Ghost of Christmas Past

I was thinking about all the different places and different ways Jeff and I have celebrated Christmas the last 8 years. We've had some unique experiences and some very traditional one's. But overall the theme has remained the same. We come together as a family to celebrate a glorious savior.

2009: Taipei, Taiwan- We had a large, traditional Christmas dinner with some friends in our new apartment in Taipei.

2008: Bangkok, Thailand- We awaited the arrival of Ava and had a very small Christmas celebration with Chloe and then ate at an American Food restaurant with some other friends who were also waiting for babies.

2007: Chiang Mai, Thailand- Our Christmas began by distributing medicine and blankets to poor rural hilltribe villagers. We decorated a small Charlie Brown Christmas tree and then went out to eat at a local restaurant.

2006: Tulsa, OK- We welcomed Chloe to the world on Sept. 1 of that year and spent our first Christmas with children with our families.

2005: Tulsa, OK- As I recovered from running the Dallas marathon (pregnant) Jeff was busy with the busy Christmas retail season at his job. We spent Christmas day with our families.

2004: Tulsa, OK- This was the first year in our very own home. We had a big Christmas party that year and spent Christmas day with family.

2003: Chicago, IL- This was before the digital camera age. We flew back to Oklahoma for a week during Christmas. It was 10 degrees in Chicago and 65 degrees in OKlahoma. We moved back to OK unexpectedly three weeks later during an icy Illinois Blizzard. You know it's cold when the snot freezes in your nose.

2002: Chicago, IL- We drove back to Oklahoma for Christmas Day and were very eager to be out of the big city. It was lovely to spend some time with our families. For Thanksgiving that year we had friends over for a multicultural feast which included a vegetarian, Indian rice dish, a Mexican soup, and some deep south chicken and dumplings- all compliments of our guests.

2001: Tulsa, OK- Jeff and I had been married less than 6 mos. Jeff had his first job out of college and had to work 8am-5pm Christmas Day. I spent Christmas day with my Grandparents and we had a family gathering later in the week.

However, you chose to celebrate this year, we hope you had a wonderful rememberance of the reason for the season.

Earthquakes and Cold Fronts

Jeff returned late Saturday night from two weeks in America. I was extremely eager for him to return and tried to wait up but alas two weeks with two rambunctious girls I was dozing off before 9pm. Chloe was also anxious for Daddy's return so I let her lay in bed with me. About 10 minutes later the bed began shaking. I scolded Chloe for not laying still and then realized that it was shaking much more than her tiny 30lb frame could possibly accomplish. It was an earthquake. And not just any earthquake. It was a 6.4 about 90 miles south of Taipei. After I jerked Chloe out of the bed and ran to get Ava the shaking began to subside. Quite shaken myself I was wide awake most of the night until Jeff returned. The next morning Chloe awoke and was excited to see Daddy. But when he asked her if she wanted to get on our bed, she said "no Daddy, no more shake. It scare me." The quake didn't do any damage and was considered quite small but it did shake me up a bit.

We are weathering the cool front and it seems to be getting warmer for the next few days. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy a New Year

We're Back

Special thanks goes out to our neighbor and friend for getting our internet working at our new apartment.

In other news- it's COLD. Today was about 50 degrees and raining. That doesn't sound too cold until you consider the fact that we have cement walls with no insulation, tile floors and lots of big beautiful glass doors and windows and NO heating. So, basically it is the same temp inside as it is outside. This cold spell hit just at the right time though because we had packed two oil radiator heaters and two electric blankets to keep us all snug and cozy through the cold nights.

Last night, I was tired from unpacking tons of boxes and decided against plugging in the electric blanket. I also only unpacked one heater and put it in the room for the girls on low. Around midnight I regretted both of those decisions. The girls woke up cold and my nose was frozen. I turned up their heater and they stayed cozy the rest of the evening and I slept with the blankets over my head in my new super-comfy king-size bed. Thank you T and J! Tonight I will use the electric blanket AND heater. :)

The apartment is waaayyy too embarrasing to post any pics of it just yet. We have stuff everywhere and I found one really old, dirty diaper in amongst a pile of boxes from some furniture we set up several weeks ago. I'll let you use your imagination but let's just say the beginnings of flies were all over it.

Jeff returns late tomorrow night to a new home and a new bed. The last two weeks have been very good for me because contrary to what I thought would have happened I actually really enjoyed the girls. It's been a little daunting at times to juggle both girls, moving stuff from one apartment to the other, unloading boxes and trying to keep elevator doors from closing on us in the process. But overall it's been really fun to just have some mommy and Chloe and Ava time. This morning we had a breakfast picnic in their new playroom under their old Dora tent. Partly because it was so cold in the apartment that the three of us in the tent with the heater on was nice and toasty.

I'll post pics of our new neighborhood whenever it stops raining.

On the road again...

Well, our crate arrived today- hooray!!

We have moved in to our new apartment buuuuutttt... our internet does not work over there. So this is just a real quick update until we get the bugs worked out on our internet.

If you try to call us or email me and I don't answer- don't be alarmed it's just bum internet. I'm sure we will be back up by the middle of next week.

Jeff returns late saturday night and I absolutely can't wait. The girls and I are unpacking all our stuff and it's like Christmas come early.

We'll talk soon.

One week down, one to go

This week has been busy to say the least acting as a single parent. Ava got over her icky illness and thankfully Chloe nor I became sick. Chloe helped me put up our Christmas tree (pics to come after Jeff returns and helps me stand it up straighter- it's leaning a bit to the left at the moment and I need help to fix it). It's a really pretty tree and I was very excited to have a nice tree again after the last two Charlie Brown trees.


Actually, it's hard to believe it's been a year now but this time last year we were in Bangkok awaiting the arrival of little Ava.


I received word that our crate has arrived in the port and now it is just going through customs and then will be delivered to our door sometime next week or the week after. The sooner, the better I say. Even though Jeff will be gone, it would really be nice to be moved in to our new place before he returns. Then, we could maybe even be unpacked before Christmas. I just can't wait to have a stable and permanent, comfortable apartment once again. We have been in transition for so long and I can't wait to unpack for good.


We got a lot done this week while Jeff was away. I finished putting together furniture and have started cleaning up the apartment in anticipation of moving.



Last Friday before Jeff left, we took a very short trip to the ocean. It was a beautiful day and a wonderful drive through the national park exploring around this great island. Here are some pics:



This is a hot spring coming out of the mountain side




And the gorgeous ocean

And the gorgeous children

And of course, their gorgeous mother. :)

And the gorgeous children with their handsome father. Everything was extra pretty that day.

All better now?

Well, Ava woke up from her nap today ready to play and HUNGRY. So I think she may be getting over this icky, icky flu. I was finally able to bring her temp down using only Ibuprofen and she seems like her normal self again. Exploring everything and eating it. Come to think of it- that is probably why she got sick in the first place- eating everything she finds.

Anyways, a friend of mine passed along the following link about trash and recycling in Taiwan. It's pretty amusing because it is so true. We have forced recycling here and it has taken a little while to get used to separating paper from plastic from plastic bottle from just regular garbage. And since we don't have garbage disposals it makes trash duty that much stinkier. We are fortunate to be one of those people who has a trash collector for the building that takes care of actually meeting the garbage man and recycling dudes on the street. If I could ever get a picture of the cardboard man, you'll love it. It's this little old man on a tiny little motorcycle piled 10feet high with cardboard boxes and random plastic bags. The motorcycle sounds like it can barely make it down the city streets. It was a jaw dropping experience the first time we saw him. Anyways, read the link- it's pretty funny (at least for us)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/29/AR2007112901887.html

Jeff leaves for America- A day that will live in infamy

It's not everyday that you get to stay up all night with a sick child, spend three hours in a hospital emergency room with a baby with a fever of 103.5, see your husband off to the airport and star in a student film. It seems that even on the days that we try to relax and take it easy stuff just finds us to do.

Last night, Ava began running a fever. All night Jeff and I battled keeping it below 102. Despite our best attempts it spiked to almost 104 early this morning and so it was off to the emergency room for Chloe, Ava and I. The whole time on the way to the hospital I was having flashbacks from when Chloe was just slightly older and we had just arrived in Thailand. This pic is of Chloe almost two years ago after she had her first febrile seizure.

This was the first time Ava has ever been sick and it has hit her hard. The docs ruled out anything serious (swine flu, bird flu, meningitis, etc.) and sent us home with some medicine and instructions to return if she becomes dehydrated from vomiting/diarrhea. Her fever spiked again this afternoon to 103.2 but I had some super-powered medicine to knock it out. Thankfully she has not had any seizures depsite the high temps. Please remember her and ask that she will be feeling better very soon and that Chloe and I will remain healthy.

Jeff had to catch a shuttle to the airport at 8am while we were in the emergency room. He will be gone for the next two weeks for some training on his new research job. Unfortunately, we were not able to tell him goodbye with hugs and kisses and we love you's. But thanks to modern technology and the internet we can talk free of charge as long as wish while he is away. Please remember him as well.

Later this afternoon, Bubs was feeling better. (That's Ava's nickname. When she was born Chloe always called her "bubby sissy" for "baby sister" and the shortened form Bubby or Bubs has just stuck.) Anyways, we ventured out to the drug store for some more Children's Tylenol (which is non-existent) and stopped at McDonald's for something to eat. I had to stop for Tylenol because earlier today Chloe had poured all the remaining Children's Tylenol into a cup with all the remaining Children's Ibuprofen and mixed it with her remaining Apple Juice. I am so thankful that she did not decide to drink it. When it rains it pours, eh?

On our way back home from doing all of the above, I was stopped by some film students from the University across the street. It seems that they were doing a student film and needed a foreigner. Ava was feeling better and it was nice to be out of the sick apartment. So, the girls and I spent about 15 minutes asking various questions in English and then posing for the camera. It was pretty funny for the Chinese students to try to explain to me what to do in their broken English and my non-existent Chinese. Nevertheless they were very grateful for our help. And I think I'm a natural. If this whole overseas thing doesn't work out maybe Hollywood will.

That is a lot for one day and to think that it is only 5 pm. What else will this day find for us? Hopefully no more trips to the doctor.

Month In Review

Well, we have been in the great city of Taipei for almost one month. We have been living in a temporary apartment that seems to never stay clean thanks to the help of two little urchins. The littlest urchin has slept through the night twice in six weeks and the older urchin gets her kicks out of hearing the little one scream.

Every time we leave the apartment it is an adventure in patience as well as a risk that we may never make it back where we started from. Driving is not so bad as trying to get where you want to go due to the no-left turn rule. I challenge you to try for one day driving your normal routine without ANY left turns. Just try it and get back to me. For real!

Jeff leaves on Saturday for two weeks in America and there is a greater than 99% chance that our ocean freight will arrive before he gets back. Fortunately, we have some great friends who have offered to help me while I move in to our new and permanent apartment. We are moving into an awesome place that aches for visitors (hint, hint).

Learning Chinese is giving me a headache and all that seems to come out of my mouth is Thai. I can't use the correct tone to save my life. When I practice what I have learned on the street the people look at me like I just insulted their mother or dog and then called them fat. Then they laugh at me, say something unintelligible, take a picture of the girls and walk off continuing to laugh. Jeff is no better at it than I am.

Regardless, we have met some really great people. Chloe has already attended a birthday party and we have already made a great Taiwanese friend who has daughters close to the same ages as Chloe and Ava. Speaking of the little boogers. Here are some new pics:


Ava has decided that she is a puppy and walks around with this soccer ball in her mouth. I think she is teething. At least that is what I tell myself because the alternative is that my child is not normal. That thought is just too much to handle with everything else going on.

And here is sweet, independent, strong-willed, I'm not going to listen to you, how many times do you have to sit in time-out to stop hitting your sister, how did the terrible two's become the terrible three's, fiery little Chloe.

Making brownies. Aaaghh comfort food. Send more Pinto Beans and Malt-O-Meal!

Language Lesson #2

Tones.

Many Asian languages uses tones. This means that the same word means different things when used with a different tone.

For example:
"Mama qi ma, ma man mama ma ma" means Mother is riding a horse. The horse walks slowly so Mother scolds the horse. Each word has a distinct tone giving it a different meaning from the other similar sounding words.

In Mandarin there are four tones:
First Tone has no rise or fall in your voice
Second Tone is high. In English it is like you are asking a question.
Third Tone is rising. This one would be like an overly exaggerated down and then rising to your voice.
Fourth Tone is low. This one starts high and then your voice drops lower.
There is also Neutral Tone which is just a short first tone.

Thai also had tones we had to learn. They were a little different but the same idea. In Thai for example Khaw (rising tone) aw (middle tone) and Khaw (falling tone) meant "He wants rice."

We just finished our second week of language learning and have many more on the way. Wish us luck for the next 150 weeks.

3 right turns make a left

Driving! We take it for granted in the states. I think when Taiwan was creating streets and organizing road rules they tried to come up with the most difficult and confusing method possible. For example: left turns are not allowed usually. So let's say you are going North on ABC Road and you want to turn left to begin heading West on Road TUV you must either continue past Road TUV and hope for a U-turn up ahead where you can continue back South on ABC Road thereby allowing you to turn Right onto Road TUV so that you can then go West. Or you must make three right turns onto side streets to end in the desired direction. Three right turns seems to be easier on paper than is actually done. Most roads do not go in a straight East-West or North-South direction conveniently intersecting with the next North-South or East-West road thereby allowing three easy right turns. No, no- the side roads are congested, crowded alleyways that appear to go in no particular direction and intersect with other smaller even more crowded alleys that just came from no direction in particular. A road map might as well be a bowl of rice noodles. We actually know Taiwanese people who get lost in their own city and our language tutor does not even drive here.

And in other news- Chloe thinks the security guard in our building is named "Ni Hao." We told her to say "Ni Hao" to him when she sees him. Ni Hao is the typical Chinese greeting for "Hello." So the other night we were walking and she did not see the security guard and she said "Mommy, I want Ni Hao." Then he appeared and she said "Oh, there he is."

Fish in a fish bowl

Last saturday we took a much needed break from the city and went to the sea. The overcast sky, icy wind, sand littered with clumps of dessert grass and the cool specks of drizzle rain were reminiscent of a trip Jeff and I took along the coast of Lake Michigan in October 2002. As we approached the waves frantically piercing the beach Chloe began searching the ground for shells. We were not far enough from civilization to find much but garbage and it was far too cold to spend time walking along the beach. But it was nice to see open sky free from buildings.

We spent some time walking around the Fisherman's Wharf area with a small handful of other tourists. Chloe and Ava became instant stars posing for camera cell phones with other local children while onlookers asked us questions that we didn't understand. We just nodded and smiled.

I forgot my camera once again. We only got lost two or three times getting there and back.

We stopped at a McDonald's without a parking lot but with a drive-thru (space is a premium) and attempted to order 6 hamburgers. The poor girl thought we were trying to order a single hamburger and despite our best attempts at using the Chinese word for "six" she just did not understand. We got the foreigner pass to go straight to the window without ordering where the English-speaking manager took over.

One other note: Please remember our entire organization this Christmas season. November is historically the time when most places in America give the most money to fund our organization. Last year's downturn has caused major cutbacks. The most unfortunate part is that our language budgets have been cut in addition to other areas such as medical, retirement and transportation. Language learning is our lifeline to the people who are ultimately the reason we are here. Please ask for open hearts during this offering time as well as wisdom for the decison-makers in our organization.

It's Thursday aleady?!

Wow! This week has flown by. We begin every morning with two hours each of intense survival Chinese. Then a quick lunch, maybe a nap for the girls if we are lucky, and on to our to-do list.

This week we got our Taiwanese driver's licenses. We are now legal to drive in about a half-dozen countries (US, Thailand, Taiwan and all the countries with reciprocal agreements including Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand and Australia to name a few). Interesting fact: Jeff and I have driven in 4 different countries, on opposite sides of the road and on 3 separate continents.

Anyways, we are slowly acquiring the furnishings for our new apartment and the girls are ever so slowly adjusting to the time difference. I think Chloe is doing all right but Ava is just hanging on to that US time. It's been almost a month now since she has slept through the night. She is also in a new phase of development where she is extremely independent but totally unstable. She wants to walk everywhere but is a falling disaster waiting to happen. She wants to feed herself but most of the food ends in a mess on the floor. She wants to explore everything and it all goes in the mouth which can be unnerving. Please remember her (and us!) during your quiet times.

Jeff has started working in the afternoons on learning his new job and getting set-up in his new office. Please remember him as he has a very full schedule ahead of him.

And one other thing:
I am getting bored with cooking the same ol things over and over so if you have a good recipe that uses fairly basic ingredients or is completely made from scratch- I would love to have it. You can email it to me at hjweathers@yahoo.com. I can get quite a few American products here but sometimes I have to go on a hunt for special items like Molasses or Cake Mixes.

Survival Language Day 1

Nie Hao!

Today we had our first language lesson. Or maybe I should say survived our first language lesson. We have a tutor coming to our house every morning to help us get down some basic language before we start our formal language training in December.

So, today we learned our numbers, greetings, how to ask "how much" and "my name is". We even got new Chinese names.

That's a lot for one lesson. Anyways, here is your first lesson in Chinese.

Numbers 1 to 10

1 Yi (EEEE)
2 Er (are)
3 San (son)
4 Si (Ziiii)
5 Wu (Ooooh)
6 Liu (Leeooohh)
7 Qi (Chi)
8 Ba (baaa)
9 Jiu (Jeeoooo)
10 Shi (Shiir)

What's a Pepperoni?

Last night, we were tired. We have been out exploring our wonderful new city every day and learning our way around some very confusing streets. We met some wonderful new people that spoke enough English that Jeff and I were able to share a little about why we are here. We found a good map and a good English-Chinese Dictionary. Jeff got his desk set up at work and we begin language study on Monday. I bought a microwave and we have scoped out the cheapest places to furnish our new apartment. We went to the zoo and the girls became one of the exhibits. (There were a lot of people there who were probably from the mainland and had apparently never seen blonde hair and blue eyes- so the girls got their picture taken A LOT). That all happened last week. We were tired. Cooking dinner was out of the question.

Jeff went down to grab a pizza from a little stand not far from our apartment. The name of it is "Wood-Fired Pizza." He didn't really recognize most things on the menu as being your typical pizza toppings. He asked the girl if she spoke English and she said "just a little." He asked her if they had pepperoni pizza and she said "What's a Pepperoni?" Why on earth would the "Wood-Fired Pizza" stand actually have pepperoni? or even know what it was?

Regardless, Jeff chose two pizza options off the English menu and hoped for the best. I must say that when he brought home a smoked cheese pizza and an apple-cinnamon pizza, I was a little dissappointed. However, they were actually super delicious. Very gourmet.



This is us at the zoo last week. It was your pretty standard zoo except for the display outside the restrooms. (click on the pic below to enlarge)

This was a wall of what was supposed to be large piles of poop decorated in various shades. There was also a larger display with holes cut in it so that "you can experience a maggott's life." I'm not making this up- really. Chloe thought it was ice cream and we did not correct her.

To Do List

c Buy a refrigerator, dining room table, wardrobes (closets), oven, microwave, bookcases, TV, TV stand, couch, chair, endtables, night stands, and desk.

c Get a Taiwan drivers license

c Move-in to new apartment

c Find childcare for the girls prior to starting language study

aEnroll in Language School (we begin Dec. 21)


One out of four isn't bad

Picture Day

Aaaaghhh... a beautiful, big Asian city

(this is the view from our balcony)

It seems that the Taiwanese LOVE Subway. They're everywhere and packed at lunchtime.

And bicycles are the preferred mode of transportation around the university area where we are.

Also, located directly behind our temporary apartment is a baptist church.

We explored the university today. It's a really pretty campus - with trees!

We went to dinner with some friends and we parked in a parking garage. Nothing too unusual about that except it seems that parking is such a premium this garage built an elevator for cars. You drive in to the elevator it takes you to the correct level and there is just enough space on that level for about 10 or 12 cars stacked two deep and two high if needed.

This is the dumpling restaurant where we ate. It was great. There was a goldfish pond in the front of it where the kids played and Chloe drowned Aidan's (friend's son) lion. Sorry, Aidan.

Day 6- Sunday

Today we visited a church that some friends attend. It was a very typical service complete with a bluegrass band- no kidding. There are some college students here from Kentucky who are teaching bluegrass music to Taiwanese. The usual music guy was gone and so they filled in. It was pretty funny watching a bunch of asians stomp their feet and clap their hands to Hank Williams' "I Saw The Light." You think I am making this up but I couldn't if I tried.

Childcare at the church was not available for Ava's age, so I was not able to stay in the service for the sermon but Jeff said it was good and in English. Next week we will try a Baptist Church with an English service and then we will probably get connected with a Chinese church that we can attend at least a couple times a month.

We also listened to our home church's sermon from last week after we got home today. Isn't the internet grand?

Yesterday, we went furniture and appliance shopping and met a really friendly cab driver. We also ate at Chili's for lunch. Yum, yum. Life is tough.

The girls are still battling jetlag. Ava was up at 3:30am and Chloe was up at 4:30am. Please remember their adjustment during your quiet time. Also, remember us that our crate will arrive shortly and we will be able to get settled in to our new apartment quickly and on the budget that we have allotted.

I think tomorrow we are going to go to Ikea (It's like the Wal-Mart of furniture- they have everything you could want, it comes in a box and it's cheap). Wednesday we should be enrolling in language school which will help us begin to meet people.

I'll start posting more pics soon. I keep forgetting to bring my camera when we go places. We do not yet have a car, so we walk or take the train. After remembering diapers, wipes, bottles, shoes, extra clothes for accidents, stroller, map, Chinese phrasebook, subway card, Chloe and Ava, money and keys- the camera usually gets forgotten.

Day #4

We survived our first earthquake. Last night around 6:30pm, I felt dizzy and the floor started moving. And in true Chicken Little fashion, I looked over at Jeff and said "the floor is moving, the floor is moving." It's a good thing we found that emergency exit. But seriously, it was the worst earthquake in 10 years for Taipei and it barely moved our building (11 stories total). So I'm sure we will be fine come what may. Besides, folks at home have tornadoes much more frequently. I worry for you.

In other news, Ava's rash is gone and we did not have to take an expedition to the doctor. Although, we do know where it is should we need to use one in the future.

And even better, the girls almost slept all night. Ava woke up once from 2am-3am but after some Ibuprofen, a bottle and some rocking she went back to sleep until 6am. Not too bad.

Today, we did a little shopping for our apartment and bought a ceiling fan for the girls room. There is a store here that is similar to Home Depot.

And finally, we checked out a cool pizza joint that looked like a hip hangout for college students from the university close to us. It was pretty yummy.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Day 3

Minor Accomplishment #1: We went to Costco this morning which is like a Sam's Club. They are very popular in much of the US just not in Oklahoma. I was dumbfounded to say the least. The quantities available, the products for sale and above all the price were enough to make me love this place. First of all, they had all the familar US brands for almost the same price. We bought a giant box of Raisin Bran for less then $8 US Dollars. There were giant blocks of cheese for only $5 and gallons of milk were less than $6. To put this in comparison, a VERY small box of raisin bran in Chiang Mai would have cost $10, 8oz of cheese would have been almost $6 and milk cost the same. On top of that there were products that weren't even imaginable to buy in Chiang Mai such as Pecans, Marshmallows, Hershey's Syrup and Goldfish Crackers. Not to mention frozen Chicken Nuggets and you guessed it-Turkey! A real, live whole turkey for less than $20. The same Turkey in Chiang Mai was about $75. Needless to say, I was excited.

Minor Accomplishment #2: We walked all by ourselves using only a mediocre map to a huge wonderful park. It was great to get some exercise and fresh air. The park is called Daan Park and it is very close to our permanent apartment. Chloe got to slide and swing and release some of her tension as well. She is such a trooper. We have put her through multiple moves this year and with the exception of a little jet lag exhaustion her attitude and demeanor has just been perfect. We could not ask for a more adaptable three year old.

Minor Accomplishment #3: We found the emergency exit for our temporary apartment. Check out the pics below.

I stepped out on balcony this morning and noticed this hoist pulley system.

After glancing at the instructions complete with diagram located on the wall to my right, I realized that this was intended for human use. Go figure. By the way, we are on the 10th floor.

Day Two

Cons:

Ava and Chloe decided that midnight is a good time to wake up and that 2am is a good time to go back to sleep with alternating crying every hour on the hour until 5:45am at which time I just give up. Oh, will Jetlag ever end?

Ava is exceptionally cranky, extraordinarily clingy and is covered in a rash across her abdomen. However she is eating fine, has no fever and is neither vomiting nor has diarrhea. I gave her some Benadryl and did some research on the internet of possible causes. We may be making our first trek to the doctor today. We'll see.

Our bathroom mirror makes me look fat. Aarrrgghhh. :)

I have no motivation to unpack our suitcases again. In 3-6 weeks when our crate arrives, I will be packing our suitcases again for the 7th time this year. I sincerely hope that we will not move again for quite some time. In the last 8 years of marriage, Jeff and I have permanenty moved 8 times with several temporary moves (such as where we are staying for the moment) in between.

Pros:
We picked out the colors for paint in our apartment today. We got to go in and look around. We have a respectable view, a large kitchen and four bedrooms, and a small courtyard for the girls to play safely- yeah!

We ate McDonald's today and even found it ourself. If you saw the weird curvy streets you would understand the accomplishment in finding anything for ourselves.

My dear friend will be taking me to Costco tomorrow for a riveting day of buying groceries. Thanks a million Morgan- you guys are the best. They are also our neighbors in our new apartment and happen to have boys just slightly older than our girls.

I no longer fear looking like a tourist. When we first moved to Chicago and to Thailand, I hated carrying around a camera or a map because I didn't want anyone else to know that I didn't know what I was doing. I don't care much anymore. I have blonde hair, blue eyes and stand about 3 inches taller than everyone. If that isn't enough I have two blonde-haired children and a 6foot tall husband surrounding me- of course I don't look like I know what I am doing. In three years, I will still not look like I know what I am doing because I probably still won't. But, this time I embrace the ridiculousness. It helps with the culture shock.*


Stayed tuned for another exciting Day tomorrow. I might even post some pics if I find the camera.

*p.s. Many people have talked about culture shock and it can be a very confusing thing. Basically, culture shock is a culmination of little irritations, lack of knowledge of your surroundings and unfamiliarity to even know that you don't know what you're doing. Add on top of that the inability to ask anyone because of a language barrier and the disorganization one feels directly after moving and stuff is still packed, stored or lost and you have culture stress. Multiple all that by 10 and you have culture shock.

Example of stressor: Salt and Sugar both come in a similar-sized, clear plastic bag. This morning I sprinkled a good amount of salt on my cinammon toast and then took a big bite. Yuck!

Right now, we are at about 3 or 4 on a scale of 1-10.
We are lower on the scale this time because we can still laugh at sprinkling salt instead of sugar and the fact that we don't know what we are doing and look like clowns all the time. Who doesn't love a clown? (except the scary ones)

Day One

Well, we made it to Taipei. The trip was wonderfully uneventful yet dreadfully long. I do not wish to get on another plane for a VERY long time.

We are staying in temporary housing until our ocean freighted crate gets here. Then, the real fun happens. We get to unload and unpack all of our stuff into our permanent apartment. The temporary place is nice and comfortable and we know a few people in the building already.

We are all extraordinarily tired but still able to get a few things done in the morning before jetlag really gets us. Today, we applied for our alien resident certificate and tomorrow we get to go visit our new and permanent home just a few blocks away from where we are staying now. We also get to pick our paint colors for the new place. Let's hope we pick something we like and can live with for a very long time.

Flight Itinerary

Sunday morning at 6:30am we will be boarding a plane destined for Taipei, Taiwan.

We have almost finished packing after an emergency trip back to the crating company. As it seems we had slightly more things coming back with us than we had on our return trip. After assuring Jeff multiple times over the course of the last few weeks that I was a master packer, knew exactly how much stuff we had and was positive that it would all fit in our alloted 8 suitcases- last night around 6:00pm, I learned that I cannot get it all to fit in our suitcases and therefore Jeff took more items back to the crate company this morning on his way to say goodbye to my family in OKC. Sorry Jeff

Anyways,

Here is our flight itinerary:

6:35 am Tulsa to Chicago 8:20am arrival
11:20 am Chicago to Seoul, South Korea arriving in Seoul at 4:10 pm Korea time
5:30 pm Seoul to Taipe, Taiwan arriving at 7:10 pm Taiwan Time and 5:10 am OKC time on Monday, Nov. 1.

For a total trip time of almost 23 hours. Not too bad it took us almost 40 hours to get to Chiang Mai, Thailand the first time.

I will try to post again as soon as possible after arriving.

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

We finally received word that our visa has been approved. We are hoping to be able to leave within the next week. We are just waiting on our actual physical passports to come back from the Taiwanese government. As soon as that happens we will hop the next flight out of Tulsa- probably this Sunday.

Thank you so much for your support the last few months. We will miss everyone. Feel free to come visit us. We always have room.

Taiwan At A Glance

Land Area: 32,260 Sq Kilometers (less than 1/5 the size of Oklahoma)

Population: 22.9 Million (More than 6 times as many people as the state of Oklahoma)

Perspective: Divide the state of Oklahoma by 5 and multiple the entire state population by 6 and you still don't have quite as many people crammed into a single area as Taiwan does.

Climate:

On average, Taipei, Taiwan is 11 degrees warmer than Tulsa, OK and receives 25.1 more inches of rain than Tulsa.

Language:

Mandarin Chinese

Life Expectancy:

Taiwan- 77.96

USA- 78.11

Literacy:

96% of people age 15 and over can read and write in Taiwan as compared to 99% of Americans.

Religion:

93% of people in Taiwan are Buddhist and Taoist.

51% of people in the US are protestant Christian.

Economy:

Purchasing Power Parity in Taiwan: $31, 100 per person

Purchasing Power Parity in the US: $46,900 per person

Purchasing Power Parity in Thailand: $8,400 per person

Taipei, Taiwan is currently home to the tallest building in the world, Taipei 101. (The United Arab Emirates has completed a building with a really tall spire on top that technically makes it taller. However, Taipei 101 is the highest structural element)

The Waiting Game

Well, we are still waiting on our visa (the stamp in our passports that allows us entry into Taiwan). The paperwork has been turned in and now it just has to go through a variety of government agencies. We had hoped to leave next Saturday the 24th. But, I don't think that will happen. We will keep you updated when we know an exact departure date.

Please remember our visa during your quiet time.

Ava Walking

We finally got some video of Ava walking. She just turned 9 mos old today.

Do you have the time to listen to me whine?

Yesterday we packed our crate and got a phone call.

The crate was the easy part. We loaded all of our earthly posessions in a crate bound for Taiwan. The crate will be stored in a warehouse until we leave for Taiwan and then shipped over the ocean. It will arrive about 3-6 weeks after we do. Until it gets to our new home, we will be staying in furnished- temporary housing.

The phone call was from the Taiwan economic office in Houston saying that they must send our application to a different government agency in order to be approved for a resident visa. So, while we and all our earthly possessions await the blessed "resident visa" we ask for you to remember us. We have an itinerary set for us to leave on October 24 but the closer we get to that date without a visa the less likely it is that we will leave as scheduled.

Jeff will be traveling for two weeks in early December. The longer we are delayed, the less chance there is that our crate will have arrived and we will be set up in our home before Jeff is gone. This can be a little more difficult in a new foreign country than it might be in a more familar setting. New language, new home, new surroundings, new places to find groceries- a whole new way of life. It takes an adult several months to adjust to all that change let alone two little kids. It would just be really nice if we were already setup in our permanent, stable dwelling before we were minus one integral member of the family.

But, regardless of how it all works out, we are going to have a grand adventure anyways.

Word Wednesday (on Thursday)

Mandarin Chinese is spoken by more people than any other language in the world including English. It is spoken throughout China and Taiwan. Our family has the privilege and burden of learning this complex language over the next three years.

Here is your first lesson in the language:

"Nee Hao" pronounced "knee how"
This is the standard greeting in Mandarin meaning "Hello"

Our New Home

We haven't even left the country yet and we already have pictures of our new home. Of course, it needs some paint and some furniture (which we are ocean freighting this week). But, we are so thrilled to be living close to a huge park and can't wait to get moved in.

I ask you to remember our home during your quiet times. We desire for it to be an inviting, comfortable rememberance of why we serve the people.

This is the outside of the building looking up from the street level. We are on the 5th Floor. (There is an elevator. Whew!)

Here is our luxurious living room complete with a hole in the wall for an a/c unit. We are fortunate to have the same electricity voltage with the same plugs so we can bring cheaper ac units from the states to install when we arrive.

Master bedroom suite.

I know you are jealous of all my countertop space but you will just have to move overseas and get your own two-burner stove without an oven.



I saved the best for last. Spacious, eh?

Home Again, Home Again

Well, we are home again and buried under a mountain of laundry. Last week, Jeff and I were in Jacksonville for a wonderful sending ceremony. This ceremony made us "officially graduated" and ready to return overseas. Jeff's wonderful sister, Tina, watched the girls most of the week and we are soooo thankful.

This weekend we were able to spend it watching the rainfall in Branson, Mo. Jeff's family rented a lake cabin for a fun weekend on the lake and/or Silver Dollar City. We spent most of our time playing cards and watching movies thanks to the downpour the entire day on Saturday. It was great.

This week Jeff and I will be crating our stuff and finishing our visa and working on flight arrangements. Our tentative departure date is October 24 IF we get our visa in time.

And finally, look for an email update in your inbox this week.

Final Ceremony

Jeff and I are in Jacksonville, Florida and the girls are in Owasso with Aunt Tina. Tonight is our official send-off ceremony before going to Taiwan. We just received all of our authenticated paperwork and are now ready to apply for our visa. We're not real sure how it will take but we are hoping to board a plan headed for the other side of the world on October 24.





We have enjoyed our time in the states and reconnecting with family and friends.





You can expect to see changes coming to our blog soon. These changes include "what's the word? Wednesday" (Chinese vocabulary lesson) "Frightful Food Friday" (Chinese food experiences) "Rememberance Sunday" (Pics of places to pray for) and of course an update from us once a week which may include our new daily schedule, happenings in the girls lives, living conditions and pictures of places we have been.





I will also be sending out some email updates and newsletters as soon as we get our official travel date. So be looking for that in your inbox.





To get the new blog format started- let's go back to an oldie but a gooody from Thailand:

Frightful Food Friday

Anyone remember what this was?

Last minute plans

Jeff and I leave first thing tomorrow morning for our appointment ceremony in Jacksonville, Fl. Chloe and Ava are staying with grandma and grandpa this weekend and then Aunt Tina will have a wild time with them next week. It will probably be more crazy for Tina than the girls because when you add our two to their three that make five children. Three of which are under the age of 6. Good luck Aunt Tina.

We are excited to be in the final step of our return overseas. The only thing left is that Taiwan visa but we are close- oh so close.

Our tentative departure date is sometime between Oct. 3 and Oct. 24. (Depending on our visa). Please remember us next week as we meet some of the Board of Trustees from our company and get a ton of last minute information.

Chloe Age 3

The Big 03

Today Chloe turned 3. In anticipation of the big day she just all of sudden started speaking in almost-intelligible full sentences. We had a great birthday party for her last Saturday for all of our family. I made Thai food and it turned out edible. Jeff's dad was little iffy about eating anything other than Meat and Potatoes but he even said "I was surprised, it was real good." Thanks Jack!

Just lay that anywhere

Last night Chloe decided that the hall makes a much better bed than her bed. I walked out of the living room to check on the girls and this is what I found.

Maybe she was missing her old, hard asian mattress in Thailand and was tired of the soft, comfy ones here in the states.

She's walking

Can you believe it? I know it seems a little far-fetched that at 7 mos old, Ava would have already begun walking. (And don't get me wrong she isn't taking long walks around the block by herself or anything). But... she took her first steps this week all by herself. Wobbly steps but steps none the less. She is the 7 mos walking wonder. I'll try to get some pics later.

Walking Papers

Well, we just received word from our company that we have official approval to return overseas. Now all that is left to do is one more conference complete with a fancy sending ceremony and our visa.

The visa is coming along with just a few little snags. We have had to set up a power of attorney to get Ava's birth certificate authenticated. (which then has to go back to Bangkok.) And the State of OKlahoma has been a little difficult to work with in getting our criminal record sealed by the secretary of state. In case you are wondering, Jeff nor I have a criminal record which is part of the problem. Basically, our woes go something like this:

I printed off the request for criminal record form from the Oklahoma state bureau of investigation website. They returned the form because it wasn't the correct form. I completed and faxed the form that they sent me and it once again was returned because they no longer accept faxed copies. I MAILED the form and they finally sent me a piece of paper that stated "there is no criminal record found for the person matching that name or description." Whew, I was afraid there may have been. :)

So, I think that the hard part is over. Next, we drive to the secretary of the state of Oklahoma's office located in the capital building in OKC (about a 2-hour drive) to get the form put in an official state envelope and sealed so that the Taiwan government knows that it is official. They cannot seal it because the form is not notarized. I must have the OSBI notarize the form. Fortunately, we weren't too far away from the OSBI office so we make a quick jog over to their office (two kids in tow). The lady behind the bullet proof glass window tells me that they can't notarize the document but they can provide a letter of certification that is notarized. I say "ok, give me one of those." She points me to the next window. I ask the second lady behind the second bullet-proof glass window to give me one of those certified letter things and she says she can't because it has to be done on the same day that the original criminal record was pulled.

At this point the lady in the lobby laughs and reveals three black teeth in her entire head. She mumbles something about how they should have told us this before and how *****ed up the government is. To which another rather large lady with a couple of gold teeth responds with something sarcastic about how we want these people to run our healthcare system. No comment.

Anyways, we fill out the forms again, ask them for the certified letter thing and to please notarize the letter as well just to be safe. Paid them our $30 again and I left to wait with the girls in the car. Jeff exits the building 15minutes later and we have our certified letter that states we have no criminal record. By the time we finished all this it was too late to return to the Secretary of State office. So, we will try getting it sealed once more before sending it to the Taiwan government to authenticate it and return it back to us so that we can apply for our visa sometime in the next 10 years.

However, we do feel very fortunate to be at this point in the process of our return. Due to economic constraints, many people who would like to go overseas are unable to do so. We have had a very easy time getting approved and funding to return. We are so thankful to our Father who has watched us each step and opened many impossible doors.

Bubble Baths

Ava is almost 7 mos. old and is now able to do a few things with Chloe (supervised, of course). One of her favorites is pool time and bubble bath. Two weeks ago we were able to move into a house that our company provides for people in the states. It's really nice with a big fenced backyard that the girls love to play in. Grandma bought the girls a small blow-up swimming pool and they spend loads of time splashing each other.

The house also has a piano. I have been practicing again for the first time in 15 years. (The only music I could find was an old baptist hymnal. I have become quite proficient at "Amazing Grace", "Holy, Holy, Holy" and "Be Thou My Vision") It's fun to actually play something again. I didn't realize how much I enjoyed it when I was younger.

Our time is rapidly winding down in the states and we are trying to purchase all the things we think we will need for our new home as well as for ourselves. Top on the list for me is jeans. I spent 5 hours today looking for a pair of jeans that didn't say "skinny" or "boyfriend" on the tag. Regardless of the brand and style, every pair said "these jeans will make your legs look thinner and your stomach flatter and you will be happy every day for the rest of your life." BUT... every pair I tried on just made me look too young or too old. I can't pull of the matchstick frame you need for skinny jeans and I am tired of squeezing my thighs into bootcut jeans that just fall off my waist. I did find one pair that I liked but for the low, bargain price of $136 I passed.

Ava at 6 months

When Chloe was born the first 6 months were the longest time span in the history of the earth. The second time around the first 6 months is the shortest time span ever. Crazy.

5 Inconvenient Truths.

Inconvenient Truth #1: Family conflicts are easier 10,000 miles away.
Issues that neither of us cared to work on are now upon us and must be taken care of. It was much easier while overseas to just hang up the computer phone and say "isn't that a shame." Now that we are right here in the middle, we must do something- but what?

Inconvenient Truth #2: America is a fast-food culture. Never in the last two years have we had so many immediate items that had to be dealt with on a daily basis. We have started calling a family meal going through the drive-thru together in the minivan.

Inconvenient Truth #3: Returning to the states has been a bit like re-opening a healing wound. Upon landing, there was an immediate pain that in some ways we had missed out on quite a bit but in other ways it was painful to see that some things we wished would change were exactly the same. Over time, we have put a bandaid on the wound. Now that it is healing, we are itching to get overseas.

Inconvenient Truth #4: Two plus years in transition is two years too many. Since our departure two years ago, our conversations about the future have always started with "if we go back to the states... or if we come back overseas..." The uncertainty of our future caused us to be in constant transition which meant that we were unable to keep more than 8 suitcases of our earhtly possesions or make definite plans on anything. Transition can be one of the most uncomfortable places to be.

Inconvenient Truth #5: God is more concerned with our spiritual development and relationship with him than with our happiness and comfort level. It is true that oftentimes these two items go hand-in-hand, the better the relationship with God, the more contented and overall happy we are. However, one only has to look at Job to know that the process of getting there can be very unpleasant.

What do you do in the states?

Many people have asked us what we do while we are here in the states with seemingly no job. Our stock answer has been kind of vague because it's kind of complicated. I thought I would instead give you a glimpse into each person's to-do list:

First the easy one- Ava:
1. Eat
2. Sleep
3. Poop
4. Chew on anything I can get my hands on
5. Learn to crawl

Then there's Chloe:
1. Annoy my sister
2. Watch Dora
3. Learn colors, shapes, numbers and Alphabet
4. Watch Dora

And of course Heather and Jeff's to-do list is a bit more complex:
1. Complete our Visa application for Taiwan (this consists of mailing each person's birth certificate, our marriage license, college diploma's, transcripts, a letter from our church, a letter from our company, a letter from the company we are going to work for, a notarized medical exam sealed by the secretary of state and a certified non-criminal record also sealed by the secretary of state. We mail all that to the Taiwan Government office in Houston for them to "authenticate". Then, we actually complete our visa application and mail it along with all of the above authenticated documents, copies of the above documents, our passports, pictures and dinero back to the Taiwan government office to get our Visa. Did I mention that Ava's birth certificate has to be sent back to Bangkok because she was born in Thailand? And our medical exam consists of a HIV test, syphilis test, TB chest X-ray, fecal smear for parasites and something else called Hansen's Disease?) We might get this all done sometime this century.

2. speak in churches and various organizations around the state that would like to hear about the work going on overseas. (This has consumed most of our weekends)

3. Crate an entire household of goods overseas. This time, we get to bring a lot of household goods with us to Taiwan including a mattress, washer/dryer, airconditioners, rugs, heaters, extra clothing, etc.. However, you may remember that we got rid of all our wordly possessions the last time we left and so before we can send a bunch of stuff overseas we have to buy it all again.

4. And finally we have to accomplish all of the above amidst traveling for conferences and trainings for the company as well as not neglecting friends and family that we will not see again for possibly four more years.

Doesn't that sound relaxing?