what better time than now...

disclaimer: i make no promises for capital letters (sorry grandpa and grandma), proper punctuation, or lack of typos, because the majority of this blog will be typed on the world's tiniest laptop with a 7" screen, our adorable little two pound thailand gadget, 'asus eee pc.'

so as you may or may not know at this point, luke and i are off for a grand adventure in mid-september. our friend chris will also be coming with us for a few months. we are going to thailand! luke and i officially have jobs (and visas!) with the us state department, helping thai students that want to study in the usa. it's all very exciting, and it is all happening so soon!

i have gone from fantasy to excited to nervous to bored to ecstatic to scared to head over heels and back again with the idea over the past several months. although i will miss everyone and everything (i really like vermont!), it is beginning to seem like there is no better time than now to do this. i am not yet ready to accept any worldly responsibilities (i.e. babies, dogs, and/or houses), and therefore very excited to shed all of my possessions except for one turtle shell backpack and see the ends of the earth!
...i am also very grateful that i have found someone crazy enough to do it with me ;)

so this blog will act as a catalog of all the crazy/mundane/exciting/magical/annoying/amazing things that happen to me along the way. it may at times act in lieu of regular emails, since i don't want to spend the whole trip on the computer! but feel free to comment, email me, and share this link as you see fit. and don't forget to check out the pictures, http://lukekatie.shutterfly.com/

i now know enough thai to ask if someone speaks english, ask for directions, and order food or other things 'i want to have...,' so the language barrier is at least slightly broken. which is one of the most exciting/frustrating parts of it all.