"Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin

 So, everybody told me to read this book. And here are the main reasons I resisted:

1. I heard it reviewed on the radio on KUER, by my least favorite radio host

2. Somebody who substituted for me to teach Arabic totally ignored the lesson plans I gave them, and instead read for a while to the kids from this book.

3. I saw boxes and boxes of this book in Lehi High in the copy room, and assumed it was chosen by some simpleton public school English teacher. Yeah, I know that's pretty harsh - but true.

4. For a while, every time somebody heard that I taught Arabic to middle schoolers, they would tell me, "Oh, I just read 'Three Cups of Tea', and you should too! I really think you'd like it!"

But then, my mother in law actually lent me her copy of it to read, and since I totally trust her opinion when it comes to books, and because she went to all the pains to carry it from Colorado to Utah, and because I wasn't reading anything else at the time, etc. I read it. And I actually really, REALLY enjoyed it.

The only thing that was difficult about reading it was that it made me regret not going into intelligence, or working for an NGO in the Middle East, or some other super adventurous, super risky, super NOT family oriented profession. It made me feel sad that I haven't been to the Middle East for such a long time. Even though the book is totally not about the Middle East. For a little bit, I was kind of mopey because I wasn't able to do such "cool" things as Greg Mortensen.

But I have a super great husband who is very good at reminding me how great it is to be a stay at home mom, and how important I am, and how much he loves me. And then, I got to the part where he was captured and imprisoned for a week in Waziristan, and I remembered, "Oh yeah, a lot of things about being adventurous suck."

My father in law's company raised enough money to finance a school. That is amazing.

I would especially recommend this book to people who don't know what they want to do with their life, who have a marketable skill (like Arabic, hem hem Joe). This book is totally inspiring. It basically shows that just one person can make a HUGE impact on the world, which I believe.

Limbo

Waiting until we get a house....waiting until we get a house...waiting until we get a house...waiting until we get a house...waiting, waiting, waiting...living in a hotel...waiting...watching TV instead of doing productive things because all of my productive things are in storage...waiting...Jane crying and crying unless all of the lights are off and she can't hear me at all and there's a blanket over her portacrib....waiting...going insane waiting!!!

Leaving Utah

This is us outside our temporary home at the McQueen's. They were so nice to let us live with them! Danny drove all the way to Texas with that car hitched on the back. Wow!!

About an hour into the drive, we saw this restaurant and were like, "Hey! We're there ALREADY?"

 

Jane was a good baby the whole trip.

Danny was a good husband the whole trip.

...and I complained the whole way. (just kidding)

The internet is too slow to reasonably be able to post videos of Jane on her blog. But I posted lots of new photos.

This is her blog:

janechallis.blogspot.com

If you can't access it, just email me and I will add you as a reader.