States Time

Well, I'm back in the States!!

After a very long trip, I arrived in St. Louis on the 10th. I cant' believe I've already been here over a week....I'll leave Thursday for Houston for a week before heading back. My time with my parents and at the wedding has really flown by. But I guess that's how it always is....

So......I did have a few days of jetlag, mostly just waking up at 4 or 5 and being up for the day. After the wedding I slept all night long and could barely get up the next day. It must've worn me out enough to get me back on track, ha!

This is just going to be a catch up post, then I'll post the wedding stuff!

While I was in Arkansas, we ate at Chick fil a, and oh my goodness!!! Just walking up to the building was heaven! It smelled better than anything and I could not wait to eat everything in sight, ha!

I still haven't tried the chocolate cookies or the sundaes, but don't worry I will!

Last Saturday, my dad and I had a date and went to the Cardinals game. It was so much fun! I usually always think of baseball games as kind of boring and slow, but this one was pretty intense and kept me interested the whole time. And....there was nachos. Need I say more.

We had great seats, so we were able to see everything. But we were also in the sun, and I was drenched!!! Not just a little but practically dripping!

I also was able to meet up with some friends from Oklahoma who happened to also be at the game! So fun!

This is the only good picture I have with my dad. I have no idea why is he leaning so far back.......

It is weird to be here. I thought I would go crazy and buy everything in sight, but we walked into Target today and I barely even browsed and walked out empty handed...who am I?!?!?

But awkward moment, on my long flight I accidentally flung my knife (with butter on it) onto the guy sitting next to me. I thought it mostly landed on his seat belt, but he kept trying to wipe it off.
Also, when I was in the LA airport, I saw these two guys leave the restaurant I was at but there was still $5 on the table. My first thought was that they forgot their money on the table, and I was going back and forth about what to do. After a few minutes I realized they were tipping! Something I haven't done in a long time!

And as weird as it is, I am missing my Asian food so much!! I can't wait to get back and get some fried dofu and cabbage with noodles.

Something I have enjoyed though, is when I buy something and they ask for a home number I just say "I don't live in this country," and they leave me alone, ha!

That's my ramble, have a good night!

laura

Celebrations

This past Thursday Daniel and I celebrated our one year anniversary of living in East Asia!!

This is us one year ago leaving Dallas.

Part of me feels like it has been so much longer than a year! Not in a it's-been-so-hard kind of way, but i feel that just so much has happened and we feel pretty settled here that sometimes i feel like we've lived here forever. This past year was harder than we thought it would be. I would say the first 6 months here were the most difficult of our marriage. But at the same time, I believe our relationship has grown and gone deeper than ever before too.

We feel very settled here. We feel pretty comfortable getting around and using the local language. We've settled into our home and have a general routine. We've been able to travel and meet so many other people. It's been such a blessing to be here, we look forward to the many more years we hope to live here.

In another celebration news..... my sister, Sarah is pregnant!!  

She is already 13 weeks! Now there is a GREAT story to how they became pregnant :) (and yes I have permission to share it)

Sarah & Mike have 2 little boys, and have been going back and forth for the past 3 years about whether or not they wanted to grow their family more or not. They finally decided they thought they were done, and Mike had a vasectomy the last part of February (you probably see where this is going.....) 

They were told to use another form of birth control for about 6 weeks after the surgery. They didn't. They got pregnant about 2 weeks later.

The great thing is that they are both THRILLED about their little baby! I keep telling Sarah this is their miracle child, that Father clearly wanted them to have. We're all hoping for a little girl, but will clearly be happy with whatever.

When Sarah told me the news, I thought she was joking! I knew Mike had the surgery and when Sarah told me I couldn't believe it. She could hardly believe it either.

I'm so excited to be able to spend a week with her! The last time I moved overseas, she also got pregnant and told me the weekend before I left. So I already know what it's like to miss the pregnancy, birth, and several months of her babies life. But I am so excited to see her, even if just for a little bit during this pregnancy. It's going to be so much fun!

And I'm getting on a plane in just a few short hours to head to the States. It really hit me at dinner tonight that I would see my parents tomorrow. So unreal!

see you in the States!

love

laura

New Recipe and Travel

Let's start with the most random....

This past Monday I had a few friends over and I have been waiting forever to make this new recipe I found on Pinterest. It makes a 9X13 so I've been waiting for a reason to make it for more than just me and Daniel.

When I first tried them, I didn't think they were sweet enough (even though all my friends assured me they were very rich!). But I refrigerated the leftovers and they are AMAZING chilled. yum yum!

In very current news, I'm going to be in the States for about 2 1/2 weeks. I leave this Sunday. I know, crazy right?!?!?!?!? Here's the story:

BFF Caroline got engaged and is getting married June 14th. When we first moved here (a year ago TODAY), we agreed that when Caroline got married (she wasn't dating Shane when we first came), I would go back for the wedding. She had a whirlwind romance and was engaged in early December. 

That's when we started praying and asking Father to show us if I was to go home or not. The tickets were looking a little pricey and the trip to the states was pretty unexpected.

I knew we couldn't make any decisions until we found out about our taxes. Last year we ended up owing over $3000 (it was a complete shock!). I knew that if we owed anything at all this year we couldn't afford the trip back. So again, lots of prayer that we wouldn't owe anything for taxes and that I could find a really cheap ticket.

I guess it was about March maybe when we found out that we would owe "a little" in taxes, but needed to wait a week or so to find out the final amount. I was asking Father to really make it obvious through our taxes if we could afford for me to fly back to the states for Caroline's wedding.

A week later we found out, not only did we NOT owe, but we were getting a big enough refund that would completely pay for my entire trip!!!! PTLPTLPTL!!!!! I bawled like a little baby, and have continued to praise Father for not only His provision but for making it so clear through our taxes that He had provided and made a way. 

I was able to get a good ticket price (=lots of long layovers), and I leave this Sunday early am. I will fly into St. Louis and stay with my parents, then we'll drive down to the wedding in Arkansas. We'll drive back to their house where I'll stay for a few more days, then I'll fly to my sisters in Houston for the last week of June.

It's going to be a whirlwind, but also SOOO exciting!!! Father has continued to reveal how perfect this timing is that I go to the States. 

I have more stuff to share so I'll really try to post again tomorrow!

any other blog/twitter friends going to be at the wedding???

love

laura

In laws in Asia part 2

On Friday we went downtown just to walk around. It has some fun shops and places to eat.

This is my favorite picture of Steve & Sherry.

Can you find me?

We went into a store that Daniel and I had been in before. One of the little shops sell loose leaf tea and give really fun demonstrations on how to make it.  I love Daniel's face in this picture-he looks so intense!

Saturday we headed to our local park. I usually run along the river next to this park. But when I work my way back up to some longer runs I want to start running in and around the park. It's a little intimidating because there are tons of little paths and I'm afraid I'll get lost.

Adorable:

Bamboo:

I can't remember all the details of what we did in order, because the days just all ran together. We weren't super scheduled so I can't really remember when we did what. 

While they were here, Steve ironed almost everyday. He probably ironed more in one week than I have in the last year. On Saturday I was doing a lot of cooking and baking and Steve asked if he could help with anything. In all seriousness I asked him to iron 2 shirts for me. He is really good at ironing and I might as well cash in on his giftings :)

While they were here, they bought us an ironing board and a mattress for our bed. We're sleeping pretty good now and our clothes are less (should be!) wrinkled.

One night we walked to a new Starbucks (we walked 4.5 miles that night) not too far away from our house. Again, cute pic!

We had a GREAT time with Daniel's parents, and can't wait for them to come back!!!

love

laura

In laws take on Asia

Late, so very late last Monday night, Daniels' parents arrived for a week long visit. I have been looking forward to their visit for months!!! I knew I was excited to see them, but when I saw them walk through our front door I teared up immediately-there is just something about seeing family and having them close after a long period of time (in this case a year).

We just spent a few minutes chatting, then we all went to bed because it was late and i'm not 22 anymore. Heck, I'm not not even in my 20's anymore.....sad day.

Anyways.....the next day was their anniversary so I surprised them with a cookie cake so we could celebrate!

No lie...it was GOOD!

The first day they were here we pretty much just hung around the house and caught up on life. I made a new recipe from Pinterest, called doughnut muffins, and they were delish!! I actually made these twice this past week.

Wednesday we took them to a local tourist attraction just a few minutes from our house.

Before we left the house I had to take a picture of all of our shoes. I'll give you one guess as to which shoe is mine, ha!

 Sherry and I enjoyed "retail therapy" as she calls it :) We had so much fun AND we convinced them both to get a Starbucks (albeit hot chocolate) with us.

I love all of these pics. The Starbucks in each hand just makes me smile!

While we were out, we found cherries!!! They just started coming back into season and I was SO excited!!!I've probably eaten 2 pounds in the last week.

That night Steve & Sherry were great sports and tried eating with chopsticks (it was Asian cuisine). I LOVE Steve's face in this picture!

Sherry, going for it!

On Thursday I made pigs in a blanket. I've been saving these lil smokies for a long time! And yes, I did make my own crescent roll dough. They were so yummy!

We also had chocolate chip pumpkin bread.....why not put chocolate in everything is my motto.

Thursday we walked around our area for a little while, showed them where Daniel goes to school, and continued to eat.

Almost every night we played spades, girls against boys. Let's just say the girls didn't dominate. But we had so much fun, I haven't played this much cards in a looong time!

Stay tuned!

love

laura

Weekend Rewind

We had a WONDERFUL weekend! Really, one of the best!

Friday night some friends gifted us a free hotel room stay in our city, but in a different part of town than we had ever been before. We knew there was a McDonald's and Starbucks near the hotel, but didn't really know much of anything else. So we went just looking forward to seeing a different part of our city and enjoying some good Western treats.

When we got to the hotel, we realized it was a mini paradise resort (to us!). It had Dairy Queen, Pizza Hut, McDonald's, Starbucks, a movie theatre, and several shops. There was also grass and trees everywhere-which is something we rarely see! We were so excited! They even had a golf course that isn't open yet, so people are free to walk around and play on the grass.

Notice the haze? This is what we se the majority of the time. There are probably several high rise buildings right behind those trees, but the constant haze hides it. Neat huh?

I was SO excited to sit on grass!!!

Here I am deep in thought:

We quickly checked into the hotel, then walked around and looked at all the stores. We walked around for a little bit, then went to Pizza Hut for dinner. It was so yummy and I was super appreciative of all the cheese!

After dinner I grabbed a blizzard and Daniel got Starbucks, and we sat outside for an hour or two. It was so much fun!

The next morning we went to McDonald's for breakfast and then to Starbucks.  Can you tell which cup is mine?



We sat outside Starbucks reading for a while, then explored all the little walkways to soak up all of the greenery we possibly could! Then we sat by the water and read some more. It was SO nice not having a schedule or really anything to do. So much fun!

There was also a mini arcade and I just couldn't resist.

And today, I'm SO UBER beyond excited, because Daniel's parents are coming into town to visit!!!!!! We haven't seen them in almost a year, and I've never had anyone visit me overseas, so I can.not.wait!

I'm sure I'll have tons of pictures and things to share about their week with us!

love

laura

Random catch up

So sorry for the long delay in between posts! I would claim I'm busy, but really i feel like who isn't these days?

Anyways.....

Last Sunday night, Daniel and I had a date and went out for dinner and a movie. We went to a western restaurant then walked (in the pouring rain) to the movie theatre to see Avengers.

Daniel ordered chimichungas:

And I had the chicken Caesar salad. I feel like salads here are a huge treat! I have never made a salad at home because it just takes too much work washing all the vegetables and making salad dressing. I appreciate it a lot more when someone else does it :)

After dinner, we walked by an import store to pick up a treat for the movies. And lo and behold they had Milk Duds!!! I would never normally just buy Milk Duds to eat, but because they are a treat here and I completely associate them with movie food, I bought them and devoured every single one. They were uber good. Daniel bought Reese's Pieces.

Last week I was out running an errand or something and saw this. Now, I'm not judging them, but I thought it looked a little crazy!

Also, this past week we had some friends over for dinner. Food was in the crock pot and I came home from class about 3:30. When I walked in, Daniel warned me not to look in our bathroom.

Our bathroom fan went out about 6 months ago.

It took the repairman a few hours to fix it...apparently the motor was complete dead. He had it fixed right as our friends arrived. And of course, this all happened the day after the house was just cleaned :)

Oh, and I forgot to share this pic......it was taken the day we left the mountains. Isn't it gorgeous?

I'll blog again tomorrow about our weekend, it was amazing!!!!

love

laura