November so far.

This has been a good month so far. I cannot believe it's already almost Thanksgiving! We are getting excited around here for holidays and took the liberty of putting up Christmas lights all over the house. We've reached new trailor trash heights over here :) We love turning them on in the evenings now.

Here's us opening your I-N-Sanely huge package Mamaw & Papaw. It was our "thanksgiving" package....I told you we have amazing family...

I'm more than a little happy in this picture with my hot chocolate in hand and fine, Americanish powdered sugar!

The kids got some books which they loved.

Below is some pictures of the kids last week when they got to make a Bible times costume as a part of Job's school lessons. They looked so cute, my little David's and Esther. Felicity took.my.breath.away. in these outfits.

Have I mentioned how fun it is to be experiencing all these new changes with three little kids in tow? It makes things interesting and is often used to humble me but also adds so much to experiences here as we learn and grow together.

One last bit of news....the heat officially turned on today!!! No more sleeping in socks (something I detest!).

What will the rest of this month hold?

The week's Recap.

- Last weekend we took a walk with the kids down to the ocean area we have near our home (maybe a 6 minute walk?). It was so refreshing just to be out in the air and beauty, together. We've been indoors so much more than we normally like for various reasons: intense language learning, finding a place that's green, open and somewhat clean, being so new here still can overwhelm, etc. We went to these fountains that were spraying up with classical music playing around us with loud speakers. My kids had a blast playing in the water! It was such a treat for everyone involved (including the crowd it drew to see the foreign kids and take pictures of them). Here's one side view of our "audience"...

A view from the pier by the fountains..

- On that note, I am always curious ... what do people do with our pictures? We might just be blown up larger than life hanging over a fireplace, in an Asian home somewhere...

- We discussed language this week and made the decision to cut back an hour a day for me when I begin schooling Job. Language is easily all consuming and I'm trying to balance my priorities. Language isn't the goal of life but it's a servant toward my making relationships here. You can always do more and do better. But I've had to be humble and admit my limitations once I am schooling my son. I need the brain power that one less hour will reserve!

- We've definitely gotten more comfortable getting out and exploring. We went on an excursion out in the city one day this week with some friends. It was so great to just see different snapshots of our city, of the people and life here and to do it all with my kids - it was so fun!

- I've been pleasantly surprised at how much I've fallen in love with reading good fiction since being here. I didn't think I'd have time. Language has made my brain and body weary and it's been so nice in the evenings or weekends to relax, crack open that book and think through, learn through and enjoy a good story. Just finished Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry. Beginning Rainwater by Sandra Brown.

- It's corn season here! It's been so interesting to watch people spread out their corn to dry all around our neighborhood grounds. Then they come back at days end to scoop it into bags for selling.

New happenings...

Life around here has been busy! Paul began school at the University near by so he is learning language in the mornings and then more, with me, in the afternoons. Here's a snapshot of what our eyes are seeing a lot of:

The little graphics you see are small pictures representing words we are learning. We are supposed to take mental pictures and our tutor says the words a few times. Then we use these words in an activity. Maybe sometimes we ask a question using the words, or pretend we are going to the library or fruit market and use the word. Or our tutor uses a map of a town and asks us to find something (the new word) and tells us what to do with it (for example, the American man is at the train station). It's a fun way to learn language I think but definitely takes brain work!

Can you believe we have "learned" (I say the term loosely to keep you from thinking we can clearly recall and use properly each of these) almost 800 words in a month's time? I can hardly believe it myself. But I am encouraged to press on when my house helper asks me something and I recognize the word "clothes" or "eggplant"...little hints that my brain is s.l.o.w.l.y picking things up and my effort is not in vain! I am realizing language learning is not for the faint of heart!

In other news that is sure to make this weeks Asian People magazine (joking here of course)...remember my post about my friends talking over dinner about Asian celebrities living in my neighborhood? Get this:

Not a great photo but it is a movie being filmed right in front of my 9th floor apartment. Crazy. Lights, main actors, camera men and a directors chair are all there. I tell you, our neighborhood is prestigious.

Since our life has felt so hectic and busy throughout the week, I really need to feed myself on truth. Think about the big picture. Realize what comes out of my heart when I'm not "in control"... so I've began making my way through my favorite teacher/author Paul Tripp's messages online. Something he said this last week really grabbed me. Here it is:

It's easy for our lives to be characterized by complaining because we think we'd be better Sovereigns. If you embrace the theology of the sovereign grace of God then you would have to say that every moment of grumbling is a grumbling against God. You've never had a neutral grumble in your life. Your grumbling is deeply theological.

Ouch...letting that sink in hurts in a good way, doesn't it?

Fighting for my life to be a "hymn of praise" and not a grumble this week!

The Jiaozi Experience.

Jiaozi is a small dumpling usually filled with meat and vegetables that are very common here. My house helper made these for lunch today and our whole family got to give it a try.

My helper, May, is seriously an awesome cook. We lucked out. I was amazed watching her. This would take an American a lot of skill. She made a filling from ground pork, green onion, finely chopped ginger and some spices.

The wrapper is like a soft dough. You put the filling in the middle and work your way around the edges, crimping them closed. Hers looked like art.

Here I am, having a go at it. I'll be honest, once they were ready to be dished out and eaten, we could tell which ones were mine (warped, odd shaped discs)...

Let's face facts, I'm clearly a Yeti compared to sweet, small May:

Job was focused on making his dumpling. He enjoys learning things about being here, I love that he has people like May to love on him, invite him to pull up a stool and watch.

Sweet little fingers.

When you've filled them, you boil the dumplings. She cooked ours in a wok filled with boiling water. They use a wok for everything and anything. Then you dip in rice vinegar and soy sauce or a similar salty mixture. Really yummy. Really unique to this culture.

Celebrating 7 years.

Marriage is a flawed person married to a flawed person in a fallen world but with a faithful God.

-Paul Tripp

This week I got to celebrate 7 years of marriage to this precious man. I cannot say in words how much I am aware of the grace I gain daily by being married to Him. Not because He's a perfect leader nor because I am a perfect helper but we are growing by grace and learning to love better. Even moving overseas has begun to shape and strengthen our relationship in new ways. I love experiencing this culture with the man I adore. I await future challenges and struggles to die to self with hope because it's a good work going on to deepen love and humility toward one another.

We were blessed to celebrate this sweet occasion with a date out. Our friends were kind enough to keep the kids and it was our first moments out together without them. How do you celebrate when you live in Asia, your familiar date night restaurants don't exist and you don't know your city very well? You go around the corner from your apartment to a local massage place and get a really amazing couples foot and back massage for about $10 US dollars *I should add a note we were sure this place was top notch and not shady if you know what I'm sayin'*. And then you go out to a really American feeling restaurant that your growing to love in your neck of the woods. Then you come back to kids offering you their card masterpieces made especially to help you celebrate. You fall asleep watching the movie you watched on one of your first dates together. For us, bliss.

Undeserving of such great gifts like this. More thankful than if I'd just gone to a Chili's in my own old home-town. Realized how valuable time with my husband is and how situations here truly have unique perks and gifts if I have eyes to see them...

Simple Pleasures

Laughter and imagination at work in the halls of our new home...

Seeing a sunrise like this before I meet with Father...

Yummy cups of green tea that are slowly creeping up on my coffee addiction...

These amazing ruby red grapefruits that are tart and sweet and the feature that makes them an easy snack - you can peel them like an orange....

Articles like THIS and THIS to challenge and inspire me...

Two new beautiful feet in our lives...

These are the shoes that belong to two new friends that have been such a blessing! The two "beautiful feet" I'm speaking of are our house helper and our tutor. We have began full time language study and also hired a part time house helper so these are the shoes that find themselves at my door for a good chunk of the day.

Language study so far has been great! (We are only on day 4 :) We study for about 4 -5 hours a day with our tutor and at this point are playing lots of games to learn new words. It's been really fun to do as a couple! We could not be more thankful for out tutor, he is great! Because of these language demands we were really needing someone to come and help us do laundry, keep things tidy and possibly cook lunch if needed. The helper we found is so sweet and has been a HUGE help to ease the transition to language study. The kids have also done well in playing good and having a little routine they follow for certain days to keep them content while we study. We do our second chunk while they nap in the afternoon.

Thankful for these feet and that they are reminders to me of My Father's provision in every detail...