Me Ra asked me to post this b/c she would love to see you at home, in Seattle. Plus MOTHER’S DAY is coming up and this is the PERFECT gift to ask for! So she didn’t want to wait to get the word out. And she knows she’ll really be ready to have a workshop at home. I also have to say…it made me really happy to hear from you two. ~ xoxo Genie

From Me Ra:

Brian and I are excited to open the Early Bird Registration for the Seattle CONFIDENCE Photography Workshop for Women, coming to you on May 15th and 16th! If you know your ready to sign up, CLICK HERE to register!

Our upcoming ORANGE COUNTY, CA workshop is SOLD OUT so this is our next West Coast one. If you are in need of a weekend with women, full of laughs, and creative inspiration with your camera, the Seattle CONFIDENCE Photography Workshop is for you! It’s just in time to give you CONFIDENCE with your camera and prepped for a new year of photographing your family for the spring, vacations, inside on those horrible, rainy days with all the low lighting, (if your from the Pacific Northwest, you KNOW what I mean!). And don’t forget about those pets! We’re going to cover it all! Ladies, we are going to be READY for an awesome 2010 of photography! All levels are welcome! Topic details are below! But first, to give you a window into what our workshops look like, check out the trailer in this post!

EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION STARTS TODAY and lasts TWO WEEKS!

FAQ: (if we don’t answer your specific question here, email Genie direct at genie@merakoh.com )

Question: What is the Early Bird Registration?

Answer: If you register between today and April 1st (that’s two weeks), you get to pay the Early Bird fee of $799 instead of $999! Pretty great savings for all of you who jump on board fast! After April 1st, the registration goes back up to the normal price of $999. But we must warn you to not wait until April 1st. One CONFIDENCE Workshop was sold out by the end of the first day for Early Bird! To take advantage of the Early Bird Registration, REGISTER HERE!!!

WHEN? May 15th and 16th 2010, All Day Saturday and Sunday

TIME? An optional Continental Breakfast is served at 9:15am, and then we jump into the workshop by 9:30am. Each day will finish around 6pm. (But we have been known to get excited and not stop on time. So see if you can stay late if that happens again. )

WHERE? The BEAUTIFUL Gallery space at Hotel Murano . We are going to use this incredible gallery as our creative space to learn, grow, be inspired, and create!

MEALS:

FRIDAY MEET AND GREET: One of the things I LOVE most about doing the Seattle CONFIDENCE Workshop is that we get to host the Meet and Greet at our home. Brian and I would like to invite you and your spouse into the privacy of our home for our special Meet and Greet. We’re going to have wine and appetizers, and a lot of laughs. The Meet and Greet will be from 7-9pm. Our purpose is to give you a chance to connect with other women attendees and begin to feel welcome, safe and inspired. We have our work all over the walls, so it will be fun to share with you some of our personal photography.

BREAKFAST: A continental breakfast of fresh fruit, yogurt and pastries will be served both mornings at the Gallery. So feel free to show up at 9am to grab a plate of yummies before we start the day. We’ll also have coffee and tea waiting for you.

LUNCHES: Both lunches on Saturday and Sunday will also be catered for us. If you are a vegetarian or have any food allergies, be sure to email us so we can accommodate you. No problems, we are happy too! No one can be more work than our Gluten-Free, Dairy Free diets. Brother!

SATURDAY DINNER: This dinner is optional for our attendees, but we would love to have you join us! You are invited to a group dinner at a local restaurant within walking distance of the hotel. Details to follow upon registration.

WHERE TO STAY: The Hotel Murano has been highlighted and raved about in Fortune, Conde Nast, Sunset and USA Today. Every floor features a glass sculpturist and their work. There is beautiful glass art at every turn. You can’t help but be inspired by the environment. And, the greatest thing is they are WONDERFUL to work with. Our contact there, told us to have our attendees email her direct for a discounted room rate (around $149). Once you’ve registered, Genie will email you all the contact details to get your room set up. FYI, you are also within walking distance to several restaurants, art galleries and the famous Chihuly Museum of Glass. Plus, the Hotel Murano has a pillow menu! You can choose from six different types of pillows. Can you beat that?

DAY ONE TOPICS:

True to this workshop, time tested (and approved) we are excited to start the day with understanding the mechanics of your camera and learning about indoor lighting so you can capture shots of your loved ones in difficult lighting. The second half of the day will be hands on CONFIDENCE building as we process a FULL morning.

DAY TWO TOPICS:

Day Two will pick up where we left off. We’re going to continue to demystify tough lighting and camera settings. We’ll also walk you through our Post Process steps as we demonstrate lightroom, turning images to black and white, editing, what’s the difference between a JPG and RAW image, etc. Depending on the groups interest, we’ll talk about the in’s and out’s of starting your own side business too. (But this depends on the needs of the group.) We’re also going to cover the question of what to do with your images? Are stock photography options available to you, what is the bottom line of blogging, and where should you have your work printed and why?

The BEST part that everyone always loves the most is the models! We’ll also have models join us (both adults and kids), so you can practice EVERY THING we’ve been teaching you. And true to our workshops, we’ll sprinkle our time with creative exercises and inspiration that make our weekend so special.

By the end of our weekend, you will be filled with CONFIDENCE, refreshed, inspired, and possibly shooting in Manual like it’s nobody’s business. (I promise, shooting in Manual is way easier than people make it sound, but one step at a time.)

PAYMENT OPTIONS:

1. You can pay the whole balance at once.

2. Use the Coupon Code: fourpaymentdeal (all one word, all lower case), and you will get the Early Bird Registration deal but have FOUR months to pay it off! Me Ra and I want to give you CONFIDENCE this year!  2010 is about making dreams come true! ~ Brian

NEED HELP CONVINCING THE HUBBY?

If you need help coming up with ways to convince your hubby, check out Brian and Jeramy’s Top 12 Reasons for a Husband to Send His Wife to a CONFIDENCE Photography Workshop. You and your husband will crack up, and comments from other husbands are even FUNNIER! CLICK HERE!

REFUNDS & CANCELLATION POLICY:

Our policy is to not give refunds. Due to the costs of holding a workshop, we must pay many of our workshop expenses months ahead of time. If you must cancel due to unforeseen problems, depending on your reason for canceling, your tuition may be considered as a credit for a future workshop. Thank you for understanding!

WHAT DO PAST ATTENDEES SAY ABOUT THIS WORKSHOP? To read what the last Seattle Workshop Attendees said, CLICK HERE!

Jen from Seattle, WA wrote; I know how these workshops can change your life…it did mine! MeRa and Brian were my inspiration…Thank you … you all are doing such greatness in this world!

Jeramy (husband of a wife who attended twice) from CA wrote; if you are reading this post and are on the fence about going to this workshop…or wondering if it’s really worth it….let me just tell you about my experience. my beautiful bride went to the Sonoma workshop last year with me ra and brian…and it changed her life. like so many women, she struggles with self-doubt and insecurities…coupled with strong passions and desire to create things of great worth. the magic of this workshop will help you see that YOU ARE special and can do anything it is that you want to do, if you just set your mind to it. there is limitless potential in you all…and if you have ever wondered how to get it out….sign up for this workshop and you’ll see. you will never be the same again.

Marianne from Seattle, WA wrote;
This was the BEST day I’ve had in a long time…it was so nice to wade through and be challenged, laugh along the way, conquer a fear, and leave wanting more. What a day! I can’t thank you enough!

Kari from Seattle wrote; Me Ra takes the camera apart and puts it back together in a way that actually makes sense! Prepare to laugh, learn, and walk away inspired!

Julie from Seattle, WA wrote; As a past workshop attendee…It WILL change your life and how you see yourself.

Allison from Virginia wrote; I can tell you with total honesty that this will be a life changing time for you all. Just soak it all in and throw yourselves in wholeheartedly and you will come away with SO MUCH!!

WHO IS THIS WORKSHOP FOR?

This workshop is for women only. It is a workshop that is meant to inspire women, and at the same time help them understand their cameras. Coming from a Masters degree in teaching, Me Ra and Brian bring a number of teaching strategies to the workshop so every woman walks away with CONFIDENCE in using her camera. But this workshop is more than a photography workshop. True to their reputation and the testimonies you’ve read, Brian and Me Ra have a heart to bring inspiration, encouragement and vision to women. They will make you laugh so hard your side will be aching. And then be prepared because their stories may bring tears too. Me Ra and Brian have a goal to refresh women, build their CONFIDENCE and help them capture the photos they want. But not only help women shoot better photos, but also, having the understanding behind HOW they got their favorite photos so they can replicate the lighting again and again.

OUR PROMISE:

We promise to have lots and lots of stories, laughs and possibly a few tears at this workshop-all signature elements to a Me Ra Koh Workshop!

Can’t wait to see you all for another awesome CONFIDENCE workshop!

QUESTIONS?

Feel free to email Genie ( genie@merakoh.com) for any and all questions. Genie keeps me up to date on all questions as we travel for wedding season. She is truly my “little Genie”! If you need help with booking your hotel, understanding the area, flights, payment options, shoot her an email!

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? CLICK HERE to register today and make her MOTHERS DAY AMAZING!!

BIO for Me Ra Koh Photography, Inc.:

Me Ra and Brian are a husband/wife photography team. Their business is diversified into several powerful ways. They travel worldwide shooting high end weddings together. They teach photography workshops for women across the country. Their workshops often sell out, and attendees describe them as “inspiring, life changing” weekends. In 2008, Me Ra and Brian scripted and produced a DVD series called, Refuse to Say Cheese and Beyond the Green Box. This homegrown DVD series has caught the eye of large corporations, and in March 2009, the series won the prestigious NAPPA GOLD award for the Best New DVD for Parents! Their DVDS are accompanied by other award winning photography products to help budding businesses get off the ground (see www.refusetosaycheese.com). In 2008, Me Ra was asked to represent women photographers in the iconic role for Sony as an Artisan of Imagery. This accepted invitation is a huge honor. The high end magazine, Wedding Style by Grace Ormonde, has called Me Ra and Brian a Master of Their Craft. Their work has been published in several nationwide magazines. They have also been spotlighted on VH1, Martha Stewart and Oprah! Me Ra, having a published writing background, dedicates two hours a day to writing her daily blog so women can find photography tips, inspiration and confidence. To follow her blog, along with thousands of other readers, visit www.merakohblog.com.

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Want to learn more about REFUSE TO SAY CHEESE? Check out our Award Winning DVD set, Refuse to Say Cheese and Beyond the Green Box ,or discover our popular 101 Kits for starting or expanding a business in photography, click on the titles of your choice!

We haven’t forgotten the Running on Empty winner for Orange County! We’ll announce her early next week! Thank you everyone for your beautiful entries.

“thank u 4 praying, we got through 11 hrs sleep w/o head splitting aches, vomit or bone breaking pain. Pasc fever broke aftr 16 hrs. I can’t tell u how carried we feel by your prayers. internet is bad here, but thnk u. Airika, thnk u 4 the 24 hr prayer vigil, I cried when I saw that. Everyone, it’s amazing when prayer is all u can do, sleeping 11 hrs is testament 2 how powerful it is. b and I luv u, treasure all of u.”

The worst seems to be over, BIG PHEW. THANK YOU EVERYONE for your prayers, good wishes and thoughts. I know she’ll say more when she’s able, but I have so much GRATITUDE FOR ALL OF YOU for responding here and on your own. ~ Genie

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A couple announcements now that the air is lighter

We’ll post the official announcement tomorrow but for now I want to let you know that EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION opens TODAY for the next Seattle CONFIDENCE! Workshop. Yep, you got it right – it’s May 15-16 at the beautiful Hotel Murano in Tacoma!

If you register between today and April 1st, you get to pay the Early Bird fee of $799 instead of $999! Pretty great savings for all of you who jump on board fast! After April 1st, the registration goes back up to the normal price of $999. But we must warn you to not wait until then. One CONFIDENCE Workshop was sold out by the end of the first day for Early Bird! To take advantage of the Early Bird Registration, REGISTER HERE!!!

And…

Just in from Me Ra’s beloved business coaches, Karen and Fay from The Wisdom Connection! A special offer for tomorrow only, Wednesday, March 16th!

Sign up for a free teleclass on “What to do when Procrastination Wins?“, noon to 1pm PT/ 3-4pm ET. Use the code: MERAKOH when asked. You’ll receive an email back with call in instructions. It’s tomorrow so sign up now! (If there’s any problem with the code just email them at info@thewisdomconnection.com)

Questions on any of this: give Genie a shout! genie@merakoh.com.

In her words: “Fever spends 12 days in incubation, that’s why we were throwing up. But then high fever hits days later. So sick. Pasc and I were carried to the boat and taken to the clinic yesterday. My brother knows people here who were able to help w/in 20 minutes of me emailing him for help. Blaze is okay, but me and Pascaline hv it bad. It’s called the Bone Breaker fever b/c it really feels like your bones r breaking.  My fever has been 104 for 12 hours at a time before breaking, then delirium and bone breaking pain. We can be airlifted to a hospital in Phuket if needed but there’s nothing to treat Dengue with. Must ride it out. Praying about my period. Dengue attacks platelets that clot your blood. People can bleed out from the fever, my period should start any day and the doctor is watching this.

Will you post a blog as soon as u can and ask everyone to pray. Very serious and excruciated pain that hits then goes then hits again. Need prayer so much. Pasc was screaming from pain in bed yesterday morning that her nose came off.  You feel like everything is breaking off your body. It’s so overwhelming. Brian is the only one who is spared and been able to take care of us. He is so tired.”

That’s it. I’m worried and I know her family is too. You’ll know what to do.  Please pray for them.

Love you Me Ra, Pascaline, Blaze and Brian. I know that all who read this are holding you in their hearts and praying for a miraculous gentle, quick and full recovery. And restored health for each one of you. Come home soon – we’d all love to hold you in our arms and take care of you. ~ g

Me Ra spoke too soon yesterday.

This is her Husband, Brian. Last night after posting her blog and after dinner, she went to bed with her whole body hurting. No, not throwing up, but she’s got the same thing as the kids.

This morning, she felt well enough to let me know I was in trouble after the Apes came. I don’t remember what I did, just that Me Ra didn’t feel good any more and she wasn’t up for going to the beach today. So today I thought I’d let her and the kids take a nap, I went to the club house (deck) by the beach to do some work and have internet access. I ran into these two guys.

If you’ve been to our place, then you might think this guy has the eyes of a guy (J.K.) who moved here from last year from L.A.

I named this guy Tony.

As the internet went out again, they inspired me to take a couple pictures of Me Ra not feeling well. That’s what I did tonight after dinner.

Can you see her saying, “Don’t take my picture!”

Oh I think that’s enough now to get me started on wrong foot in the morning. 

Me Ra did ask me to announce that she won’t be releasing the May Seattle Confidence Workshop until Friday. Considering she can’t get herself out of bed, that’s probably not very surprising?

Last, the smallest, but definitely not the least, the kids are feeling a little better today. Yeah!

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Well, the internet went out last night before I could post this blog, so I took some more photos of Me Ra laid out sick on the bed. Poor thing…

What angle makes her look the sickest?

Now am I a bad Husband? 

Our life has been made up of vomit and diarrhea the last seven days.  Yep, there is no nice way to put it but just say it as it is.  If this had lasted for one to three days, I don’t think I’d use a whole blog post to share.  BUT as of last night at 3am, it’s been seven days friends.  Count them out, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, AND 7.  Do I want to scream?  YES!  Do Brian and I feel like we are up to our elbows in cleaning, cleaning, cleaning? YES!

It started on our flight back to Thailand from Cambodia.  Blaze felt a little nauseous.  We boarded the plane.  Buckled up, etc. etc.  And then all of a sudden the little guy started vomiting in his seat.  The airline stewardess brought me Kleenex!  Um yeah, not super helpful.  I don’t tell me Asians use Kleenex to clean up vomit b/c that is ridiculous.  I simply think this airline stewardess wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer.  A nearby, sympathetic passenger passed me baby wipes—an angel in disguise.  And get this, as I’m on my hands and knees trying to clean up, the plane starts to taxi and just takes off!  So much for waiting for everyone to be seated.

Same thing happened at the airport and then at our house.  Next day Blaze laid low, and the storm seemed to pass.  Mom’s up to bat.  Oh yeah friends.  I vomited so much in one night the blood vessels popped on my eyeball so it looks like I’ve been in a bar fight.  “Should look better in three weeks,” says the doctor.  Great.  I laid low the next day and felt okay after.  Well let’s see, let’s bring Pascaline up to bat.  She hasn’t had a turn.  And Pascaline not only knocks it out of the park one day, but two and three days, and I think today makes it four….um yeah.  She has taken the championship by managing to throw up in every room, on our clothes, and at 3:30am this morning (when you thought it couldn’t get ANY better), she got up and vomited all over the home school stuff.  That’s feeling a little “set up” to me, but never fear, home school will go on to her dismay. 

Blaze, who has been playing in the ocean and chasing monkeys, came down with it again, and then last night I felt nauseated again.  Could it be all the cleaning up we’re doing?  Who knows.   But the doctor was extremely helpful and said that we all have a stomach bacteria.  Take the antibiotics for five days.  That should kill it.  The tricky part is getting Pascaline to keep it down.  And thus, our first week back in Thailand isn’t at all what I pictured.  So I figured it was time to take pictures of what it is.

You see, the climax for me was when…WAIT…this gets gross, so just stop reading if you need too—basically, consider yourself warned.  The climax was when Blaze said he had gas but instead had diarrhea all over the cushions.  As Brian and I start to clean it up, Pascaline decides to contribute by vomiting on Brian.  It was so awesome.  True parenting doesn’t get better than that point.

So you’ve got Pascaline hanging over the toilet, and Blaze showering behind her from his little mess.  And I figure, “What the hell.  It’s time to shoot the sh#$% out of this.”

Portrait of Pascaline Eux de Toilet!

Look at those BIG, SAD, Brown eyes.  We fell for them the first six times she had an episode.  And then the eyes didn’t work any longer.

Less is More!  Don’t even need to see her big brown eyes to feel it. 

I call these next few images “The Waiting” series.

And this last one is almost a little glamorous looking, don’t you think?!

(Photo Recipes: ISO was 200, f-stop was 2.8, and Shutter Speed was 125th of a second.)

Do you think I’m just the MEANEST mom on the island?

Was this the blog post that I thought I’d be writing for today?  No.  But thanks for humoring me because it feels really good to vent.  And regardless of how utterly exhausting and emotional the last seven days have been, shoot me for saying this, but I want to capture it on some level because right here and now, this is a big part of our trip in the last week.

And in case my parents are worried after reading this, here is a little status.  Blaze went kayaking with Brian today and feels great.  Pascaline has made it almost 20 hours without vomiting or running a fever.  In fact, she was sassing Brian a couple hours ago which is always a sign of her normal self coming back. 

For those of you who are wondering about Brian…is he up to bat next?…Good question.

xoxo,

Me Ra

I had to share part of my devotional today.  It’s a beautiful piece of encouragement from The Artist’s Way.  If you needed to hear this as much as I did, post a comment and let me know you are out there.  Whether your an orphan in Cambodia shooting from a Tuk-Tuk with a dream of being a photographer

or a stay at home mom, dedicated to own little ones and has a growing dream to see her own desires SOAR, START AGAIN!   And no you are not alone in starting again.  We are all together on this!

“You say you want to make art.  You want to begin or you want to continue.  This is good.  We need a more artful world, and that means we need you and and the specific contribution that you and you alone can make.  But to make it you must start somewhere, and that is often the sticking point.  We all have our fears, and they feel as real as the chair you are sitting in.  Like that chair, they can be slouched into or left behind.  Sometimes we need to sit up and ignore the cricks in our back and shoulders and just begin.  That’s how it is with art.  We just need to begin.  Begin where you are, with who you are.  In order to go where you want to go creatively, you have to start somewhere.  And the best place to start is precisely where you are.  This is true whether you are a beginning artist or someone with long miles down the track.  In fact, seasoned artists can waste time and energy mulling the dignity of their acquired position in the field when the truth is, they still need to just start again.”

It’s Monday friends.  So much to share on the blog this week, but first…let’s be inspired today to just start, whether it’s starting again or for the first time!

But wait!  One last piece of GOOD NEWS!  We have secured May 15th and 16th for a SEATTLE Spring CONFIDENCE Workshop!  I am excited for our Spring CONFIDENCE workshops!  We will be coming back from Cambodia and Thailand with so much to share and completely refreshed!  And, I am especially excited about the Seattle one because we will be flying out all three of the SOAR! Recipients to attend!  You will get to spend time with all three of these beautiful ladies who have been working their tails off!  I may even have my MOM attend!  She got something that was sexy, copper brown and pink for Christmas.  Can you guess what it was?  Don’t you think she should come!   

Early Bird Registration will start this Thursday!  We’ve had good logistic success with doing the monthly payment plan of $200 for four months.  And we know you’ve loved this payment option, so we’re going to do it for Seattle!  Get ready ladies.  It’s your Mother’s Day TREAT!  With our SOAR! ladies and my mom, we’ve only got 16 spots left!  It’s going to be a party! 

love you all!

Me Ra

p.s.  It’s the second Monday of the month which means a NEW Photo Exercise for the SOAR! ladies!  Check out the SOAR! blog today! 

We had two hours to do a photography workshop with the teens at Water of Life.  When we hit the point of no one knowing the word for Aperture in Cambodian, I felt the freedom to really drop the technical jargon and just go for it!  And so we did!  They totally got Buttery, Blurry Backgrounds!  More than good enough for me!

Teaching photography in Cambodia was one of the most humbling experiences.  It’s already challenging to teach someone Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO when you both speak the same language.  But to take it a step further with someone trying to translate, I wasn’t sure if anything was really making sense.  But they were so hungry to learn,

so excited and hanging in there with my lack of experience in teaching with a translator (Rith and Rin were both AWESOME translating, but it was a different dynamic for me and Brian—no other way to get better then jump in!  ).

Everyone wanted to keep pushing forward.  So we did the Magic Three that I teach about in the Beyond the Green Box dvd.  We also talked about the story telling elements, I teach in Refuse to Say Cheese. They all knew “cheese”, and we talked about what it means to not say that dreadful word and instead capture someone’s life story.

And then we hit the streets of Phnom Penh and decided to take a few hours and shoot away.  We brought as much equipment as possible with us so they could try the gear out.  SONY is HUGE in Cambodia.  You see the Sony signs everywhere, so they were super excited to try the cameras.  I had no idea what had sunk in and felt a little down on myself.  But then the guys, and our token sweetie, Sreyown, our only girl—started asking us questions while shooting.

EVERY PHOTO that you see from this point on was taken by the students.  Every ONE!

“Is this what you mean by the Third’s Principle Me Ra?

“Is it the lower numbers for f-stop that give me the blurry background?”   (Bora Sang is with Blaze. He is Rith’s younger brother who is now at Water of Life with Rith.  Bora’s smile and tender heart got into my heart that I cried at the airport when we had to say goodbye.  But we will see each other again, yes, we will Bora!)

“How do you focus and then move your camera so you can do the Third’s Principle without losing your focus?”

“Wow, that makes sense!”

“Me Ra, since the sun is so bright, do we use the lower ISO?”

“Will you look at this and tell me if this is what you mean by Filling the Frame so the picture is only full of the story you are trying to tell?”

This is Me Ra—I LOVE how the photo above and below has so much emotion, action, and diversity in both images.  And yet, EVERY THING points to the story the photo is trying to tell.  The students nailed it!  My favorite part is Pascaline in the bottom right hand corner shooting away! 

Rin, the amazing art teacher that I told you about yesterday, had some wonderful conversations with me.  He wanted to learn photography so he could enhance his drawings, and he wanted to be stretched in his creativity.  We talked about the importance of shadows.  We discussed how important it is to add mystery to your images or drawings—to invite your viewer in.  What does it mean to take away light and clarity?  What does it mean to cause someone to lean forward, want to know your image’s story, be captivated by what they see but want to understand more of?  I talked about different techniques to try.  This is one of the photos Rin took from those conversations.

The students were so focused, so intent.  This is Tongchou Fleming, and he embraced the camera like nobody’s business!

They were determined to learn as much photography in our time together as possible.

and they LOVED seeing their results.   Even the kids jumped in at times to help explain something.  Such a gift to me and Brian!

I have to hand it to SONY because the Live Preview helped the students grasp these crazy technical elements so fast!   The students could SEE the Live Preview getting darker if they increased their Shutter Speed.  They could see the Live Preview get brighter if they raised their ISO.  They could watch me show them how to frame with the Third’s Principle.  It was pretty, freaking AWESOME!   There is no way that such technical ideas could be grasped with this much understanding in one day, not to mention a language barrier and so many other barriers.  But to see it—is to believe it!

Brian and I took them all out to ice cream afterwards to celebrate.  They kept thanking us and telling us this was the best day.  But oh my goodness, they have no idea how much they gave to me and Brian.  They opened their hearts to us.  They took a risk with their creativity and insecurities.  They showed us how they see the world.  And this inspired us beyond words.

Thank YOU Water of Life!  We LOVE YOU!

xoxo,

Me Ra

Our hearts were so moved by the little ones at Children of Hope.  It’s hard to imagine that babies are sold for $10 on the streets of Cambodia.  Randy and his team do their best to bring in as many children as they can fit and feed.  Each day is a faith walk.  Sometimes Randy has no idea where they are going to get enough rice to feed the kids.  But somehow, it always comes.

But the love and support doesn’t stop with the Children of Hope.  There is also a Center of the Arts for teens and twenty somethings called Water of Life.  When the children are old enough, they can live here IF they commit to continuing their education.  Randy and his team of teachers (who are mostly local Cambodian twenty-something, young men that were once his first orphans) teach the kids piano, flute, guitar, singing, drawing, English, writing, computer skills, Internet tools of building websites, and some are even law students. These young men are AMAZING!  They have so much to give the world, and they work harder and study more than anyone I’ve ever known.

Channa Bo is a fourth year law student. He is on the other side of Randy, opposite of me doing hand motions.     When he isn’t studying law, he’s helping out the little ones whether it’s playing with them or doing the hand motions for songs.

Channa is in the middle with the can of Coke and black shoes.  I found this photo of him on FB, and his smile is so gentle and unforgettable.  This is the smile that is fighting to finish his law degree and help his people. 

Randy has taken Channa through the system of filling out all the right legal papers for the Cambodian government, so the orphanage adopts the kids legally with no loop holes. Channa now does this on his own, sometimes travelling five hours by bus to help claim a 2 week old baby before it is sold into the sex industry for $10.  Shawna is amazing.

Rin’s story is also powerful.

He was an orphan by the time he was 8 years old.  He refers to his boyhood as being a rat on the streets, living an insane life of danger and recklessness.  But what does a boy do when both their parents have left him alone at 8 years?  He ended up in a Christian school and discovered his passion for art.  He can sit down with almost any instrument and play it as if he has been practicing for years. He is also phenomenal with drawing.  Rin was commissioned by the Cambodian government to take his drawings on exhibit throughout the US.  This is only one of many.

He has been offered many teaching opportunities that would pay him a pretty penny, but he has moved into the Center to teach the younger boys music and art.  Rin Yame has a passion to give back to his own community and see other young boys achieve what he is achieving.   Become his friend on FB, and you can see his amazing drawings for yourself.

Rith Sang comes from a remote village in Cambodia.  Several years ago, Randy was helping with a medical clinic in the village where they met Rith.  The doctor was so taken with the emotional stress and malnourishment that Rith was suffering.  They worked with Rith over years, praying for his mind and heart to be healed.  Rith…brings tears to my eyes. He has a spirit full of love, kindness and a passion for learning.

He is now an AMAZING English teacher at the Center—teaching me a few things about past and present participles!  His mind is so sharp!  And his heart if so BIG, so full of joy, hope—to think he was once buried under burdens as a young boy. Rith is a miracle, and Brian and I both feel so honored to have him in our life. 

Within the Center is a quiet room.  When you open the door, you find two brothers.  The older brother is named Rath.  He is sitting on the floor.

The younger brother is Roth, and he sits on the bed.

Both brothers suffer a fierce and rare form of Cerebral Palsy. It is genetic and only attacks the boys.  Randy told me that if the mom had daughters, the Cerebral Palsy wouldn’t have ever come.  Such a huge burden for a mom to carry.  She loves her boys and cares for them with every inch of her being. 

Randy heard about these boys, and went to their village to find them.  When he found them, they were almost dead from malnourishment and the disease.  He invited the two boys and their mom to come back to the orphanage and live there. Their muscles and bodies were twisted so tight.  And then a man showed up from England, and the man just happens to be a Physical Therapist.  He went and found a massage table for the boys bedroom and started working on them every day.  Slowly, their muscles began to loosen.

They now go to school everyday.  The orphanage was given special wheel chairs for both boys.  Their mom helps around the house and in turn she and her boys are loved and cared for.  Randy said that several months ago, they brothers had to return to their village for a short visit.  Randy was unable to go, so one of the young men drove them.  When the boys arrived, the village gathered around them in shock.  They couldn’t believe the boys were still alive.  They couldn’t believe how much better they looked.  But this is the part of the story that brought me to tears.

The boys asked if they could have their wheelchairs put in the middle of the village.  Then they invited all the village to gather around them.  When everyone had gathered, the boys began to share their hearts.  They told the villagers that they wanted them to all know something.  They wanted them to know that they had forgiven them.  They forgave them for all the years that the villagers had made fun of their bodies, cursed their lives, neglected them and shamed them.  The brothers said that they had been adopted by a Father in Heaven that called them his own, and that they now had a family at the orphanage.  They have learned what it means to be loved, and how important it is to forgive.  They sat in their two wheelchairs and forgave their village.

The villagers were so struck at the change in Rith and Roth that they begged them to come back and share more of what they had learned.  A couple months later, the boys went back in their wheelchairs and brought almost 200 Bibles with them.  They sat in their wheelchairs with hands that sometimes won’t even open from the Cerebral Palsy, and they shared the hope and forgiveness they had found.  And then the villagers asked them to pray with them, and they called Randy on a cell phone and said, “Randy, tell us how to pray with our village.”  And over the phone, Randy guided them in praying with their villagers.

There are so many powerful elements to this story, but what hit me most is that Randy didn’t go to their village and try to teach the village a thing or two.  Randy is all about empowering the boys to follow the desires of their heart.  So the brothers, Rith and Roth, went back alone and found that they have a voice and have healing and love to offer.  They are not worthless.  Their lives are not a mistake.  They are symbols of hope. 

Randy has sent their medical records to doctors all over the world.  The doctors say that these boys may only live for two more years.  As I sat on the bed with Roth, he said he is now ready.  He is not afraid to die anymore.  He is excited to see God in heaven.  This boy’s face was so calm, so full of peace.

I wanted to sit with him and his brother for hours.  They taught my heart so many things that I have yet to process.  They sit in this small room, working on their homework, and they are fearless.  But their courage is not made of a strong body and ambitious spirit.  Their courage is made of peace and undying hope.  That room was one of the most peaceful rooms I’ve ever entered.  Heaven itself was in that room.  And I shall never be the same.

The stories go on and on.  All the boys and girls are miracles.  Some of their parents have died, but many of them have been given up because their parents can’t afford to feed the family.  They have experienced traumas that would cause them to sleep with the light on and the door locked for the rest of their life.  And yet, they have risked to love again—to let Randy and his staff in—to believe that there may be more to life than being abandoned—that there is a God of the impossible who loves, has not abandoned them and can heal the most broken of hearts. They are the living testimony that healing like this is real.  They look at you and smile.  They hug you and share their powerful stories, and then they share the hope they hold for their lives—I have never been so inspired in all my life.

All they need is someone to have a bit of confidence in them.  Randy says that when someone believes in them, they are unstoppable.  I felt so humbled with their invitation to teach photography.  They had already taught me so much.  And I wasn’t sure how this was going to work?  Teaching Aperture to a group of Cambodian teens with Rem and Rin taking turns translating for me… that quiet voice said “Have a little Confidence in me Me Ra.”  What worked was something that was so beautiful, so moving—tomorrow.

You can join the Facebook Cause Pages for Water of Life and Children of Hope to learn more about the children.  A lot of them have their own FB pages and love having friends, just search their names on FB!

xoxo, Me Ra

He was sitting next to me.  The plane was headed to San Diego.  It was the middle of December, and I felt so exhausted I chose not to introduce myself—just close my eyes and rest.  And then the storm came.  It was the worst storm that month for San Diego.  The wind knocked our plane around like a cat batting at a toy.  I thought I was going to be sick.  The pilot came on the intercom and said he couldn’t see the run way until he was right in front of it.  He said he was going to try to land, but if he found himself to far up the run away he was going to pull up as fast as possible.

He tried this FIVE times, and I thought I was going to die every time.  People were crying in the rows across from me.  What types of things do you think in this kind of moment?  I was so thankful Brian and I had checked in with our life insurance that week—but the timing of this alone made me wonder if my life was going to end.  I thought about Brian and the kids, and I found myself thankful that if something did go wrong, there were hundreds of images that I would leave behind.  Images that show the kids, I saw them.  Their mama saw who they were.  And then the pilot gave up (thank GOD!) and flew us to LA.  When we landed he gave us the option of getting off the plane and taking taxis to San Diego.  But when the storm passed he was going to try it again.  I turned and looked at the man next to me. That was the first time we talked.  His name was Randy.

Randy said he was going to stay and wait out the storm.  I got my stuff and got off the plane, standing on the ramp for 30 minutes as another pilot told me things were much better than they seemed.  I called Brian and cried my eyes out. And in the end, I decided to get back on the plane, IF I could sit in First Class. 

We arrived in San Diego, and as I got my suitcase I spotted Randy. He didn’t know I had moved up to First Class.  We joked about how crazy the flight was.  I remember him saying he was coming from Cambodia.  I asked him more about this.  It turned out he runs an orphanage in Cambodia’s capitol, Phnom Penh.  He had a home for little ones and an Art Center/Home for teen boys.  I was so taken by the five minutes we talked that I asked if we could come see him and the kids someday.  We exchanged info and that was it until…a few weeks ago.

Brian and I decided to find this orphanage.  Remember how Brian realized our flight to Thailand was leaving at midnight and not noon the next day?  We had six hours to get everything together, so I ran to the stores to finish shopping for things that we could bring to the children.  My girlfriend, Jill Hansen, owns her own dentist practice and at last minute drove out to her office and got toothbrushes and toothpaste for all the kids.  Brian got a duffel bag from Costco dedicated to the things for the orphanage, and we dragged it all over Thailand; over ferries, into long tail boats, almost losing it in the water at one point, and then into small propeller planes until we arrived in Phnom Penh.

That was last week.  We had left Koh Phi Phi and decided to find the orphanage in Cambodia.  But we showed up, in a third world country, without having made a hotel reservation and no idea where Randy was. Randy had not answered my email in a few days.  We didn’t know at the time that he was returning from Vietnam.  So we rented this random hotel room, exhausted from the travelling and stifling heat, and collapsed on the bed.  But first we shooed the spider out the window that was BIGGER than life.  Have your husband put his two hands together, fingers outstretched, that’s how big that sucker was.  Ugh, it gives me chills just remembering it now.

After we were safe from the spider, I looked at Brian, and I said, “You are the BEST husband in the world.  You’ve carried this 50 lb. duffel bag all over everywhere.  You agreed to come to Cambodia.  And when you think about it, I only talked to this man for five minutes in Baggage Claim at the San Diego airport.  I’m not even sure that we’ll find him.  I have no idea what to do if he doesn’t email back.”  Brian looked at me and smiled, “It will all work out Me Ra.”  He is an amazing husband.

And then the next morning, Randy answered his phone.   He was back from Vietnam and so excited that we had made it!  So we all bagged up 80 gift bags for the kids.

The kids were more excited about this part of our journey than anything else.

We heaved the duffel bag into a Tuk-Tuk and made our way through the city.

We had no idea what to expect, or how we could help.  We felt like we should hold off on booking our flight to Angkor Wat in Siem Reap and just see where this experience took us.  We hoped we could give in some way to the children.  We didn’t expect what was to come.  We didn’t expect to be given to so powerfully, to be inspired and empowered like never before, to bond relationships that will last a lifetime, and to have more confidence because of what the staff and orphans gave us.

The children were so beautiful!  Their sweet faces.

Their inquisitive eyes.

The joy they had when they opened up their gift bags.

All you wanted was to hug them, as many of children, as possible.

I feel so small, so very small—in a good way.  The teens we worked with blew my mind and heart.  By spending time with them, I felt so convicted of the doubts I’ve been struggling with.  Their courage for life put my personal doubts for my own life to shame.

To think I doubt God’s call on my life—that I may be to damaged or broken from my past to fulfill the desires of my heart. To think I believe this at times, and then to be with these beautiful orphans for a week who have nothing—nothing, and yet live as if they have everything.  To see these children overcome. To see them build their dreams.  To see the joy in their smiles…to see my ability to hope expand and stretch and be changed from being with them.

I want to take the next couple days to share on the blog what happened during our stay at the orphanage in Cambodia.  We taught a condensed version of our CONFIDENCE Photography Workshop to the teens, and I must-must-must share their images with you.  Be prepared to be inspired friends by the images and stories of these young men and women.

And to think that it all started with a five minute conversation.  We never know what conversations, no matter how short, are meant to change our lives. We never know what seeds they will plant.  I must confess that I never had this BIG sense of “we need to go there.”  It was more of a tickling on my brain, that settled into my heart.  And it just seemed like something to try.  I never knew what was really going to happen or meant to be.  And I am stunned at how important it is to give those little ticklings on the brain and heart some attention.  Instead of waiting for the sky to part and the answer to come as the voice of God, what about the subtle nudge that really and truly almost goes unnoticed.

Does this make sense?

xoxo,

Me Ra

“It’s peculiar, to reach your destination,” he told me.  “You think you’ll arrive and perform the thing you came for and depart in contentment.  Instead you get there and find distance still to go.”

-So Brave, Young and Handsome by Leif Enger

This quote couldn’t sum up the last few weeks of my life any better.  Yep, I could probably just leave this blog post right now and feel like you got the picture—Me Ra reaching her destination and realizing she has only begun her journey. But I miss all of you and this blog, we’ve had the WORST internet in Thailand, and now that I’m in Cambodia and have it, I have a smile on my face as I type because I get to connect with all of you again!  That is a gift to me!

What has been going on over here, on the other side of the world?  As you remember, Pascaline and Brian were sick the whole week.  So I plugged away on my first photography book and got it turned in on time!  Yes, I really did!  What a huge burden off my shoulders.  And then it was time to go to Koh Phi Phi, an island near the home we stayed in last year.

Going to Koh Phi Phi showed me how much I love this side of Thailand, where the limestone cliffs jet out of the ocean standing with pride as if they are welcoming you back to this land of enchatment.

Where the humming of the long tail boats lull you to sleep and wake you up.

Where the locals embrace the kids as their own, and all of a sudden the kids go from two parents to twenty!

The place we stayed in Koh Phi Phi is the BEST family vacation ever.  And I’m working on a blog post all about it, with all the details, so that if you ever decide to venture to the Far East with your kiddos you can go there.

But I found myself at Koh Phi Phi, and finally felt myself start to let down inside.  An unwinding of sorts.  I think Brian caught the beginning of it here.

And yet, it’s amazing how we want ourselves to just hurry up and be to the destination we expect to be in.  We envision the unwinding to look a certain way.  I soon realized my vision was not going to be my reality. The first sign of life being different than what I expected was the difficulty we had getting online.  Drove me nuts the first two days.  All I could do was get online for a short time before my connection crashed, but just enough time to know that our website was not working for all of you.  And I felt myself twist up with stress instead of unwind.  Then I couldn’t get online at all, and a quiet voice inside said “Me Ra, I need you to let go.”  It was that quiet voice that only has to say seven words, and you know it’s the truth and feel yourself go undone.

So I walked away from trying to figure out our Internet, knowing we’d be in Cambodia in a week to try again.  And I took the kids on a hike through the jungle.

We started out with Brian and lost him to a scuba diving invitation, so that we were alone.  (yes, if you missed it—that’s my moment of saying “It was all Brian’s fault.”  )

There is an hour hike you can do from our isolated beach to the other side of the island where town is—sitting on a small stretch of land that takes your breath away.

Thirty minutes up into the hills, and then thirty minutes down.  Getting there was work with the intense heat, but the four of us did it.  Once in town, we met up with our scuba instructor.  Brian decided to go diving with him, and the kids and I wandered the town together.  It was a great afternoon together, we found a pub that had lunch for $2 each and a TV playing the Olympics.  We got a good, cheap meal with a fan blowing on us and a moment to feel connected with home as we watched Michael Phelps swim his heart out.

Then we decided it was time to head back.  And somewhere along the path, mom took a seriously WRONG turn.  We ended up on a road that was nowhere I remembered.  We had been going uphill for an hour, and the heat was hammering down on us.  Two local Thai men on scooters came by, and I flagged them down to see where we were.  They said we had another 40 minutes to go up hill before we starting climbing in the jungle.  I almost died.  And the kids, they were going to faint from heat exhaustion.  We were a sorry sight.  So the men offered us rides on the back of their scooters to get up the hill, to the entrance of where you start the jungle leg of the hike.  But that meant me and Blaze on one scooter, and Pascaline on the other by herself.  I just wasn’t sure.  The kids had never been on these type of scooter/motorcycles, so I asked Pascaline what she thought.

Okay, I was SURE my daughter would say “no” because the idea of holding onto a shirtless stranger would maybe make her nervous. But I underestimated my daughter!  She said, “That sounds PERFECT!  I’m sick of walking up this HILL!” and literally hopped on the scooter, wrapped her arms around this sweaty stranger, and off my daughter WENT!  I had no choice but to throw Blaze on the scooter and say, “Okay GO!”  The man asked if I could not hold his shoulders so tight as he caught up with Pascaline, and Blaze said “Mom, just relax and enjoy the ride.”  Oh, the things my kids teach me.

Needless to say, that little hitch hiking episode got us to the top of the paved road and cut off 40 minutes.  Now we started the hike through the jungle.  We walked through three hill villages, feeling as if we’d stepped back in time.

When we bought some bottled water, the kids gave the woman a tip.  They told me they had to because her hut, this humble home, was so small and broken.  How could they not.  She offered us a bundle of bananas, and we politely said no.  The kids and I are convinced that the decision to NOT take the bananas made all the difference.

Why is this so?  Well, after 30 minutes of hiking through the thick jungle having left all villages behind, nothing but jungle shrub in front and behind, with the sun setting soon and things getting a little darker—we hear a loud crashing sound.  It’s the crashing of branches being broken through leaves being ripped.  I learned from our time in Thailand last year, that there is only one thing that makes this type of explosive sound through the trees—very LARGE monkeys!  I turned and saw the giant coming at us from  my right.  Part of me wanted to stand still in sheer shock.  He is the biggest monkey I have ever seen.  Think my size, bent over on all fours with a long, orange nose, deep dark eyes, and about fifty pounds heavier than me.  Picture this coming at you.  Yes, you stand still for a split second as your eyes meet.  You are in plain shock of the beauty, mystery and intimidation of this wild beast.  You know that you are not supposed to run but quietly walk away, but TERROR sets in when you see him coming at you and your kids.  That’s when I turned and yelled “RUN!” to the kids.

We ran down the side of that mountain like nobody’s business.  Thank God for Tivas that day and not our flip flops.  I started praying out loud, my whole body shaking from sheer fear, wondering what the heck I was doing, hiking through a jungle with my two kids.  And somewhere in the midst of all my praying, Blaze suddenly stopped in front of me and said “Listen mom.  The trees are quiet.”   The monkey was either gone or hiding.

We kept up a good pace, but we never saw that big guy again.  We caught up with a couple who said they had seen a similar monkey sitting in the trees, just watching them pass through.  Who knows if that guy was still near, just watching us. The only thing we knew for sure is that we were so GLAD we did NOT accept a bunch of bananas from the woman!  Can you imagine!  We would have been running with bananas hanging off of me.  Good Lord, that would have been a real nightmare!

Needless to say, we made it back to the beach in once piece.  I wanted to kiss the sandy shore.  We jumped in the water to cool down, laughed at our crazy adventure.  I plopped my painted toes into a chair on the beach, ordered a drink and felt myself finally EXHALE.

Somehow mom took a wrong turn, and the hour hike home turned into lasting two hours!  We hitchhiked on the backs of motorcycles and ran from a monkey (that I am convinced was an ape!).  Sure, dad saw 6 turtles while scuba diving, but was he chased by an ape?  No.  We topped his day without a doubt.

When something that frightening happens, it shakes up your insides.  I can’t explain it, but up until this point I felt a bit numb inside.  The longer we were at Koh Phi Phi, the more I started to unwind—come alive again to my senses and the jungle around me.  But after running for my life with my two kids, I am definitely feeling alive, wide eyed, and awake.

I’m not a thrill seeker or adrenaline junkie by any means.  I just know that I will never forget turning around, and making eye contact with that monkey. He was so big, so fierce and yet so gentle looking and powerful, full of mystery, so out of my control.  And all my illusions of being able to work hard enough to control certain things fell by the way side because the world was so much bigger all of a sudden.  And the reality of having very little control at all set me free from the numbness I’ve been feeling.  I still have a distance to go.  But it is good to taste the rawness of life again and feel it’s embrace.

xoxo,

Me Ra

p.s.  It’s the FIRST Monday of the month which means we’ve got a new Business Coaching Exercise from Karen and Fay, SOAR! Partners and amazing business coaches!  Don’t miss it! It will go up today!  CLICK HERE!

And if you know a mom Running on Empty be sure to nominate her NOW for our Orange County CONFIDENCE Workshop coming up April 23-24! Tonight’s the deadline at 6pm, don’t miss this either!