"She is Ashlie. She has clean ger."

I love Autumn. And yes, as of last Thursday it is now officially here! It doesn't look the same in the Gobi as it did in Texas, but the feeling of magic from the coming Holiday season is still in the air (even if we will be one of the only people in our whole province celebrating Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas). Autumn marks the day of warm baking. If you know me, you know I love to bake. It proved to be pretty difficult here. We have a small toaster oven, a tray and a metal mixing bowl (used as a cake pan, pie pan, bread pan, casserole dish and any other bakeware you think essential). Banana Bread and Apple-Peach Crisp have been a favorite in our ger (banana bread being my fav. and Apple Crisp being Justin's fav.). Bananas have been available sporadically, but I know as the temperature drops the less we will see them; Apples, though, I'm pretty sure will stick around....I hope. I have seen canned peaches and sometimes canned pineapple-- which have broadened our variety.

Some Banana Bread:


Thankfully, my family sent a package this summer with some autumn scented candles (Pumpkin Spice and Autumn Wreath). They have worked miracles! There are not a lot of things that smell nice here. A ger is definitely not one of them-- especially when your fuel consists of animal dung (have a couple candles going at the same time as your warm dung fire and viola!). Also, traditional gers are owned by herders, and herders are milkers, butchers, leather makers, etc. All of these jobs take place inside the little ger, so imagine the aroma--to Mongolians this is a beautiful scent. A scent of labor, competency and success--of life! This is where we differ. I like mine to smell a little more like lemon cleaner and a warm sweet pastry. Mmmm...



Though it is challenging (baking, that is), I definitely have the time to play around and try to bake. Professional jobs are a lot more laid back here. I like it some days, but others-- it just drives me crazy! Justn and I have sat down and discussed why we feel this need to be busy all the time. We completed an entire weekend of TRYING to find things to do. Why?! Cannot we sit and ponder without feeling guilty, or afraid of being caught 'lounging around'? I'm not saying I will completely adapt to this way of living. But, it makes sense, sort of. Lesson learned: sit down, ponder...(breathe!) every once in a while. The world will stop for you if you let it.

Our yard dog, Dzoltzig. He likes to give me his paw.


He often waits by our ger door for scraps or a scratch behind the ear. We love him.


Justin and I know that making a difference isn't easy. We know that it takes time, patience, talent, relationship building, practice. We have agreed that it's okay if we only make a difference and bring inspiration to one, at least one. We would like to be remembered for our work and diligence in promoting peace and change. However, right now people know us as "the ones with the clean ger". And that's okay! I like it! Everywhere we go it is stated in our introduction, "they live in a very clean ger, it is very comfortable and clean". Thank you! I like it. They may think we're weird. But I'm okay with being remembered as the clean ger keepers.