Wedding 07/05/08

I got married to James on July 5th, 2008. Here's the brief version of our story. We met in China while I was working at a hotel and he was studying Mongolian. A few days before I was scheduled to return to the States, he let me know that he liked me. So, I came home to OK and we emailed and skyped for 4 months while he finished his time there. He returned to the States in January and we began dating. He moved to OK in March, we got engaged in April and married in July. Whew! It didn't seem that fast then :)

I'm getting married!!

James and I are getting married on July 5th!

Thanksgiving

Since tommorow is Christmas, I thought I should at least put up my pictures from Thanksgiving before I get even more behind. I had originally planned to go "home" to Connecticut for Thanksgiving, but decided to wait until Christmas when I would have a few more days off. I didn't think I would be sad to be in America and not be spending the day with my family, but I was wrong. Thankfully, I had two great families take me in. Just as we were praying for the meal at Aubrey's I felt the tears start to come and thought...maybe I am sad I'm not with my family. And in the same thought overwhlemed with gratitude for the friends I have who love me like family. And in some ways, sharing a dorm room for 3 years makes you as close as family. So here's my shout-out to the Billingsley and Chapin clan. I think you guys are great! Thanks for your hospitality and friendship. And I have told the Laney's breath story so many times. so funny. Jill and Aubrey above, the whole family belowMy dear friends Molly and Feng were in town from New Jersey for the holiday too. I got to go with them to their friends' home for another delicious meal. The Punjabi family, who I had never met before, also welcomed me as one of their own and made me feel right at home. They have 3 beautiful, well-mannered children who made the evening even more entertaining with games and ping-pong. Molly and Feng...I miss you! When will you be in Oklahoma again?

Jill and Molly
We were partners for Scrabble...taking it pretty seriously apparently.

Feng, me, Molly, and the Punjabi family

Maine

While I was with my parents in Connecticut I took a trip to Maine for a few days to visit some of the most wonderful people I know. I spent two summers during college living with the Lawrences in Massachusetts. Now they have moved to Maine and the timing of my visit was great because I got to see some of the leaves beginning to change color.
Even more wonderful was getting to kayak on a glass-smooth lake with views much better than these photos in every direction. The embarassing part was being out-kayaked by someone the same age as my mother. I had to ask a few times, "Can we stop and take a break...my arms hurt."

How Connecticut is like China

It's been too long since I've posted. I'm working on a long, reflective-type post about my past year in China, but haven't finished it yet. And since I may not any time soon, I might as well move on and update about some other things.

I'm back in America! I arrived on September 24 and spent my first few weeks back with my family in Connecticut. They live in Norwalk. It's close to NYC. I was surprised at the number of ways my family's new home was like the place I had just come from. Here are a few examples:

• I heard a foreign language almost every time I left the house. Mostly that language was Spanish, but at Linens and Things I overheard a Chinese couple arguing about what kind of rug to buy.
  
• You can't drink the water. Maybe you can, but my sister has convinced my mom it's not ok so I too resisted the urge to drink a glass of water directly from the faucet.
  
• It was loud like China. I didn't hear fireworks, but loud traffic, honking, and sometimes yelling were quite common.
  
• I felt like a foreigner. I didn't get stared at like one, but I felt foreign sometimes.
  
• Just like in China I didn't drive. I don't particularly enjoy driving, so having my mom, dad, sister, or brother-in-law chauffeur me around was a nice treat. It was like the privilege and convenience of Chinese taxis, without having to pay and being able to speak English.
  

My dad and I drove around and saw some great coastal scenery. I enjoyed looking at the houses. Each one seemed to be so different from each other and have so much character. And I loved being close to the water and seeing all the boats:

And my mom and I went to a National Park for a walk and wading in the ocean:

I don't have a picture, but I enjoyed going to the farmer's market each Wednesday and buying delicious fresh fruits and vegetables that became our family's dinner each night.

But maybe the best thing was my last day there when I got to accompany my sister to her doctor's appointment and see the ultrasound and hear the heartbeat of my future niece or nephew!

I had a job interview there also and it went really well. But, I turned the offer down in order to come back to Oklahoma. That's where I am now and I'll update the rest another day.

good-bye

traveling Phoenix-style

It's no secret that I didn't love everything about my job. But, one thing they do well is plan very fun trips for the staff every year. This year we went to an area with beautiful mountains, streams, gorges, caves, and trees. It was nice to be out of the city and surrounded by green! The first day we arrived at the destination in late afternoon and stoped first at a site that has nine waterfalls. We then went back to the hotel for dinner, a performance (that I decided not to go to then later regretted because everyone said it was great), and sleeping. Day Two we went to a famous mountain gorge and hiked around for the whole morning. After lunch we went river rafting. I left out "white-water" on purpose. It was actually more like river floating, but still very enjoyable. After dinner there was a bonfire party. It didn't go so well so my friends and I left early. The next morning we hiked through some pretty impressive caves before making our way home. Here are the pictures:

An added bonus was getting to spend 2 1/2 days with my coworkers, outside of work and having a blast. We were 2 of the very few staff who were willing to pay 70 RMB for the cable car to take us up to the top of the mountain. I was feeling lazy, but the view going up and coming down was well worth 70 kuai and I was glad I wasn't tired and sweaty from the hike. view from the cable car I admit I was being lazy, but look, it would have been quite a hike. view from the topmore scenery

one of the nine waterfalls...I realize it's not that impressive. The high season for the water had already passed, but it was still fun to enjoy nature.

Oh, the English. Such a reminder that my Chinese sounds like this all too often.

early September trip to EGB

classic scenery of the province

camel riding

another go at the sled

This area has been developed by Japanese investors doing all sorts of de-desertification projects. I think this particular vineyard was planted by locals, but the others we saw were planted by the foreigners. The grapes were tasty!

I'm not sure if these birds are ostriches or emus. Either way, there's an exotic bird refuge that has all kinds of crazy birds, including these guys.

top picture in 1990, bottom picture in 2004 after the foreign investment

Everyone who comes to plant a tree in the area gets to engrave their name on a rock on this wall. Both sides are almost completely covered already. That's a lot of people...and a lot of trees.

guess who I am