Will Update Soon!

hi friends....i am sooo sorry i have not updated in such a long time. i have been in thailand for the last week and a half and will be here for another three weeks or so. i have had a refreshing and encouraging time with friends from the states and hearing from some great speakers. this next week, i am in classes all week. the internet connection here is not so great, so posting is quite a pain.


sherry and i. thanks sherry for the encouragement and support! i enjoyed so much hanging with you! can't wait to see you again in the summer!



don & erin diva and i. you guys are the best! what a joy it was to hang out!

I Love Him....

even though i've never met him. no, people....i'm not talking about a man in my life as i'm sure some of you hoped when you read the title! haha!

my sister sent me some new pictures of my nephew, ethan, and i can't help but fall in love. its a crazy thing. i didnt think that was possible. i feel like i can relate now to those that say they are in love with vin diesel (wowsers!) or brad pitt having never met them! ok...thats stretching it a bit, but the thought did cross my mind. of course, i would rather be able to see and hold him in person, but i am thankful to see the wonderful development of ethan through pictures. he's got quite the personality. the other day my sister put him on the phone with my mom for about 20 minutes. he giggled and laughed the whole time as she talked to him! how precious is that!!!

auntie iris and ethan...

Yay for Snow!

my friend and i were just talking about snow the other day and how it has been really sad that we have had to endure the cold weather without snow! when we saw rain in the forecast, we all hoped for the possibility....and this is what i woke up to this morning.
(pictures taken from my bedroom window) i'm sure that as the day progresses it will become more beautiful. i was just really excited to see the first snow fall of the year! i will try to take better pictures when i leave the house later and post for you all to see. :)

Jiaozi Making

"The history of jiaozi dates back to ancient times. But the custom of making jiaozi a special dish during the Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, started in the Ming Dynasty, some 500 to 600 years ago. The reason is simple. The appearance of jiaozi looks like the V-shape £ some say half-moon shaped £ gold or silver ingot used as money in ancient China. As the Spring Festival marks the start of a new year, people choose to eat jiaozi to connote their wishes for good fortune in the new year. Although time has changed, the tradition has remained. But today, jiaozi is considered more as a sign of blessing than of fortune."

my landlord, J, invited us over to her place to make jiaozi. it was so fun and yummy!

we began with preparing the filling. J had already prepared the flour for the wrappers. we had two types of filling: 1. pork and celery and 2. pork, shrimp, and a green that i dont know the name of in english.

next, we rolled out the flour to create the wrappers.

then, we stuffed them!

finally, after they were boiled we enjoyed them over great conversations!

i wish i could say that i can repeat the process to teach you all at home, but alas, that is only wishful thinking!

Weekend Vacation

these were taken about a month or so ago during a weekend vacation. enjoy!

Goodbye 2007....Hello 2008

i am entering 2008 with enthusiasm, joy, and hope. 2007 was a good, tough year for me. reflecting on the year, i am able to see so much of His faithfulness, as i hesitantly took steps of obedience and even when i didnt! my friend christina, earlier on in the year, gave me an analogy that has really come to be a picture of my year.

christina shared with me, as i was working through a lot of deep, hard stuff, that she felt like He has a treasure box full of gifts waiting for me! the hard part is that the treasure is/was buried inside my heart and His. He wanted me to dig deep to find them. christina used the excavating process as a picture of what He was taking me through, much like geologists searching and digging up old bones. much of it is tedious work, breaking through rock and hard places, but the revelation through the process and on the other side is full of wealth and understanding. "keep digging!" was her encouragement to me (even though it was not encouragement early on :) ). though not fully at the end of my digging yet, i have been able to see so much of this wealth and understanding. and i can honestly say that it has been worth it, despite the tears that were shed, the tedious work that was required, and the amount of emotional and physical energy that was expensed.

and so, i come out of 2007 a different person (oh yeah, and in a different continent too!). it is my heart's desire to continue "to love and run hard after Him" in 2008. other goals for the new year are:

1. to learn how to cook a new dish each month. you all know how hard this is for me. i failed miserably the last time i tried to do this, but i think being in a different culture will help me. of course, not having my mom cook for me anymore, is another motivation! :) please send me recipes (easy ones) that you have tried and liked!
2. finish memorizing the book of philippians. i started several months ago and never finished....3 chapters to go.
3. learn how to sing some chinese songs!

i can do it!

happy 2008 to you all! xin nian kuai le!

FU

this character pronounced, fu, means "happiness" or is a blessing of "good luck." it is found mounted onto most doors. often, it is hung upside-down. the pronounciation of the word 'upside-down' is similar to the pronounciation of the word 'arriving'. therefore people will hang the 'fu' word upside-down to symbolize that happiness has arrived.

in light of the significance of this character in this this culture, i thought it very appropriate for me to get each of my roommates something to wish them the blessing of happiness for the new year! :)

i was not offended when they decided to regift this gift. i probably would have done the same thing!

Merry Christmas!

christmas is now over on my side of the world. its a weird feeling....kind of like living in the future...ok, not really, but not being in the same time zone has been an adjustment for me. :)

it has been a very special holiday season for me. i am so thankful to have such a wonderful family here to celebrate the holidays with.

christmas began with my roommates and i putting up the tree and decorating our apartment!

then came the different parties...
team party
my roommate LP and i
christmas brunch
christmas dinner. wowee!
yummy!


this holiday season truly has been a blessing. yes, some of it tough, but was continuously reminded of the reason for the season.

thanks so much to those that brought "home" to me with cards and packages! they are much appreciated and made me feel so special. i love you guys!

Sometimes....

my nose just hurts. i think the best way to describe it, is that it stings. this actually happens quite often, unfortunately. each day on my way to the bus stop after class, i come across lots of this...

why? i'm not quite sure. i just know my nose is hating me for it!

along the same line.....a couple of weeks ago, i took a trip with several friends to another city. this city was much more polluted than where i live. you can literally feel the pollution and smog as it irritates your nose, eyes, etc. at the end of the first day, as my friend was getting ready for bed, she yells from the bathroom, "eeewww, my boogers are black!" oh the pollution and smog!!! californians, you have nothing to complain about!

The Blog Readability Test

Cash Advance Loans

this can't be right...maybe because i don't write in complete sentences or correct english and so, therefore, would require a genius to figure out what i'm actually trying to say!