Facing my Fears

100% my greatest fear while living in Vietnam is that my kids will get sick and need medical help. I once asked Troy "what's the phone number I should call in case of an emergency? "(ya know, a nice easy 3-digit number) and his response was "by the time an ambulance got here you will be dead!" Wow! way to make me feel reassured in a foreign country Troy!
  So about two weeks ago I started feeling an aching in my right knee. Nothing too painful but irritating enough that I stopped putting pressure on my knee while standing (my hypothesis was that the pain is a result from standing at my sink and doing dishes all day!) The pain started to  subside but then about a week ago I noticed a lump on the side of my knee that was tender to the touch...and now I started to worry. Troy surprisingly agreed that my knee looked abnormal. Luckily there is a chiropractor in our Branch that agreed to look at my knee. His first suggestion was to get an MRI taken of my knee.


So I started my weekend with getting an MRI:

I wish my life were full of these large signs pointing to which way I should go....nice and easy :)

Entrance to the clinic 

This was a very small walk-in clinic. We had the MRI and film results all done in about an hour.

Here I go...the x-ray room is just on the other side of the door.

Close enough for Troy to peek in and take a picture while standing in the waiting room.

Making friends with the important people.

Vietnam price list...MRI cost $75 USD for Vietnamese....

Then there is the foreign price list, an MRI cost $125 for foreigners. Troy tried to be sneaky and tell them that he is Vietnamese but they didn't buy it. However, he did get a discount because he spoke Vietnamese...we paid $100. 

So after my MRI was done I took the boys outside while waiting for the film. That's when Troy came and told me that they needed to do it again because there was something going on with the tissue and they wanted to get a better picture. The process required an injection in my arm with something(?) This is me for Round 2.  I'm a little nervous since I asked the guy if there was a problem and he smiled as he nodded his head yes. What???

 P.S. I live in Vietnam and yes my feet really are THAT dirty. I know it's gross but you try to keep clean feet while walking in a rainy, dirty city with flip flops....impossible! 

The cutest little copy cat :)

The MRI came out with no large concerns. We don't have the Dr's opinions yet so I'll keep you posted.

The good news is that I found a number to call on the side of an ambulance as it was driving by...it's a nice 11-digit random number. Wish me luck with that one!

The Snap Cafe

Troy is in Thailand this weekend. I woke up this morning in a panic thinking about what to do with my boys today.....all day. We had nothing to do and nothing scheduled. I have really been trying to get Drey out at least once a day so he doesn't turn into a vegetable in our apartment. With a quick text to our friends Betsye and Johnny, we had a little lunch date scheduled at the Snap Cafe. I had heard about this place from a couple sources and knew it would be right up Drey's ally of fun. It did not disappoint!

It really is "more than just a cafe"

Huge tree hut and sand box...this puts McDonalds playland to shame!!

The restaurant portion is under the open grass hut. I love, love, love kid friendly places like this in Vietnam. It's hard to find eating establishments with high chairs let alone places for your kids to run free.

He is in heaven...sand and a shovel.

I found her....Enzo's real mom!

Hello Drey

Focusing on the ride down

How can I resist that face?...he's a keeper.

Betsye....I love meeting friends with  whom you have an instant connection, it's easy to like her. 

Drey jumping off the platform and trying to grab some girl's legs while she was sitting on the monkey bars above...he missed...haha.

Drey playing with Jack

Enzo checking out the slide.

There are cute little toy stores, ice cream shops, jewlery stores , etc. all inside the entrance to the cafe.

We'll be back Snap Cafe, next time with Troy....it's up his ally of fun also :)

What I am missing right now.....

A warm Summer night, a backyard, and a HOSE!

To top it off.....

To close out the opening weekend of NuSkin, Team NSV held a fly-in meeting at the Rex Hotel. This is basically a meeting that will happen once a month with guest speakers and trainings. The guests today included Nathan Ricks, Kenton Worthington, Charlie Patterson (professional wakeboarder), Derek Tillitson (mom & dad are founders of NuSkin), and Dr. Marcus Laux. It was another successful meeting and we couldn't be more grateful.

WOW...we are so cheesy, I'm embarrassed. I only post this because it's a good picture of Kenton Worthington. Please excuse all others in this photo, thank you :)

I think Drey has had more suckers this weekend than a bag of 300 dum dum pops....(thanks again Cochrans).  Suckers are Drey's favorite treat and provide a nice little pacifier for when times get rough as a mom, ie: a business meeting with two crazy wild children.

This child needs the double pacifier.

Troy doing his MC magic.

Getting ready for a product demonstration on an audience member.

LtoR: Charlie Patterson, Drew, Lance, and Troy

Nathan Ricks

That concludes our NuSkin opening weekend events. We really are so grateful to our family and friends who have supported and encouraged us through this experience. There is a lot of hard work still ahead but it's nice to know that it's the real deal now.

WE ARE IN BUSINESS!

                  It is official, NuSkin has arrived in Vietnam!
 Can I get a "Halle FREAKIN 'lujah"! Our days of pre-marketing are over. It has been a long road with a lot of ups and downs so to see NuSkin finally arrive in Vietnam is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.  You may have to pinch me to let me know that this is all real:

NuSkin Vietnam Building

Team NSV office building. We finally have our team office where we can hold meetings.

Inside the office, upstairs conference room.

One happy family!

Downstairs lobby.

Congratulations Team NSV! (these flower arrangements take some getting use to....no we are not at a funeral, they are always seen at celebrations)

Congratulations NuSkin!

More to come......

Team NSV

Excuse me while I take a moment to share some business on this blog. Back in July 2010 we joined forces with some great people and became part of Team NSV...NuSkin Vietnam. Yup, that's right, NuSkin is what we are doing here in Vietnam. Troy is a NuSkin distributor and has been traveling to Vietnam over the past 2 years to pre-market his NuSkin business and build a network. I'm sure this may sound crazy and yes at times it feels crazy, but after tonight I could not be more proud of Troy and the person he has become through taking on this business opportunity. We are hours away from the climax of this NuSkin experience thus far. Tonight was a kick-off to bring in the masses.

Team NSV event at the White Palace convention center. The before picture of the room.

Drey posing for the camera against the Team NSV logo banner.

Nathan Ricks. You are not a NuSkin distributor and not know who Nathan Ricks is....he is the #1 NuSkin distributor!!! And he came to Vietnam for us...Team NSV. It is a pretty big deal to have him work with us and our network.
LtoR: Drew, Lance, Troy, me, Nathan, Krystal, Jake.

Kenton Worthington. He is a BIG deal also and we are lucky to have his support in Vietnam.
LtoR: Troy, Kenton, Jake, Nathan, Krystal, Lance, Mel

Jake, Krystal, and Troy with the owner of the White Palace....a close friend in Vietnam.

Troy was the designated MC for the night. When Troy speaks Vietnamese, they love it!

The turn out....

They started removing the partition to the next room for the overflow of people while Nathan was speaking....we liked that :)

Closing remarks....and a little cameo by Drey....no stage fright with this kid.

Loads and loads of photos after the meeting

Having a recap meeting after the event....we were all pretty excited.

More to come........