Three Month Reflections

   I was thinking the other day about how long it's been since I wrote here. And then it hit me. One fourth of our first year here is already gone! And I started to feel discouraged.  A fourth of a year and I still don't know any Chinese. I mean, I know how to ask how much something costs, but when they tell me the price I'm lost. I actually asked a little girl, "how much does it cost?' when I meant to ask her for her name. Duh!

   It's frustrating. I want to talk to my neighbors that I see all the time. I want to learn their names. I want to reassure them that I'm a normal person and I don't eat children.

   I have studied Spanish, Russian, and American Sign Language. Chinese is crazy. Thankfully I have a really great tutor whose English name is Abby. She is studying at one of the local universities here. She does so good at explaining her language to me in English, but I often feel my eyes glazing over and my brain freezing as I smile and nod.

Little Bear studying Chinese

   So I ask myself, what have I learned over the past three months? I've learned how to survive here in this "foreign" country. I've learned where to buy groceries. I've managed to feed myself and Little Bear gluten and dairy free in a land where I can't read labels. We've started to develop a routine. Little Bear is FINALLY sleeping through the night.

   So although I'm still far from conversational in the local language, I can see progress. I will be at peace with my learning process. I will press on.

Apartment Sneak Peak

   It hardly seems possible that we left the states over a month ago. And yet it seems like we've been in China for so long. The first ten days we were able to stay in our friends' house while they were out of town. I'm so glad we had that time to adjust and get over jet-lag.

Bonking on Petting our friends' very tolerant cat

   Since then we have been in a hotel. We've been living it up really, enjoying continental breakfasts and room service. Just kidding. But they do come and "clean" everyday and bring us fresh towels and a tiny roll of toilet paper.
   We are so thankful for the abundant grace we have been given to help us with this less than ideal situation.

Bath time!
I don't have to worry about him splashing since the shower drain is right there in the floor!

   We did find an apartment! We put a deposit on it, and we have the key, but we can't technically move in until we get our student visas and all the paperwork is signed and stamped by all the proper authorities. So we are able to spend most of the day over there, we just can't sleep there or we'll get in trouble. Hopefully within the next couple weeks we will be approved and we can move in and start to get settled. In the mean time we are working on getting "our" apartment ready.

Our new living room

   I love how bright and airy it feels. Living on the sixth floor with no elevator does have it's benefits; more sunshine, and less street noise and smells. We also have a lovely courtyard with real grass! We are looking forward to moving in and getting settled.

Little Bear Goes To China

Little Bear is such an easygoing, outgoing, happy guy and has done so well adjusting to life here. He is eating up all the attention he gets. And when nobody is paying attention, he will shout and wave his arms to try to get it.

We do a lot of walking, so he gets to ride in the stroller a lot. He loves it when he can hold someone's hand. It makes it a little harder to navigate the crowded streets, but it's so sweet!

His favorite way to get around

Proud Mama moment: Seeing my baby wave and say "how" (his version of Chinese hello)

Camel Milk

Mr. Adventure had to go down to the clinic for the health examination required for obtaining his student visa. This basically involves every kind of medical testing known to man, including ex-rays, ultrasound, and blood work. At one point he texted me asking, "An ultrasound? Really? Can't they just take my word that I'm not pregnant?" And then, "I hope it's a girl!" 

Anyway, while he was there, he ran into a guy from Uzbekistan. They struck up a conversation in Russian, and Mr. Adventure's new friend was shocked to learn that we do not milk our horses in Texas. "Well, do you at least milk your camels?" he wanted to know. When he found out that Mr. Adventure had never even tasted camel milk he insisted on taking him out to get some so he could try it!

They drove about 30 minutes out of town to a camel dairy(I didn't even know that was a thing!), sat down at a table right next to the camels, ordered a big pitcher of camel milk, and drank glass after glass while they chatted.

Mr. Adventure brought back a bottle of milk so I could try it. It's not bad. Similar to goat's milk but sweeter. But personally, I think I'll leave the camel milk for the baby camels.

Chicken Soup

What could be more comforting than a bowl of chicken soup? It warms your insides, makes you feel better, and is easy enough to make for yourself when you're sick. Right now we are stuck in a hotel for a few weeks while we wait for our visas to be processed. So, easy is on the menu. I have a crock-pot, electric teapot, and a blender. Here's what I came up with for tonight:
(I didn't measure anything, but I'm sure your guess will be as good as mine)

Chicken Soup

Ingredients: 

Chicken - Today I threw in one chicken breast
Vegetables - For simplicity I just used carrots
Garlic - Fresh cloves, roughly chopped
Salt - Sprinkle, sprinkle...
Pepper - A few turns of the grinder
Water - Pour it in till it's an inch or two above the other stuff.
   Throw all that in the pot and let it cook for a while. I did a couple hours on high, and a few hours on low. Once it's cooked, take out the chicken and shred it into bite size pieces, then throw it back in the pot.
Parsley - dried, sprinkle some on top and stir it in
Rice or Noodles -  I found some rice noodles at the store, so I'll just stir those in with the parsley and wait till they are soft. Tada! Dinner is served.

Can it get much simpler than that?

Variations:
- If you have a big family (or a fridge) you can use a whole chicken, or any amount or part of anatomy you prefer. Just be sure to remove all the bones!
- Any vegetables will work. I think carrots and celery are pretty classic. Chopped kale would be good too, just add it at the end so it doesn't get bitter.
- Garlic, if you don't have fresh, use dried, or powdered or whatever form you can get your hands on.
- Salt and pepper, add some then taste it. Or put the shakers on the table for everyone to add to their own liking.
- Parsley is really the key flavor ingredient. It needs to be added at the end or the flavor will disappear during the long cooking time. Fresh or dried will work.
- You can use cooked or uncooked rice or noodles. Just stir them into the soup at the end and wait till it's cooked or heated up. If you have a rice cooker, scoop some rice into the soup bowl and pour the soup over it.
- Chicken soup can also be made in a pot on the stove. Boil for 30-45 min. Longer for a whole chicken.

First Impressions

I love this place!

The weather is nice. When we arrived it was hot. They say the last few weeks have been record breaking hot for here, but it's not as hot as Texas. Then it rained a couple days and now it's actually really cool, feels like fall.  Don't ask me what the exact temperature is, it's all metric so I have no idea. 

There's hardly any bugs! Love this about our area. I don't know if it's because of the desert climate, or the extreme cold winters but there really are very few bugs.

I love riding the city buses. I get on and think, Wow, it would have taken me FOREVER to walk this far. Because pretty much you walk everywhere. You can also get taxis here but... We had to take two taxis from the airport to our friend's house where we are staying because all our six suitcases would not fit in just one. The taxi I was in with Little Bear had a minor collision. Nobody was hurt thankfully, but I was a little shook up. I'm told crashes are rare around here, and I remind myself that my driver didn't want to die any more than I did. But I'm still a little nervous in taxis.

The food smells soooo good. And it tastes good too (most of it). Unfortunately so many of the dishes involve noodles or bread which I have to avoid. But I'm sure as we continue to explore we will find more options. I did find almond milk at the Carrefour grocery store so that's exciting. At least I think it's almond milk but I can't really tell because...

I am illiterate. This might be ok except that I am a label reading freak. I like to know what's in my food. Now I can only look at the pictures on the label and guess what it is. We all know how reliable that is.

Saw this at the refrigerated section at the grocery store. Not really sure...

We Made It!

We are finally in China! After 48 hours of traveling it is wonderful to have solid ground under us again. Most of the trip went really smoothly with Little Bear sleeping most of the 13 hour flight. Once we got to Taiwan we were able to get a room in the airport hotel and get some sleep, a shower, and a couple hot meals. Unfortunately something in one of those hot meals did not settle well with Little Bear so we spent the last 12 hours trying to console his misery and clean up messes. Poor little guy, he is such a trooper. But we made it. And so did ALL our bags! We are so thankful to be here.

(This post is a little late now, but getting internet is a little bit of a hassle here.)

Goodbye Is Not Forever, It Just Feels Like It

Today we finally leave for China. Woohoo! I'm so excited! We are finally going! This is what I have dreamed of doing since I was a little girl. This is the life Mr. Adventure and I have planned on since we met. This is what we have spent these last two years telling so many people that we are going to do. This is my dream. And I am living it.

Oh but I hate saying goodbye. I'm so sad to be leaving you. You are my family and friends. We may have cried together, or held back the tears. But they were there. I may not have said much because I stink at goodbyes. But what I really want you to know is that I love you. Our lives have been made richer by the time we have spent together, and I will treasure the memories that we have made.

Thankfully these are not the days of William Carey or Adoniram Judson whose mothers dabbed tears from their eyes with lacy white hankies as their son or daughter sailed away on a rickety wooden ship knowing they would never see them again on this earth. That's dedication my friend. Wow. I am so thankful for modern technology! We can stay in touch so easily through Skype, Facebook, emails, FaceTime, phone calls, and many other apps or social networks. It's not the same as actually being together, but it sure helps.

We Have Our Tickets!

The time has finally come and we have purchased our tickets. We fly out on August 4th, only 18 days!!! In just two days we'll be all packed up and heading to Texas for two weeks of final goodbyes with friends and family, a visit to the Chinese consulate, and then we're off!

That is unless something terrible happens like the dog eating my passport. Oh wait, that did happen. No joke. The delivery guy set the envelope with all our important documents within reach of the dogs. Such incompetence! Tut tut! Thankfully they weren't quite digested and were found scattered along my brother-in-law's driveway with nothing worse than a little dirt and a few teethmarks.

Right now our living room is crowded with six large suitcases, three rolling carry-on cases, and piles of stuff. There is some order to the madness. Some. But no worries, Mr. Adventure is a master packer. I'm not so good at it. I put like two things in a bag and wail, "It'll never fit!...". Yes, that actually happened this morning. Fifteen minutes later, exactly fifty pounds of luggage was neatly stuffed inside my little purple suitcase. Hmm, I love him...

Look Who's One Year Old!

 Happy Birthday Little Bear!

Yes, Little Bear is one year old now. It's hard to believe that it's been a year since we brought him home. He has brought amazing joy and challenge to our lives. Was he really just this little?

Why Turning One Is Awesome:

You get to ride in the car facing forward!

You can eat honey without dying of botulism.

(there wasn't actually any honey in his cake, but isn't he cute? :) 

So What Has The One-Year-Old Been Up To?:

 

Exploring the world

Playing with toys

Playing with shoes

Going fishing

Reading books

Climbing stairs! 

Trying to be like daddy (he put it on himself!)

Playing outside

Those Who Stay Behind

You see us in Conferences with our colorful displays and presentations, and you think, "Wow, they are really doing something great. What a grand adventure!" But do you ever think of those who tell us goodbye? Grandparents, sisters, brothers, cousins, parents, friends. They let us go, not knowing when they will see us again or how often we will even be able to talk on the phone. They miss us, worry about us, and may even fear that we are endangering our lives. Do they want us to go? No. Do they want us to obey and serve the One Who left all for us? Yes. Do they think we may be a little bit crazy? Probably. But they love us, support us, hold the ropes, do their best to share our excitement, and ultimately trust us into our Father's hands.

Mr. Adventure is out in the wilderness teaching a survival course for the next two weeks so Little Bear and I are spending the time with my family. As the time approaches for us to fly out to China, I am so thankful for a few weeks to be together. We are cherishing every moment.

Happy times with Grandad

My dad was diagnosed with Lymphoma this past December, and is undergoing chemotherapy.  He is responding well to the treatments. We are trusting the Great Physician, and enjoying the time we have together.

Loving on Nana

Playing with cousins. 

I think they had more fun showing him how to play with their old baby toys than he did playing with them. :) Little Bear may not remember these times, but they certainly will. I am so privileged to have such a loving supportive family. Thank you for letting us go.

Have Baby Will Travel

Little Bear has spent the entirety of his little life traveling the States while we raise support to move overseas. He is an MK through and through. 

Little Bear loves people. And everybody loves a chubby baby! Everywhere we go, people stop and talk to him and he just eats it up. One black lady in Georgia even stopped her vehicle in the middle of the parking lot to roll down her window and sweet talk to the cute white baby.  He is a great conversation starter whether we are at a meeting, out shopping, or eating at a restaurant. Even though he is less than a year old, he has already added a whole new dimension to our ability to reach out to others.

Hugging a new friend in Tennessee.

I get asked all the time, "How well does he travel?" Well, he's a baby. That being said, I think he does pretty good in the car. Maybe I'll do another post sometime about traveling with a baby and share some tips that I've found make it easier.

We don't normally let him watch movies, but in the car Baby Einstein is a lifesaver!

We always have a stroller with us in the back of the van. Thankfully he loves strolling around because he is way too heavy to carry around very long! He may look fluffy, but those rolls are dense.

Cruising around, seeing new places.

We eat out a lot. It's an unhealthy but necessary part of our life. Our favorites: Chipotle and Chick-fil-a.

Munchin' on nuggets and fries at Chick-fil-a, Yum!

I love it that he gets to play with all kinds of new toys all the time. Every nursery he visits has a whole new set!

Exploring a new toy bin. Literally. He is chewing on it.

Tips for Taking Passport Photos

We have our passports! I had to change to my married name, and Little Bear of course needed one. They came in the mail yesterday. Of course the first thing I did was flip mine open to see how my picture turned out. Don't tell me you don't do the same thing. My first driver's license picture turned out terrible. I had my hair back in a ponytail so all you could see was my weird little bangs, my glasses were tinted, I was grinning like a Cheshire cat because I had just passed my driving test, and for some reason the flash created shadows between all my teeth so I looked like I had just eaten a spinach salad with extra pepper.  I've learned a few things since then about picture taking for official documents.

Tips for taking passport photos (without looking like a zombie):

1. Wear your hair down. Have you ever thought you were looking at a picture of a bald guy, and then realized it was actually a woman with her hair pulled back in a ponytail? I have. Don't let that be you.

2. Take off your jacket. I know your shoulders barely show in the picture. But inevitably your collar will be crooked, and the extra bulk will make you look like you have no neck.

3. If you have automatic tint glasses, make sure they are clear.

4. Don't ever get glasses that tint automatically in the sun. Your optometrist will try to convince you that they are very convenient and protect your eyes from the sun. Don't believe him. They take forever to go clear again when you walk inside. Everyone will look at you like, "Why is she wearing sunglasses inside?" Your friends might even start to call you Fanny Crosby. Trust me. I know this from experience.

Okay, I know number four doesn't really have anything to do with passport photos. But it's a really good tip anyway, and since I'm just full of practical wisdom, I'd thought I'd share it with you. Well, I'm full of it anyway, you can decide about the wisdom part. Haha

Stone Mountain

Monday our good friends, Eric and Marie Lee, took us on a tour of the great city of Atlanta including a visit to Stone Mountain, dinner at Chow Baby's, and put put golf. First we rode the cable car to the top of Stone Mountain. It sounds kind of redundant to me. Stone. Mountain. But I guess most mountains are made of dirt and rock. This one is just rock. It really is one giant granite stone. The biggest granite rock in the whole world actually. Hence the name...Stone Mountain.

The mountain and park surrounding it have an interesting history. The first tourist attraction, a wooden tower, was built on top of the mountain in 1838. But it blew over in a storm a few years later. Oops. In 1915, somebody got the bright idea to make it into a Confederate monument. So Mr. Borglum got to work carving the head of Robert E. Lee into the face of the mountain. But he made a big stink in the local newspaper about the working conditions and they fired him. So he moved out to South Dakota and carved Mount Rushmore instead. The second guy didn't like the way it looked so he blasted Mr. Borglum's work away and started over. Unfortunately it was hard to get ahead (get it, a HEAD. Never mind) and the carving was not completed until 1972. It really is much bigger than it looks. Legend has it that you could fit a school bus inside Robert E. Lee's ear, but I don't think anyone has ever tried it.

Over the years the park has added many tourist attractions for year round fun including the cable car which we rode to the top. Stone from the mountain has been quarried for buildings all over the world, including the Panama Canal, the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, Japan, and the Lincoln Memorial. Pretty much every state has a building that was built using granite from Stone Mountain.

Now you know all about Stone Mountain. There will be a quiz at the end of this post.

Just kidding.

Yep, that's us. Even Little Bear gets in on the crazy!

View from the top

Miracle Baby

Bring out the party hats, my baby is nine months old!

Can it really be that just one year ago I was waddling around feeling excited to be finally in my third trimester of pregnancy? And then about four years later I finally went into labor. Haha. Not really, but that's sure what it felt like. After three years of marriage and a miscarriage, I felt like I had waited so long for a baby. We are so thankful for our sweet Little Bear. He truly is a miracle and a gift from our Father.

Little Bear: happy, laid back, observant, cautious

Favorites: anything outside, singing, people, bath time

I love how he's curling up his toes because of the tickly plants.

"My island!"

He is smiling and squealing just watching the water.

Loves his daddy!

Four Years!

Happy Anniversary to us! On March 12, 2011 we began the rest of our life together. In the short time we have been married we have traveled all the way around the world visiting the Bahamas, China, India, and Nepal. We've also been in most of the States including Alaska, moved 12 times, and enjoyed every minute of the time we get to spend together.

We spent our honeymoon on the beach in the Bahamas, so every year we try to do something ocean related like visit an aquarium or eat fancy seafood. It's our little tradition and it makes our anniversary really fun.

This year we spent the day at the Atlanta aquarium. We had such a good time! Little Bear really loved watching all the colorful fish and the other children running around. He even sat still and watched the dolphin show. We were all able to really relax and enjoy the afternoon.

Unfortunately this is the only picture I have from the day. All the rest were accidentally deleted along with pictures from the last few months. So sad.

Closet Overhaul

Here it is, my giant pile of clothes. It is probably a sin to have this many clothes. It's been a while since I've sorted through them, and since we will be moving halfway around the world in just a few months I needed to take stock of what I have. We plan on only taking four suitcases total. We may take another if we need to, but we would have to pay extra. My goal over the next couple months is to build a minimal wardrobe, and shop for a few new things to replace what I need that is worn out.

It took me a couple days to sort through it all because everything had to be tried on and evaluated.  I took out all the maternity clothes, and anything too big, too small, or worn out.

 

Isn't he a cutie?

Here's what I ended up with. Apparently I really like blue. So I decided to work with that for now. All of these can be mixed and matched and accessorized for a ton of variety. I'm traveling with just these for the next month. I'll see how it works and modify as needed.

Capsule Wardrobe Model:
9 Shirts
4 Skirts
3 Sweaters
2 Jackets
Total = 18 pieces