Bye Bye Mom & Dad

Well mom and dad are gone :( Becker and I left them at the airport last night around 1am. They are now in the air somewhere between Bangkok and Tokyo, about 4 hours away from Tokyo. They will be landing in Minneapolis in about 15 hours. Ewwww. That's a lot of travel time! Not looking forward to doing that in September!

It seemed like the rents enjoyed their stay. They both really enjoyed diving and the elephant show we went to on Sunday. Dad was not a big fan of the heat at all, but he survived!! Mom took lots of pictures. I should have them online before Thursday.

Becker and I are still in Bangkok. We're just cleaning up the apartment, buying last minute stuff, saying goodbye to other Mountbattens and getting all packed up for Malaysia. We have today and tomorrow in Bangkok and then its off to sunny Semporna, Malaysia for some DIVING!!!! :) Currently the temperature there is 83 degrees. I think we can handle that!

Graduation

I am graduated! How exciting! We had a lovely ceremony last night and now I am officially extra smart!

The parents seem to be having a good time here in Thailand. Monday after my presentation we took off for Phi Phi island. Its such a lovely island!! Upon arrival Becker and I stopped by the dive shop that we dove with last time we visited. We quickly arranged for some scuba diving on Wednesday. Mom and dad really enjoyed the diving. It was mom's first time breathing underwater and dad's first time since 1972! We had some great dives! The first one involved hanging out with a turtle! We did bring the underwater camera so you'll be able to see pics of all of us in our scuba gear!

The rest of the time on Phi Phi was spent relaxing, playing cards and drinking. Ahh the life!! While on Phi Phi Becker and I did realize that out of the remaining 7 weeks we have in Asia, 4 1/2 of them will consist of exactly what we did on Phi Phi, scuba diving and relaxing at the beach. Its going to be rough!! The other 2 1/2 will involve hiking up a big mountain, so really the opposite of relaxing!!

Today I think we're going to do some elephant treking and tomorrow go to the Grand Palace and the Reclining Buddha. Then mom and dad fly back home. It seems like they just got here :(

Goby's Bar and Grill / Dive Shop

So my and Becker's dream when we get home is to open up Goby's Bar and Grill and Goby's Dive Shop (named after the goby fish, pictured). It will be a bar and grill/aquarium/dive shop in Maple Grove/Dayton. It'll be awesome!! There will be a dive shop area where we'll offer diving courses and fun dives, a man made lake for more courses and fun diving, a ballroom for receptions/banquets/etc where you'll be able to see into the aquarium and a restaurant and bar which will also face the aquarium.

We're actually writing up a business plan for it. So if you want to know more about it we'll gladly tell you!! Or if you know of any investors who would be interested, feel free to give them our contact details!!!

CLASSES ARE DONE!!!!!

CLASSES ARE DONE!!! CLASSES ARE DONE!! CLASSES ARE DONE!!!

Its a great feeling to be done with classes!! Yesterday was my last day of class FOREVER!! I'm soooo excited! Now all I have to do is my thesis defense and then I'm FREE!!!!!!!!!!!

Then its off to Phi Phi with the parental units. They arrive in 1 hour and 34 minutes! Becker (he arrived back in Bangkok this morning) and I are leaving for the airport in about 45 minutes.

Well anywho, just thought I would share my excitement with everyone. I'll let you know how my defense goes on Monday!

Vietnam Pics

Well I'm back in Bangkok now :( I had a wonderful time in Koh Tao with Becker. I was able to do 4 dives. I didn't see a lot of fish during the first 2 dives, but I did get to swim through a bunch of caves and passages. It was cool. Then the last 2 dives were awesome! There were a ton of fish at those two dive sites! It was great to be under the water again, but now its back to the reality of school :(

Today I have to finish up my final dissertation paper, because its due tomorrow. Then this weekend I have to crack down on homework, because I have 3 presentations and 3 papers due next week. fun times!!

Mom and dad also arrive next week. Their plane comes in next Saturday night! Then I have my defense presentation and then I'm FREE!!!!!!!! can't wait!

Ohh and I finally got the Vietnam pics online: http://sarahkeepingitmoving.shutterfly.com/



Cheers!

Good News!

I only have class one day next week! There is a Thai holiday on Tuesday and Wednesday, so we get Monday off and then one of the lectures cancelled class on Thursday! Its amazing!! Now I only have 6 more days left of class and then my final presentation!!

Since we only have class on Friday I'm going down to Koh Tao with Becker Saturday night! I get to spend a few days diving. Much better than sitting in Bangkok!! I'm very excited!!!