2000
Our history together began in the year 2000. We, David and Lam, met in late August, 2000, at Webster University Thailand in Hua Hin and started dating on October 5th, 2000. David came to Thailand from Kansas, and Lam came from Vietnam. David was 20 years old then, and Lam was 19.
2002
We got engaged at the Italian Restaurant in the Dusit Thani Resort in Cha-am. David gave Lam the ring off of the cigar he was smoking in lieu of an engagement ring. They later bought an engagement ring studded with sapphire in Hua Hin.
May 18, 2003
We got married in Topeka, Kansas, and went on a honeymoon in Germany. One of the neat things about our wedding was that we did not pay anything for it since family and friends chipped in to make it happen. Another auspicious sign from heaven for the start of our life together came in the form of a lovely, light and refreshing spring rain that morning before the wedding.
March 03, 2006
Baby Jacob was born at 11:10pm in Saint Louis, Missouri, where David and Lam were living at the time. Lam had just graduated from college three months before Jacob was born. David was working as a Study Abroad Advisor at Webster University.
September, 2006
We moved to Saigon, Vietnam. David worked at RMIT University Vietnam as an English Teacher and then as an Administrator. Lam stayed home with Jacob for two and a half years before starting work in Public Relations and Marketing.
We lived in Vietnam for the first six years of Jacob’s childhood. For the first six months in Ho Chi Minh City, we lived with Lam’s parents in Tan Binh District. We moved to District 7 after David had started his teaching job at RMIT VN. Then, after two years in District 7, we moved to District 3 for two and a half years before moving back to District 7 for our last two years in Vietnam.
Our favorite memories in Vietnam include the abundant family time we spent together in District 7 when Jacob was small and when baby James was born as well as our enjoyment of the assortment of delicious breakfast food near our apartment buildings there. We lived in District 7 when it was newly established and less developed than it is now, so we benefited from the fresh air, the less crowded public spaces and parks and especially the relative quietness of that area. We wouldn’t be able to live there now since it has become a lot more built-up, busier, noisier and more expensive than before.
October 2011
We started this family blog so that we can share what’s going on in our life to family, friends and acquaintances who don’t live close to us. We also wanted to start documenting our family adventures so that we ourselves will not forget either the momentous impactful events or the memorable prosaic details of our shared journey. We wanted to have a record of how each of us and all of us have been challenged and grown over the years. We hope these reminders of happy times together will be able to provide us with entertainment, encouragement and morale boost in future trying times.
August 19, 2012
We grew to become a family of four: David, Lam, Jacob and James. Baby James was born at 8:10am in Saigon, Vietnam.
September 2013
We moved to the city of Lexington in the state of Kentucky in the USA. David changed his job from University Manager to Financial Advisor. Lam settled down to being a full-time wife and mother in a new country. Kentucky lays adjacent to the Midwest; however, the state differentiates itself from those of the Midwestern region by its distinct geographical features, the drawling Southern dialect of its people and its affinity to the Southern regional culture.
Kentucky’s landscape features rolling hills showcasing farm patchwork, snaking white fences hugging undulating pastures, enormous horse farms, farmhouses flanked by pebbled streams, several lakes, ponds and a network of caves. Kentuckians, like Southerners, are known to be eager to elongate their vowels and dispense small talk without considering whether the others have time for lengthy conversation. Kentuckian women use the endearing term “hon” (short for “honey”) to sooth their listeners. If one can spare the time and energy, Kentucky provides plenty opportunities for the practice of idle conversation and the enhancement of social grace. Alas, we have been so busy in this stage of our life that we have rarely had time to benefit from leisure verbal exchange with many people here.
We have been looking back on our 7 years in Saigon with nostalgia for our tender time as a very young family and for Jacob’s very early childhood.
We loved our family trips to Singapore, Thailand and the Vung Tau beach.
In the midst of urban Saigon, we were almost changed into city creatures. Thankfully, after moving to the U.S., we found that we still love the open space and diverse natural landscapes. We had actually craved the open space and green grass while living in and enjoying the urban jungle that is Saigon.
With its national parks, state reservoirs and the interstate system, America is the perfect place to explore and capture the rugged beauty of nature. Thus David and I know we have come to the right place for this stage in our journey together.
So, off we go together to state parks, national parks, historic sites, museums, interesting cities, and the charming college towns of America.
2020
We have now lived in Kentucky for 8 years. In the decade between the ages of 32 and 42, we have experienced many personal, financial, and relational trials and triumphs. Compared to this decade, the previous decade between the ages of 22 and 32 was not as challenging physically, mentally and spiritually. We have learned so much through all our struggles to become stronger individuals and a closer couple as well as family.
We have now learned so much about ourselves than ever before. Self-knowledge is essential to and the beginning of wisdom. Both David and I have realized that we lean more towards introversion than extroversion. We both love our home, food, books and creature comfort. We have created a cozy yet intellectually stimulating world at home for each other and for our children. We adore staying home together. On the other hand, we are complex in that we both need adventures in life. We have taken more trips out of town as a couple and a family and realized how much we enjoy getting away from the humdrum and routine. Both David and I are realistic yet simultaneously idealistic people, which causes us to have a difficult relationship with the world outside our own. We feel that the world outside our home has lost its bearing. People now have all the technologies and conveniences to speed up their life whereas what they actually need is to slow down and have more time to be at peace and to be together.
The older I become, the more I wish to savor the moments and experience eternity in the Now. According to many sages of all faith and philosophical traditions, eternity takes place not only in the afterlife but also in the Here and Now. I believe the divine exists in my soul and I want to heed its voice more and more by staying away from the confused noises of the world. I wish to have time to think, study, read, to learn all that I can, to make food slowly from scratch and to travel whenever we can. In other words, I want to explore how to live a fulfilled life.
Through this blog, I want to document our adventures as a family, our growth as individuals and to express my joy in being alive. I also wish to explore how to live a fulfilled life that is fully human in this technology-driven, media-obsessed, fast-paced and superficial age. I hope we can inspire people to do the same with our stories.
August, 2023
Our focus these past couple of years has been on Jacob.
After Jacob started high school at Campbellsville High School and especially after COVID, it gradually became clear to us that he was not sufficiently challenged by the standard curriculum being offered there. We talked to the school’s counselors about the availability of options for enhanced learning, but we found the available options unattractive for a kid like Jacob. Enrichment opportunities here lean more towards vocational training while Jacob was evidently more intellectually inclined. He also couldn’t find teenagers of the same age who he enjoyed socializing with. Our family culture is rather dissimilar to the prevalent culture in this area. Whereas we enjoy thinking, reading and traveling, people here enjoy farming, socializing and outdoors sports.
The answer to our question of what to do about Jacob’s education came to us by pure chance. Through a podcast, in the summer of 2022, David had found out about the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science at Western Kentucky University for gifted high school juniors and seniors. We did some investigation, which consisted of me making a phone call and David taking Jacob to visit the campus, and decided that Jacob should apply. After diligently following through the lengthy application process leading up to a challenging interview, we joyfully learned that Jacob was admitted into the program.
We moved him into his dorm room (Room 415 in Florence Schneider Hall) on August 15th – a beautiful day, not warm at all, and a highly atypical mid-August day. We hope that the unusually nice weather was an auspicious sign indicating fruitful things to come in his future.
August 2024
We moved to Bowling Green for several crucial reasons. We needed to be closer to Jacob so that we can support him throughout and monitor his college application process. Jacob’s weakest academic skill is writing as he tends to be too literal and honest when putting ideas into words. More importantly, like many young people (and even older people), Jacob has a low level of self-awareness and doesn’t have a clear knowledge of his strengths, weaknesses, needs and aspirations. His sense of life direction, both personally and professionally, is only starting to take shape with our help and after a full academic year at the Gatton Academy.
James’ education is another reason for our move out of Campbellsville, a small simple town whose focus is more on team sports than academics. James’ school in Campbellsville had been steadily becoming worse in quality, and James’ stress level had increased so significantly that he would have disturbing dreams about school at night. He also dreaded going to school and would come home utterly exhausted. It was not only stressful but also sad for his parents to see him like that day by day. Therefore, we did some research and settled on Rich Pond Elementary for James to attend 6th grade in Bowling Green. Rich Pond Elementary is highly ranked on greatschools.org (8 out of 10) and is one of the best public schools in the state of Kentucky. At Rich Pond Elementary, James won an essay contest for Veteran’s Day, got to read his essay out loud at the school’s Veteran’s Day celebration, and got to participate in the Veteran’s Day parade in downtown Bowling Green. At the Parade, he got to ride in a sporty Corvette, which he enjoyed immensely. After the parade, he got to read his essay out loud at the flag-raising ceremony in front of the City Hall.
In Bowling Green, James is able to take guitar lessons at the Bowling Green Rock Band Academy whose instructors are highly qualified and where he has the opportunity of practicing playing in a band. Here is James in front of Kentucky Music Company where he bought his first electric guitar:
Furthermore, we found in Bowling Green an advantageous destination for David to locate his new office – the Kentucky branch of Loring Advisory Group. After 10 years of working for Edward Jones in Lexington first and then Campbellsville, and after putting up with much organizational and technological problems starting around the time of COVID in 2019, David switched to Commonwealth after much deliberating and research. As a family with growing children, we needed to live in a more interesting city with more public amenities and access to a more variety of food and events. As a result, combining critical personal and professional grounds as well as much contemplation, we moved our family and business to Bowling Green. Saint Joseph Catholic Church located near downtown Bowling Green is our new church.
David and Lam 