanie .

Emily and Eva, Kelly, Alisa, Kristy and baby Levi.

Everyone took their time in the kitchen, but these four were the hardest working.

today is a good day.....

(photo taken around my birthday in 2004 on the doorstep of a shop in Paris, France)

Today is a good day.

Today is my birthday.

I feel asleep this afternoon with a baby in my arms.

This year, if I could ask for anything for my birthday, I wish that I could be influential in the life of a child. Of course, I would love to be a mother, but that is something over which I have little control. What I can control is myself, I can open my heart to serve others, especially children. I can make myself available to those who might need my help. I can open my heart and my home.

I got a call last night from Lyle, my friend Emily's husband. He told me that Emily is sick with strep throat and knocked out with medication. He asked if I could come over and help Emily take care of their 3 month old daughter Eva. I arrived at about 9:00 am and stayed most of the day until 5:00 pm. I was glad to be able to help Emily get needed rest while I cared for Eva.

So what greater gift could I start the year out with being able to take a nap on a recliner with a beautiful baby in my arms?

Today is a good day.

-Alisa

yes, we met on the internet.

I met my husband on the internet.

Lonnie and I met on the internet.

Yes, we met on the internet.

I have to keep practicing that because it still seems so funny to me.

2004-I had quit my job as a teacher at Horizonte Instruction and Training Center working as a teacher in the Young Parent program. I had loved my job but felt like it was time for a change.

So I went to Europe for a month and then Guatemala, where I had been many times before, to try and start a fair trade dried mango business that would provide jobs for people in an economically depressed area.

When I came back to the United States months later, I decided that instead of going back to Utah, where I had a big group of friends and an extensive social network, I would move back to California. I was raised in California and loved the sun, beach, and tide pools.

With a background in non-profit and fluency in Spanish, I figured I would be able to find a job quickly. Being in California and looking for a job was promising. I had a lot of interviews and contacts. But my social life was non-existent. I was living at my parents house who had moved from Los Angeles, where I grew up, to the San Francisco area. I knew no one. Friday nights consisted of watching movies with my parents and eating Chinese food. I missed my friends in Salt Lake. I missed having intense conversations and relationships. For the first time in a very long time, I was very much alone. I was no longer in a safe place where I could cocoon myself with friends. I needed to reach out into the scary world if I were to even think about meeting someone.

A long time friend of mine in Salt Lake told me about a dating website called LDS Promise. My friend was a psychologist and knew the people who had organized the site (I used his PhD status to justify recommendation I had received to "internet date"). The site was different from other internet dating sites I had seen.

It didn't feel as much like a meat market where you put in your order...

"I'd like a tall, dark, and handsome, medium rare, with a college education, who likes long walks on the beach".

I wasn't exactly sure how I would come off on a dating menu page either...

"Blond, blue eyes, somewhat silly, wants to save the world, not really sure what she is doing with her life right now".

LDS Promise was a little more in depth. As a matter of fact, if I wasn't unemployed at the time, I don't think I would have had the time to fill out the hour and a half questionnaire that was used to match personality types together. Through the wonderful powers of computer logic, the site matches people together who connect on a deeper level. Those two people are then emailed profiles of the other, and then both of them decide if they would like to communicate further and get to know one another. There is no menu to search and find out all the options out there. You either agree to get to know the people who are sent to you or you say that you are not interested.

I met one person through LDS Promise while I was in San Fransisco. He was friendly, smart, and interesting, but there were no sparks. At least, he convinced me that internet dating is not too scary and can even be an enjoyable experience. (Months later, I heard about him being on Jeopardy.)

Through my San Francisco job interviews, I realized that non-profit jobs paid about the same almost anywhere in the United States. In San Francisco, that meant living at the poverty line. In Salt Lake City, it meant I could buy a condo with enough money left over to consider being a foster parent to a child that needed a home. I wanted to have a job that would enable me to have a family.

I accepted a job back in Salt Lake City and moved back in just a couple of months. I had a great home to live in, and I was back with my friends. Although I now had a social life again, I didn't cancel my subscription to LDS Promise. Shortly after coming back to Utah, I was sent the profile for Lonnie. Initially, I didn't think we would have much in common, but I accepted the invitation to get to know him. After a couple emails, we decided to meet.

We met for dinner in early January 2005 at the Rusted Sun Pizzeria in Salt Lake City. During several months of dating, our lives began to grow together, and we fell very much in love. As we began to see the promising future we could have together, we decided to get married. Soon after we got engaged, we went back and had dinner again at the Rusted Sun Pizzeria. While we were sitting eating our pizza, a waiter walked by our table and stopped. Caught off guard, he kind of stammered and then said "Wow, you two sure look happy".

Over the months of dating and getting to know one another, I came to feel admiration, respect, devotion, and passion for this wonderful, kind man that I met on the internet.

- Alisa