Beloved

海埂公园

2009-03-19T05:09:00.000-07:00

Okay, to the event. This Saturday, Jeff and I had the pleasure of going with some friends out to a park for some xiao cao. What's xiao cao? It's Chinese BBQ and oh so delicious, especially with some imported KC Masterpiece bbq sauce. We had chicken, beef, pork, eggplant, zucchini, chicken legs, and potatoes. It was all delicious and fun to make. We also had snacks like watermelon, chips, and such that didn't require BBQing. There were then some crazy moments in a pitch black bathroom trip, bus confusion, more bathroom trips, and finally a cab ride home.
Jeff and I stole the camera for a couple pictures :)

The group enjoying some watermelon.
We were so hungry, we didn't realize that it took about an hour to get to the place.
Group picture, the smoke was crazy intense, but you can't really tell...
We tried to take a nice picture but Ora wanted to ruin it... :(
I'm not sure how this started, but soon the couples had to do things with their arms intertwined.
Jeff looks so happy :D

LiJiang

2009-02-17T17:40:00.000-08:00

So we finally decided to travel to places close to Kunming. We took Mom and Kurt to LiJiang, about a 40 minute plane ride from our home. It was absolutely beautiful. After much debating about a hotel, I was going for a place about $7/night, Kurt found one for $40/night, we settled on Kurt's, since it was only one night. What a great choice. It was a four star hotel, and it was absolutely gorgeous, with a water wheel and wishing well included. The first day we roamed around the town and did a lot of shopping. We ate lunch at a Sichuan restaurant next to our hotel while mom shopped and ate all at the same time. The food was really good and the scenery was just awesome. After shopping we headed back to the hotel to play some 500 and rest up before our dinner. One of my students at Web owns a restaurant in LiJiang, so we decided to meet up with her for dinner that night. She promised to give us a taste of LiJiang. Oh man, it was so good, we had hot pot, and the famous cakes-salty and sweet- and were stuffed to the brim. After dinner we walked around the old town taking pictures of lights and we bought a candle to send down the river for good luck. After that, we headed back to the hotel for a fire party- which Kurt thought was a firework show- and did some dancing around a BBQ with some of the locals. It was good fun. Then we headed to bed to get some good sleep. The next morning, we thought about going to snow mountain until we realized that it was 160RMB just to walk in, so we ix nayed that idea and decided to take our own hike. We hiked up a bit and took some pictures and then realized that we still didn't want to pay money to walk on a road. We headed down to KFC for a quick power snack-fries, coke, and chicken wings- and then took to the streets of the old town again. We decided to stop for some lunch at this restaurant called Le Petit Paris. 2 hours later, after many games of Big 2, 2 pizzas, 2 sandwiches, 2 salads, fried bananas, and coffee, we decided to head back to the hotel to hang around. Kurt was starting to get a little sick, so we thought we'd rest up a bit. Grabbed some dumplings and potatoes from the street, and headed to the airport. Whew, what a trip!
Pics of our awesome hotel!!
We played 500 and Big 2 outside in this little area, it was awesome!
At the Sichuan restaurant.
Streets of old town
Big square in old town with the water wheels and requests to the gods.
Jeff's artistic pics
Candle ceremony
Nightlife of the old town

We had some xiao cao for a late night snack
Getting my own water from the well
Snow mountain

Jeffwey's Bday

2009-02-02T21:29:00.000-08:00

So for Jeff's bday this year, we got to spend it in Shanghai with his mom and her husband Kurt. So much fun!! We definitely miss the food in Shanghai :) We got up and headed to church in the morning, while mom and Kurt caught up on their jet lag. After church, we headed out to get lunch at Element Fresh when Jeff realized that he wanted a New York pizza. Because it was this the day of his birthday, I bought him his very own Hawaiian pizza. He loved it :)
After that we rested up a bit to get ready to go to the Shangri-la buffet. Oh, it's really like heaven on Earth. They have almost every type of food you can imagine there. We had a great time.
Yummy, we love the sushi there...
I painted Jeff a picture and put some of the best wedding photos on it for his bday :)

Shanghai day 2

2009-02-01T21:45:00.000-08:00

Today we headed to the Science and Technology Museum. How awesome was it?!?! We went to this huge real like zoo, they stuffed all the animals, walked through rainforests, and saw a HUGE spider. Then mom and I headed to the fake market to shop till we dropped, literally. Jeff and Kurt hung out a little longer at the museum, they got to ride through the digestive system and they have a really great picture of them coming out of the...yeah, that part. After that we headed to Yu Yuen to check out the lights and eat the famous Shanghai dumplings. It was all really great and tons of fun. Then we headed to McDonald's for one last morsel before calling it a night. We introduced mom and Kurt to the smell of stinky tofu too, they LOVED it :)

In the heart of the African jungle.
It's a little sad that they stuffed these tiny little cubs, they were so cute and young...
I was trying to look like the boar...
PANDAS!!
It's like a scene from Lion King.
On our way up to the top of the jungle.
Amidst the beautiful lights in Yu Yuen.
The old architecture in China looks so cool when it's all lit up.
Being Chinese :)
Jeff likes lanterns...
The waterfront at Yu Yuen.
Eating dumplings at the famous dumpling restaurant.
One of the displays on the water.

Shanghai day 1

2009-01-30T21:36:00.000-08:00

Well, the Mrs. and her husband finally arrived in Shanghai at 5pm. We were so excited to see them!! We took a bus home from the airport and dropped their luggage off at the apartment. We took them out to see the Bund, the famous waterfront that separates the two parts of Shanghai. We rode the subway out there and walked along the water. Then we headed to Aji-san for some dumplings and noodles. "This tastes just like the Chinese food in America." Yummm...then we went back to the apartment to rest up for the big day at the museum and Shanyang.

Thailand Day 3

2009-01-23T18:58:00.000-08:00

Beep beep went the alarm, again...early morning. Dragged ourselves out of bed around 7am and headed down to our buffet breakfast. Decided that we would go to the US Embassy as soon as it opened. Got there around 8:30 am. After some mass confusion about my pages, which were free probably the highlight of the trip, I took a number and waited for my number to be called. There were about 40 people ahead of me and only two windows. I couldn't believe I had to wait through all of that, so I went to another window, the drop window. I stood by it for a bit, hoping someone would ask me if I needed help, sadly, nobody came. So finally, I just tapped on the window and asked if I could drop it off. Of course! So we left to kill time for about an hour. Around 10, we headed back into the embassy to pick up the passport. Alright! We were ready to head to the Chinese Embassy. I had all of my documents that my employer had given me, just give these to them and pick up your visa. It couldn't really be that easy, could it? So we head over to the Chinese Embassy, getting lost of course in one taxi and having to switch to another. We finally made it, took a number and started filling out the paper work and gluing my picture on it. Of course, in the visa office, it always takes forever. So we were busy filling out the papers, when I looked up and saw that they had already called our number! Flashing was 322. We were there for maybe two minutes...so we rushed up to that window with our number in hand, and said, we're sorry but we're 321. Get a new number was the automated response. Well, it really was a person, but the way she said it seemed like she was a mechanical device or something. Disgruntled, we grabbed a new number, 371- and yes, these are the real numbers because the memory is so engrained in my brain. We watched the numbers fly by, about five minutes later, we were up. There was a lot of commentary going on about how quickly they went through the numbers, I think they skipped at least 18 people. Finally, we got back up there, gave them the paperwork and waited. Hmmm...you need to have a health examination. Great, of course, it wouldn't be that easy. We politely told them that we had already done that, we had to do it for the paperwork that we just handed them. I'm sorry, you need to have a health exam. Okay, wait, we have a copy of the health exam from Kunming, will this work? I'm sorry, no copies accepted. *sigh, alright. What do we need to do? Go to a hospital and get this filled out. Even more digruntled, we left with the new health exam paper-which was the EXACT same form I had just gotten filled out in China about three weeks ago- and headed to a hospital. Well, the Bumrungrad hospital was the hospital of choice from a friend. It was huge, and clean, and so nice. We got to the registration to find out that the place closed already at 3pm. It was around 4pm at that time. *sigh, okay, sign us up for your earliest appointment, which meant ANOTHER early morning. We headed back to our room to get cleaned up, and I suddenly realized I didn't have my purse. Frantic, I threw the room upside down, but could not find it. After much agitation, we realized I had to have left it at one of the embassies. We got online so I could call my employer about the potential delay in our trip and that we might not make it back on Thursday, when I looked in my e-mail and found this message. Dear Suzanne, we have found your purse left in a taxi, please call this number to retrieve it. YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!! The luck, I was so happy. We called the number, got the address, and hopped onto the sky train to get the purse. It was being held in the taxi headquarters. When we got there, we were treated like royalty. Kind of weird, I just wanted my purse back. We got to meet the "president" of the company and the entire process of how they tracked me down. It was a process, they found my arrival entry card for the Chinese customs in my purse, found out that I was American and called the US Embassy to find me. Because I had just been there, they had my e-mail ready to give out. Then it was education time, we learned about the red shirts and the yellow shirts of Thailand. Red=democracy, yellow=Monarchy. Then it was picture time, they took pictures of the whole purse handing off and the handshakes. They said they'll use it in the paper for propaganda. Sweeeeet, as mom said, "do you guys really feel safe about that? *sigh, you need to be careful." We headed out of the place about 30 mins. later, with the purse in hand. On our way back to the hotel, we were kicking ourselves for not asking for one of the red shirts. I'm sure they would have been happy to give one to us. Anyways, on arriving to our hotel, we ate the International buffet for dinner and decided to call it a night. Total walking distance: 9-10 miles.

Thailand Day 2

2009-01-22T22:55:00.000-08:00

Beep beep, went the alarm. Sleepy, we managed to wake ourselves up, get a few minutes of the Australian open, and headed down to breakfast. We woke up around 7:30am...or so we thought. We headed down to breakfast and on our way we saw a clock that read 6:30am...interesting, but we just figured the clock was broken or something. We ate our inclusive breakfast, pretty nice buffet-omelettes, potatoes, french toast, pancakes, juice, and fruit- and then were going to call the US embassy to see how much it would cost to get pages. Well, we realized that Thailand time is different from China time, who knew? *probably everybody but us... And realized that it was too early to go anywhere. We finally got a hold of the embassy and found out that they were closed for Martin Luther King Jr. day...great. Now we were up super early, for no reason. We decided to hit the town walking. We walked to this really great mall that our friends had told us about. The food court, AMAZING. I got to eat Auntie Anne's soft pretzels, Cold Stone, Burger King, nachos, and other great snacks. As mom said,"you ate your way through Bangkok huh?" After that, we headed back to the hotel to just hang out and do some reading, and oh yeah, watch the Australian open :) We went out to dinner and headed back to the paragon to watch "Yes, Man" Jim Carey's latest in the Laz boy theater. All the chairs are lazy boys. It was nice, the movie was so-so. Then we walked back to the hotel and went to bed to wake up early, again. Total walking distance: 5 miles
On the walking bridge to the malls!!
View from the walking bridge
Outside view of the paragon, nice palm trees eh?
The main sign.

Thailand Day 1

2009-01-22T22:48:00.000-08:00

So excited to get out of the freezing cold, we were really looking forward to this trip. We started packing about an hour before the trip and then headed off to the airport for our flight. We met up with Chris and Liz and hung out with them a bit before boarding the plane. Because of all the craziness that happened recently, Thai air only offers flights 3 days a week, so we flew out on Sunday and planned to return on Thursday. The flight was great, it went by pretty quickly, and the food was actually really delicious. We landed and stepped out into heat, it felt so great. We said farewell to the Alford's-they were headed to Chiang Mai- and went to pick up our luggage. When we went through customs I realized that I had no more blank pages for visas, so we added a trip to the US embassy to get more pages sewn in. How cool is that? I used up all my pages :) In Thailand, there's a fee to use the highways, not sure why, but the gov't is making a steal from that fee. 400 Baht later-about $12- we arrived safely at our hotel, the Woraburi Inn. It was nice, our room was cozy and had satellite TV, so we got to watch a ton of the Australian open and some movies. Jeff and I got to the hotel around 6pm, so we thought we'd go for a stroll to get some dinner. Our road that the hotel was on was a HUGE pub street, all kinds of pubs-Irish, British, Danish, Jersey- so we decided on Hanharan's, I think an Irish pub. We got some buffalo wings, chicken burger, and a beer and watched some soccer games. After that, we took to the streets to walk around on the night market.After a while of seeing the same things, we decided to call it a night, we were a little sleepy and had to get up early to get all of our errands done so we could enjoy the other three days while the visa was getting ready. Headed back to the hotel and hit the sack at 11pm.
On the plane, excited to go to Thailand!
These were bugs and crickets and insects of all kinds. I think they were food... The first cross road near Woraburi Inn. We were in the heart of the night market, it was fun.

Christmas with the Boldts

2008-12-26T18:16:00.001-08:00

Jeff and I decided that we would have our Christmas on Christmas Eve because we were having an early breakfast with our friends...9am HAHA. Here are some pics from our Christmas together.

I'm so excited about all the presents we get to open!!

Again, you have no idea how ready I was :)

Jeff opened his stocking and found some of his favorite chips in it :)

So last year, all we could find for stockings were these ones with bear heads attached to them. I love them, but Jeff is a little less into them...

Look at all the loot we got!! My parents sent us four big boxes for Christmas, wrapped and everything. It was awesome!! And yes, there is Taco Bell sauce all over the floor. All I asked Daddy for was a ton of mild sauce from Taco Bell, and boy did I get a ton of it!! We also got quite a bit of velveeta, it makes the best queso in the world!! I also got a pair of NEW black Uggs, Jeff was SUPER excited about me getting those, he despises Uggs. Jeff got a bunch of books, a puzzle, Balderdash, History calendar, day planner, and some candies and such.

Christmas with Chicago Coffee

2008-12-26T17:13:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures from our Christmas dinner at Chris and Liz's coffee shop. There were about 20 of us there and it was so much fun!
Me and Gillian waiting to eat the yummy dinner
Theresa, Lisa, Carol's friend, and Carol
Our side of the tables
Before eating could commence, Chris introduced all of the dishes for us so we knew what we were eating. He was a very good Vanna White
Smiling for the plethora of camera flashes
Oh the yummy, yummy food
Christmas by candlelight
We were super excited to be there.
Theresa and me
Faith and me
After dinner, we made sugar cookie cutouts and frosted them.
Merry Christmas everyone!!

It's Christmas Time!!

2008-12-23T20:10:00.000-08:00

So we've been doing quite a lot to prepare for Christmas time, we've had a bake day, parties, and lots of decorating. The bake day pictures are on Danielle's blog, we made thin mints, candy cane cookies, key lime meltaways, peanut butter blossoms, snickerdoodles, peppermint bark, peanut butter fudge, white chocolate-cranberry-oatmeal cookies, and coconut fudge bars. All in all, I've packed in a few pounds this holiday season :)
Jeff and I hosted a Christmas party for some of our students at Web. We decorated gingerbread cookies and made a gingerbread house. Then we made some popcorn and cocoa and watched "Elf." I think they enjoyed it :)
The group

Phoebe decorated her gingerbread man with a HUGE nose
Hmmm...a gumdrop here? Or a gumdrop there?
Pretty pretty house
Chea zi!!

Here is our little Christmas corner in our house :) We have a tree with TONS of presents under it-thanks mommy and daddy vert- two stockings, and a gingerbread house. We are so blessed this season!

New Job

2008-11-26T03:15:00.000-08:00

So, after much searching, crying, frustration, and energy, I finally have a new job. Praise God! They are able to get me a real visa-legal that is-pay me on time, give me some security in my job, and provide a great environment that I feel comfortable working in. I am a young professional now too, I can no longer wear jeans, t-shirts, sneakers, shoes that lace up, sweatshirts, or sandals to work. Those of you that know me know that will be an adjustment, but the benefits far outweigh the costs. The classes are great, I love the "students"-I'm teaching adults- and my coworkers are so helpful and nice. Let's hope that this one doesn't fall through!!

Bailey's First Birthday!!

2008-11-04T22:26:00.000-08:00

So it happened, Bailey Grace Alford turned 1-year-old on Tuesday, one of the most historic days thus far in America! But over in Kunming we were happy to celebrate the birthday girl and forget about our political differences for one special little girl :)
The yummy spread for Bailey's birthday dinner. She didn't actually get to eat any of the food though :(
The birthday girl!!
Brought the high chair down with the rest of us. It is her party after all.
Bailey and her parents!
Liz presenting Bails with her very first birthday cake. An all-natural no sugar banana cake...except for the yummy cream cheese frosting :)
Gettin' into the frotsing, oh yeah!!
My favorite Bailey faces. She does these if you just breathe loudly :)
Oh yeah, she knew all those presents were for her.
Enjoying her presents with Daddy.

Ahoy Matey

2008-11-04T05:42:00.000-08:00

So for Haloween Jeff and I partook in a mystery night dinner. It was great fun and we can't wait to do another one. The night was full of mystery, mayhem, cheatin', stealin', chaos, and swindlin'. I think that Jeff and Chris had the most fun swindlin' and cheatin' seeing as they were the ones to come out with the most cash from questionable acts. Here are a few pictures to show how the night went :)
Liz and me all glammed up :)
Commodore Cleary and Cutthroat McPherson
The Governator and his family
The fun tables with Mariann, Danielle even had tin plates and gold coins on the table. She's such a great decorator!!
One eyed Wanda and Cutthroat McPhearson
Mad Rose and Commodore Cleary
Basically how the entire evening went, Chris and Jeff swindling the governator for under the table deals.
And the killer is...

Sea leg Sam!! We all thought it was the shady guy behind him...

The hosts are appalled that such things would happen in their house :)

Confusion at an Interview

2008-11-04T02:08:00.000-08:00

Okay, so if you don't know by now, Jeff and I are having some difficulties with our jobs. Getting visas, staying in business, yada yada yada. Sooo, we're looking for new jobs. We responded to this one advertisement on gokunming.com, like the best place to find out what jobs are available in Kunming. Anyways, we sent our resumes and pictures into this one school. They called Jeff back and said that they needed a female teacher, so I applied. I got a call back and asked to come into an interview. Great, so I got all dressed up and went to an interview. After about an hour and a half of negotiating salaries, picking a schedule, making a curriculum, looking over the contract multiple times, I'm about to sign the contract. One more thing left to do, meet the headmaster of the school. He doesn't speak a lick of English and I hardly can say I speak any Chinese. The lady doing my interview says she'll translate everything and do what needs to be done in communication. Great, I think, this will be great, the past hour and a half she has been telling me how great I am and how qualified I am for the position. This will go by smoothly, I'll finally get my visa. The principal walks in and in 3 seconds flat says no. When asked upon why, he says, in CHINESE, she's Asian. Okay, so yes, it's true, because my face is not white, I'm not considered American enough to teach at this school. Well, I storm out and just start crying because I'm so frustrated. Yeah...this is a true story. About five hours later, I get another call from the lady, seems that the superintendent of all these schools feels that I am qualified and should get the job, so now I'm being reevaluated by the principal to see if I can get the job while not factoring in my race. Odd, I'm being discriminated for being Asian in an Asian country. Some things may never make sense to me...

Empty vessel

2008-11-02T23:01:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been sort of blah about religion and God. I'm not sure why, I'm not sure what caused it, it's just something I'm going through right now. It's so easy to self pity yourself and sit around and complain rather than going out and making an effort to see the wonderful things around me. I was listening to a sermon about how to love your husband, and she kept saying over and over that if things aren't good with God then things aren't going to be good with any of my relationships, including my husband. I don't necessarily think things are bad with God, but they're just...well...there. I'm starting to listen to this new series by Andrew Wommack, someone that Jeff and I both really like, called the 4 keys to staying full of God. It's pretty amazing and convicting. The same message is over and over in the first talk, it's not God that turns away it's me. And how true is that, I haven't read my bible in...well God knows when, I haven't really been learning lately, I haven't found a fellowship that I have really felt like being open and honest with, I have yet to find my purpose in Kunming and being okay with it...and yet, I keep being reminded how much God loves me and that I am not a disappointment to Him, no matter how much I may put Him off, He is always there, helping me along, even if I don't ask for it, He is faithful to me. He understands me, He knows me, He has compassion on me, He never gets tired of listening to me gripe and complain, but instead He patiently waits for me to realize how amazing He is over and over until I am in complete surrender. What I'm sick of is going back and forth to these points, it's annoying. "I am empty but I know your love does not run dry. And so I wait for you. Broken I run to you for your arms are open wide. I am weary but I know your touch restores my life. So I wait for you."

Things I love about China

2008-10-26T19:19:00.000-07:00

So I've compiled a bunch of pictures of things that I love to do or see within China. The first...the wet market. It's huge and so much fun! You can pretty much find anything you want here, it's like farmer's market, just much more cluttered.

My morning breakfast for about $0.80 I can get yummy Orange Juice and bao zis. They're little buns with meat and onions stuffed inside. They're my favorite.

I love mah jong and I love that people play it ALL the time on the streets at many hours. There are also a lot of people playing cards and such as well. Most of them play for fun, but every now and then you can find people who are gambling for the games. Children and adults alike enjoy games out on the streets.

Scoot Scoot

2008-10-26T19:11:00.000-07:00

So Jeff and I have purchased a scooter for convenience around Kunming. It is definitely a wild ride. Cars, bikes, scooters, buses, pedestrians, all make for a challenging ride to and from work. One thing we've both learned...buses DON'T stop, no matter what, they don't slow down, or stop. Being a former bus driver, I understand the demand for being on time so I'm a bit empathetic, especially driving in China. But the cabs...they drive in the bike lane often, even when there are signs with arrows pointing to different lanes. And then there's the people who scooter in headphones...we honk to no avail, and when we finally make our way around them, we know why, the headphones. On a positive note, Jeff's peripheral vision has improved greatly as he does a wonderful job maneuvering us around town in Kunming. Here are some pics and videos of us scoot scooting :)

Chinese inventions

2008-10-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

So China has put into practice one of the most ingenious inventions I've ever seen, the splitty pants. What are the splitty pants you ask? well, splitty pants are what most Chinese parents are using in Kunming to potty train their kids. I've gathered some photos for you to really see the ingeniousness behind the idea.

And finally, the pants in action. Basically, the parent, nanny, grandma, or ayi, holds up the child in a squatting position and allows them to get rid of all their excess waste anywhere they please. Is this really helping teach the kids how to go to the bathroom? Well, take a look in the safe or unsafe blog to find the answer :)

Safe or Unsafe

2008-10-24T23:17:00.000-07:00

You be the judge...

Look Ma, no hands!!

If you can't clearly see it, he's peeing in the bushes.
Mmmm...dinner
Buying your feather bed from here
Pick your dinner

MiLe

2008-10-04T03:45:00.001-07:00

Well, for our vacation Jeff and I went with our friends-Josh and Danielle- to Mile. We got to stay in a five star hotel for about 50/night. It was so nice and like a resort. Mile is known for their hot springs. There's some videos for you guys to enjoy of the place and some pictures of the hotel. Basically, the hotel is the only great thing in Mile so we played tons and tons of games and brought some food along for the trip. It was really nice and relaxing. Here are a couple videos of the hotel that we were at.

It was so pretty and nature-y here. I was in awe that it was still China.

Apartment

2008-09-27T01:23:00.000-07:00

So, Jeff and I are finally getting some pictures of our new place together. It's quite a challenge filling 4 bedrooms...we're not really sure what to do with all of them. We have a virtual tour for you though, ENJOY!!
This is a video for the first part of our apartment. I'll put up another video when I have the chance too. I've also put up some pictures of our new apartment too :)

Porsche

2008-09-20T19:01:00.000-07:00

So this Saturday I got to go with Amber, Liz, and Chiang Ja to the unveiling of a new porsche car. They were hired as the dancers for the lovely event. Not only did I feel like high society, I also got to eat like a queen and get all excited about the unveiling of the NEW porsche SUV. I've put up the videos of their dance and the unveiling...plus my dream car :)
This would be my dream car

Here's the lovely dances they did, this one is the hip hop

This one is the lyrical ballet

And here's the unveiling of the new porsche SUV!!

New paths

2008-09-07T23:24:00.000-07:00

So, maybe this blog could turn into a journal, or just a place for my ramblings. Anyways, Jeff and I got married, exciting, exciting. Here's a picture from the rehearsal dinner and then another one from the wedding. The day went by so quickly, it's hard to imagine that you put so much planning into something that seems to go by so quickly. I'm adjusting to married life as well as anyone, I suppose. Going from living on your own for awhile to with somebody else has got to be a huge change for everyone. It's quite fun and we have a great time together. We seem to constantly keep each other up at night though, it's like a continuous sleep over with your best friend. We just can't stop giggling or talking at night. This makes getting up early for our jobs a bit on the difficult side. We've also just moved to Kunming, and it might just be all of the changes at once, but I'm a bit overwhelmed at times. I miss my family and friends, like most do when they begin new paths in their life. We've found new friends here and it has been fun, a lot of new things on the horizon, but they seem to be rising nicely in the new life.

Songs

2008-06-08T19:14:00.000-07:00

So I thought I would try to write a song...I've realized how bad my music theory skills are and also that writing the song is the easiest...maybe Jeff can do the music for me :)

You want us to give You our burdens
You want to take away the pain.
And yet, I feel my heart begin to harden
And I question if You even remember my name

Renew Your strength in me, Lord
Let me put my hope in You.
Fly me on wings of an eagle
Let me not grow faint

Because I have heard you say
I am He, I am He
Who has made you
Who will carry you
I am He, I am He

I have made you and
I will carry you
I will rescue you and
I will bear your burdens

My heart cries out to You, oh God
For an answer, for a healing hand
When I lose my way, oh God
Remind me to put my trust in Your plan

You have been a refuge for the poor
A refuge for those in distress
You have given shelter from the storm
Remind me again of what You bless

Because you have promised me

I am He, I am He
Who will rescue you
Who will sustain you.
I am He, I am He

I have made you and
I will carry you
I will rescue you and
I will bear your burdens

Just give me your heart
To be willing and obedient
Show me more of what you want
Lord, never will I relent

Because you have shown me:

I am He, I am He
Who will rescue you
Who will sustain you.
I am He, I am He

I have made you and
I will carry you
I will rescue you and
Bear all your burdens

Isaiah 46:4

Unreserved

2007-05-30T23:24:00.000-07:00

As the days go by, God has continually blessed the minutes in each one; yet my heart is hard to accept them without thinking of the loss that may follow. Children have such a sense of adventure. Every day its a new beginning, a new start, a time for them to try again at what they may have not succeeded the previous day. If they fall and scrape their knee, they are quick to recover and bounce around again. What happened to that sense of adventure as we grow older? Too many skinned knees lead to too many broken paths...and yet I hear the faint whisper from Him asking me to take everything that He gives me at what it is...a blessing. I have been made perfect in love and am therefore made fearless. These good things in my life are things that He wants me to have and to thank Him for. Without telling me the end, I must rely on my faith in Him that His desire for me is good and perfect. How thankful I am to have the assurance of a prosperous life, come what may, I will love you, until my dying day.

Beginnings

2007-04-23T18:08:00.000-07:00

Elated, my heart has wings.
Transparent, I am clearly seen.
Confused, I know no things.
Grounded, my head must intervene.

be·lov·ed

2007-04-01T19:39:00.000-07:00

be·lov·ed [bi-luhv-id, -luhvd]

–adjective
1. greatly loved; dear to the heart.

–noun
2. a person who is greatly loved.

And this I will ALWAYS be.

Heartache

2006-12-21T06:01:00.002-08:00

Sure I think about you now and then
But it's been a long long time.
I've gota good life now, I've moved on.
So when you cross my mind

I try not to think about
What might have been
Cause that was then
And we have taken different roads.
We can't go back again
There's no use giving in.
And there's no way to know
What might have been.

We could sit and talk about this all night long.
And wonder why we didn't last.
Yes they might be the best days
We will ever know.
But we'll have to leave them in the past.

The same old look in your eyes
It's a beautiful night
I'm so tempted to stay.
But too much time has gone by
We should just say goodbye
And turn and walk away.

No we'll never know
What might have been.

Reflection

2006-12-21T06:01:00.001-08:00

Who are you?
I barely recognize.
That light once in your eyes
Is now a dull hue.

The loss of a soul
You've come to be.
And now it's a mystery
Have you always played a role?

Sadly, I wipe away a tear
And humbly turn from the mirror

Joyful

2006-12-17T07:07:00.001-08:00

Beloved one, beloved one awake!
Arise from the slumber you crave.
Reap good in the choices you make.
Use everything that I proudly gave.

Take nothing but give all
Remain pure in all that you do.
Make light so not to fall
But know that I am with you.

Enigma

2006-12-17T07:07:00.000-08:00

Why are there children walking around at midnight, why do people get cancer, why was evil created, why do some people get murdered, why are there rapists, why do people think that children are the place to live out sexual fantasies, why does the success of some people cost others their lives, why are there places that control what people think, why do they sterilize the needles of lethal injections, why are there so many unwanted pregnancies, why are there couples that want a baby so badly but never conceive, why do the things we want most out of life seem so hard to find, why is happiness defined so many different ways, why is love one of the happiest thing and yet one of the most painful thing, why is it so hard to forgive those that hurt you, why can we not comprehend unfailing, unending, unconditional love, why is it so cold in China, why does the ocean have so much salt in it, why do we not know of any other life outside of earth, how did the planets all get there, what is the deal with different dimensions around us, why do we make choices that hurt us, why do we draw water blue when it's really clear, who made a rainbow a sign of homosexuality, why do some people think that taking their life is the only way out, why are we so scared to take a leap of faith, why is it so difficult to trust someone with your secrets, why do we try to make good first impressions, why are we unable to get rid of "shock" value, why has religion tainted the word "God", why do some people think that hate is the answer to all their problems, why are the plastic cups in China so flimsy, why are fortune cookies always served after Chinese meals in the states but nonexistent in China, why is it so hard to be honest with people, why are our feelings so sensitive to us and yet others feelings mean nothing, why does mankind tend to make decisions that better themselves, what does it mean to be made in the image of God, why does green mean go and red means stop?

*I've been known to have deep thoughts occasionally

Relationships

2006-12-09T08:00:00.001-08:00

Waiting for the maturation
Waiting for the decision.
Waiting for the consummation
Waiting for the solution.

I wait for these, humbly and patiently
For this I know and trust.
The truth will show unblindly
And all will be made in just.

We are yours, give us hearts of servants

2006-12-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

"He was led like a lamb to the slaughter" Isa 53:7 and yet He did not open His mouth for on the cross God treated Him as though He had lived my imperfect life, so that I could live His perfect life.

If we are to be powered for life and ministry, it will only happen as we are on our knees at the foot of the cross. Douglas B. Wicks

We are justified by faith that the cross has redeemed our lives, that's good news :)