2012/09/26
Desert Adventure
What we thought would be 16 hours of travel ended up being 24. More stories later. For now some pictures from our trip.
a traditional Mongolian house.
James, putting his ranch up-bringing to work :)
James' new camel herder friend
Mongolian girl
Catherine playing in the sand. This picture was taken as the rest of our group were doing some kind of 15 km race/scavenger hunt through the desert. Thankfully, our hosts allowed us to opt out of hiking through sand dunes with a 13 month old. We instead got to actually enjoy the desert at our own pace.
Please ignore the fact that Catherine's clothes down't match. Our course she peed on her clothes the one time we didn't have a proper change of clothes for her :)
The oasis that marked the end of the race. There's a big, new, fancy hotel to your left that isn't pictured if you're looking for your next vacation spot.
A not-yet-finished monument of Genghis Khan.
2012/09/13
out and about with Catherine
big mistake
I’ll let James share his own language mistake stories, but
for today, here’s mine: A couple weeks ago, we went to the
other side of town to try to find a restaurant I knew. Not only did the restaurant not exist, but the entire street it was on no longer exists. We needed to find a place quickly so we could let Catherine eat (thankfully, we had brought food for her with us). We found a small noodle shop. I asked for a menu. They didn't have any, but she said they only had 3 kinds of noddles and rattled off the names for us to chose. James wanted the cold noodles. I knew I didn't want that and I didn't really want the beef noodles either. I chose the other option, although I wasn't certain what it was. As soon as it came out, I regretted not asking what it was. Intestines and noodles. That's what I ordered. excellent. It was a good thing we had also ordered an appetizer. I ate the appetizer while James enjoyed his noodles and the fact that I too make language mistakes.
2012/09/11
What is the hardest language to learn in the world?
What's the hardest language to learn in the world? Have you ever asked yourself that question? Perhaps you have heard it is Chinese, or maybe Russian. Others would say that Mongolian or maybe an African language such as Swahili would be the hardest.
Actually after a lot of research I have found the correct answer. There are a lot of factors that go into a language being hard to learn which I will go into more detail below. However, the answer is quite simple.
THE HARDEST LANGUAGE IN THE WORLD is:
Drum Roll, please....
"The hardest language in the world is whatever language you personally are learning that you didn't learn as a small child." -James Judd
As I am studying Chinese here there are days of extreme frustration. I would argue that the Chinese written language is THE hardest written language in the world. However, the spoken language can be picked up fairly quickly. Yes, there is still the problem of the 4 different tones, but they can be over come. (Did you know Cantonese has 12 tones?) Chinese grammar is not particularly difficult so in some ways for Americans it is easier to learn to speak.
I would argue that for an American Mongolian or Korean is harder to learn than Chinese. The real factor in determining how hard a language is to learn is how far removed it is from the language(s) you already know. For example, Mongolian grammar is really hard for Americans, but if you know Finnish it is almost an exact replica of their grammar structure. Korean and Japanese are also similar. For Americans Chinese grammar is simpler than English so that makes it easier.
However, all that being said here is my language learning story(s) for today.
So I am in my speaking class and we are all going around creating a sentence with one specific word or phrase in it. We are all using fairly similar words because we are all fairly new students. When it is my turn I say, "The city is really pretty, but the traffic is bad." Hu Shi hen piao liang, bu guo you du che. Du che meaning traffic jam. I say my sentence and the teacher just looks at me with a confused look on her face. I say it again. Still confusion. Finally one of my classmates says, "dU CHE" with the correct tones and AHH, the teacher gets it. Tones are the pits!
The other thing I'm enjoying is my reading class starts out each lesson with a funny story. So I memorized it (How to tell if a fly is a male or female. Post coming soon.) and tried it on one of the gate guards. He thought it was so funny and the proceeded to tell me learning Chinese was easy because you only needed to recognize 3,600 Chinese characters (that are usually in combinations of 2 to provide a word such as 明白 (ming bai). "Ming" meaning bright and "Bai" meaning white combined together mean "to understand".) then you can read a newspaper and most general reading. I was pretty glad the joke went over well. However, I tried it on a guard today and at the end just got a "I didn't understand your story" stare.
Oh well, you win some and you lose some.
-James
Actually after a lot of research I have found the correct answer. There are a lot of factors that go into a language being hard to learn which I will go into more detail below. However, the answer is quite simple.
THE HARDEST LANGUAGE IN THE WORLD is:
Drum Roll, please....
"The hardest language in the world is whatever language you personally are learning that you didn't learn as a small child." -James Judd
As I am studying Chinese here there are days of extreme frustration. I would argue that the Chinese written language is THE hardest written language in the world. However, the spoken language can be picked up fairly quickly. Yes, there is still the problem of the 4 different tones, but they can be over come. (Did you know Cantonese has 12 tones?) Chinese grammar is not particularly difficult so in some ways for Americans it is easier to learn to speak.
I would argue that for an American Mongolian or Korean is harder to learn than Chinese. The real factor in determining how hard a language is to learn is how far removed it is from the language(s) you already know. For example, Mongolian grammar is really hard for Americans, but if you know Finnish it is almost an exact replica of their grammar structure. Korean and Japanese are also similar. For Americans Chinese grammar is simpler than English so that makes it easier.
However, all that being said here is my language learning story(s) for today.
So I am in my speaking class and we are all going around creating a sentence with one specific word or phrase in it. We are all using fairly similar words because we are all fairly new students. When it is my turn I say, "The city is really pretty, but the traffic is bad." Hu Shi hen piao liang, bu guo you du che. Du che meaning traffic jam. I say my sentence and the teacher just looks at me with a confused look on her face. I say it again. Still confusion. Finally one of my classmates says, "dU CHE" with the correct tones and AHH, the teacher gets it. Tones are the pits!
The other thing I'm enjoying is my reading class starts out each lesson with a funny story. So I memorized it (How to tell if a fly is a male or female. Post coming soon.) and tried it on one of the gate guards. He thought it was so funny and the proceeded to tell me learning Chinese was easy because you only needed to recognize 3,600 Chinese characters (that are usually in combinations of 2 to provide a word such as 明白 (ming bai). "Ming" meaning bright and "Bai" meaning white combined together mean "to understand".) then you can read a newspaper and most general reading. I was pretty glad the joke went over well. However, I tried it on a guard today and at the end just got a "I didn't understand your story" stare.
Oh well, you win some and you lose some.
-James
2012/09/02
Throwing up Chinese
You know when you get here you just want to throw up Chinese. I don't mean in the literal sense, although I did that too the first few days I was here. Instead you want to throw up all the great stories about adjusting to China the things you see here. Everything seems like a new experience, or in our case sometimes a reminder of an old experience you had forgotten about.
They say in a lot of ways that is how Cultural shock works. The first phase is the honeymoon, where everything seems so new and exciting. Everything seems picture worthy, and everything looks like a great story.
Then comes the shock... Throwing up on day 3 didn't help it. This is where you find yourself stressed and irritable. You know you shouldn't be and yet you are. This is where I currently find myself, which is a much shorter honeymoon than I was hoping for. I am working on getting some things in place to help adjust better. They say the quicker you pick up the language the better. Also, finding a way to relieve some stress through exercise is good also. Then make sure you are still engaging the culture and not pulling back into just an expat community. (For us there aren't a lot here so that isn't as big of a problem.)
The good news is after that phase you start adjusting more and then the last stage is basically settling in.
-James
They say in a lot of ways that is how Cultural shock works. The first phase is the honeymoon, where everything seems so new and exciting. Everything seems picture worthy, and everything looks like a great story.
Then comes the shock... Throwing up on day 3 didn't help it. This is where you find yourself stressed and irritable. You know you shouldn't be and yet you are. This is where I currently find myself, which is a much shorter honeymoon than I was hoping for. I am working on getting some things in place to help adjust better. They say the quicker you pick up the language the better. Also, finding a way to relieve some stress through exercise is good also. Then make sure you are still engaging the culture and not pulling back into just an expat community. (For us there aren't a lot here so that isn't as big of a problem.)
The good news is after that phase you start adjusting more and then the last stage is basically settling in.
-James
How do you know when you are really tired?
So Jill and I took a trip to the capital city last week. As always, Catherine was a trooper and made the trip pretty well. However, the first night she woke up about 3 in the morning really hungry, which is not normal for her these days. Jill and I stumbled out of bed, made a bottle, changed her wet diaper, and immediately put her back to sleep.
Everything seemed normal until the next morning when I woke up and realized I had been so tired I forgot to fold up the diaper and throw it away. Instead I slept beside it all night.
-James
Everything seemed normal until the next morning when I woke up and realized I had been so tired I forgot to fold up the diaper and throw it away. Instead I slept beside it all night.
-James
2012/08/31
When we say "bath tub" we really mean "bath TUB"
So we got here and got settled and found a good solution for Catherine's tub since our new apartment only has a shower.
Here is a view from our apartment at night of the neighboring apartment buildings. A reminder of the vastness of the population.
And yes, there were gas masks in our last hotel room. Complimentary, I think. And why were we in a hotel in the first place? We returned from a short visit to Beijing (a short 3 night visit that ended up meaning 2 different hotels and 3 different hotel rooms) on Thursday to find the elevator at our building not working. The security guards then informed us because of the construction the water and electricity would be off for a couple days. So I (Jill) carried Catherine up 18 flights of stairs while James carried our 2 suitcases up. We let Catherine take a nap in her own bed before making the decision to check in to yet another hotel. Gratefully, it was the nicest and best value we had stayed in yet.
Here is a view from our apartment at night of the neighboring apartment buildings. A reminder of the vastness of the population.
And yes, there were gas masks in our last hotel room. Complimentary, I think. And why were we in a hotel in the first place? We returned from a short visit to Beijing (a short 3 night visit that ended up meaning 2 different hotels and 3 different hotel rooms) on Thursday to find the elevator at our building not working. The security guards then informed us because of the construction the water and electricity would be off for a couple days. So I (Jill) carried Catherine up 18 flights of stairs while James carried our 2 suitcases up. We let Catherine take a nap in her own bed before making the decision to check in to yet another hotel. Gratefully, it was the nicest and best value we had stayed in yet.
2012/08/21
Using Hemp has been really useful here
You never know when a little hemp will come in handy. We had replaced a faucet in our apartment so that we could hook it up to the washing machine. Last time I was here I would have had a local friend call a plumber, but this time our American friend said he could do it himself. However, after he replaced it it had a leak. So I tried my hand at it. I added even more plumber's tape, but to no avail. I tried several times, but each time it leaked.
So he and I went to a local "hardware store" and asked if they had anything else that would work. I knew plumbers in America used some kind of glue or paste. The lady said she didn't have anything like that, but she said all the old plumbers used to use hemp.
We replaced it wrapping it in hemp, and sure enough... no leak!
So he and I went to a local "hardware store" and asked if they had anything else that would work. I knew plumbers in America used some kind of glue or paste. The lady said she didn't have anything like that, but she said all the old plumbers used to use hemp.
We replaced it wrapping it in hemp, and sure enough... no leak!
We are here
So Jill has given me permission to use her blog a little bit on the condition that I put my name at the bottom of any post I do so that everyone will know the poor grammar is me and not her. You've been warned.
So it seems like I have lived half a lifetime in the last few weeks. We have packed up our house, sold a lot of things, moved everything else to NM to my parents place, repacked everything, and moved my family to Asia.
The trip wasn't bad all things considered. In order to save a little money we took a flight with a long layover in San Francisco. This wouldn't have been a problem except when we got to the airport they told us that we would have to take our bags in San Francisco and recheck in the next day. So with my wife, 1 year old daughter, 6 checked bags, 2 carry on bags with wheels, 1 diaper bag, 1 computer bag, and a stroller we checked in a total of 3 times. That means three times shuffling all those suitcases around. Three times going through security. Ugh.
Each time we checked in I had to restack the bags. I'm not bragging, but when we landed in the capital and pushed our cart past the asian bag-stackers they said mine was "hen bang" Meaning really good. (They might not have been so impressed if they had followed me around the corner and seen them all fall over.)
I will say the nicest TSA agents were in Amarillo, TX. God was good to us along the way. Many a time the airport let us go in special lines to make it easier for us with a kid.
Catherine did great, or as great as a 1 year old can do when traveling on a 12 hour plane ride. She slept in our laps and learned to be a pretty good traveler. Once we got here she has been a trooper. She adjusted to jet lag pretty quickly. By the second or third night her sleep schedule was back to normal. However, it took her tummy longer to get over jet lag. The 3rd night I was up throwing up all night and each time I got up to throw up she would want a bottle. She would drink it and just fall back to sleep.
She has also been greatly admired by the people here. She draws a crowd wherever she goes. Mostly she enjoys the attention and has been a willing participant in the "pass the baby" game. They all are very curious about her and enjoy playing with. They do all comment that we should give her more food because she is too skinny.
She has also taken to sucking on her toe to put herself to sleep. When she starts reaching for a toe we know it is time to put her down.
-James
So it seems like I have lived half a lifetime in the last few weeks. We have packed up our house, sold a lot of things, moved everything else to NM to my parents place, repacked everything, and moved my family to Asia.
The trip wasn't bad all things considered. In order to save a little money we took a flight with a long layover in San Francisco. This wouldn't have been a problem except when we got to the airport they told us that we would have to take our bags in San Francisco and recheck in the next day. So with my wife, 1 year old daughter, 6 checked bags, 2 carry on bags with wheels, 1 diaper bag, 1 computer bag, and a stroller we checked in a total of 3 times. That means three times shuffling all those suitcases around. Three times going through security. Ugh.
Each time we checked in I had to restack the bags. I'm not bragging, but when we landed in the capital and pushed our cart past the asian bag-stackers they said mine was "hen bang" Meaning really good. (They might not have been so impressed if they had followed me around the corner and seen them all fall over.)
I will say the nicest TSA agents were in Amarillo, TX. God was good to us along the way. Many a time the airport let us go in special lines to make it easier for us with a kid.
Catherine did great, or as great as a 1 year old can do when traveling on a 12 hour plane ride. She slept in our laps and learned to be a pretty good traveler. Once we got here she has been a trooper. She adjusted to jet lag pretty quickly. By the second or third night her sleep schedule was back to normal. However, it took her tummy longer to get over jet lag. The 3rd night I was up throwing up all night and each time I got up to throw up she would want a bottle. She would drink it and just fall back to sleep.
She has also been greatly admired by the people here. She draws a crowd wherever she goes. Mostly she enjoys the attention and has been a willing participant in the "pass the baby" game. They all are very curious about her and enjoy playing with. They do all comment that we should give her more food because she is too skinny.
She has also taken to sucking on her toe to put herself to sleep. When she starts reaching for a toe we know it is time to put her down.
-James
2012/06/29
my upcoming expat life
James and I listened to this segment until we drove out of range of the station.
It was especially interesting to us since we will find ourselves in China in about 5-6 weeks. There are parts of being a foreigner in China that I enjoy. But listening to this broadcast reminded me of the negative side of being foreign.
I thought the part of the broadcast where they mention that the TV programs with the highest ratings include children, animals, or foreigners. It reminded me of the article below about microagressions....how even in "esteeming" foreigners to put them on TV, they are, in a sense, actually demeaning them.
As I go back, I want to develop relationships that move beyond the traditional roles or stereotypes of Chinese and Foreigner. I want to get beyond the rote questions and move to actual friendship...the kind that doesn't consider which country issued my passport.
I thought the part of the broadcast where they mention that the TV programs with the highest ratings include children, animals, or foreigners. It reminded me of the article below about microagressions....how even in "esteeming" foreigners to put them on TV, they are, in a sense, actually demeaning them.
As I go back, I want to develop relationships that move beyond the traditional roles or stereotypes of Chinese and Foreigner. I want to get beyond the rote questions and move to actual friendship...the kind that doesn't consider which country issued my passport.
2012/05/16
a great weekend!
Saturday we took Yumi to Meers to celebrate her being finished with school.
We drove through the wildlife refuge after our delicious burgers (their menu says they are the 3rd best hamburger in the US).
buffalo or bison. anyone know the difference?
longhorn cattle
prairie dogs
Sunday was Mother's Day and also Catherine turned 9 months old. She and I took some pictures together to celebrate.
Other bonuses of the weekend were getting to sleep in on Mother's Day (James got up with Catherine!), Jana and Jeremiah arrived and are here for the week, and I got to go on a date with James!
We drove through the wildlife refuge after our delicious burgers (their menu says they are the 3rd best hamburger in the US).
Sunday was Mother's Day and also Catherine turned 9 months old. She and I took some pictures together to celebrate.
2012/05/13
"microagressions?"
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20120501ad.html
During my second year (2003-2004) of study at the university in China, I had a classmate from Finland (not to be confused with the guy from Finland with the same first name as this guy who was there my first year). He was a double major in Chinese and Japanese and he spoke English along with 7 or 8 other languages. He could speak to almost all of our classmates, and with most of them he could use their first language. Anyway, he was nice and would sometimes explain things for me in English when my Chinese was lacking. The point of telling you about him was just to say that he posted the above article on facebook the other day with the comment, "the same is true for China."
I agree that parts of the article are true for China...especially the part about having the exact same conversation every single time you get in a taxi. I like the author said you could "sleepwalk" through those conversations. very true.
However, I had never heard the term "microagressions" (and apparently spell check hasn't heard of it either) before reading this article. It made me think back to all those annoying questions I was asked over and over and rote conversations I had. I never had the impression that the Chinese were trying to subtly demean me, but it's possible. If anything, I think those conversations made me demean them, at least in my mind, that I have such superior conversation skills or the cultural awareness not to ask the things they were asking.
The article also made me wonder if my differing opinion is because of the difference in Japanese versus Chinese culture, or just because I was too dense to notice that all those annoying comments really were "microaggressions."
In other, completely unrelated news.....
During my second year (2003-2004) of study at the university in China, I had a classmate from Finland (not to be confused with the guy from Finland with the same first name as this guy who was there my first year). He was a double major in Chinese and Japanese and he spoke English along with 7 or 8 other languages. He could speak to almost all of our classmates, and with most of them he could use their first language. Anyway, he was nice and would sometimes explain things for me in English when my Chinese was lacking. The point of telling you about him was just to say that he posted the above article on facebook the other day with the comment, "the same is true for China."
I agree that parts of the article are true for China...especially the part about having the exact same conversation every single time you get in a taxi. I like the author said you could "sleepwalk" through those conversations. very true.
However, I had never heard the term "microagressions" (and apparently spell check hasn't heard of it either) before reading this article. It made me think back to all those annoying questions I was asked over and over and rote conversations I had. I never had the impression that the Chinese were trying to subtly demean me, but it's possible. If anything, I think those conversations made me demean them, at least in my mind, that I have such superior conversation skills or the cultural awareness not to ask the things they were asking.
The article also made me wonder if my differing opinion is because of the difference in Japanese versus Chinese culture, or just because I was too dense to notice that all those annoying comments really were "microaggressions."
In other, completely unrelated news.....
- we're on our way to Meers, OK today to celebrate Yumi being finished with her finals.
- There's a contractor in my kitchen as I type building the closet to cover up the breaker box, tankless water heater, and other junk that has been exposed for 2+ years. (Dara, it's really happening!!!)
- www.languageandculturalservices.com is going viral! Or at least I hope. I've opened accounts for us on blogger, tumblr, twitter, weibo, and a few others. follow me on whatever service you use @JLCSjill!
- tomorrow is Mother's Day and my daughter will be 9 months old!
- My sister is flying in from NY tonight!
2012/04/26
I'm still here
This post is dedicated to Delton Judd and to the ladies of Emmanuel BC in Purcell. I am still here and I do occasionally blog. :)
It's weird that I don't post more often because I am constantly writing blog posts in my head. I also have at least 5 draft posts saved that are in some stage of completion, but have yet to make it to the published world.
Here are some of my excuses for not posting more often:
Enough with the excuses, here's what's going on.
It's weird that I don't post more often because I am constantly writing blog posts in my head. I also have at least 5 draft posts saved that are in some stage of completion, but have yet to make it to the published world.
Here are some of my excuses for not posting more often:
- I have an 8 month old daughter who is active and busy. I can only do things like this when she is sleeping. And most days the list of things that need to be done in those few short sleeping hours is much longer than what can actually be accomplished so blogging has to be relegated to the next day's to-do list. and then the next day's. and the next day's. And to be honest, when given the choice between getting to take a nap myself or updating the blog...most days the nap feels infinitely more vital.
- I can't be signed in to my email and my blog at the same time. Maybe there is some tech-savvy google guru out there who could figure out how that's possible, but I'm not that person. Generally I don't just sit down and type and publish in one sitting (although I am today). It would be great to be able to have both tabs open and move back and forth between my blog and the work that needs done over email, but I haven't figured out how to do so.
- Sometimes there's too much to catch up on so it doesn't seem worth the time to catch up to present day.
- This one is new today...they re-designed my blog dashboard so that I don't know where anything is.
Enough with the excuses, here's what's going on.
- Catherine: I can't find the charger for the camera battery so I can't post any pictures, but Catherine is 8 months old now. Her hair is almost long enough to put stuff in it. She is crawling, standing, laughing, bouncing, and drooling. Her favorite game these days seems to be when I lay on the floor and allow her to use me as a human jungle gym.
- Moving to China: Plans are moving along nicely to move back to Asia in August. James is scheduling to speak with lots of potential partners about our plans. I'm working on clearing out our home and deciding what to take with us. We already have an apartment lined up for when we arrive there! James is now working as the broker only four days a week, which gives us one day a week to plan for China. All our documents have been sent to the university. When they get us an acceptance letter, we can apply for visas and work on getting tickets!
- Business: I've been spending more time on JLCS and we will be offering some online classes this summer. YAY! Send us some referrals! www.languageandculturalservices.com!
2012/02/15
Why I love James Judd #8
I only planned on doing 7, but the video of Catherine was a bonus. Today, on Valentine's Day, I love James Judd because he is willing to love me despite my many faults. I can be a bit compulsive about the way I want certain household chores done. I'm not always as positive or grateful about situations as I should be. I can be stubborn. I can be demanding of his time and energy. I like most things to be too scheduled. I don't always take initiative. I only make the bed if someone is coming to the house who might see it. I get grumpy with lack of food or sleep. I complain quite a lot. And this is clearly only a partial list. And he loves me anyway.
He is in Orlando now but sent me a text this morning to look inside the closet where the HVAC unit is. To my surprise, he had left a card and gift for me before he left for his trip. I am blessed to spend life with him!
He is in Orlando now but sent me a text this morning to look inside the closet where the HVAC unit is. To my surprise, he had left a card and gift for me before he left for his trip. I am blessed to spend life with him!
2012/02/14
6 months of CSJ
The day she was born
one month old
two months old
three months old
four months old
five months old
and today. six months old. We ran out of rings to add to the toy :)
one month old
two months old
three months old
four months old
five months old
and today. six months old. We ran out of rings to add to the toy :)
2012/02/13
Why I love James Judd #7
James is in Orlando this week. Last night after we got off the phone I was lying in bed thinking of which reason I love him I would share with the world today. And then I wondered what topic we would be discussing if he were here. And I missed him. (And then I missed him even more when Catherine woke up multiple times in the night :)).
I love James Judd because he is my best friend. I love that most nights we stay up too late talking. Sometimes about serious topics, sometimes just telling stories, sometimes planning and dreaming about the future. I never get tired of spending time with him. He makes me laugh. He makes me cry (in a good way) when he's so sweet. (Of course he's made me cry in a bad way too, but that makes me love him more that he sticks the hard times out with me). He does things with me that he doesn't love to do because he know I love doing those things. He is my confidant. I can tell him anything without fear of judgement. I can be completely honest with him. I trust him completely. I love my best friend.
I love James Judd because he is my best friend. I love that most nights we stay up too late talking. Sometimes about serious topics, sometimes just telling stories, sometimes planning and dreaming about the future. I never get tired of spending time with him. He makes me laugh. He makes me cry (in a good way) when he's so sweet. (Of course he's made me cry in a bad way too, but that makes me love him more that he sticks the hard times out with me). He does things with me that he doesn't love to do because he know I love doing those things. He is my confidant. I can tell him anything without fear of judgement. I can be completely honest with him. I trust him completely. I love my best friend.
Why I love James Judd #6
This one is a bonus post for today.
I love James Judd because God combined our genes magnificently to make this cute girl:
I love James Judd because God combined our genes magnificently to make this cute girl:
Why I love James Judd #5
I love James Judd because we are a good team. I notice how we complement each other often, but when I really notice our teamwork is when James is traveling (when I am holding down the fort alone). I notice more all the things that he normally does or the things we normally do together. In our first house we didn't have a dishwasher and had to wash our dishes by hand. I don't like washing all the little pieces of silverware, he doesn't like washing the pots. I don't mind folding the laundry, but I hate finding the matches to the socks, which James doesn't mind. We tag-team almost all that we do. He is, in general, a big picture person and I am, in general, a details person. He reminds me to be thankful. I remind him to put action to his thoughts/plans/dream. We have the same goals and the same plan for making them happen, but each of us has a different role. I love him and I love being on his team.
2012/02/12
Why I love James Judd #4
I love James Judd because he helps me. all the time. with virtually any task I can't complete on my own. Yesterday he helped me open a jar of salsa I couldn't open myself. He stayed up late helping me with our website. Recently I started a project where I turned a coffee table into a storage ottoman. (I should post pics of that later) I did fine disassembling everything, covering the top with padding and fabric, and cutting the covering for the sides. What I needed help with was the drilling and screwing. I was hesitant to ask because James hates projects and because I had gotten myself into this mess anyway. In the process of me humbly asking for help and him graciously consenting we talked about my habit of getting into situations like this one. He said something about how I always do more than he think I can do on my own but that's always less than I think I can do on my own. Anyway, now that we are looking toward moving, most of my projects have been suspended. but even if they aren't, I'm thankful for a husband who is willing to help me.
Why I love James Judd #3
I love James because he loves my family. There are days that loving my family is easier than others, and on the harder days, I get annoyed more easily than James. Like this morning when my dad came to take James to the airport 30 MINUTES EARLY. My dad is perpetually early, but the difference between 6:00 am and 6:30 am seems great when one is so very sleepy. I grumbled and complained, but James just got out of bed, got ready more quickly than planned, and reminded me (gently) that I should be thankful I wasn't having to get up to take him to the airport.
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