Christmas Photo

Thought all of you would enjoy David's and my official Christmas photo this year:

Sadly this is about the only photo we took of us together officially on Christmas this year, though we have tons of photos from Christmas events and different things, as well as one good "formal" photo we took several weeks ago in front of our tree for our Christmas card. One of those is about all I can talk David into each year. :)

Christmas this year was great, although I can't believe its already over! December has gone by really fast. For those who'd like to know what we do for Christmas overseas, here is how we spent the holiday this year.

On Christmas Eve, David and I spent the day cooking all sorts of wonderful treats and dishes for a big dinner that evening. David baked 4 different types of desserts/treats/cookies (since baking is HIS specialty), and I made green bean casserole, David's mom's dish called "Corn Corn," and mashed potatoes. We arrived at our teammates Josh and Danielle's house around 5:30 and shared a delicious feast with our whole team: the Shelley's, the Greene's and Ellie Wilson. See Josh and Danielle's pics here. After dinner, the Greene's kids, Kayleigh(2) and Zeb (8 months) watched Charlie Brown Christmas (or part of it) while the grown ups talked. Then we all read the Christmas story together, lit the final advent candle and sang Christmas carols. We all got to request a carol. I requested David's favorite "O Holy Night" and he requested my favorite "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus." Kayleigh requested Jingle Bells! After the kids went to bed, we all watched Home Alone (the original) together. I hadn't seen it in about 10 years, which made it surprisingly entertaining!

Today, on Christmas, we all gathered at the Greene's house around 9:30 this morning for a big breakfast. David and I brought monkey bread, and the Greene's fixed bacon, eggs and a delicious fruit salad. After breakfast, we exchanged gifts as a team (we do "secret santa" every year, although this year we all knew exactly who was getting a gift for whom)! David got the book "River Town" from Josh, which is supposed to be excellent. I got coffee, a coffee mug, and a gift certificate for a pedicure from Alisa Greene--all the ingredients needed for a lovely day of pampering before the baby comes! In the afternoon, we lunched on leftovers from the feast the night before, played Scategories and eventually watched the movie Wall-E.

It was a relaxing day, spent with some of my favorite people in the world. I know for all of us, its enjoyability was tempered by the rememberance that we were far away from our families and friends at home. But God is good and blesses us wherever we are in the world, and for that we give him thanks and praise. Love and miss all of you!! Merry Christmas!!

Month 8 Belly Pic

Several family members have been asking for a recent belly pic, so here it finally is. The belly at 32 weeks:As for how I've been feeling--not too bad, overall. I had heard a lot about fatigue in the third trimester, but though I've certainly felt my energy decreasing with each added pound and inch, I still feel like I have much more energy than in the first trimester when my hormones were just going nuts! Nothing has been as bad as that. We'll see if I still feel that way in a few weeks when month number 9 gets here! The baby moves all the time these days, which is really fun not only for me but also for pretty much anyone in the same room as me because my belly contorts so much. Every time David sees the baby moving, he puts his hand under his own shirt and does an impression from the movie "Alien." We are getting more and more excited, but also a little overwhelmed at how soon this big little life change will be arriving!

Why I am mad at The Gap

So here I am coming up on month number 8 of my pregnancy, and this is where your maternity clothes really get tested. Those tops that looked so cute in month 6--do they still cover the belly? Those pants that were so comfy a few weeks ago, are they riding lower and lower these days? I realize some of this is just the reality of getting crazy, freakin huge kinda big, but I have also discovered some serious deficiencies in some of the quality of the maternity clothes I invested in. In particular, I have noticed an alarming trend of shrinkage amongst the knit tops I have purchased. At the beginning, some have discounted my observations as simply being due to the fact I was getting bigger, not that the tops were getting smaller. But, now I have photographic proof of the most flagrant offender--the Gap!!

You can see in the above photo two knit long-sleeve maternity shirts from the Gap. Both were purchased while I was home in the States this summer--they are identical in style and both a size medium. I wore the black one for the first time over Thanksgiving, and washed it ONE TIME in cold water, then dried it in the dryer on med/low heat. This week when I tried to wear it again, my belly totally hung out the bottom! I still had not worn the white top, so I brought it out for a comparison! These photos are what I found! From ONE washing the black top had shrunk nearly 4 inches in length, as well as the length of the sleeves, the width of the top, etc.! I had purchased these 2 tops from the Gap specifically because I put (misplaced) trust in the quality of their clothing and thought these would not only last through this pregnancy but through future pregnancies as well! All my maternity clothes are beginning to look a little ratty, but even the tops I bought for $6 at Ross Dress for Less have held up better than these from the Gap!!! Believe me, there is nothing more frustrating in the world than noticing that as you are getting bigger, your "maternity" clothes are simultaneously getting smaller!!

Catch-up Photos: Halloween

This Halloween, our good friends Josh and Danielle Shelley hosted a pirate-themed murder mystery dinner party called "Murder Among the Mateys." This is the 2nd year one of our friends has done one of these, which are really amazingly fun! You can purchase a kit online that basically provides everything you need to host a murder mystery, from character descriptions, to instructions on what happens at each stage of the evening, etc. The websites our friends have used are www.nightofmystery.com and www.dinnerandamurder.com . Both of the kits from these websites are very professional and will definitely deliver a fun evening, so if you are interested in doing a murder mystery dinner, I would highly recommend anything from either of those sites. Anyway, we had a great time, and David especially really got into his character. At the end of the evening, everyone guesses who they think the murderer is, and everyone also votes on who had the best costume, did the best job of getting into character, etc. This year, David won everything! He was the only one to correctly guess the murderer, and was voted best costume and best character! He deserved it--he did wear eyeliner after all!

Catch-up Photos: Baby Shower

So, I just might be the world's least consistent blogger, but I do occasionally do a little catch-up for all the things I'd been meaning to post about but simply haven't gotten around to doing. A little over a month ago, several friends here in Asia threw me a wonderful baby shower, complete with an amazing "pea in the pod" cake, and a hilarious video of David answering pregnancy and birth related questions!! So, here are some photo highlights:

More Ultrasound Videos

Because of the popularity of the yawn video I posted a few days ago (OK, well, it was popular with my mom!!), I am posting a few more ultrasound videos here. For those who complained they couldn't tell what they are seeing in the yawn video, basically in the top part of the screen you can see what looks like a skeleton face resting on a pillow. The pillow is the placenta, and the face is the baby's face, turned sideways like he/she is laying down, but facing you. The top of his/her head is on the left, with the mouth and jaw on the right. The motion you see on the screen is the jaw opening for a yawn, then the baby's head recedes a little bit into the background. Anyway, here are the other videos:

Baby's Hand in Mouth:


Baby's Heart Beating:

This one is pretty amazing I think. It is a close up of the heart, and you can see the different chambers and everything!

Baby's Feet Crossed:

Sleepy Baby

We got an ultrasound the other day and saw the most amazing thing--the baby yawned! Here is the video of the yawn from the ultrasound. Immediately after the yawn, the baby brought its hand up and put it in its mouth, but unfortunately that cute little action was not captured by the ultrasound technician. Anyway, enjoy!

Bathroom Repairs

So, this week was a holiday to celebrate this country's National Day. David and I had Thursday and Friday off, and my pregnant self was looking forward to some serious laziness. However, it was simply not to be. Instead, we spent those two days superintending some serious bathroom repairs.

About a week or so ago, I noticed a puddle of water accumulating outside our bathroom door. I asked David, "Did you spill a cup of water and not mop it up?" I know, I wasn't exactly giving him a lot of credit. He of course said no, and so I examined the puddle more closely. It turned out our WALL was leaking. Not any bathroom fixture per se, but the wall itself! Each day, it would get worse and worse, and the puddle spread to a whole other wall!! I would mop them up, and they would reappear the next day. So, I knew our two days off would be spent dealing with the problem.

The phone call to our landlady was interesting. I asked her to come over, explaining that we had a "fairly serious bathroom problem." She asked if it was the toilet or the sink. I said no, it was the wall!! Well, it peaked her curiosity enough, and she came the next day.

Repairs ensued, and after much banging with a sledge-hammer, the solid concrete wall was chipped away enough to reveal the pipes (hoses, in actuality) behind the sink in our bathroom. Sure enough, one had sprung a leak and several others had problems. The leak had saturated the solid concrete walls with water, and thus eventually the wall itself began to drip with water! Here are some photos:



You can see the pool of water here. This wall is actually in our living room!
Here you can see where the wall began to mold. Eww.
The exposed "pipes" and the mound of concrete that had to be chipped away in order to access them!!
After the repairs. Notice the water bottle that for some reason became an essential part of the repair!!

5 Month Belly Photos

So, here it is. The belly at 5 months! I feel like I am SOOO much bigger than I was just a month or so ago when we left the states. There is definitely no mistaking I am pregnant now. Although, I still get a shocked reaction from local people when I tell them I am pregnant. I think it is because I wear "normal" clothes. For the most part, maternity wear here basically consists of either pajamas or overalls. So maybe it is the jeans and t-shirts that are throwing them off. :) These pictures I took a few days ago when we had our first official "Huffman Dean Sleepover Switch." Basically, Andy Huffman came into the city and spent the night with David, staying up all night playing video games. I went out to where the Huffmans live, and stayed with Erin-Ashley. We stayed up SUPER late (i.e. 11 p.m.!) talking, no technology needed for us to have fun. Anyway, we of course had to document our coinciding pregnancies, so here are the photos we took:
She is 8 weeks ahead of me, but in this photo, I think our bellies are very comparably sized! Kind of frightening!
She posted this one on her blog, and commented that her belly looks so much bigger than mine. Photos above are proof that that is only an optical illusion, based on camera angle!

Where I Got My Awesome Napping Skills

Due to technical difficulties with my camera, its been quite a while since my last post. But, no fear! I am back. :) Here are a couple photos I took back in June during my family's vacation in Utah. The title pretty much says it all: Where I got my awesome napping skills . . .

Missing Life in the City

As most of you know, David and I are currently in good ol' Lubbock, Texas--my hometown and basically the capital of suburbia. Today I was missing my other home a little bit (East Asia) so I was getting on friends' blogs and reading about what was going on on the other side of the world. Basically, I discovered they are smack in the middle of the summer rainy season, which I very much remember from last summer when the temperature never got above 60 degrees and it rained continuously, 24 hours a day, for about 25 days straight in July (no shorts or swimming or any of the fun summer activities I was looking forward to). So, that was good and made me thankful to spend the summer in a different way--at home, with family, in Lubbock where it is currently 102 degrees. But I read a recent blog by my friend Josh that was inspired by a book he was reading about urbanism--basically, it was all about how living in the city really is good for the soul. He described a lot of the casual relationships he and his wife have built with their neighbors and with the shopkeepers and vegetable sellers in their neighborhood. About these he said, "I’m realizing how significant all these short little human interactions are. Interacting with strangers is good for the soul. It helps me remember that I’m not the only one on the planet and helps me to care about people who aren’t directly involved in my life. I think that it makes me more human." I completely agree. I feel like living in the city I meet new and interesting people every day--cab drivers, women who sell handmade aprons on the street, etc. 90% of these interractions are positive, but even the negative ones are good for me in that they teach me patience, and they help me take seriously being polite, kind and compassionate to others. Its defintely my favorite thing about living in the city, and also one of my favorite things about living overseas (that the people I meet are from a different culture just makes them more interesting to me)! Anyway, I highly recommend reading this blog entry.

Fun with Family

We've been enjoying the clear, blue skies and gorgeous, cool Utah weather these past few days, but even more we've been enjoying being together with family! Here are some favorite photos:




This one is my favorite! Mom, Becky and I came home from buying groceries to find David, Josh and Dad ALL just sitting around on their laptops!

Random in Park City

Here are some photos I took today in Park City, Utah. This tree of shoes reminds me that America can sometimes be just as random as Asia.
My favorite is these ski boots someone managed to get up in the tree. :)
This tiny cottage in Park City is for sale for $795,000.
Interesting--this photo was NOT taken in Asia, but Salt Lake City. Bilingual in English and Chinese.

Thankful

So, David and I are back here in the good ol' USA!! We arrived Thursday night, delirious and wanting not to ever spend another second on a plane ever again, which is a wish that will be granted us for exactly one month. Jet lag kicked in for me at exactly 4:30 a.m. friday morning, when I found myself wide awake and yet somehow also still exhausted. But, friday ended up being a great day, and we managed to stay busy and awake until 11 p.m.! This day included an overwhelming trip to the grocery store (suddenly, so many choices all available to me any time I please!!), and overwhelming trip to the mall (people are wearing that these days?!), and a wonderful couple of hours spent at Barnes and Noble (browsing books with a Starbucks in my hand? Awesome!). My mom treated us to a delicious lunch at this really nice fresh fish restaurant--it made for a spectacular first real meal in the States! Last night, my sister took us to a little cafe she likes that reminded me a lot of Foster's Market in Chapel Hill. The food was really good, and afterwards we went to see a movie called "The Visitor." Becky and Josh had seen it at the Sundance Film Festival, and now it was in the theater. It was really good--about this lonely college professor whose life is reinvigorated when he meets this illegal immigrant couple and begins trying to help them. I wasn't sure I was going to make it through the movie, but it was really engaging and held my attention the whole way through! We finished the fun evening off with some frozen yogurt, and lots of laughter together with my family. For this and so much more, I am truly thankful!

Goodbye Asia . . . for now

Well, our semester is over (although school here technically doesn't end till mid-July!) and David and I are headed home to the U.S. to see our friends and families--some for the first time in 2 years! Needless to say, we are excited. The last few days have been a whirlwind of business, but the Lord has been good in the midst to give us sweet time and conversations with good friends here--chances both to be a blessing to others, and be blessed in return! Anyway, this is a short post because we need to head to bed, get up and get on a plane tomorrow! I'll post again soon about our adventures in good ol' America! Till then . . .

More Earthquake Thoughts

Its been a couple of weeks since the earthquake in our neighboring province, and while the return to somewhat-normalcy has been nice, the disaster is still very much present in our hearts and minds. While I still feel overwhelmed when I think of the suffering and the enormity of the issues in the quake zone, this past week or so has also brought with it some really amazingly encouraging stories.

Last Sunday at the International Fellowship that David and I attend here in our city (its legal so I can write about it), a doctor shared about the time he and a team of doctors spent working in a camp of survivors near the epicenter. He said that since they arrived 5 days after the quake, most of the serious injuries had already been treated, so the work they spent the most time doing was simply dressing minor wounds and such things. However, they found the work to be incredibly meaningful for 2 reasons--they were so glad to be able to give some rest to the military doctors who had been working at this location for literally 5 days straight without a break. They said it meant a lot to them to be working side by side with these doctors with a common goal (this doesn't often happen here--foreigners and the military being on the same side).

The other reason actually involves very non-medical work they ended up doing. Something I have heard from several sources working up there is that one of the major needs is for volunteers to go to these camps of survivors and organize games and activities to entertain the children. This doctor said after the first day when they noticed dozens of kids just wandering around aimlessly, some of the doctors decided to put together a little arts and crafts center for the kids. By the end of their time there, they had 40 or so kids coming daily to spend the day coloring or making crafts, as well as smiling and laughing. The laughter of these kids soon spread to the adults around them, and it felt like hope and encouragement was returning to this camp!

Another friend who is very actively involved in the relief efforts said this in a recent email:

"If you were asked to guess the earthquake survivors’ two most sought-after items, would you say water and medical supplies? Food and blankets?

Would you believe…tents and soccer balls?? Several teams would attest from their experience that the need for fun and laughter is as great as basic survival needs.

One group of athletic minded college guys were inspired to bring a bunch of sports equipment so the refugee camp’s children could have the chance to feel like kids again. Imagine their surprise when the adults gathered around and their faces lit up at the sound of lighthearted laughter at play!

Another surprise was how their games somehow freed the children up to share their traumatic experiences that up until that time they hadn’t shared with anyone else. Lin had been in the camp with the other children for at least a week before the roving soccer camp arrived. As a result of this “soccer therapy” she was able to reveal that she had lost a sister in the earthquake, something she had not told anyone before that.

It is evidence that the necessities of the soul such as connecting with others and the promise of tomorrow - as seen in the laughter of children - can help soften the blow of losing loved ones, homes and material possessions. It serves as a reminder that life will indeed hold something to look forward to again, as long as there are children and soccer balls."

These two separate stories really encouraged and humbled me. In my pride, I often think that if God will use me, it will be through some really big, really significant thing. But it was really good to be reminded that doctors can find significance in acting like camp counselors, and that sometimes the most important thing you could do in a given day is organize a game of soccer.

Back to Blogging

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't posted many things these past few weeks. First it was simply busyness, and recently with the earthquake and all, it's simply been due to weariness and really being unsure what to write. Its been kind of a heavy time, but God is really good. David and I have had many meaningful and significant conversations with people this past week about God's comfort in the midst of suffering, and those very truths have been what has brought me strength and hope as well.

This afternoon a friend sat in my living room and shared how his parent's and grandparent's and relative's homes had all been destroyed, tears running down his face as he spoke. Thankfully, his family had all survived the earthquake unharmed, but he worried that since his family doesn't live in one of the 4 counties nearest the epicenter of the quake, he is not sure much aid will arrive to his hometown. He said currently his family members do not even have tents to sleep in at night, but sleep in the open. It was heartbreaking to hear about, but this friend's family's situation is ten times better than so many who lost relatives in the earthquake! So we do our best to mourn with the brothers and sisters who are mourning around us.

On the other hand, it has been so encouraging to hear about how people nearer the quake zone are really pulling together to do everything they can to help! Some good friends of ours, Josh and Danielle (read more on their blog here) traveled to the area of the quake, and they said they were amazed not only by the destruction they saw, but by the thousands of people driving their personal cars full of food and supplies up into the mountains to help the victims of the quake. As outsiders to the culture I live in, it is often a temptation to judge my surrounding culture and feel superior, and I admit I have done this in the past, saying to myself, "At least Americans are compassionate, unlike these people . . ." But I am moved and humbled by all I have heard over the past week. And inspired to do as much as I can with the limited resources and time I have.

So, yeah, a roller coaster of emotions. But God is so good in the midst, and I know that he not only has plans to use David and I in this situation, but also to grow our faith and reliance on him. So I am thankful.

In any case, I will try to do better on updating my blog. Oh, and you should congratulate me on my first serious post! And let me know what you think of the new background and layout and all. God bless!

Earthquake Update

Hi Everyone! Just wanted to let you know David and I are fine and were completely unaffected by the earthquake yesterday afternoon. The epicenter is a few hundred miles north of us. Some of my friends said they felt it yesterday afternoon, but neither David nor I nor several other folks we know felt anything. We had to learn about it from news on the internet! It seems most of the people who were killed or injured lived in poorer, rural areas where the buildings were shoddily constructed and collapsed. There is absolutely no damage where we are, but in a city nearer to the epicenter where several of our friends live we hear there are power and water outages. So we ask your prayers in particular for the villages nearer to the epicenter where people were most affected. Also, pray for us as we try to explain to friends how our loving Father can allow natural disasters such as this and the hurricane in Myanmar to happen. Thanks so much!

My Current Hero

My friend April Klaussen is my current hero. Why? Well, I checked out her blog this morning, and it turns out she is trying something new every week in 2008. Her latest blog is about how she tried a trapeze class while she was in New York recently. Basically, if you know anything about me, you know that I am adventurous, but ONLY at things I have a pretty good idea I will be good at ahead of time--athletic things, or anything else I have a good chance at failing at, I DO NOT DO. I like success, and I am nearly paralyzed by a fear of failure and/or embarassing myself. So, keep that in mind and check out my friend April's blog--she might just be your current hero too!

Tang Dynasty Glamour Shots

In August last year, I received 2 gift certificate to a local photography studio specializing in Tang Dynasty Glamour Shots. Oh yes. We're talking ancient Asian style hair and dress (about 1000 A.D.) and a makeover. Who could resist? So, finally last week I went to have them done. (For some examples of Tang Dynasty costumes, go here.)
I really never thought it would me more than just a fun, funny experience, but when I arrived to the studio, I was impressed by how fancy the decor was (red velvet curtains, and red and gold carpets, etc.) Above you can see the selection of dresses you can choose to have your picture taken in.
Above shows a case of jewelry you can choose to wear to compliment your costume.
These are the makeup stations where you receive your makeover. The package I chose included 2 outfits, 2 makeovers (they re-do your hair for each outfit) and 2 photo sessions. The most interesting part by far for me was the hair! In the first set of pictures, I chose a pink and purple dress that was very soft and feminine. For my hair, the stylist used 4 different hair pieces to create a very elaborate hairstyle, which was topped off by two chopsticks with sparkly things dangling from them, 8 bobby pins with glittery butterflies, and a gigantic pink flower. When we were taking the photos, I kept having to take breaks because my head weighed so much that my neck would get tired. In the 2nd set of photos, I chose a regal gold dress with red trim, so they decided to do me up like an empress. This time I had 6 different hairpieces, a golden crown, a large red flower, 8 gold butterfly bobby pins, and a set of dangly gold earrings hanging from my hair! The whole thing took around 4 1/2 hours, and I was completely exhausted by the end, although I must say it was an amazingly fun experience. I should get the photos back soon, and I will definitely post them here for all to see!

This might prove advertising really is evil.

At first I thought this might simply be an image that people in the culture I live in might find cute or appealing (I have reasons for this--a recent heard of small children I saw running around with red, light-up devil horn head-bands on), but my teacher explained what the advertisement meant and cleared things up. She said this is actually available ad space--a billboard which is currently unrented. The sign says something like, "You can sell anything here, you can even sell your soul." Clever, but slightly disturbing . . .

Driving Distraction?

A couple of weeks ago, David and I went to a nearby, wealthier city for the weekend. Many of their "modern" taxi cabs include this:

The reason is that the little TV runs advertisements aimed at the passengers in the cabs, and the drivers recieve money for installing them in their cabs. But is this a valid way for drivers to supplement their income, or just a safety concern? I have seen drivers play movies on these things, and "listen" to them as they drive. Maybe its just me, but seems like a bad idea. :)

Unexpected Cultural Differences: Animals

Recently through my language class, I have come across a couple of interesting facts about the culture of the Asian country I live in. The first was the fact that different languages and cultures perceive (or at least imitate) the sounds that animals make differently. For example, in the States when we make a sound like a dog, it is something like "Woof woof" or "Ruff ruff." Here where I live, they say, "Wong wong." Seriously. As David and I explored with our teacher the sounds various different animals made, we found that almost all of them were totally different from the sounds we would have attributed to that animal. I will ask my teacher again today, and follow this up with more Asian animal noises.

The second interesting cultural difference I came upon recently was a difference in what insects people find scary or intimidating. I was studying a passage in our text book recently, when I came upon this sentence (my translation): "While the countryside has many attractions that cannot be found in the city, you may also encounter some very frightening things, such as spiders and catepillars." Catepillars? I asked my teacher and, sure enough, she said she was terrified of catepillars. The main thing seemed to be the hairiness (the literal translation of the word for catepillar is "hairy hairy worm"). I told her that, generally, people in the West thought catepillars were cute and kind of charming. She was appalled.

She assured me that certainly not all people in the West could like catepillars (that's fair), and in her opinion it must be a personality thing. She said people with more easy-going personalities were probably afraid of spiders (referencing me), while people with more "sensitive" personalities were afraid of catepillars. She said we should test this theory by asking my friend Erin-Ashley (whom my teacher knows and has deemed as having a "sensitive" personality) what she thinks of catepillars. EA, if you read this, throw in a comment. My teacher said she was "absolutely sure" Erin-Ashley is afraid of catepillars. :)

Poker Chip Bewilderment

My mom gave a great suggestion the other day to help me get in the groove of blogging. Since interesting stories or events don't exactly happen EVERY day of my life, I can use this forum to share with you guys funny stories of things that have happened in the past as well. This weekend, David and I went out of town, and flying reminded me of a funny story that happened last year.

So, David has been really into Texas Hold 'Em poker for the last 3 years or so. When we were in the States a couple of years ago, he purchased a pretty nice poker chip set at Wal Mart. It has nice, heavy clay chips and they are stored in a silver case with handles that looks a lot like a gun case for a small handgun or something. Anyway, traveling with it in Asia has proved to be interesting on a couple of occasions.

Last year we had the following incident when David carried the poker set onto a plane, so we had to bring it through security. Of course as soon as it came through the scanner, they confisgated the bag it was in and took it out to examine it. I saw the image on the screen--basically 6 dark, solid cylinders (the rows of chips) encased in a metal case. I would agree it looked suspicious! So, the security guards took it out, opened it up, and immediately all looked very perplexed.

I, trying to be helpful, said, "It is a game. Maybe you have seen this in the movies? It is called poker."

The security guards were 3 males and 1 female. The female answered, "Oh yeah! She's right! I have seen this on the movies. It is a card game!" She was ignored.

So, the head security guard goes and gets his boss to come and look. More head scratching, grunts, and general confusion. This guy goes and gets another guy, same thing. Lots of taking out individual chips, examining them with head cocked, like they were looking at alien technology or something. This guy goes and gets someone even higher up, same thing. All the while, the lowly female security guard is saying that she knows what it is.

Finally, the highest level guy (whoever he was) decides that whatever it is (he is still not listening to the female guard) it is probably safe and allows us to go on through. Thankfully for David, we were able to keep the poker set which he is very attatched to. We were very afraid it might face the same fate as some very suspicious refrigerator magnets I tried to bring through security here once that were immediately confisgated. :)

Hey, at least we know they take our safety seriously.

This morning David and I watched the never-again-to-be-mentioned-in-the-Dean-household Final Four game, and saw a few pretty cool commercials. One in particular made us and all our friends laugh, not because it was especially clever, but because after we saw it, several people said, "That is JUST what you and David's kids will be like!" So, yeah, judge for yourself. Is this little man a prediction of what future little Deans may be someday? I personally think he is more like the offspring of Robbie Dean than David, but I will let you guys decide.

Recent Photos #2

Easter weekend, David's and my good friends Josh and Danielle Shelley invited us to go away with them to a small city about 2 1/2 hours from where we live. This city is known for their hot springs, and a successful cigarette company that is located there (randomly!) built this five star resort in the middle of nowhere. Because it is in the middle of nowhere, rooms are very affordable (about $40 a night!).
Not only does this place provide extremely comfortable rooms (see below), and hot springs to soak and relax in, this small city is far enough away from the big city to have peace and quiet and unpolluted air--things you learn not to take for granted in this part of the world!
We had an extremely relaxing weekend, then returned Sat. night, so we could be here in town to celebrate Easter together with friends.
This last photo is from this past weekend, when David and I decided to try a new Thai restaurant here in town on our date night. David found an item on the menu called "Lemon Shrimp" and really wanted to try it. I am always weary of seafood in Asia, but I told him we could try it if he really wanted to. It was a little expensive, so he asked the waitress how many shrimps came with the dish and she said 9. We thought nine wasn't too bad, so we ordered the dish. The waitress looked confused. She said, "There are NINE shrimp in this dish, and there are only two of you! I think you won't be able to eat it all!" (This kind of unsolicited advice is not uncommon here). David and I chuckled to ourselves, thinking, "We are Americans, hon, we eat dozens of shrimp in one sitting. Nine shrimp will not be a problem, just you wait." So, all our other dishes came out very quickly, and we were extremely pleased with all--delicious spring rolls with sweet and sour sauce, the best chicken satay I have ever had with a curry sauce, delicious stir fried mixed vegetables, and a bowl of red curry pork. Finally, about 15 minutes after all our other dishes arrive, they bring the shrimp. They still had the heads on them (something I dislike but I am trying to get over) but at least other than the heads and tails they were already peeled. Each sat in its own small bowl of lemon and chili sauce. David and I both reached and picked up a shrimp to try. Immediately I am overwhelmed--the sauce was WAY too strong--WAY too lemony and sour, and at the same time WAY to spicy with the chillies!! The kind of taste that makes you grimace and pucker. You couldn't taste the shrimp AT ALL! I immediately drained the rest of my coke and then went for my water glass. David said he didn't think it was that bad, and went for his 2nd shrimp. After the 2nd shrimp, he said he had to quit. We both wanted to keep going to prove that waitress wrong and just because it seemed so wasteful to leave 7 expensive shrimp on the table. But, we admitted defeat. The waitress was proved right in the end, although the problem was not AT ALL the amount of (pretty small) shrimp, but the inedible sauce they were drenched in!!

Recent Photos #1

Here are some recent photos from David's and my life: A couple of weeks ago, David and I hosted a small get together for some fellow UNC grads to watch the North Carolina v. Duke game at our house. We had a great time, and took this photo of everyone wearing their Carolina gear. How did you watch this basketball game from across the globe, you ask. Well, it involved an internet connection, a cord hooking our computer up to the TV, and Andy Huffman's parents have something called "sling box" hooked up to their TV in West Virginia that can send the broadcast to us here in Asia. It was a little complicated and the resolution wasn't great (you couldn't see the BALL on the screen!), but it was still fun!

David and I made a variety of treats for our early-morning basketball party--including BOTH coffee cake and hot wings!

Back in February, my best friend Erin-Ashley and I went to a spa in town to celebrate her birthday. This spa/hotel has several outdoor hot tubs fed by natural hot springs. We felt pampered and very blessed!

Here is a pic from that same day of Erin-Ashley and I in the robes this spa provides. :)

Blog Attempt #3

So . . . I am going to try to do a blog. Again. This is my third attempt at doing a better job keeping up with friends and family in the States through blogging. The first blog was last summer and only had ONE entry EVER. My 2nd attempt was to blog about David's and my vacation in Thailand a couple of months ago. That was a little better. I kept it up about 2 1/2 weeks--about 9 posts all together. So, this is attempt #3. I really want to do well at updating it at least once a week with stories or photos from our life here in Asia. We really do live too far away from too many people we care about to NOT be doing this. So, I am going to really try. :)

So, the purpose of this blog is to post interesting stories about our life in a different culture and photos of our life. However, you will notice a lot of things conspicuously missing from our blog--namely stories about the BIGGEST things we are doing here, the things we spend most of our time doing. It is simply not smart to post about such things on the web--sadly, because I think these stories would almost certainly make the most interesting and significant blog entries I could post. Instead, you will find here posts about things David and I do for fun, stories about cross-culture experiences, and maybe a few of my thoughts on my own personal spiritual journey (this is allowed). I hope you will still find these to be interesting and encouraging!

Each of you is incredibly significant to David and I and we miss you terribly. :) I hope this will help all of you feel the distance is a little shorter! Feel free to comment on posts--just be thoughtful and careful about what you write and not mention anything about what David and I "do" here. We've been here long enough that I know you know what I mean. Love all of you!