Things I Learned in June....

My younger brother has been keeping a blog this year.  He has kept one in the past, but one of his new year resolutions for 2013 is to keep this blog and blog everyday.  The theme of his blog is reflections on things he loves.  So each day he randomly writes about a subject he loves.  It is enjoyable to read because he lives thousands of miles of way and we don't get to talk or see each other often.  It is nice to hear his voice and recognize his personality come through on his daily blog posts.  If you come by our house during breakfast time you will find my mom, sitting down at the table with her breakfast and iPad, reading the newest post from Nay's blog.  She said it is like sitting down and getting to talk to him each day and hear how he is doing.

Anyways, I appreciate how relaxing his writing is - it makes me smile as he recalls memories or shares something that makes me go "oh yeah that is definitely my brother."  So when I saw the suggestion on another blog I read from time to time, asking people to post "things they learned in June", I thought it would be a perfect opportunity for me to "relax" and post a random blog entry on my own blog.  Here goes, here are things I have learned in June:

1. Moving your bed into the center of the room, so that the it is directly under the ceiling fan is well worth the effort.  Especially when temperatures go over 100 degrees.  And it is extra helpful if you have two double french doors that lead to a balacony off your room so you can leave them open all night. 
2. Sons of Korah takes the words from Psalms in the bible and puts them to music.  They have been around for years but I have just discovered them myself.  My favorite so far are the three songs they have from Psalm 77 on their album "Wait".
3. The evening service nursery room for my son is the same room, with the same teachers too, as the nursery room he goes to for Wednesday bible study.  This is huge and he loves those teachers and that room, and willingly and eagerly goes to nursery.
4. There is a Trader Joe's within lunch-hour driving distance from my husband's work - so I can send him on short errands for me if need be.
5. (A re-learned item)  My in-laws are amazing! They eagerly and willingly (with joy and without the hint of any inconvenience) drive two hours round trip to pick up our boys - and watch them all weekend long, so that my husband and I can go out of town together.  And they send us off with a gift too!  When they return the boys all of their laundry is done, and they makes us meals to eat for when we get home.  They do this several times a year.
6. Vacations where you dread to return back to "normal life" are not good vacations.  The good vacations are the ones you can relax and where at the end you are looking forward to returning back to normal life.
7. The best form of long distance communication with my best friend is calling her on the telephone.
8. The process of cooking vermicelli (rice noodles) are so quick and easy!  You thought pasta was easy to cook, vermicelli is ten times easier.
9. Hewey, Dewey and Louie changed the color of their sweaters over the years.  Before they used to be red, blue and yellow.  Now they are red, blue and green.
10. Borrowing books on my kindle from the local library is easy.
11. (Another re-learned item) one of the only cultural barriers I have noticed between myself growing up in the US and my husband growing up in the Philippines is he is not familiar with American commercials like the Trix rabbit and "Trix are for kids" and Life cereal "give it to Mikey, he'll eat it!"  It is weird that he has no idea what I am talking about.