Let the games begin!

If you look hard enough, what you can find in China is astounding. When I thought all was lost with buying American games for less than American prices, I found some at one of the largest wholesale markets in the world! On a typical market weekend (this time in search of "Treasure Island" props), I came across a very familiar American word.....MONOPOLY. To my dismay, there was much more than Monopoly, but the new version - Monopoly deal, Carcassone, and the infamous Settlers of Catan! Wow, did I hit a jackpot! After bartering a bit, I walked home with all three for less than $25. For all of my China friends, I found these at Wu Ai....crazy, I know. I am feeling a game night coming soon...

Voyage of the Dawn Treader...in 3-D!

I hadn't realized that I never actually finished this post! I put the pictures up right away, but must have gotten distracted before I wrote anything and pressed publish...whoops :)

This past Saturday we had an entertaining/random outing of going to see the newest English movie in town...a 3D Voyage of the Dawn Treader! Dave had been spending the last couple of weeks brushing up on the story as he read to me before we went to bed (more like filled me in after each chapter). To our suprise, we were greeted by a very enthusiastic international college crowd. Even after the movie, the energy continued with an hour long photo shoot. We eventually snuck our way out of the crowd about 30 minutes into it, but not without being pulled into one of the infamous group shots. It reminded me of my beloved college/dorm memories....so much lovin' all around.

Joy in a box...

Living in China, there is nothing quite like the joy of getting loved through the postal system. We never realize how much we miss food from our home country until it is sitting there all neatly packed in a box just for us! Jumping up and down with my heart skipping a beating WAY too fast, it felt like I was anticipating the most valuable possession hiding beneath the packaged tape. To what do I find, but an assortment of mixes, chocolate chip cookies, spices, socks, goodies, teachery things, and even Berenstain bear books! See below for our overjoyous expressions :)

Laying around my beloved chocolate chips.....even Andes mint and butterscotch flavor!

"Oooooo.....AAaaahhhhh!" "Honey, you gotta try these....." New wool socks for those Shenyang winters...enough said.

I never realized how much I missed trail mix until I was staring at the bag with cashews, raisins and M & M's inside! Yummy!

With the right salt, now I can make those soft pretzels I miss so much! Woohoo!

A special thanks goes out to Becky Evans and Carol Casten for completing making our night tonight! We felt so loved...thank you!

Visitors and winter vacations

Now that we have already been two weeks back from break, this post is a bit old....but hey, thought I'd share...

It's a shame that I had so many productive "work related" expectations for this winter break. So far I was only able to cross one thing off of my list...bummer. Too bad I had way too much fun planning and enjoying Christmas parties, hosting guests, and taking trips to the mountains to play in the snow. Where did the two weeks go?

One of the most memorable times of the break was our trip to the mountains with some families and friends. Not only was this nostalgic, but absolutely beautiful! Frozen lakes and waterfalls, snowcapped mountains, and a nice warm lodge with a fireplace. In only two days, we crammed in ice-skating, ice hockey, hikes, games, roasting marshmallows, and even some time to sit back and read :) If only it was longer than two days...

Our friend Wes (from Liberty) flew over from South Korea to visit us! It was so good to see him again!

I never thought that I would get that into ice hockey. Usually I just let the guys have a go at this sort of a thing. The only bummer was that I kept forgetting the motto of "bend your knees" and I ended up with a horrible back ache after it.

Trying to ice skate backwards with Ben. It kind of looks like we are salsa dancing!

Hopefully the ice doesn't give out...

I kept waiting all weekend for "Mr. Mountain Man" to come out and play. You would think that with a pond in his own front yard at home would make him the first one outside. I just had to take a picture when he finally immerged from the cozy lodge.

Oh technology....we love you. Even when everyone is roasting marshmallows and sitting by the fireplace, we are still fascinated with what you can do...a.k.a. Benny's ipad.

If any of you know the game "Take Four" or "Bananas", then you will know that it is a speed scrabble type of game. Well we took it up a notch as we took out the chairs and switched spots everytime someone called for new pieces. What a fun way to play! Too bad this means one more activity killing my back...

The awesome thing is that in only two more weeks, we have another break! What a blessing! Maybe this time I will be able to actually get some work done...

Let the traditions continue!

This Christmas officially marks the 2nd holiday season away from family...yet that can only mean one thing. Another year of continuing memories with my honey! Last Christmas togther was simply magical. With such high expectations from last year, I approached this season with much anticipation. "Will we still have just as much fun?" "What if all of our 'traditions' from last year seem silly now?" Good thing we kept the good times rollin' as we acted as though we were children. We practically had a slumber party in our living room! What married couple does that?

Starting the night off with sugar cookies! What couldn't be better with filling our mouths with that much sugar at around 7:00?

Dave likes to sneak away and "just take a little" while I am busy cutting the cookies. So sneaky!

I love holiday messes.

Thanks to Becky Evans recipe, we made our "baked French toast" that night. All we had to do Christmas morning was pop it in the oven for 40 minutes! Walaah! Breakfast is served :)

This was the real clencher when acting like kids. After all of our baking and decorating, we put the couches together and watched Christmas movies until our eyelids got heavy. We didn't move till the next morning :)

Merry Christmas Everyone!

New tool for the toolbox...an ice pick

Who knew that the ice, sleet, and snow would make it's way into our house? Apparently our humidifier + the extremely cold outside temperature = the water cycle working against us. The condensation on our windows was on overdrive as it formed a lake of water at the base of the window, and then refroze again. Now our comfy window seat is a block of ice. At least we don't use it in the winter.

Holiday messes

Oh how I love making messes....those that are for a productive end of course. My latest mess is my project on decorations for a team Christmas party coming up this Thursday. Realizing that the location did not give me much to work with (empty gym) on making the room feel warm and cozy, I thought I would do the best with what I did have...tables to dress up.

After a couple weekends of scouring the markets in search of a centerpiece. The prettiest one I found was a simple short bough of garland with some fake snow, pine cones, and berries. Yet the cheapest price for one was 70 kuai....I was determined to do better, since I do have about 8 tables to decorate. I decided to join the Martha Stewart bunch. I went out and bought my own long piece of garland, pine cones, berries, fake snow and hot glue and got to work! A couple hours later, and my house looked like a woodland winter wonderland. Snow covering the floor and garland strewn over every surface. Who needs to go outside now? The scenic view is right in my living room!

Here are some of my documented efforts:

After the garland was cut (thanks to Dave's muscles) all six centerpieces were done! If you can see in the background, I was testing one out with the red tablecloths.

This longer bough is for the food table, so I decided to keep it all in one piece :)

See how my hair is all gross and matted? Thats because I continued my project right when I woke up at 6:00 this morning....determination is a great motivater.

The coolest thing about this whole project is that by doing it this way, I saved SO much money. Normally one centerpiece would have costed 70 kuai, but I made 6 centerpieces and one long bough for less than 100 kuai! I say from now on, putting the work in is worth it...if you have the time.