Now Playing Tracks

Most women dont get serenaded, I was lucky to be by an amazing talent -Elliott Skinner in front of 170 people at Camp RYLA district 5810: Summer 2012. He’s going to be famous one day. 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

[Philippians 4:6, 7] 

I always find that I struggle with having a purpose in my daily life. I’ve only been home for 3 weeks as of 2:15pm today yet I have been feverishly job hunting. A lot of this process is out of my control but I must keep reminding myself that these things take time and there are many people in the same position as I am, trying to find employment. So this quote is what I need to remember not just for a job but for all things in life. Why not share it with all of you! 

I’ve always said that I have been extremely lucky to have been raised and continuously surrounded by very strong women in my life. Every year, my parents have their annual New Years party. 3 generations of Cunningham women were at my house, it was wonderful. There’s nothing better than starting a new year with friends and family. This year I was not only lucky enough to ring in the New Year with my immediate family but my cousins and my best friends. There were other people there too, but…well…I didn’t take pictures of them LOL. Enjoy the pictures! And a very late but very enthusiastic HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you!
Zoom Info
I’ve always said that I have been extremely lucky to have been raised and continuously surrounded by very strong women in my life. Every year, my parents have their annual New Years party. 3 generations of Cunningham women were at my house, it was wonderful. There’s nothing better than starting a new year with friends and family. This year I was not only lucky enough to ring in the New Year with my immediate family but my cousins and my best friends. There were other people there too, but…well…I didn’t take pictures of them LOL. Enjoy the pictures! And a very late but very enthusiastic HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you!
Zoom Info
I’ve always said that I have been extremely lucky to have been raised and continuously surrounded by very strong women in my life. Every year, my parents have their annual New Years party. 3 generations of Cunningham women were at my house, it was wonderful. There’s nothing better than starting a new year with friends and family. This year I was not only lucky enough to ring in the New Year with my immediate family but my cousins and my best friends. There were other people there too, but…well…I didn’t take pictures of them LOL. Enjoy the pictures! And a very late but very enthusiastic HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you!
Zoom Info
I’ve always said that I have been extremely lucky to have been raised and continuously surrounded by very strong women in my life. Every year, my parents have their annual New Years party. 3 generations of Cunningham women were at my house, it was wonderful. There’s nothing better than starting a new year with friends and family. This year I was not only lucky enough to ring in the New Year with my immediate family but my cousins and my best friends. There were other people there too, but…well…I didn’t take pictures of them LOL. Enjoy the pictures! And a very late but very enthusiastic HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you!
Zoom Info
I’ve always said that I have been extremely lucky to have been raised and continuously surrounded by very strong women in my life. Every year, my parents have their annual New Years party. 3 generations of Cunningham women were at my house, it was wonderful. There’s nothing better than starting a new year with friends and family. This year I was not only lucky enough to ring in the New Year with my immediate family but my cousins and my best friends. There were other people there too, but…well…I didn’t take pictures of them LOL. Enjoy the pictures! And a very late but very enthusiastic HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you!
Zoom Info
I’ve always said that I have been extremely lucky to have been raised and continuously surrounded by very strong women in my life. Every year, my parents have their annual New Years party. 3 generations of Cunningham women were at my house, it was wonderful. There’s nothing better than starting a new year with friends and family. This year I was not only lucky enough to ring in the New Year with my immediate family but my cousins and my best friends. There were other people there too, but…well…I didn’t take pictures of them LOL. Enjoy the pictures! And a very late but very enthusiastic HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you!
Zoom Info
I’ve always said that I have been extremely lucky to have been raised and continuously surrounded by very strong women in my life. Every year, my parents have their annual New Years party. 3 generations of Cunningham women were at my house, it was wonderful. There’s nothing better than starting a new year with friends and family. This year I was not only lucky enough to ring in the New Year with my immediate family but my cousins and my best friends. There were other people there too, but…well…I didn’t take pictures of them LOL. Enjoy the pictures! And a very late but very enthusiastic HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you!
Zoom Info
I’ve always said that I have been extremely lucky to have been raised and continuously surrounded by very strong women in my life. Every year, my parents have their annual New Years party. 3 generations of Cunningham women were at my house, it was wonderful. There’s nothing better than starting a new year with friends and family. This year I was not only lucky enough to ring in the New Year with my immediate family but my cousins and my best friends. There were other people there too, but…well…I didn’t take pictures of them LOL. Enjoy the pictures! And a very late but very enthusiastic HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you!
Zoom Info
I’ve always said that I have been extremely lucky to have been raised and continuously surrounded by very strong women in my life. Every year, my parents have their annual New Years party. 3 generations of Cunningham women were at my house, it was wonderful. There’s nothing better than starting a new year with friends and family. This year I was not only lucky enough to ring in the New Year with my immediate family but my cousins and my best friends. There were other people there too, but…well…I didn’t take pictures of them LOL. Enjoy the pictures! And a very late but very enthusiastic HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you!
Zoom Info
I’ve always said that I have been extremely lucky to have been raised and continuously surrounded by very strong women in my life. Every year, my parents have their annual New Years party. 3 generations of Cunningham women were at my house, it was wonderful. There’s nothing better than starting a new year with friends and family. This year I was not only lucky enough to ring in the New Year with my immediate family but my cousins and my best friends. There were other people there too, but…well…I didn’t take pictures of them LOL. Enjoy the pictures! And a very late but very enthusiastic HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you!
Zoom Info

I’ve always said that I have been extremely lucky to have been raised and continuously surrounded by very strong women in my life. Every year, my parents have their annual New Years party. 3 generations of Cunningham women were at my house, it was wonderful. There’s nothing better than starting a new year with friends and family. This year I was not only lucky enough to ring in the New Year with my immediate family but my cousins and my best friends. There were other people there too, but…well…I didn’t take pictures of them LOL. Enjoy the pictures! And a very late but very enthusiastic HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you!

I have Returned!

After almost 11 months of being away from home, from friends and family…after 11 months of school, traveling and making new friends and family, I have returned to Dallas. 

Looking back, it is unbelievable how such a long time in New Zealand seems like a whirlwind of challenges, fun and self discovery that finished in the blink of an eye. It was truly the experience of a lifetime and on my heart are the handprints of all the people who made the experience as amazing as it was. 

After tearful goodbyes with my New Zealand family, and almost 12 hours on a flight from Auckland to LA, I KNEW I was back in the United States when I had to do a full body scan for TSA at the airport. National Security at its finest I suppose, I forgot what American airport security was like. The first of many realizations that I was back home. 

I had family from Trinidad visiting as well as my best friends from Undergrad within the first week I was back. Fighting almost 9 days of jet lag and entertaining was not an easy task but I managed it just fine. The excitement of seeing friends and family helped me persevere through the “I miss New Zealand so much” and the “All I want to do is sleep” blues. 

The best part of it all…Being reunited with the loves of my life. My sisters!

I brought back some kiwi hats for them and here we are on Christmas Morning when Kiwis invaded Dallas (not yet ready to be seen by the rest of the world, but I’ll share the pic anyway)


Farewell Thailand. Thank you for the daily massages, the pad thai and green curry cooked to PERFECTION, fortifying friendships, bargain shopping and for letting me eat, pray and love with you. Until next time!

One Last Hoorah! The Land of Green Curry

This year has been filled with lots of work, lots of travel and a few but a fantastic bunch of friends. While I have made a number of Kiwi friends, what was most unexpected was how close I became to some of my fellow Ambassadorial Scholars. You have all been witnessing the visits, trips and seeing the pictures. From the conversations I’ve had from past and current scholars, the friendships we have developed with each other are definitely out of the ordinary for most other scholar (country specific) groups. For that I am blessed. With that said, Erinn (formally based in Wellington) and I ventured to do one last hoorah after we completed school to Thailand for 10 days, before heading back to the States. Kyle was to meet us there after he visited family in Singapore for the first 3 in Bangkok. 

Thailand was experiencing some very heavy floods before we went, so much so there were discussions about whether or not to go. Thank goodness we did go! It was the trip of a lifetime. 

To spare you some of the more insignificant details I’ll touch on the highlights. We got to Bangkok the day after the King’s birthday. Not to worry, we would never speak ill of the king as it is a punishable crime. On the agenda: Bangkok, Koh Phagnan and Koh Samui.


1. Bangkok: temples, they were gorgeous. We stayed in the backpacker district and therefore were not surrounded by privileged communities. It was interesting to see though, that among the “not so well kept” buildings that the temples were lavish pillars of religious strength and devotion…and the gold! OH THE GOLD! …Let me make a watch out of that! haha. We went to a temple by way of “tok tok”…apparently this mode of transportation does not require adherence to traffic/driving laws. 


2. Bangkok: Koh San Road. Down the street from our (budget) hotel resort was the infamous road where food vendors, bucket drinks, and bartering are renowned. I sure did get a few great deals. I also had more pad thai and green curry than my heart could ever desire (not that I’m complaining)…and well, the bucket drinks looked dangerous for my liver so I did not participate LOL 


3. Bongkok: Our rooftop pool. All credit to kyle for finding and picking our accommodation here. 


4. Koh Phagnan: Full moon (beach) party. We made friends with some friends from Australia and a Physical Therapist from Tyler, Texas (I know! Small world! …even smaller…He was a Rotary Group Study Exchange member a few years back. I suspect he will become a Rotarian in a matter of months as I’m sure Erinn and I left a good impression). The full moon party was great, while it has it’s reputation, Erinn and I did it safely, made friends, had fun and danced the night away covered in glow in the dark paint. The only collateral damage was my missing flip flops/jandals…which oddly enough, I did not take to the party and were left outside our cottage. It could be a long story but I dont know it! 


5. Koh Samui: Rest and Relaxation. Erinn and I made the ferry ride to Koh Samui (another Thai island) and upon arrival to our accommodation, promptly filled our bellies and NAPPED! And we all know how much I LOVE a good nap! :) 
Koh Samui was filled, not with partying but mental preparation for the next chapters of our lives. Trying to answer the serious questions, solve the serious problems- like promptly finding a job as deferred student loans are knocking on my front door, and the not so serious questions about everything else. Girls will be girls after all! Most important was the laughter. OH HOW WE LAUGHED! If I were to measure the success of this trip by how much we laughed, nothing could compare. Add, the 7 Thai massages I managed to “squeeze in” during the 10 days we were there. HECK YES! IT WAS A SUCCESS! 

E and I made it back to the US and New Zealand respectively. As I write this update I’m trying to mentally prepare to say “So long, see you soon” to my NZ family…2 of my best friends, Haleigh and Rosita who I would not have survived this year without and 1 set of Kiwi parents who opened there home and hearts to me. The love that made this year so amazing. It’s going to be a LONG and emotional 48hours.

Next Stop. Dallas.  

To Tumblr, Love Pixel Union