a heart of thankfulness

i just wanted to pop in and share a picture of emma and her twin, which she drew for me.  i love it!  i love her and her creativity, spunkiness, independence, determination, and general craziness that's always surrounding her.   these days i'm feeling really tired by the end of each day and can lean towards complaining about ALL there is to do and how HARD it is to do a lot of it here in a land that speaks a totally different language.  but i try to remember to be thankful every day.  today, i'm thankful for my kids.  God blessed allan and me with the three of them whom we love so, so much.  His creations are amazing, and that goes for our kids, too!

some tempura..a little bragging..and a whole lotta love

our very sweet friends, andy and sarah of landontastic, invited us and our other friends, edwin and cristy, to dinner at their house last month.  they told us they wanted to make tempura for us and we squealed for joy!  to be honest, allan didn't squeal.  only i did. but he was definitely stoked by the invitation to a night of fun and some homemade, authentic tempura.  when the night came and we got to their house, we smelled bbq and walked into an amazing array of water toys set up for the kids to play with.  there were even overhead sprinklers!  anyway, the bbq threw me off because i thought we were having tempura.  to be honest (again), i was wondering if they had changed their minds about the tempura. nope!  andy was bbq-ing up hot dogs for the kids.  they had everything set up for the kids to eat and play in the yard while the adults were to enjoy a peaceful and delicious japanese meal inside. well, that didn't happen.  not completely anyway.  when sarah told us all to go and sit down for dinner, we found that there were only 4 settings at the table.  it was odd to us, so we asked why there were only 4 settings when there were 6 of us.  you want to know why?  sarah was frying up the tempura FRESH like they do in traditional restaurants in japan and serving it to us as she was doing it.  it was AMAZING!  we were incredibly spoiled on our "double date!"  sarah kept making fresh batches of tempura for us and serving it to us round-by-round while andy entertained and occupied all of the kids outside.  the four of us felt really guilty eating, talking, and laughing while our friends were working so hard to serve us. but, in the end, the four of us had a blast and we felt incredibly honored and loved.  the whole night really reminded me of the verse our whole church was memorizing at the time.  Jesus tells us in John 13:34-35 that "just as he has loved us, we are also to love one another.  and, by this, all will know that we are his disciples, if we have love for one another." boy, were we loved, and boy, do we know that andy and sarah are Christ's disciples.  :)

check out the table setting...so authentic.  unfortunately, i was too busy eating and didn't remember to take pictures of the actual food.

our lovely dinner companions.  :)

may madness

this month has flown by and i thought i'd just post some pics of things we got to do with friends and family before we head out in a couple more months.  i'm terrible at remembering to pull out my camera, so i feel proud that i even have pics to post.  :)

celebrated amanda's and aaron's wedding, congratulations guys!

our friends came to play

the boys got silly!

had our first garage sale and got rid of enough stuff to make about $500. thanks so much, nicole and sarah!

emma and elise needed a haircut badly so the three of us went and got new DOs

got bangs again...wish i didn't because they are more work.

uncle allan and owen getting ready to go out for some pho

celebrated our friend brady's 40th birthday...

... and found a heart rock

emma lost another tooth!  she begged allan to pull it because it was really loose and really bothering her.  she's our brave girl.

some baby booties i crocheted up for a friend

mother's day 2014

motherhood has been such a crazy ride these past 9 years, but i wouldn't trade it for any other experience.  my three babies are not so baby anymore. they can fix themselves breakfast, fold and put away their laundry, make pancakes, AND ride their bikes to their friends house without me!  they are spunky, loving, thoughtful, sweet, funny, curious, full of energy, caring, and so much more that i hope to see God grow in them as they mature.  my prayer for them is that they grow in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and others. (Luke 2:52)

for mother's day, we had brunch with my sister's family and then spent the rest of the day hanging out just the five of us.  later in the evening, we got to share some things we've been learning about our faith at a class called perspectives.  we got to share how we have personally been blessed by God in order to be a blessing to others.  afterwards, we had a time of singing together that was very uplifting.

we didn't have much planned for mother's day (we're kind of last-minute people) but all in all it was a memorable mother's day.  blessed to be mama to three of the best gifts God has given me yet!

househunters international

(allan and i on a plane in seattle about to take off on our loooong flight to shanghai, en route to nanjing)

back in april, we took a week-long trip to china to do some house-hunting (maybe more like neighborhood-hunting since it was a bit early yet to officially rent anything).  our trip didn't start out on the best foot.  as soon as we got to our hotel really late at night, i felt really, really nauseated and immediately had to use the facilities.  it was not good.  it turned out i caught some kind of stomach bug just before i left the tri-cities (my sister and kids all had similar problems, though not as severe) and i ended up holed up in my hotel room for almost two days.  not fun.  i got really discouraged as i laid in bed alone in our room, thinking of my family and friends back in the u.s.,  and looking out at the polluted, gray sky.  i thought, "wow, i don't think i want to move here.  nope, don't want to.  nope, won't."  it was really hard and probably one of the most emotionally down moments i've experienced.  but, as the week passed, God gave me my energy back and encouraged me through a great group of friends.  He is so good.  i was able to join back up with allan and we pushed forward with our house-hunting plans!

our sweet friends (s&j) helped us arrange realtors to take us looking in two different parts of the city.  we didn't have an idea about where we want to live, except that we knew we want to be close to a subway station and, if possible, close to our friends (s&j).  all in all, we saw 9 apartments.  some were really suitable, but a few were not.  luckily, we still have some time left before we move so we are praying that God would make one available that will suit our family.  on our first day, two friends from the tri-cities came along and narrated our day as if we were on househunters international...we loved it and appreciated their help and encouragement!

day one of apartment hunting, here we go...

apartment #1:  really nice, but far from subway

large master bedroom with big closet.  bedrooms in china don't usually have a closet.  they use wardrobes instead, so having a closet is a plus.

very nice-sized kitchen

bathroom sink (out in the open, not joined with toilet and shower)

enclosed balcony with washing machine

apartment #2:  ideal, but way over budget

HUGE master bedroom

awesome enclosed balcony off of master

huge wrap-around balcony that extends through one whole side of the apartment.  thought we could use it for homeschooling.

at the end of the wrap-around balcony

walking into the living room from the above picture

dining room (across from living room)

super nice kitchen (across from dining room)

apartment #3: small and eclectic

dining room right off of the entry.  the seating is the actual floor of the apartment (the table is raised). the kitchen is in the back so you have to walk over the seating to get to the kitchen. a bit eclectic, right?

here's the kitchen at the back of the dining room.  it's tiny.

the whole apartment had these paneled walls.  some of the panels were actually doors that opened up and led to bedrooms and the bathroom (shown here).  we thought the kids would have loved the idea of secret passage ways, but we thought they were a bit weird.

here's the enclosed balcony off of the master with a "rock walk."  kinda interesting.

that concludes day 1.  i'll try and post some pics from day 2 later.  we saw 6 apartments the second day and were completely exhausted by the end of it.

first to go, much more to follow

i'm learning that packing up to move abroad is very different from packing up to move to another city or state within the u.s. (except for maybe hawaii, which would be a little trickier, too, i'd think).  allan and i haven't done much packing yet, but next month we will be heading out to do a little house-hunting in china and we are planning to bring some things over with us as a way to ease the burden when we do our actual move.  our friends have graciously offered to let us store our things at their place until we move, and we are very grateful!  we've also talked to a few people who have given us tips on what to bring and what not to bring, but we are still a bit overwhelmed and intimidated.  we know that what we decide to bring will have to fit into a suitcase/bag, for the most part.  as i look around my house, many of our belongings will NOT fit into a suitcase.  duh.  two of my sweet friends have offered to hold a garage sale fundraiser for us to help with our move, which i'm really excited about.  but i started craigslisting some of the bigger items we know we will not be keeping, and we've gotten rid of two things already, yay!  lots more to go.  we americans sure own a lot of things!  truth be told, it's not totally easy to get rid of all of our stuff.  some things have sentimental value; some things we just really like and have use for and wish we could bring with us (like our mattress).  but we are trusting and relying on God through it all and in a way it feels good to purge.  it helps us to remember that we can't take any of it with us anyway.  as paul wrote to timothy, "but godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world." (1 Tim 6:6-7)  a very good reminder, indeed.  so, want to know what we sold?

it's official...

...we are moving to china!  this decision has not been an easy one for us, but we are SUPER excited about it!  of course, there are costs and sacrifices as well...our loving families (especially my sister and her family), our amazing friends, our wonderful home church, uprooting our kids, some much-enjoyed "american" comforts, and more, but we are ready and trusting God in this new adventure.  excited to share more as we continue on this journey!

wearing helmets and getting ready for the 

crazy bicyclists in china!  :)

i heart pinterest!

i thought i'd do a quick share of some of my pinterest-inspired creations!  i really wish i had more time on my hands to do more of the ideas i have pinned.  sigh.  but, these were fun and i am grateful to have had the time to do even these very simple ones.  :)

this was for our homeschool preschool co-op.  we were learning the letter 'R' and this was the 'Rainbow' snack to go with it.

emma and elise wanted to do a craft one afternoon while lucas was away.  this is what they created.

i crocheted these little baby shoes for one of my friends, hoping her baby girl would hurry up and show up so we can love on her.

i hosted our homeschool speech co-op in october and this was the snack for the kids. it was a hit.  (allan is the one who actually frosted them for me!)

i saw this and loved it so i crocheted some up.

there are more, but i don't have pictures of them.  i hope to share more projects/creations in the future.  i'd love to see some of your creations, too, so post/share below!  (please???)

don't waste your weaknesses

Happy 2014 From All of Us!!

years ago, when i was still working, i took one of my first "personalities" tests.  this particular one was the meyers-briggs test and i came out as an ESFJ (complete opposite of allan, who is an INTP).  ESFJs are described as:  warmhearted, conscientious, and cooperative.  want harmony in their environment, work with determination to establish it.  like to work with others to complete tasks accurately and on time.  loyal, follow through even in small matters.

a few years later, on another test i took (i call it the animal test) i came out as a golden retriever:  warm and relational.  loyal.  enjoys routine.  peace-maker.  sensitive feelings.

most recently, i took this personality test and came out as a sensitive doer:  introverted, practical, emotional, spontaneous, sensitive, peace-loving, loyal.  (there's more.  just click the link.)

i've taken more than these three, but i won't go into all of them.

then, at the beginning of this new year, i came across this article.  i LOVED it.  as a whole, we are constantly looking to discover our strengths, taking test after test to find out how we are "wired" so we can use the information to our or others' advantage.  but this year, i'm going to focus on my weaknesses.  i'm going to take those things that i don't like about myself and try to exploit them for God's glory.  like the article suggests, i'm going to stop praying against my weaknesses and accept them as God's design for my humility and the glory of Christ.  what a great reminder of 2 Corinthians 12:8-10:  "Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.  But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."