Today

Lately workers have been planting a lot of trees around campus (and by planting I mean digging a hole and putting a full grown tree in it...which typically dies within a few months and then they do it all over again.) Anyways, I don't really care how they do it, I just love seeing green. It makes everything prettier. Above is a picture of the trees that were recently planted. You can see our apartment building at the end.

Walking home one day.

We take classes at an art school. The campus is really unique and has interesting art work all over it. I not only love living here, but love the people who study here too. I have some friends who study digital design and they are so talented! I went to their class art show last week and they've also let me see a lot of their other work.

Here are my friends....
Here is some of their work....

The Griswalds Strike Back

Part II:

Living in a different country, there can be a number of times when life just doesn't work the way you think it should. You get use to it. There are just certain aspects of crossing cultures that can be difficult. The first half of this post (below) was one of these times. Because of this, it can become easy to stop pressing your luck. You get into a routine of certain foods, places, routes, etc. Life becomes a bit more predictable and it seems like a good thing.

The problem, of course, is that countries like this have so much to offer and you'll never discover half of it if you're not willing to strike out a few times. Maybe that is why Saturday was so good.

I think everyone would have been fine with calling it a day and heading home. For some reason, however, we decided to give the gorge a try. It wasn't in our original itinerary (we even had to pay some extra money), so our expectations were pretty low. Little did we know that we'd be walking into one of the coolest places I've ever seen. I'm not sure if pictures will do it justice, but it really was an awesome sight. (Special thanks to Ash Jonas who took some of the pictures below. You can see more here soon.)

So, we rode this elevator down a number of stories...


...and walked out to see this...

Family Vacation

Friday

8:00 a.m. - A van pulls up to our apartments to take us to Wulong County for a weekend getaway. There were a few things we wanted to see on the way so we really wanted to get an early start. That, however, was not in the cards... Earlier that week we were informed that since we had more than 8 people (11 and 2 kids to be exact) we would have to rent out the "big" bus. So, we were a little surprised when a van showed up with 12 seats and no room for luggage. We knew right away that this wouldn't work and asked the travel guide to get us a bigger bus or a second van to carry bags. She told us that the other option was to take less stuff... like maybe something that would fit in our laps. We almost considered this...


9:00 a.m. - Beginning to think we're serious about traveling with bags, our guide calls in to book the second van. It's at least an hour away...

10:30 a.m. - The second van arrives...

10:45 a.m.- After sitting around the van for 2 hours and 45 minutes, we finally get in and set off for Wulong County. Morale is surprisingly high...

2:00 p.m. - Forgetting about the once planned stops along the way, we settle for lunch and the Friday highlight - Furong Cave. The cave is pretty impressive (the tour alone is 3 km) and supposedly wasn't discovered until 1993... hard to believe.

The girls outside of Furong Cave

6:00 p.m. - We eat dinner and continue on to Fairy Mountain. We'll spend the night here and prepare for a fun filled Saturday of activities on the mountain. There's horseback riding, go carts, skiing on grass (yeah, I'm not sure what that is either), and beautiful views.

Saturday

8:00 a.m. - We wake up to heavy fog and light rain. You can only see about 30 feet in front of you. We decide to attempt to wait it out (...and by the way it's been rainy and foggy since mid-October).

9:00 a.m. - Still foggy with light rain... we finally decide to just hop in the van and give it a chance. We drive for about 15 minutes and stop at this wooden deck. We grab our umbrellas, take this group pic, get back in the van and leave. In the end, we weren't sure exactly why they dropped us off here (or exactly what we were supposed to do), but you get to a point where you just stop asking questions...

The world famous wooden decks of Wulong County

10:00 a.m. - After the huge letdown of "Fairy Mountain" our guide informs us that there is a gorge 30 minutes away if we'd like to do that or we could just go home... We have a serious discussion about which of these sounds better.

Part II (coming soon)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Friends from 4 different parts of the city came together to celebrated Halloween this year. We all dressed up, ate great potluck food, carved pumpkins, and just had fun with each other. Chris and I went as Bleeker and Juno (from the movie Juno). We were voted most typecast. Not sure exactly why...

Our group also consisted of a thug, The Incredibles, a doc fighting H1N1 and Jem and the Hollograms.

Look at these cute pups!!!! Chris' aunt Nancy brought these outfits over for Roxie and Wilson in light of Halloween. Chris says Roxie looks like a burly defensive lineman. I think they look adorable!

random things from the past week

Joy came in a few days ago and said, "I know why you have been having problems with your allergies....MOLD" Then she showed me this
This is Mallory's bag that has been hanging in her bathroom for maybe 2 1/2 weeks, covered in mold. Granted it was hanging in the room that's probably the most humid in the house, it still shouldn't have molded that quickly.

Various people have suggested that we get one of these...

so we listened to their advice and got a hand-me-down one and I'm inlove with it. The first time we turned it on it said the humidity in our room was 94%. Yuck. This explains why our clothes feel wet most of the time. The first day we used it I could tell a difference. We actually probably turned it on too high because Chris woke up and said his lips felt chapped. I guess a little humidity is good...

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My new supplemental language learning tool is ChinesePod. Whoever thought of this is genius. You sync your Ipod and new lessons are uploaded immediately. Each lesson is on a relevant topic and offers levels ranging from newbies to advanced. And they are only about 15 minutes long, so great for buses or taxi rides. They also come with a PDF (shown below) that gives you the dialogue written out as well as the vocabulary that goes with it. If you want help learning a new language and don't want to spend $500 on Rosetta Stone, try this.

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Friday night we went with friends to KTV. For some reason karaoke is incredibly popular here...



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All the girls from around the city got together Sunday afternoon. We ate girlie food (chicken salad and chicken noodle soup) and talked about girlie things :). I am so thankful for such a large group of godly women to learn from and invest in.

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We celebrated 2 birthdays this week! Anna turned 24 and Meagan turned 28!

Christmas in October!

My sweet best friend Katherine sent me a package!!! She told me earlier in the week that she was going to send something back for me with Lauren (who went back to America for a week to speak at Auburn and be in a wedding) but I think I was just expecting a card or something little. Instead, it was a whole pile of stuff!! It seriously felt like Christmas tonight when Lauren delivered the present! 1. It's ALWAYS fun to get a present, 2. It's even more fun when you live in EA to get a present full of stuff from America that you can't find here. I love you Kat! Thanks for making my day!!
My mom also sent me a few things... some ground cinnamon, cookie mix, ranch dressing and some much needed allergy medicine! Thanks mom!

two peas in a pod

*For more personal stories about our life and specifics about what is going on here we send out regular emails. There are certain things we cannot post on the blog for special reasons so if you would like to receive our update emails and don't already, just let us know!

Chris' mom, Ann, sent us this pic yesterday. I couldn't resist putting it on the blog!

Wilson and Roxie

Roxie. I am aching to see this girl! It has been so hard being away from her and when I think about how much longer I have before I get to see her it makes my soul hurt. Ann sends us occasional Roxie stories and some pictures of Roxie and Wilson, and we've even gotten to skype with her, but it's just not the same. (I know my mom is reading this thinking... Yep, now you know how I feel!) Not many people understand how I can love Roxie so deeply, and I'm sure most think it's silly. Chris tells me that it just means I'm gonna be a good mother. I hope.

holiday activities

In light of National Day, Oct 1 (equivalent of our 4th of July), and Mid-Autumn Festival, Oct 3, students here had a week off of school. Here's some pics of what we did over the break...

Our friends from a different part of the city came to visit for a night

We went on a boat ride down the Yangtze River

Thankful for her

Mallory is being saucy, Haynes is trying to eat hair... typical

We spent time on campus playing ping pong and hanging out with friends. But as you can see, once Mallory got there the activity switched to singing :)

We ate hot pot together

Chris and I traveled to Kunming for a few days and we ate at The Silver Spoon twice. We always seem to find the western restaurant in any city we are in!

Kunming is known for its whether. It is like springtime all year round

Kunming is also known for their birds and flowers... so we went to the flower and bird market

We had a great date night at a thai restaurant in town

60 years

October 1. Chinese citizens and government workers have been preparing for months for this day... Sixty years ago Mao Zedong stood before a sea of people atop Tiananmen Gate and proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China. Over the past month parts of the country have been shut down several times, allowing for rehearsals of a once-in-a-decade military parade, multiple artistic performances and shows, fireworks and more. Nearly 5,000 of China’s 2.3 million soldiers will march past the nation’s leaders tomorrow. They will be grouped partly according to height, with no variation of more than six centimeters, or about two and a half inches. Next will come rows of rumbling tanks and vehicles mounted with missiles, satellites and military equipment. More than 150 planes will fly in formation overhead, some trailing colored vapors. Security concerns are high, bringing out large details of security personnel and equipment. ....This is a big deal. And I didn't realize how big of a deal it was until today. Streets are closed down and campuses here have kept people from going in and out. There was a huge fireworks show (better/longer than any 4th of July fireworks show I've ever seen in America) on our neighboring campus tonight. Chris and I stayed home with Mallory and Haynes and watched from the balcony of our apartment while the rest of our group walked to get a closer view. There will be coverage of the parades in Beijing all day tomorrow. I can't wait to watch some of it! Check out these great pics!

1. Workers renovate a statue of China's late chairman Mao Zedong at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, Hubei province, September 16, 2009. Statues and monuments around the country are being renovated and updated in preparation for the upcoming 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1

2. An officer sticks a needle in the collar of a paramilitary policemen to correct his posture during a training session in Hefei, Anhui province September 13, 2009.

3. Members of China's Air Force battalion march as they rehearse for the National Day parade in Beijing on September 10, 2009.

4. A couple take wedding pictures in front of the Tiananmen Gate on September 8, 2009 in Beijing, China. Many people are expected to hold their wedding on National Day.

5. Pupils create the national flag on a canvas by using their hands dipped in red paint at a primary school in Jinan, Shandong province September 14, 2009.

Lately

Life is starting to feel normal here. Slowly but surely we are becoming more familiar with our surroundings. We are figuring out where to go to find certain things, who to contact when we need something fixed (i.e. power turned back on when it goes off at midnight), the best places to get certain foods, etc. Below is a picture of the outdoor market nearby that has everything from snakes to tomatoes. No telling how long all of it sits out there in the heat covered with flies... but oh well, that's just what you get here. I have only been to the market once so far, but I anticipate going more when we get an oven and start cooking more regularly.

Last weekend we got to hang out with our friends from 2 other cities. We ate Pizza Hut (a delicacy here) then went bowling. We had such a great time!

Check out Ash, and Mallory's face...

So, I am sitting in a coffee as I type this post and Taylor Swift's "Our Song" just started blaring. It caught me off guard because the rest of the playlist has been Chinese classics. I kinda feel like I'm in America right now. Okay, anyways, back to the blog. Milk tea and head washes. Both will change your life. Do we really not have these in America?? Milk tea...It may not sound that great, but it is amazing and only cost 2.5 quai (about 30 cents)! You can pretty much get any flavor you want - regular, chocolate, apple, pudding, blueberry, strawberry, etc. And you can get them cold or hot. My favorite is strawberry! I had three yesterday (don't worry, this is not a norm :)). I am going to find out how to make them and open up a store in America. Head washes... shampoo is lathered into your hair as they massage your head, then they rinse it out, recline you in a chair, massage your arms and shoulders, then dry and style your hair, all for only 10 quai (a little over a dollar).

Cao mei nai cha (strawberry milk tea)

After our hair wash

Good news... Joy and Ash's apartment is finished next door! They will be moving in over the next couple of days and I know they are so ready, so this is a big praise! Although it's been crazy at times, we have loved having them live with us this past month. Plus how could you not want to be around these two kids everyday??

Home

"Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths...For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers." -Psalm 39: 5 & 12. Life here is so fleeting. I am thankful that my real home is in Eternity with my Heavenly Father. I long for the day that I will sit at His feet, but until He takes me there or until His kingdom comes, I know He has me on Earth for a purpose. So although I know where my permanent home is, I have been thinking lately about what defines a home on Earth. Our life has been extremely fluid for the past few months. We have traveled a lot, to say the least. Chris and I counted the other night... we have slept in 18 different beds since the end of April. Now we are finally in East Asia and are starting to get settled in our apartment here. Hopefully we will only be sleeping in one bed for a while! Does our apartment feel like home yet? Not sure. What makes something "home"? I Googled the definition. Here are the top answers:

1. A place where one lives; a residence.

2. The physical structure within which one lives, such as a house or apartment.

3. A dwelling place together with the family or social unit that occupies it; a household.

4. A valued place regarded as a refuge or place of origin.

5. The place, such as a country or town, where one was born or has lived for a long period.

I do not entirely agree with Google's definitions. I think home is more than just a physical place. This summer we caught ourselves referring to our apartment in Colorado as "home". Was it because we were there long enough to get settled in, had keys to the place, and even invited people over? Or was it because I really started to like living in CO? I think more than anything is that for a season of our life, even if it was short, God placed us there for a reason. We made memories there. There are other places that I have and still consider "home". 538 East Glenn Avenue was home. Auburn will always be home. Chris is home. My mom's house in Birmingham feels like home. We love going home to Chris' family in Nashville. I'm at home when I'm with my best friends, no matter where we are. So what makes you call something "home"? I think you can have more than one home. To me, home is where your heart is. And if that's the case, then I am home here.

Settling In

Finally back! As of today our internet is up and running in our apartment. It's so nice to be able to check email/update the blog/skype on a regular basis, however, there's something refreshing about being away from the net for a while. Our time here so far has been a whirlwind. I mentioned in my last post that we were gonna get to go to IKEA. Well we did... and we were there for 5+ hours. Thankfully, the amount of time we were there does not reflect the amount of stuff we bought. This day was not my favorite to say the least. Although interior decorating is a strength of my sisters, it is definitely not a strength of mine! Plus, I shut down when faced with too many options. We went to a junk market when we got back to our city which was way better than IKEA! We found antique armoirs, trunks, side tables, buffets, etc all for about 20 dollars or less. Other than getting settled in our places, we've eaten at some great local chinese restaurants, become much more familiar with the city, and had some great team time. Students are starting to get here which gets me so excited! I can't wait to start learning the language and hanging out with chinese girls.

yummy.

Haynes + friend

An armoir I bought for $17

Everyones stuff from the junk market

Celebrating Joy's 28th B'day with the team

We are here!!

Yay, we made it! The ride from the airport to our campus was so surreal. We are finally here. Something about this place makes me feel so alive. We've been here since last Friday, however this is the first time Chris and I have been somewhere that has internet/had a chance to sit down and use it. It has been a crazy week. Was I really expecting anything different?? We showed up to our city not knowing the status of our apartment situation. We got to campus and all our places were finished except for Joy and Ash's, which is the place we were most hoping would be done! It actually may work out to our advantage though, because a place is being finished next door to us that they may get to live in!! For the time being they are going to live with us. We spent the first two days getting some essential stuff taken care of... getting phones set up, mattresses delivered, air conditioners moved in, rent paid etc. If something takes 1 hr to accomplish in America, it takes 5 here. Nothing's easy.

We were only in our city for 3 days (only one of which we actually got to sleep in our place because of power/water not being turned on - the first two days we stayed in a hotel... no 5 star, believe me) before we got on a train to come to another city (which is where we are now until Saturday). The first night we were here I got a terrible UTI. Thankfully we were with people who are experts in the language and know how to find good medicine. Chris was able to walk down the street to a Chinese pharmacy and get me some powerful antibiotics! No prescription needed. I feel much better now. Although I can't wait to get back and start feeling more settled into our place, I do love this city. It is much more westernized than the one we live in, which isn't saying much... but even a little taste of home goes a long way! We had some great American food last night at one of my favorite restaurants here called Peter's to celebrate Mallory's 2nd birthday. They also have an IKEA here that we'll get to go to to get some stuff to make our places feel more like home.

There is much more I'd love to write but I'll update again soon, and add some pictures!

Almost there

Thursday we boarded a plane...

Mallie explaining what to do in case of an emergency :)

To come here... Copper Mountain, CO to get ready to go overseas

Looking down on Copper Mountain from the ski lift. We all rode to the top of the mountain one day and had lunch. It was beautiful.

Only part of our group. The rest are already in East Asia waiting on us!

Our "family" next year. 2 cities combined

In a couple of hours we begin our 30+ hr travel day. We've been here for 6 days, and although it's been great, we're anxious to get to our final destination! We'll update you as soon as we can once we get there and set up internet. Much love..

more goodbyes

We said goodbye to our "first home". Oh how we loved this place. Nothing much, but we sure made a lot of memories here.
We said goodbye to Chris' side of the family. We love get-togethers with them in Nashville and will miss them terribly!!

I got to say goodbye to great highschool friends! We may not see each other as much as we'd like, but every time we get together we pick right back up where we left off.

We said goodbye to Chris' mom. She is precious. We will miss you Ann!
We said goodbye to Dad. He flew in from Arizona to spend a couple of days with us before we left.
We said a tearful goodbye to Allan and Shelley. We will miss you both more than you can even imagine.
And... we said goodbye to Roxie. I can't talk about it or I'll cry. We know she is in good hands though with Chris' mom and Wilson (Roxie's BFF baby boy) in Nashville.

Love is an ocean wide

The hardest thing about leaving for a year is saying goodbye. Not to America, not to southern cooking, not to Auburn, not to football season, not to comfort, not to chick-fil-a, not to convenience, not to beautiful blue skies, etc (although all these things are hard to leave)... It is saying goodbye to friends and family. When Chris and I thought about all the people we wanted to talk to and see before we got on the plane, we were a little overwhelmed. But - thanks to Kim & Nathan, Sara & Lindsey, and Alley, who hosted a "farewell" party for us last Sunday, we got to be in the presence of all our dearest friends at once to say goodbye! We will miss you.

Thanks for loving us!!

The Yeildings. My second family. Love them!!!

Life-giving friends

We finished our party at Alley's house for friends to come to, then had another one at Mom's for family. There are few times other than holidays that the whole fam gets together, so seeing everyone was a treat.

Brant, Michele, Judson, Caroline

Aunt Marilyn and Austin (the rest of their fam had already left)

Aunt Joy, Uncle Henry, Rachel, David

Us with mom

We'll miss you mom

I now pronounce you Husband and Wife

Katherine and Robert are married! and we couldn't be more happy. They truly are better together. We had a great time this weekend celebrating with these two sweet souls and rejoicing together as we reflected on God's faithfulness in their lives. What a fun weekend.

Me and the Bride

Sarah me Meagan

BFF's - so hard to leave for a year. I will miss you both

Vaughan me Alley

Pretty Bride

The wedding party

I adore her

Waiting for the Bride and Groom to come out. We wanted to be the last to say bye :)

To take Rox or not to take Rox...that is the question

So for the past year, well ever since we knew we were gonna make the move to East Asia, Chris and I have been in an ongoing debate about whether or not we should take Roxie with us. Of course you know what I vote for. Anyways... we are 11 days away from leaving and we still haven't come to an agreed conclusion :). This is where yall come in! We are starting a poll... take Roxie to EA or leave Roxie in U.S. Let us know what you vote for! (right side of blog) What would you do if you were in our situation??