Thrift Store Dress

Year #5 in HK

2015-02-14T11:57:00.002+09:00

Have you ever had those vacations where you just felt like you were in a movie or something? Everything just seemed so perfect that it had to be scripted? Not to sound cheesy, but that is what our time in Hong Kong felt like. I felt like I was a member of posh society and I was treated with such attention and care, like no other experience before. This was a big year for us... year #5. I feel like once you have reached a number divisible by 5, you've made it pretty far. We were heading to South Africa to visit family and friends and Robert got us a layover in Hong Kong to celebrate.

First of all, there are various ways to travel. You have your backpackers who sleep in hotels and carry all their belongings with them, and probably see more of the place than anyone else simply because they are fluid in their travel style. You have your budget travelers who, like the backpackers, opt for a more hostel-esque experience in a cheap hotel and see as many sights and tourists spots as possible. the mantra for these travelers are DO ALL THE THINGS. Next you have your family travelers that book everything in advance, have put in copious amounts of time planning the trip and know exactly which tourist spots they will visit, which are kid friendly, and their hotel has a pool and a water slide (just in case the parks or sites aren't interesting enough for the kids). You have your business travelers, which I believe is pretty self explanatory, and then finally you have your luxury travelers. This bracket can encompass anyone from Joe down the street to Brad and Angelina (I used them as an example for a reason... stay tuned). Exquisite hotel, a limited amount of sightseeing, amazing food, and ample relaxation time.

For this specific trip, we were part of the latter. Robert made sure that for 4 days straight, my biggest concern was what time the pool opened and whether or not room service had macarons (which they did, so we were golden).

Let's go back a few hours... we're no stranger to travel but each trip takes on a new personality completely because with each journey, we are at a different stage in our lives. Our last trip was with a 4 month old baby who for the most part slept, ate, played with toys, and was a generally happy little traveler. Now we were embarking with a 10 month old who had developed a strong personality, a set of opinions and was now a much more busy version of himself. We weren't quite sure how it was all going to go down, but he did extremely well on the 3 hour bus ride to the airport (that alone felt like the longest part of the trip! :)...and he continued to do great in the airport and on our flight to Hong Kong.

Just a shout out to Korean Air.... I have never been taken care of so well as I have been on Korean Air flights. I cannot think of one bad experience with them. They are my favorite international airline. They are so attentive to the needs of mothers with babies and I never once felt like they were annoyed or frustrated with having babies on board. If you have never traveled with a baby, try and sometime and you'll see what I mean... flight attendants do not always welcome you with open arms and a warm cup of coffee.

Three and a half (pants turned inside out) outfits later, we arrived in the Hong Kong airport. At this point, the trip had not been that long per say, but it was exhausting to keep up with James. The hours were filled with play with phone- spoon- cup- drink juice- try an ipad game- pull out some toys- go back to the phone- drink some more juice- go to daddy- now wants mommy- crawl on the floor- pull the magazines out of the rack- try to put them back in- drink some more juice... you get the picture.

Our flight was delayed and it was raining pretty badly when we arrived. We got into an adorable red taxi (I can't even describe the taxis, they are just so cute) and headed for the hotel.

The Intercontinental at Hong Kong

Upon arrival, we were shown to our room and offered an evening cup of tea to settle down after our trip. The room was an exquisite Harbourview Suite and they had taken so much care for all the details including a baby bed, baby bath products and a few diapers.

Coming from Korea and the lack of bath tubs, you better believe I spent a good share of time in that amazing bath tub! I didn't waste any time either. The tea arrived to the room and I settled into a relaxing bath while daddy and James played and unwound from the trip.

As part of the club membership, each morning we went to the club lounge and enjoyed a gorgeous breakfast buffet that also included a la cart menu items as well. The staff was so friendly and always greeted us by name as well as taking particular care of James. He truly was in his element. This kid loves attention and they certainly obliged. He was always given his own set of dishes and had his own chair set up for him each morning.

The view from our room was simply magical. The Hong Kong skyline is one of the most amazing sites and we got to wake up to it each morning and go to bed watching the fantastic lights that it is so famous for.

After a good night of sleep, we headed out for a day of street market shopping and visiting with friends from the Philippines who work in Hong Kong.

Trying out the HK subway system...

We returned to our hotel in time for hors d'eourvres in the club lounge.

The nighttime sky line is absolutely breathtaking.

With blowdryer in hand, Robert wasn't about to let a little bit of fog obstruct his view! :) (incidentally, we called about it and the very next morning they had our windows cleaned and took care of it immediately!)

Master James getting the royal treatment :)

It was on again-off again rain the whole time we were there but it was a bit like Florida rain: wait 5 minutes and it will be gone. The first time we tried to go to the pool, the staff advised us against it until the rain dissipated. Robert was in the gym (because he's strange and likes to work out on vacation~ yuck!) :) and so James and I just waited out the rain and then enjoyed the pool.

For our main sightseeing adventure, we chose Victoria's Peak. Just getting there was fun enough because we got to ride a ferry, take a bus, ride a trolley up a mountain, and then see one of the most fantastic views you'll ever see.

And there you have it.... Hong Kong harbour.

All the restaurants in the building have the premium views, and so to rid themselves of filthy tourists, such as us, they jack up their prices on drinks to keep you from using their establishments. We already knew this, but continued to ONLY order tea. We were charged far more than necessary and then they randomly tacked on another fee (I think it was just out of pure annoyance) because we sat in their *completely empty* restaurant in the middle of the afternoon to enjoy the view. Oh well. The Jasmine tea was very enjoyable, James got a nap, and the view was gorgeous. Charge all you want peeps!

After a day of sightseeing, we were given an incredible tour of the hotel. There are five restaurants housed within the hotel, two of which are michelin star restaurants. The hotel's own buffet is a site in and of itself. I have never seen so many decadent desserts and incredible displays of foods in my life. Our tour included the Presidential Suite with it's own harbourview balcony and pool.

Of the A-listers that haven chosen this suite are Brad and Angelina (2013). The bathroom in this suite has even won itself a few awards on several lists such as the best bathroom view :)

At any point throughout the day, the lobby is probably 75% filled with non-hotel guests because the food, tea, and drinks have such a good reputation.

Robert loved hitting the gym. Not only was it an awesome gym, but it included saunas, massage rooms, and gorgeous restrooms and amenities such as slippers, towels, lotion, and ginger tea so strong it about took your breath away. James and I just headed back to the pool to relax and wait for daddy to join after his workout. Robert and I have very different definitions for the terms "relax" and "vacation"~ mine go nowhere near the word "gym".

The incredible infinity pool

Relaxing is tough on a little guy...

For our last day in Hong Kong, we had an extremely leisurely morning by the pool and then ordered lunch. We had an extended checkout time because we didn't fly out until the evening.

That rock left with us, only to be left in South Africa at our next stop :)

After getting ready and all packed up to head out, we had our last afternoon tea time in the lounge. Desserts and snacks out the wazoo and any kind of tea you wanted. To say we were spoiled is a gross understatement.

And there you have it. The way we experienced Hong Kong. What an incredible anniversary celebration. I think one of the things I love the most about life is how it changes and you get to experience things in a new way. Our last anniversary was spent in anticipation of our little boy's arrival and the focus was on capturing moments of "us" for the last time before he came along. Of course the "us" is still very important, but now we were able to share the fun memories with James. He won't remember this trip, but I hope when he sees the pictures one day he will realize just how much fun we had as a family and how his daddy loved his mommy and loved him.

Happy Anniversary!!

Car organizer & iPad/iPhone holder tutorials

2014-09-20T23:01:00.000+09:00

Tutorials... it's what all the cool kids are doing these days. Why not join the club? No but seriously. I decided to make a photo tutorial because I had so much fun today making these projects and they turned out so much better than I expected, so here you go...

1. Car Organizer

What you need:

Gorgeous fabric (if it's not pretty, just stop now)
Ribbon
Elastic (I used 1/2")
Seat measurements (these do not have to be precise but you want to make sure it's the right proportions to the seat)
Poster board (mine was not too thick, just enough to give it some "back bone")
Awesome tunes
Brownies and milk (these can be exchanged for a sweet of your choice)

First, you may ask why I didn't just go to my local store and buy one for $11. Well, I maybe could find something similar to what I wanted but even if I did I would be paying triple what its worth. And then there's the satisfaction of making something yourself~ you just can't beat it. I looked at several ideas on Pinterest and then just went for it. I have had this fabric for ages and just never could settle on what to use it for. It was the first thing that came to mind when I decided to make a car organizer because it's both boyish and neutral (so it doesn't draw too much attention in the car- it is utilitarian after all). To starts things off, if I can do this, ANYONE can do this. No I'm serious. Check out my "work station"...

(yes, the brownie and milk are vital to the outcome of this project)

Basically I put James down for his nap on my bed so I could take over his room because it's where the power converter is located (gotta love 110 in a 240 country). That means this whole project took me 2 hours... that's right. Reason #2 that anyone can do it. So I started out serging all my edges but if you don't happen to have a serger, just press the edges down and do a simple stitch to keep them from unraveling and looking yucky. Next, I tacked the adorable chevron ribbon that I have been saving for just such a project and sewed it on the edge of the pockets that I would be assembling.

I wanted to have shallow pockets at the top for toys and things like that so I marked lines for four small pockets. The next row had two large pockets and the bottom had three medium pockets (variety is the spice of life after all). And voila! I'm almost finished...

It's time to attach the elastic band that goes around the lower part of the seat. This will wrap around the back but needs to be sewn on the front (It will make sense later... or not, in which case just stop what you're doing and go get some ice cream. You'll be happier in the end). You can go ahead and make the "neck" strap that will go around the headrest. It's a bit like making an apron at this point. Sew the fabric together good side facing each other (keeping one edge undone) and then turn right side out. Sew the last edge closed.

Now you are beginning to put things together. Place the other piece of fabric over the pocket-piece good side facing each other and sew three sides leaving the top open. Insert the poster board. Mine was a little smaller than needed which I preferred because I wanted it to remain pliable and the pockets spacious. Press the top edges and tack the neck strap in place to sew the top closed.

Yes, that's my leg propped up on the wall. You get creative when you don't have a sewing table :)

And the finished project!!! I honestly didn't think it would turn out as good as it did, but I'm thrilled with the final result. The only thing I would do differently was have a little more room to spare on each side and the neck strap. The pockets are a bit snug but I think they will do the trick. Never again will we be stranded with no toys or clean diapers and wipes!

(After the first ride, I moved the organizer to the other seat back because it just so happened to be at a perfect kicking spot for James. Now it's safely on the other side and is in better reach for mom in the passenger seat.

2. iPad/iPhone car holder

What you need:

Fabric (I wanted mine to match my super cool car organizer so I used the same fabric)
Elastic (1/4" for the edges and 1/2" for the back straps)
Card board cut outs of iPad and iPhone

I had just finished the car organizer and really didn't think this one was going to go well. I followed a tutorial on Pinterest but changed all the measurements because I was making it for the iPad Air. Also, I decided I wanted a 2-in-1 since sometimes I use my phone in the car instead of the iPad but I didn't want to have to mess with changing them out.

First, cut your fabric to match your cut out (leaving a little extra on the sides) and small squares (3 1/2"x 3 1/2" for the iPad). Fold the small squares into triangles leaving the good side out. Tack these onto the bottom corners to made the base holders. Tack the 1/4" elastic at the top corners and the 1/2" elastic for the back straps. Again, these will be in the back but for now, sew them in the front. I skipped some pictures... sorry about that. Just do similar to the organizer in that you will put the other fabric over the pocket side and sew three sides leaving the top open. Place your cardboard inside the pocket and stitch the top shut.

I must say I was a bit shocked that it turned out as well as it did! Now, here is where it got interesting... Now that I had the iPad case, I wanted to just put the iPhone case inside the bigger one. So, just make the phone case the same way as the other, just on a smaller scale. I actually had to hand stitch the top on this one because it was too close to use the sewing machine. With the 1/2" elastic, I measured how much I needed to go around the iPad case itself so that I could just attach this. Total time for this project was only about an hour so al together I spent less than 4 hours on both these projects. I call that a win.

And there you have it... 2-in-1 iPad/iPhone holder for the headrest of your car! How fun was that?! Are they perfect? Absolutely not. Was it fun to make my own stuff? You bet it was.

whatever the summer brings

2014-09-18T16:36:00.001+09:00

June was a fun month. We were wrapping up the semester and preparing for our summer vacation in Hong Kong (5th Anniversary) and South Africa visiting family and friends. We always love visiting Jong Gwon at the temple and enjoying tea in his house. James had grown so much since his last visit! It was special for him to see the monk again after so long.

Not only are we blessed to have Lydia as a friend here in Korea (we go back to college days), the fact that she is in the army and has access to American projects is not a bad thing either :) She is the reason my child has not starved over the past few months :) And she always brings me little goodies like brownie mix too which is a sure way into my heart :) Love you Lydia!

James was finally too big for the crib and it was time to lower it. He was a big helper to daddy... Just because he has a bed, doesn't mean he doesn't still spend the mornings in our bed :) Love our cuddly mornings! Daddy went on a trip to the Philippines for a conference and also to see friends while he was there. James and I settled in for an awesome stay-cation with some girlfriends.

The daycare teacher sent me pictures of James in music class. He LOVES all things music!

Daddy's first Father's Day with his precious little boy! We had a fun day celebrating and he even got a lazy boy which marked his official "coming of age" into fatherhood :) Love you babe. You're awesome. You're the peanut butter to my jam.

...and we're off to travel the summer away.

living an adventure...

2014-09-18T15:09:00.000+09:00

It's a funny thing about motherhood... you still feel like the same person who is capable (even more so after you pushed an 8lb. human being out of your body) of doing the same stuff you did before, and keeping to the same schedule as you did. You knew you would be busy, of course, but somehow you still think you will get that closet reorganized, the photo book made, the pillow cases mended, and the pantry color coded and labeled just like the Real Simple article you were reading while nursing the other night. As a list maker, I love to have a to-do list for the day, but more times than not, I find myself moving all the things I didn't get done on Thursday's list over to Friday's and then on and on. It's a vicious cycle. All that I'm really jabbering on about is the simple fact that being a mom means you actually don't get that much done in one day. You are spread pretty thin over the week and you learn to make more achievable goals. That being said, I am about to do what's been on my to-do list for a very long time: catch up on a year and a half of blogging... in just a few posts. Strap on your seat belts and hang on, because it's been a pretty amazing year.

December 2013~

We finished up our final exams and headed for Incheon airport with enough stuff to last a few months. We were nervous about James' first flight and made cute little "care packages" for all the people around us (thanks, Pinterest) that included a pair of earplugs. Fortunately, they were not needed because James was a angel traveler. We flew to San Francisco for a long layover and then to Boise, ID to spend a few days with Jamie and Brian and the kids. It had been awhile since we were together so it was awesome to hang out and be with them again. Oh and I was stubborn and stood an a 2 hour line so that James could get his picture with Santa... the frostbite was worth it for the incredible picture. This Santa was amazing.

The day after Christmas we headed back to the airport to fly to Branson, Missouri where we met Robert's extended family for the Good/Foley reunion. We rented a huge house together and then during the week we went to Silver Dollar City, Sight and Sound, Dixie Stampede, and shopping. It was an awesome time together!

We rented a car and drove from Missouri to Kansas to visit my Grandpa Howard, aunt Elaine and uncle Martin. When we got there, I saw my uncle Lindell through the window and was so excited to see everyone that it didn't quite sink in for a second when my dad walked out from around the corner too! He had flown up to surprise us and also so we could get a 4 generation picture.

January 2014~

We flew from Kansas to Florida to spend the bulk of our trip at home with both our families. Both families had left their Christmas decorations up so that we could have a big Christmas together. Our activities while home were:

- Eating at all the restaurants we were homesick for

- James' first time at the beach (he wasn't a fan)

- Flying with my dad (James fell asleep)

- James' dedication service at church (He got to wear a 100 year old family heirloom)

- Drew's beach baptism

- Robert and my birthday party with family and friends

- Special Family dinners

- Pool days

- Tea time with Grandma Great

- Art Festival

- James' first sleep over with grandparents (mommy and daddy got 2 dates!)

- Seeing friends from Korea

- An awesome Girl's Night with college friends

- Cousin time with Drew

- Finally cleaned and stored my wedding dress (after four years)

- Morikama Japanese Gardens

- and a whole lot of just hanging out and spending time with friends and family...

(Jason came to the service after working all night and had already left to go to bed)

While we were in Florida, we took a weekend to drive up to North Carolina to visit Robert's grandparents and for James to also meet his Great Great Grandma Kenyon. We got to see all the uncles and get a 5 generation picture which was so special!

February 2014~

Though we were sad to bid farewells to our family and friends, we were excited for a vacation from vacation... in Hawaii! I had always wanted to go and Robert was able to route our trip home through Oahu. We spent a week with our friends Tim and Tina who were incredible hosts and we just had a week of relaxing and family time. It was such a fun trip!

When we returned to Korea, it was time to get back into a routine of school and schedules and some form of normalcy. Looking back, this was a tough few months. There were so many changes taking place with adjusting to life as a part time teacher/SAHM. We got over jetlag, we said goodbye to our first group of seniors from the English department, we started daycare, I received my diploma for my Master's degree, and James stood up for the first time. It was an exciting and full month...

March 2014~

The semester was in full swing and everything was pretty normal for the time being. We enjoyed beautiful weather as Spring was on its way and we took Buddha's birthday holiday as a mini-family vacation to Daegu. Robert bought me an hour and half massage while he babysat James... just what this tired mama needed! We celebrated St. Patrick's day with friends and enjoyed the English department MT.

April 2014~

Spring. That's all I really need to say. Spring is my favorite time of year here in Korea. It's when the cherry blossoms are out and the weather is gorgeous and the days are filled with picnics, visits to the temple, and Easter Sunday which we always spend in Seoul with our church family. James enjoyed his first Easter basket and we got to see a good friend from our days in Seoul. James went on his first field trip with daycare :) They were kind enough to send me pictures.

May 2014~

James had his first "real" doctor visit for something other than shots or routine checkup. He wasn't feeling well and being that we're first time parents and all, we headed for the hospital. We celebrated James' first Children's day which is a pretty big deal here in Korea. We headed to Toys-r-us and braved the crowds for some fun toys. Just after Children's day is Parent's day so James "made" his first craft at daycare. I had my first Mother's day (with a child outside the womb) and my boys spoiled me rotten. For mother's day, Robert sent me on a shopping daytrip ALONE. It was amazing! I shopped, had my nails done, drank coffee, pumped :) (the glories of a nursing mom), and enjoyed the quiet time... and came home to a daddy and son that were very ready for me to be home! We got to see an old friend from our Hobe Sound days and James had his first pool day on the roof since the weather was heating up... ready for Summer time!

leading up to Christmas...

2014-07-30T02:11:00.000+09:00

Robert had gone to the Philippines for a trip and so I had a lot of one-on-one time with the Jimster. I also got to hang out with some gal pals too which is always a ton of fun.

He never was in want of energy that's for sure! (even in the womb) :)

The newest addition to my Autumn wardrobe

Still enjoying the Fall beauty at my favorite spot in town.

Since I had a little time at home, I decided to make a Pinterest craft for James' room.

Robert brought me back a little goodie from the Philippines :) My favorite LV knock off.

Daddy's home!!

His cool kicks from his Auntie. Pretty much all his awesome shoes have come from her.

I can only take credit for a few.

Games with friends. We are so happy to have a group of friends that love board/card games as much as we do.

How mommy got anything done (or needed an excuse to get out of the house)

Daddy's first time feeding James a pumped bottle. This was a bittersweet moment for me because I really wanted Robert to have the experience of feeding him but it also felt so strange to not be the one feeding him (since he was exclusively nursed). I cried but was also excited at the same time. It was a pretty special memory for Robert and I'm so glad he got that. We were getting geared up for when mommy had to go back to work.

Mommy's first day back at work. Lunch with the boys.

I got 3 months maternity leave and James was born in August right before the school semester started so I returned back to work in November. However, there was only one month left of school by the time I came back so they didn't think it wise for me to take over a class 5 weeks before final exams and therefore decided that I would return in an administrative assistant position until the end of the semester and, get this, only one day a week. I'm so thankful for how the whole situation worked out because I was able to go to work on Robert's day off and so we didn't have to get a babysitter for James at such a young age (Mommy was really worrying about that).

Auntie Joanna sent us this amazing vintage outfit and I just couldn't let the

opportunity pass of a mini photo shoot at home :)

Daddy's little bear.

People in Korea are typically stressed out about anything regarding a baby's health or physical being and can freak out if the baby seems cold or is not wearing (what they consider) appropriate clothing for the situation. Queue this shopping experience... We drove about 15 minutes down the road and James decided that was a great time to do something. Of course, as luck would have it, this was the ONE time I did not have extra *appropriate warm weather* clothes packed for him. (failed new mommy award). So, as you can see, I was doing my best to keep attention away from my poor little hoodlum with his inverted socks and summer onsie :)

First time in his Bumbo seat

Snow flurries with little bear

Daddy had to go somewhere so mommy got to take Jimmy to work with her :)

Not sure how much I actually got done that day... but my little coworker was sure a cutie!

I loved getting these kinds of pictures throughout the day while I was at work. Daddy did an incredible job caring for James and I loved my lunch break with my guys!

Getting a ladies Bible study started with the book of Esther and 1,000 Gifts

James got his very own special set of blue ear muffs along with the copy of Grandma Jackie's storrybook "Chelsea and the pink earmuffs".

Loved Tummy time

I tried to make those cool animal shaped pancakes like my mom used to do for us.... let's just say it's a good thing I have time before James' notices :)

Such a fun and exciting time in our lives! This little guy brought so much joy into our home.

we give thanks

2014-05-05T17:08:00.001+09:00

I'm not typically a big fan of the color orange, but there's something about Fall that makes everything look better with a shade of orange to it. I look forward to all things pumpkin, apple, and spicy goodness... Our Fall was a happy blend of fun, relaxing and experiences with our new little family.

Jikjisa Temple bursts with color during Fall...

Picking Persimmons with Jong Gwan

A typical grocery shopping trip takes about an hour longer than needed, on account of all the oos and awes this little fella evokes...

...on the up side, mom usually gets to eat a full meal :)

I got to continue enjoying my maternity leave which meant James and I spent lots of time enjoying walks in the gorgeous weather and having coffee dates with dad whenever he could get away.

We knew we wanted James dedicated at our home church in Hobe Sound when we visited for Christmas but our church in Gimcheon was also holding a baptism service and asked if we would like James to be baptized. His friend Isaac was being baptized so we thought it would be a great experience for him. We donned our family tweed and set out for a special service in which we pledged to bring James up to love God, to the best of our ability. (Our Sundays typically involve board games with friends as well)

He slept through the whole service :)

You know... that's how we roll

We love that James can sleep so well in his ergo carrier because it allows us a night out at the movies occasionally :) This was his second movie and he slept like a champ.

In Korea, a baby's 100 days is celebrated with a party equivalent to a birthday party. I decided that since we were living here, it would be fun to celebrate this for James. I heard two different accounts as to the significance of the 100 days.

#1 If you believe life begins with conception,

than 100 days after birth is almost exactly a year... so this is actually a baby's "first birthday" and Koreans count a baby's age as 1 year upon birth because the time in the womb.

#2 There was a time in Korean history that the babies

were not living very long after birth and so if a baby made it to 100 days, they were considered "out of the woods" and would most likely survive therefore this milestone was celebrated.

Regardless of the significance, it was really fun to throw a Korean/American style party. I did my best to label everything in Korean (I only made 1 mistake :) and to serve the correct food typical to a 100 day party. My friend also helped me order a fun poster too :)

"Happy 100 Days"

We had his party on a Sunday so I also prepared little gift bags to take to church with us after the party

Enjoying his friend Chae-Yoon who is just a month older than him

Trying on some of his presents :)

James with his "older brother" Isaac

In Korean culture, one never addresses an older person without the proper honorific. This includes close friends as well. There is a different term for each relationship. For example, a younger girl would address an older girl as "Oni". A younger boy would address an older girl as "Noona". A younger girl calls an older boy "Opa" and a younger boy calls an older boy "Hyeung". The term translates to "older brother". Age is a huge factor in Korean culture so once the age is established (who is older or younger), the proper honorifics are used.

Daddy opening James' gifts.

We are so blessed to have such generous friends!

Jessica was a coworker for 2 years and we were sad to see her go. She came over one evening to spend a little time with James before the semester was out.

THANKSGIVING!!! This is my favorite holiday all year long (I think it even passes up Christmas, honestly). I love everything about it and love hosting a party! Due to limited space, my prep always starts days in advance but it is so much fun! This was a particularly fun year because it was James' first thanksgiving. We had a great group of friends (I didn't get everyone's pictures) come celebrate with us and the food was great. We had everything from apple and pumpkin pies to roasted duck and turkey!

You can pretty much count on there always being games played at any party in our house!

My little Pumpkin

My favorite blessings...

We truly are so blessed!

Our little pumpkin

2014-03-24T16:42:00.001+09:00

Roanna headed to the airport (a little tearfully, I might add) and we stuck around Seoul for the rest of the day. We had plans to meet up with some friends for shopping and dinner but before that, Robert spoiled me with "Breakfast" in bed... aka a sugar attack and caffeine overload :) You're only young once, right? We had been so busy and never had any time a part (that's really not a bad thing) so Robert had not been able to buy my "push present" for the birth of James :) He made this morning extra special with the added bonus of a beautiful set of Swarovski rings, but said I could only have them if I finally got the name of the store correctly. Ladies and Gents, its pronounces swar-off-ski (you should of heard some of the things I came up with! He laughed at me everytime).

Our friends, Michael and Alicia came to our hotel and then we headed out for shopping and general Myeongdong-ness. Incidentally, Michael and Robert went to elementary school together in Alabama and then how many years later, end up living about an hour away from each other in South Korea. The world is an extremely small place, people.

This was our first (and last) trip to Seoul via the train... we were like dust bunnies picking stuff up as we went. We arrived in Seoul with a small suitcase and diaper bag and left with so much more!

Getting back into our regular routine with James. Now we were settling into our life until Christmas. No more visitors, just us. I was still on maternity leave so I was so fortunate to get to spend every day with my little buddy. Robert has always enjoyed cooking, but the hobby reappeared after the baby was born and I was so thrilled!! Robert has a gift for making an average Thursday night meal feel like a fancy datenight. It was great!

Ok, so funny story... when James was about a month old, I decided that it was time to have the traditional "mom haircut" and settled on an Aline bob. I usually go to a guy up in Daejeon but figured I might as well help out the local businesses. I asked a friend to go with me and help me and I even took pictures on my phone to show the lady. "Do you know how to do this cut?" yes. yes. yes. yes... 15 minutes later I was looking in the mirror and what looked nothing like the pictures.

I waited about 3 weeks and headed back to my usual guy.

Me: "I'm so sorry, I should have come to you first."

Him: "How long it take this haircut"

Me: "15 minutes"

Him: "Bad situation"

And so he helped me get the cut I was originally looking for and I was so pleased. The other funny thing that happened was that I wasn't sure if I wanted my fringe back or grow it out. I asked him "What is your opinion? yes or no" Him: "My opinion? haha" Silence. 5 minutes later... "Close your eyes". And then I had bangs again just like that :)

Little Italia after a little shopping. James with his first Zara purchase :)

Come to work with Mommy and Daddy day :)

It's true what they say... they grow up so quickly!

Having a conversation with one of his aunties

We always look forward to Academic Festival and to enjoying the Culinary Arts department's massive buffet. This was one of James' first big events at school and he did pretty well :)

His "big brother" Isaac

Just like during pregnancy, James and I spent a whole lot of time at coffee shops just getting out of the house and enjoying the lovely Fall weather.

Time for James' 50 Day photos (a Korean tradition)

James snoozed while I made some pacifier clips :)

Robert presented at a conference in the Philippines and decided to spend some time visiting his friends and family there. He was gone for nine days and I think it's safe to say those were some of the longest days of my life. Robert used to travel for work all the time when we lived in Florida but this was a total different ballgame. I had James to keep me busy and I did a lot of friends so the next lot of pictures are from our time chillin' without dad... (it's just a whole lot of Jimmy)

Getting daddy packed for his first trip away from James...

Pumpkin Spice Scones

I wanted to have a fun Halloween party and so some friends came over and I got busy on the decorations and we had a great time together!

Master Chef and Master Chef Baby

Girl's Night: pumpkin spice lattes and coffee panna cotta (oh, and Hugh Jackman in Wolverine)

Church time...

Daddy's home!!!

Family Coffee Dates resume

One of our good friends from Seoul happened to be at a conference in Daegu and stopped over to see us and have dinner together. Such a treat to see him again!

I decided to attempt Eggs Benedict... whereas I am normally a very neat and tidy cook, this was in another category entirely!

JaEun and I were in the same pregnancy yoga class, but we hadn't seen each other since then so we finally made a plan to get together and meet each other's babies. :) It was so much fun finally meeting little ChaeYoon! Such a cute doll baby.

(they literally had the EXACT facial expressions in both pictures!)

My absolute favorite way to wake up... cant get any cuter than that!?

Sleeping through Korean class...

I'm so in love with my little family

Tummy time!

Students enjoying time with James :)

James was on the verge of laughing...

I couldn't get enough of the Autumn leaves! James and I enjoyed numerous walks while the weather was nice and it seemed like the colors just got more vibrant with each day!

We closed out the month of October well...

It's amazing what a month will do in the life of a baby!

Auntie Ro comes to town

2014-02-20T22:45:00.001+09:00

You've seen those pictures of frazzled moms with day old cereal in their hair, non-matching socks, and dishes stacked to the ceiling... while I thought maybe this would be my lot in life, it turned out that with maternity leave and a visit from my awesome sister in law, I was rescued from this scenario... though there are days that I do find various and sundry spots on my clothing, but that's for another day entirely. When Jimmy was about a month old, his VERY EXCITED Auntie Ro came to meet him. I didn't mind the company either! I got pampered and had tons of help around the house. It was a great 3 weeks, let me tell you! Roanna found her own way from Seoul and Robert went to pick her up from the train station. James and I waited up so that he could finally meet his auntie. We were blessed that James only had about a week of colic and it just so happened that it was the week leading up to this. We still think that Roanna has some weird Mary Poppins magic because he went from wailing for 2 hours straight every night to nothing the minute she walked in the door...

Roanna's trip just happened to fall on Chuseok, one of the biggest holidays in Korea, so Robert had a couple days off work which was great (but also a bit annoying because everything was closed). We just decided that an impromptu picnic in the park was in order and then Nearby Cafe opened up later in the afternoon and we were able to get a civilized cappuccino.

Game Night with friends

Buying this bouncer was probably the best $40 we spent! James has gotten so much enjoyment out of it and it gave mommy a chance to take a nice shower and get the house picked up on occasion so definitely a win-win! From the minute James first sat in it, he zeroed in on the hippo and would "talk" to it nonstop! He would completely ignore the elephant. As time went on he started making friends with lion and monkey too :)

We took Roanna to see the campus and James got to hang out with daddy at work for a little while too

One of Jimmy's very first giggles...

Dinner and Shopping in Daegu

Visiting Jong Kwan 종권 스님 at his house inside the Temple

Sean took us to a little hole in the wall restaurant one afternoon and the owner immediately took James so that we could enjoy our dinner. It was so cute and sweet!

Nearby and Cook with Michaely

Picnic at Riverside Park

Autumn in Korea is truly a beautiful time!

Hands Coffee

My absolute favorite Duck restaurant

Nearby Cafe

Roanna was working on her Master's degree and I was finishing up my Capstone project for mine so a few of the days were just spent hanging out in a coffee shop (like we usually do). :)

^^ I love this guy ^^

First few smiles

Going to get a shot :( I think they should have one ready for the moms too because I hate watching them stick him :(

Oh the many faces he makes...

James' Korean grandma... our favorite Calguksu 갈국수 restaurant

교동 Recipe Cafe

One of my favorite flowers in the world...

Heading up to Seoul to take Auntie Ro to the airport

Korean Tea House in Myeongdong 명동

What an incredible time spent together! We made a ton of memories and simply enjoyed the company! Thank you Auntie Ro for flying half way around the world to meet your new nephew and spend a little quality time with us. We love you!

just us and a baby

2013-11-19T13:53:00.000+09:00

After the tears subsided and the sadness of seeing our parents off wore off, it was quickly replaced with an overwhelming sense of responsibility and slight panic. I can still remember that first night home. We were giving Jimmy his bath and Robert was videoing it. Jimmy was screaming the entire time and it's as if the video embodies new parenthood. You can see my nervousness as I try to bathe and dress my distressed child, and you can almost feel the emotions through the video~ we love this child more than anything and yet the responsibility is just plain scary. We no longer had our moms here to tell us what to do or our dads to give us helpful tips on how to calm a crying baby... it was just us and our little baby boy. That night seems like ages ago. Sometimes it feels like Jimmy is an entirely different baby from back then. It's shocking how much they change in these first few months. I am no longer scared and I have a deep sense of peace in my role as a mother. No, I don't do the right things all the time. I get tired and frustrated and then hate myself for feeling that way towards my little boy who can't communicate any other way but through his cries. But even on the "bad days" I still absolutely love being a mother. It is my calling. From early childhood when people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer was always "I just want to be a plain old mommy."

It's amazing how much your life changes with a little baby. While I tried to stay away from phrases like "When I have kids I will never..." or "I will be like this or that...", I still had a few preconceived notions in my head about parenthood. Other than the fact that I will raise my son to love God, his family, and to treat everyone with respect, all other plans flew out the window. I have quickly come to realize that parenting is one of the most polarized forums of discussion! Pacifier or no pacifier; co-sleep or sleep alone in a faraway dark scary room; feeding on demand or schedule feeding; formula-fed, pumping, or breastfeeding... you get the idea. And not only are people passionate about the individual debates, but they are equally passionate about the very fact that there is a debate! I soon realized how easy it is to become one of the defensive parents that I used to get so annoyed at. It feels like people are questioning your love for your child because you are not doing things the right way. However, when someone ~~attacks~~ offers you parenting advice, more often than not, it is entirely with a good heart and usually from experience. The great thing about the whole situation is it's completely up to you whether you heed their advice or not, so is it really that big of a deal if they speak their minds?

Believe me, I'm preaching to the choir here...

Ok, moving on from my little rant...

Life with our newborn baby

One of the huge bonuses of exclusively breastfeeding was that Robert took over the kitchen in order to feed me good quality food :) I got breakfast in bed and tons of amazing Jamie Oliver dishes and such like. A-mazing!

Because Jimmy was born in Korea, there is a list of required vaccinations, the biggest commonly referred to as the "dragonball" because it leaves a grid of dots similar to a game board. While it is very noticeable now, it will fade as he gets older to become almost invisible. While I was not thrilled at the prospect of my son being "branded", being that it is required, I had little to say about it and we simply refer to it as Jimmy's tattoo for being born in another country. Perhaps when he's older he will proudly show it off. Who knows... one thing I do know is they should really have a shot ready for the mom too because it is torture watching your child be struck with needles and not be able to take the pain away.

In the first few weeks, Jimmy did not approve of EVER being put down. While I absolutely loved all the cuddle time, it was both exhausting and a tad inconvenient at times :) The ergo came in handy for just such times.

Jimmy's first Daegu shopping trip :) We did Costco and then Little Italia for dinner.

Robert was still getting adjusted to having a baby in tow :)

While the weather was still nice, we headed out for a lovely Sunday picnic with some friends. This was Jimmy's first time to be "out in the elements" and he seemed to be pretty chill with the whole idea.

Auntie Sooyeon getting her Jimmy time :)

The days of very little sleep...

Daddy's solution to watching Jimmy while playing a game :)

One of Jimmy and my favorite things to do during the day is meet daddy for lunch and coffee. It gets us out of the house and gives us a change of scenery and sounds. Also, daddy likes it quite a bit too!

Jimmy is the king of funny faces! I love this kid so much. It's kind of hard to not stick a camera in his face at all times because he does the cutest things!

Our little Calvin...

A family outing to Nearby Cafe

Love his little squished up sleepy face and bed hair! :)

Jimmy's first church service... boy was he a hit with everyone!

Despite the fact that I am usually a bit groggy from the night before,

I absolutely love my mornings with Jimmy!

Gramma saved a few of Robert's baby shirts so Jimmy wears his daddy's shirt sometimes:)

The hospital gave us this album. I love that it says "man". In Korea, they celebrate a baby's 50th day, 100th day, 200th day, and then 1st birthday. This album is for the pictures that you take on each day. The birth pictures were free and then they gave us a coupon for the 50th day ones too.

Will you look at that scrawny little boy!? Mommy was trying to grab some pictures but Jimmy had other ideas about that!

Getting to see Auntie Michaely! She's a very special auntie because she got to be with mommy through her entire pregnancy and the birth!

I decided to get the classic "mom haircut" and opted for an A-line bob. In the past I have gone to an amazing hairdresser in Daejeon which is about an hour away. This time I thought I would try to find an equally amazing place right here in town. I took a Korean friend with me, thinking that would help ensure that I got what I wanted style-wise. I showed the lady pictures of exactly what I wanted and motioned the angles of my hair to her and said, "Do you know how to do this style?" To which she responded with vigorous head nodding in agreement. In 15 short minutes, she had done an entirely different haircut that did not resemble the pictures at all! So I had to live with it for awhile and let it grow out a bit before I could visit my usual hairdresser to have him fix it. Lesson learned.

I took Jimmy into school to show him off to my one English department class. I loved seeing their expressions! Priceless.

Finishing up my Master's degree...

Still working to get those eyes to focus like he wanted them to!

We went to have our first playdate with Charlotte and Isaac (who is 8 months older than Jimmy). It was so cute to watch Isaac gently touch Jimmy's face. He was so curious and yet cautious.

We loved having visitors come and see Jimmy whenever they got the chance!

It's amazing how quickly you adjust to your new life and it is as if you have always had this little child. I love this new chapter in our lives! It is such an honor to be Jimmy's mother and I don't ever want to take that for granted. Yes, there are rough days when all I want to do is dream of crawling under the covers and sleeping for hours or visiting a spa getting pampered, but at the end of the day when my baby boy snuggles up against me and drifts off to sleep, there is no better feeling in the world.

a whole lot of "firsts"

2013-10-09T16:42:00.002+09:00

As anyone that has had a baby can attest to, the first few weeks (and months) are filled with baby's "firsts"... What a great thing to have the grandparents here to witness at least the first few!

When Jimmy was 4 days old, we headed to the hospital for our first checkup. This was also his first time out of the house. He was so good!

My awesome nurses! Will miss seeing these ladies every few weeks :)

James also had to get blood drawn and have a hearing test. He was such a good boy!

After the hospital, we took the parents to one of my favorite fish places in town

Mommy, James, and Papa took a nap after the big morning we had!

Robert had meetings that day so while he was in the meetings, the rest of us stayed at the parents' apartment. After the meetings were over, the president took us to a lovely dinner at Jikjisa. Everyone was so surprised that James was out so early! Here in Korea most babies don't leave the house for almost 3 months. Also, he is so big compared to Korean babies that everyone thought he was older anyway! :)

President Kang prayed a blessing over James. It was very special.

Gramma Tina took responsibility for Jimmy's first manicure. He was less than pleased and was sure to let Gramma know about it! :) Check out that face!

I would have loved to show my parents all over Korea but since I was still not feeling 100% myself, we tried to keep things pretty close to the house. It did feel great to get out a little though! We headed out for Jimmy's first walk in his stroller.

Protective dad had the grandpas flank the stroller for added protection when crossing the street :)

How cute is that?!

Enjoying the afternoon at Nearby Cafe.

Jared came by to see James too!

Even with all the help from Nana and Gramma, Daddy still took care of a few diapers :)

Vince and Nina had been waiting for a very long time to meet little James. They were so excited that they were still going to be in Korea when he was born! They headed back to New Zealand shortly after Jimmy's arrival.

Mom and Dad Howard got to meet our monk friend too and get a tour of Jikjisa Temple.

Jimmy's first trip in the ergo... this has since proved to be our magic baby whisperer! It's crazy how much he loves that thing. He can go from an all out scream fest to sound sleeping in a matter of minutes after being put in his ergo. :)

I don't think he got enough attention while the grands were here...

6 days on the outside. It's still so crazy that a baby so big was inside of me!!

We decided to celebrate his birth with a party while the grandparents were here. Nana made enchiladas and we bought a cute cake from Tour les Jours. In Korea, a baby is considered a year old at birth so we decided to represent both countries with our candles... a "0" for America and a "1" candle for Korea :)

James is such a blessed little guy to have these four grands in his life!

Gramma and Grampa Black

Nana and Papa Howard

^^Our Little Family^^

Mom and Dad Howard were able to take a tour of the university campus and since Gramma had the tour last time, she stayed with Jimmy and me while we caught a few extra zzzz's.

My dad is like a kid magnet! I have never seen a child not attach themselves to him :)

Isaac loved hanging out with Papa during the tour.

After the tour, Isaac finally got to meet his little buddy James.

Aunt Charlotte getting to hold James for the first time

^Our little boys^

We headed to Hands Coffee after the tour was over and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon there.

연화지 which translates to "Lotus Flower Pond"

My mom came to Korea with one goal in mind: to have a "pretty latte". She got her wish :)

James meeting Rebecca (the boss) and some employees who have been waiting my entire pregnancy to meet him :)

The following day was a sad one because we had to say goodbye to Gramma and Grampa Black :( As you can imagine, they were not ready to leave this little guy! Their departure hit me pretty hard and left me crying on the bed while my mom comforted me. It means a lot to have parents on both sides to be there for the important stuff...

Uncle Gerald stopped by for a visit and Jimmy even flashed a quick smile

(we had to be quick to catch it, thus the blur)

We took Mom and Dad out for a true Korean meal (we had been eating at home so much that they hadn't really had a chance to eat at a meat restaurant). The meal started out well but when Jimmy's diaper needed to be changed, it all went down hill from there... Korean restaurants don't often make it very easy on mothers with small babies because they do not have changing tables or nursing areas. I took my mom with me to the bathroom and we attempted to change his diaper on top of a washer that was in the bathroom. Mid-changing, a slightly inebriated woman came in to help us... so we had 3 sets of hands to do the job and afterwards she wanted to hold him. I cautiously (brand new mother here!) allowed her to "hold him" all the while keeping my hands on him. After a few brief seconds of this, Mom stepped to my rescue as the "mean grandma" that wanted to take her grandson :0 It truly was an experience. We wrapped up the meal quickly and headed home.

We were heading to Seoul in a couple days to take my parents to the airport so we were going to get James' documents in order at the American embassy. The requirements for his picture were that he be awake and there could not be any hands in the picture supporting him. We saw that he was happy and awake and made a dash for the studio :) He looks like such a little man at just 10 days old :)

Our friends Phillip, Ashley, and Sean came over for the afternoon and evening and we enjoyed dinner at our favorite Chinese spot and games together :)

Mom finally mastered the chopsticks!! She was like, "hurry and take a picture before I drop it!" :)

Papa and Jimmy enjoyed listening to lullabies together :)

I wasn't quite up for taking James to church yet but the others went and had a great time

Jimmy had his first train ride and slept through the whole thing! That was ok with mommy :)

We didn't have the paperwork yet to prove it but James was officially an American citizen :)

We took mom and dad to Myeongdong and of course that meant eating at Saffron :)

Starbucks

Hanging out in our hotel before eating dinner downstairs in the restaurant

We left the hotel at 5am in an airport taxi to take my parents to Incheon airport. In order to catch a bus straight home from the airport we basically left my parents at the door and headed to the ticket kiosk. I had told my mom that if I didn't cry it wasn't because I wouldn't miss her and that I probably would have a melt down as soon as I got home... I made it to the bench beside the bus and the tears came...

Thank you Nana and Papa and Gramma and Grampa for being here to welcome our little James Robert into the world and for all your help in the first weeks of his life! We will treasure these memories always! It was so wonderful to also be able to introduce my parents to our life here in Korea :)

This was a very special few weeks for us.

first day home

2013-09-28T11:40:00.001+09:00

Jimmy was born on Thursday afternoon and we left the hospital at 10am on Saturday morning. Since I could only see him at feedings, you can only imagine how ready I was to go home and actually get to have my baby with me at all times! The grandparents and daddy were pretty ready to hold him too! :)

Arriving at our apartment building

We're home!!!

Of course there were aunts, uncles, and great grandparents that wanted to meet Jimmy on skype too :)

Daddy finally getting to enjoy his son

The moms took turns keeping watch over mommy and baby :)

When we got home from the hospital, both sets of grandparents decided that we HAD to have a rocking chair (we were planning to buy one but just hadn't got one yet), so the men went out and came home with a rocking chair :)

Thank you Papa and Grampa for the rocking chair! We love it!!

Just enjoying all the family cuddles

Some friends stopped by the see Jimmy :)

Uncle Daniel and Aunt Sooyeon

Both moms made sure I was eating and drinking tons of water! :) I had personal maids around me at all times. It was pretty amazing, not going to lie.

Reading Jimmy his first book :) He seems pretty interested, don't you think?

Aunt Sarah came to see him too

Jimmy's first bath... not such a pleasant experience for him since he couldn't be submerged in water until his umbilical cord came off. :(

There was lots of snuggles and naps going on throughout the day.

He's a pretty sophisticated gentleman :0

There is nothing like bringing your child home for the first time. It is a wonderful feeling (albeit rather nerve racking at times) to have this little life in your care and to know that from this day forward he is yours to raise and provide for.

12:54pm...our lives changed forever

2013-09-22T18:27:00.000+09:00

I think most would agree that giving birth is kind of a big deal. This can be a very true story when you add being in a foreign country with a major language barrier... I can't even begin to thank God enough for how He kept his hand on us and helped in each and every situation surrounding Jimmy's birth.

We had joked that since Jimmy was already 5 days late, he was just holding on until Nana and Papa arrived. Well, he didn't quite wait that long but they were crossing the Atlantic when we arrived at the hospital. While I would have loved to have my mother with me during this whole process, God worked everything out perfectly and the timing couldn't have been any better! My water broke at 3am and by 5:30am we arrived at the hospital. I was getting a little nervous because I could not get a hold of my friend Michaely who was to be in the delivery room with me to translate. I called two or three other friends as well with no luck. I was getting prepared to do this entirely with no translation and just pray that everything would be ok. Thankfully, Michealy arrived at the hospital shortly after I was checked in and was able to stay to meet James and then headed to Seoul to leave on her vacation one hour later (answer to prayer #1).

We started out in a room with 4 beds but we asked to be moved to the family room so that I could be in the same room for the entire duration of labor and then delivery.

There are many specific things that Koreans do surrounding child birth. One of these is keeping the mother extremely warm during and after the delivery. The nurses and doctors must have been freaking out because mama had the air conditioner so low for me and they were fanning me the whole time :)

I really wanted to deliver naturally with no drugs. This is something that is not really very common here and so I think the nurses thought I was a bit nuts :) They kept saying "Jennifer so patient" since I wasn't screaming at everyone in the room :) At one point I was not progressing like I should and they were going to give me some pitocin. Answer to prayer #2: when they came to check on me again, I had progressed sufficiently.

This was a national holiday so my doctor had the day off and the other doctor (whom I had never met) was on call and would be delivering the baby. Thankfully, my doctor decided to come in on his day off to deliver Jimmy. I'm pretty sure he didn't want to miss the first "all-American" birth at his hospital! :) (Answer to prayer #3)

After 10 hours of labor, our little boy came into the world! I honestly could not have done it without Robert and Mama. They were amazing coaches!

James Robert Black

August 15, 2013 at 12:54pm

4.05 kg/ 52cm

Two amazing ladies on my "birthing team" :)

The amazing head nurse. She was incredible! Despite her limited English, she was able to make me feel so calm and focused on what I needed to do. She would constantly give me thumbs up and tell me in Korean "Jennifer good job". :)

Gramma and Grampa Black

Headed to our room... The head of International Affairs at Gimcheon University is close friends with the president of the hospital and took a great interest in us. He made sure we had a very nice room with a great view. He was so sweet!

Another specific thing that new mothers do is eat seawood soup. While some would find this horrifying, I actually like the stuff and enjoyed it. I think most American hospitals give you a menu to choose from but I was put on a specific "Mother's meal plan" that varied only slightly but always included a big bowl of soup. :)

Ok, so up until now the experience was not that different from America... but here's where it got a little difficult to deal with. They were SUPER strict about Jimmy remaining in the nursery at all times except for feedings, at which time I would go to a nursing room off of the nursery and a nurse would bring him to me. My room was on the 5th floor and the nursery was on the 2nd. Kind of crazy right? Everyday at 1:30pm and 7:30pm we could go down to the nursery window and a nurse would hold Jimmy up for visitors to see and take pictures. While we were not thrilled with this arrangement (believe me, I considered making a fuss about it), it was hospital policy and everyone was so kind to us. We did not want to give them a bad taste for foreigners in their hospital.

This was the first time we saw Jimmy after leaving the delivery room.

He was quite popular in the hospital, being the biggest baby in the nursery! :)

Our answer to prayer #4 had everything to do with perfect timing. It's amazing how sometimes what seems like a mistake, is actually just the right situation. My parents' plane landed in Seoul at 2:30pm and then they had to get on a 3 hour bus headed to Gimcheon. However, when they arrived at the bus kiosk, the lady said the bus was already gone ahead of schedule! They had to get a later bus that was headed to Gumi (the next town over) instead and were not going to arrive until around 9pm :( We asked the nurses if it would be possible to show Jimmy to my parents at the nursery window when they arrived to which they refused and said it was not allowed :( We were frustrated since that meant my parents would arrive after an incredibly long trip and then not get to even see their grand baby until 1:30 pm the next day!! Robert went to pick them up from the bus stop and when they were on their way back, the nurses called me to come feed Jimmy. After the nurses left the room I called Robert and Nana and Papa were able to sneak in to hold their grand baby :) Perfect Timing...

So incredibly thankful that both sets of grandparents were able to come all the way to Korea!

Getting to see Jimmy again :)

So in love with our little boy!

Daddy and Jimmy during a feeding time

Uncle David and Aunt Charlotte came to visit too :)

My last checkup with my doctor before leaving the hospital

Time to go home!!

Ready to take our little boy home

Perry is waiting! :)

^^ Our little family ^^

long days waiting...

2013-09-17T12:11:00.002+09:00

My mom had warned me that the last couple of weeks would feel like an eternity and boy was she right! That last month felt about as long as the entire pregnancy put together. We did our best to stay active and entertained. With the intense August heat, I swelled up like the pillsbury doughboy and was guzzling water by the liters.

Shortly before Jimmy's arrival we went on his first camping trip. We actually didn't stay the night but it was still fun to eat dinner and hang out with Gerald, Eunjin, and Daniel (and Coco). Halfway through grilling it started pouring rain! we huddled under the tent and continued the party :)

We continued to frequent our favorite coffee shops and I continued to grow... This kid was not being kind to his mother! :) It's funny how right moms can be. My mom had told me that with my oldest brother Jason, the doctor had told her she would go 2 weeks early... and he came 2 weeks after his due date. She said that month was the longest month of her life. Well, I tucked that story away in my brain and lo and behold my doctor told me I would come early. As hard as I tried to not get my hopes up, it was useless... I thought for sure Jimmy would come early! Nope. Not a chance.

Jimmy got quite a few packages in the mail! He is spoiled rotten already!

My friend Jackie was my go-to eat out partner. We had some great times and this one was a funny time in particular. It so happened to be one of the hottest days in August and we were going to go to lunch. We walked to our first choice, the Chinese restaurant, and it was closed (which is very common for this restaurant so we weren't all that surprised). So we journeyed on in search of our next stop, Jjajjangmeon (also a Chinese option) and was again met with closed doors. How ridiculous, we thought so we carried on to our third stop, a fast food Chinese option... you're seeing the pattern, right? Closed again!? We then headed to Lucky Penny to get a hamburger and found it closed too. By now we were so hot and getting quite hungry and frustrated. We grabbed a cab and headed over to a different part of town to get Misoya (Japanese restaurant)... closed for construction if you can believe it! So we walked a few doors down to another Japanese restaurant (this is a Korean thing to have multiples of the same thing in one area) and were happy to just be sitting in an air conditioned place with food in front of us regardless of what it was! We were sitting there eating our less than average food when a delivery man comes in and brings the staff of the JAPANESE restaurant CHINESE food!!! Of all the luck! We were quite annoyed and come to find out later, this day happened to be in the middle of the three days that almost all restaurants take for summer vacation.. .what are the odds. We rewarded ourselves with ice cream after the ring around we went through just trying to get lunch! Fun memories to be sure.

We were eagerly awaiting the arrival of both sets of parents. I had fun putting together a little "Summer Survival" kit for them and the University was so kind to put them in a beautiful apartment on campus. They put towels and special plum soaps and lotions that the university makes in the rooms and everything was carefully prepared for their arrival.

You've seen it before and you'll see it again... my least favorite thing about living in Korea is all the goodbyes that I have to say. This time around it was Jenny and Jackie that were heading out (Vince and Nina were a few weeks later). We headed to the first Chinese option from above and thankfully it was open this time! Afterwards we enjoyed coffee at Nearby. Love these girls and miss them so much already!

The first set of parents arrived!!! Robert's parents arrived in Gimcheon on August 8th which was a Thursday. It was so wonderful to have people to wait with. We went around town and tried to keep occupied because we were all eagerly awaiting Jimmy's arrival!

On Thursday we introduced them to, of course, our favorite spot and they got to meet the owner who is a good friend.

On Friday we hit up Cafe 무지음 for Brunch and Coffee

On Saturday we headed to Gumi to eat at Terrace 5 which is a a lovely little Italian restaurant we like. Unbeknownst to us, the restaurant underwent a huge renovation and this happened to be opening day. If you know anything about a restaurant opening in Korea, you know how crazy that place was. We opted for a less crowded Smoothie King and then Starbucks after perusing a few shops along the way.

For dinner we celebrated Mama's birthday :) She said she loves pizza and ice cream and we just so happened to have both of those things close by :)

Mr Pizza and Baskin Robbins... Happy Birthday Mama! We love you! :)

Sunday we treated them to one of our favorite little delicacies, 교동 Recipe. This was my due date and so it was a bit of a let down to go the whole day with no baby arriving...

40 weeks

We got a big kick out of Mama offering $2.00 to pay for a $30.00 meal :) She kind of struggled with the money a little bit :)

Monday was a chill day at home and then Tuesday we had lunch at Pasta Buono and then discovered a lovely little new spot called Cafe 오늘.

After coffee we headed to the hospital for my last checkup. The doctor said everything was fine so he wanted Jimmy to come naturally, but that he would not let me go past August 20th (a whole more week!) I started praying then because I could not handle one more week of this... I was so over being pregnant by now. I just wanted to hold my baby!

제니퍼블랙... that's my name! :)

Our awesome team! Couldn't have done it with my friend Michaely who went to all my appointments with me to translate and my amazing Doctor Jang.

After the hospital we headed to Jikjisa temple to meet our friend and show Mama and Daddy around the temple. This is a very famous temple in Korea and in my opinion, one of the most beautiful too.

On Wednesday we decided to have a "Nearby" day. By that I mean that we spent the afternoon in the coffee shop and then had dinner in the restaurant. Michaely's family owns both places and we enjoyed them both. My parents were scheduled to arrive the next afternoon and were in route already. This was, hands down, the most uncomfortable day of my entire pregnancy. I could not get comfortable for anything and was just trying to keep my mind off the fact that I still didn't have a baby! :)

The weather was gorgeous that night so we headed up to the roof to watch a movie on the projector screen. As you can tell... I'm super enthused. :)

After the movie we went back downstairs and it was Dad's turn to give me a foot rub. He joked about his being the magical foot rub because guess what... my water broke at 3am.

Our Babymoon and 4th Anniversary

2013-08-14T15:05:00.000+09:00

Robert and I love to travel. We enjoyed Ireland for our honeymoon, Paris for our 1st anniversary, I flew to America for our 2nd anniversary (awesome story in itself) for my grandparents' 70th anniversary celebration, and then South Africa for our 3rd anniversary. We had hopes of carrying on our traveling ways this summer but with me being 36 weeks pregnant when the time was right, I had already passed the airlines' fly time. That meant we needed to start looking at our in-country options for this anniversary/babymoon. I asked for three specific things on this vacation: a beach, a pool, and a bathtub. Robert set out to make this happen and let me tell you, he spoiled me rotten!

We stayed at the Novotel in Busan right on the beach with the most beautiful view you can imagine! We had an oceanside room reserved on the 9th floor and when the man checked us in, he bumped us up to the 14th floor so we would have a better view since he found out this was a special trip. :) While our trips are usually filled with exploring, this trip was all about relaxing. We hardly even left the hotel and we were both fine with that!

We did take an afternoon to visit the World's largest department store :)

I loved the view! It made me homesick for Florida too...

Enjoying a day on the beach... until later when I was as red as a lobster! :) Oh well. It was still worth it

Headed to a very special dinner at the hotel's restaurant

We got to meet some of our co-workers that live in Busan for dinner which was really fun!

I'm not sure, but I think I still win the belly size competition. :)

Enjoying the hotel's breakfast buffet before checking out. It wasn't quite up to the Breaker's standards but it was the same general idea:)

What an amazing experience! This was quite a bit shorter than our usual trips but it was such a fun chance to get away and relax and focus on each other before our life changes drastically :) We are so excited for James' arrival! It has been such an amazing 4 years together so far and we are looking forward to many more... this is just a new chapter and we are eager to begin!

In recent weeks..

2013-08-05T22:40:00.003+09:00

These last few weeks have been like the calm before the storm... not that I am calling my child a storm by any means but from what I hear, life is about to change. We have been on Summer vacation since the middle of June and have had lots of time on our hands to prepare for the arrival of our baby. It has been so much fun planning, and then putting those plans into reality. We have stayed busy working on our Masters degree Capstone projects (Thesis process), getting the baby's room ready, and simply going about our usual life in slow-paced Gimcheon. I haven't really taken a lot of pictures recently so this post actually covers several week's worth of events... so be it.

Our delightful Sunday tradition

Daddy getting the crib set up :)

I headed to Daegu with some girlfriends for a "Girl's Night out"... It was a crowded night on the train and we ended up making the trip in the Cafe car. I was lucky enough to snag a seat for the hour ride. Girls like this are such a common sight in Korea and they will never cease to strike me funny... She kept an eye on her looks in her full hand-held mirror the whole trip to Daegu. I think some clubbing was on the agenda for the evening... it's important to make a repertoire of faces for the evening :)

Krissy and Ashley

Sinyi, Jackie, and Tressa

T and me

We inherited the life-size self portraits that Hyunuk took of us last year for his photo exhibit :)

Not quite sure what to do with them but they are a fun memory for sure.

David and Charlotte were so kind to take us to a Baby Fair in Daejeon. It was such a fun experience and definitely worth going since we saved a good $100 on the stroller that we had been planning to buy in a different store! We also saved about $70 on a boppy pillow too! For moms out there that just about fell off their chairs... yes, boppy pillows are priced at over $100 in department stores and I bought one for $30 (which is a little closer to how they are priced in the states).

Isaac giving me tons of his cuteness over lunch. This kid is one of the cutest kids on the planet and is always willing to give me smiles and grins.

One of our freshman students, Kristen, came by the house to bring James a gift. :) James is going to be spoiled rotten by all his "aunts" and "uncles" in the English department!

At the lake for Sunday coffee... excitedly awaiting our little boy's arrival!

The nursery was a long awaited and dreamed up process. Because our house does not have much in the way of built in storage, everything is stored in wardrobes. So we had to create a room that was half baby nursery and half my office/storage. We ordered a closet/desk set online and the delivery of said pieces warrants its own blog post... I won't digress. We also ordered a dresser online and a friend loaned me her crib. We hired a man to come in and re-wallpaper the walls, which was surprisingly cheap when you consider supplies and labor hours, and then I got busy making all the little extra accessories and themed items. I had a blast! There are still a few more small projects to be done but I think they can wait until "Nana the amazing seamstress" arrives :)

I hung a twine clothesline of picture frames, which I filled with pictures from our maternity photo shoot and a couple handmade little sayings that I liked.

I printed some letter templates from the internet and then glued on these adorable wooden car decorations that Grandma Tina sent.

My mom sent me some nursery patterns and so I was able to sew this cute crib-side pocket organizer, curtains, and pillow shams with the adorable fabric that I found in Seoul a few months back :)

I used more of the car decorations to make this mobile with ribbons, buttons, and a metal trivet we found in the kitchen aisle :) I love having his little shoes displayed next to my favorite verse framed.

The verse, I Samuel 1:24 has a special story for us. It has been a family joke since we got married that Grandma Foley wanted to be a great Grandma before she was 60. Since that didn't give us very much time, we managed to convince her to wait a little longer :) For anyone that knows Grandma Foley, you can attest to the fact that she gets everything she prays for! We told her she was on a strict "no praying for a great grand baby" rule until we were more settled and ready for a baby. And so finally in the summer of 2012, after 3 1/2 years of marriage, we decided we were ready for a baby and told Grandma that she was now free to pray for her first great grand baby. That Christmas when we were in America, we were able to give her a Christmas card with this verse on the outside and our little BB's first ultrasound that showed his strong and healthy heart beat at 6 weeks.

God truly granted me the desires of my heart by allowing me to carry this precious life inside of me.

I am so excited to meet my little James Robert Black very soon!

the 6th of July

2013-07-17T17:12:00.002+09:00

Well, it's that time of year again... time to wear our colors strong and shout out to the world, "I'm PROUD to be an American!" I love 4th of July back home. It's honestly one of my favorite holidays simply because of the feeling you get when you're at a 4th of July party. It's so much fun! All the red, white, and blue, the delicious food, the fireworks... what's not to love?! So, it can be a little tough living in a different country and trying to bring that same feeling to your party. This year we decided to throw a big bash and not discriminate! We had Americans, New Zealanders, British, and Koreans here to celebrate. Due to the fact that it is not a recognized holiday here (it would be pretty weird if it was), we had to move our festivities to Saturday, but believe me there was still just as much patriotism present. There was a threat of rain but thankfully the rain held off and we were able to have a smashingly successful picnic up on our rooftop.

There was an insane amount of food! Everyone pitched in and brought lots of deliciousness and goodness to share. We had hotdogs, grilled meat, pasta salad, baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw, chips and homemade salsa, Jjapchae, vegetarian burgers, bean salad, and fruit salad. For dessert we had brownies, banana bread, banana pudding, red velvet cake, and Baskin Robbins ice cream cake.

Though it was an extremely hot day, we had a fantastic time together! After awhile some of us took refuge in the cooler temperatures of the apartment and played a few rounds of Phrase Party. I think I may have even won one of the rounds, but who was keeping track? :)

I decided not to let a good holiday go to waste! Bring on the nail polish. With my very large belly, the toes did pose a bit of a struggle but I prevailed and was happy with the result. It probably was my last attempt at any toe nail art until after the baby :)

It was such a fun day spent with friends and even though we didn't have fireworks or sing the national anthem, it was a great time with the people we love who are all here experiencing life in a different culture away from their family and friends.

Happy 6th of July America! :)

warm days of summer

2013-07-09T15:07:00.002+09:00

Our Summer vacation continues... This is a bit of a weird one for us because this is our first summer spent entirely in Korea. Ordinarily we would be trekking off to other parts of the globe, however this Summer we have a very special person on the way and since I am now banned from flying... we're kicking it Gimcheon style. This means a lot of lazy days at home, finishing up the nursery, and working on our Masters degree capstone projects and final papers in our usual coffee shops :)

Hands Coffee... we have completed a whole lot of work here. We had a fun Saturday "work date" with our friends, Daniel and Sooyeon which then turned into dinner, ice cream, and shopping at Emart. We're a partying bunch for sure! :)

Robert captured the beauty of Gimcheon at night. We are so blessed to have such an incredible rooftop view! He is up there almost every night and I enjoy it in the daytime when I want to get a little sun :)

It's been 4 years! Can you believe it?! We have reached the 4th year of marriage and at the risk of sounding very cliche, it has been the best 4 years of our lives. We have had so many incredible experiences together and come in contact with such amazing people. It was especially important because this is our last anniversary as just the two of us. We are now entering an entirely new phase in our lives and relationship and we are so excited for what is in store. We cannot wait to meet our little son James! He already brings us so much joy and he is not even born yet. I can't even begin to think of how much we will love him when we finally get to meet him!

On the actual day of our anniversary, I was treated to breakfast in bed and Robert got his favorite Dutch coffee from Hands Coffee and chocolate. We tried to get out of Gimcheon and try a new restaurant so we headed over to Gumi to find Indian food. While the food was less than incredible and the atmosphere not so great, we still had a great anniversary dinner and topped of the evening with shopping at our favorite new spot: Lotte Department store's Toys R Us. :) We just can't get enough of that place! Soon we will be heading to Busan for a Babymoon/Anniversary trip and so we are very excited about that!

Pregnancy has been very generous to my nails! :)

We have enjoyed some lovely Summer strolls around town when the sun goes down (it's far too hot in the middle of the day with my little built-in heater!)

It's not Summer until you have a 팥빙수 (Pat-bing-su).

This is a shaved ice dessert that is very popular here in the Summer :)

We enjoyed a great picnic at our usual spot in the park :)

Vince and Nina had never done the Daegu thrift shops so we headed out on a Saturday morning for a day of thrifting and an all around good time together. We also had lunch at the Lazy Diner which was fun. It had been awhile since I had a good Fish and Chips meal.

After our shopping we headed over to Costco to get stocked up for our 4th of July picnic that was coming up and I just couldn't pass up these adorable newborn onesies for James!

Thanks so a friend's recommendation, we found a new spot in town that does a pretty stellar breakfast. We headed for there for a masters working day and enjoyed brunch.

This picture is older because it was taken on the last day of school but I loved it and had to include it. My students were so excited all semester about Jimmy and can't wait to meet him when school is back in session. Min and Kristen were giving Jimmy their final Summer loves...next time I see them they will get to hold James! :)

We have hands down, the best Chinese food restaurant just around the corner from our house and we are on a first name basis with the owner. We decided to introduce our friends, Sean, Ashley and Phillip to this place and let them try the spicy Jjajjangmeon (this is literally the hottest food I have ever put in my mouth!). They gave both the food and the place a resounding thumbs up! :)

friends, food, and daily life

2013-07-03T16:00:00.003+09:00

It had been a few months since we were last in Seoul and decided it was time to head up to see some friends. Everytime we go to Seoul we realize anew why we don't miss it... it's a complete madhouse. That being said, we have some great friends there and we can always be assured of amazing food when we visit. Therefore, Seoul is not an entire waste of time :) We do actually enjoy ourselves (a little) amidst the crowds, cars, and buildings. We headed up Saturday morning and stayed the night in Myeongdong at one of the Sky Park hotels. It had a lovely balcony that we enjoyed for awhile after our amazing dinner at Saffron...

What can I say? Jimmy really liked it! :)

This is my idea of vacation...

All of our South African friends are always talking about Braai Republic in Itewon so we finally made our way there for an amazing dinner of Lamb chops, Boerewors, Amarula Cheesecake and Rooibos Tea. The meat is imported from South Africa and the atmosphere is great. We were surrounded by Afrikaans for an evening and that was fun.

Before heading home on the train, we satisfied one of my "cravings" by grabbing a Subway sub for the ride home. I would live in Gimcheon for the rest of my life if they would just open a Subway! :0

What can I say? The man's got style...

Robert has had so much fun with out new camera and has done a great job capturing some of the beauty that surrounds us on a daily basis.

The Mentorship program within the English Department continues to grow and improve. David treated all the professors involved in the program to a lovely picnic lunch!

We had such an awesome semester in our professor's Korean class and so we wanted to show our appreciation to our teacher by taking her out to dinner. We had a great time together and got to have a bonus "lesson" since she doesn't actually have a lot of English. :) It was a really fun evening!

Our professors were so sweet and held a "mandatory meeting" at the end of the semester in which they presented Robert and me with a card, a Lotte department store gift card for the baby, and a Starbucks gift card. They were so sweet and generous!

I love finding new restaurants around town and a group of my pregnant friends showed me this amazing place a couple weeks ago after yoga class. It was so delicious!

It never ceases to amaze me how different it is to make lasagna here than it is in the states. In America that is kind of considered cheap food... pasta, sauce, hamburger, etc... Here, we have to plan it and the first time I made it, it ended up costing close to $30 for a small 8x8 pan! This time I switched out beef for pork and was able to cut the price down significantly. It was still delicious and its a fun treat now and again. :0

Jackie and I headed over to spend a Saturday at Daegu and really lived it up for a day :) Caution: Never take a pregnant lady where she can get Western food.... I think all we did that day was eat! :) We started with Dos Tacos where we had quesadillas and chimichangas= excellent. I was really in the mood for Mexican food and this did the trick. Next we moved on to see Man of Steel where we munched on popcorn. After the movie we headed to McDonalds to get a chocolate dipped cone= No judging... its Summer. After all that, I noticed that a new Auntie Anne's opened and I couldn't pass that up so I got one for the road and ate it later for supper (a girl has her limits after all!) :)

Robert got to celebrate his first Father's day this year so I made him a special breakfast and put together a fun little gift bag full of "dad" gifts.

I love baking and have had a chocolate cake on my mind. Korean bakeries, while very good, do not have the chocolate cake down the way I like it. It's supposed to be so rich and sweet that you have to have coffee or milk to cut it! THAT is a chocolate cake. I found a great recipe on Pinterest and had fun making it and then pawning it off on all my friends... again, a pregnant lady has her limits!

Powdered sugar is a tad hard to find here so I had to rely on my coffee grinder to make the frosting :)

So proud of the hubster giving an incredible message at church on Sunday.

Jimmy and I enjoying a nice walk around town...

summer days

2013-06-23T22:07:00.002+09:00

As I have mentioned (probably numerous times), we love having a car! It's hard to even remember what it was like living in Korea without one. We enjoy being able to run over to Gumi quickly to Homeplus and Lotte and not be confined solely to the Gimcheon Emart. This opens up a world of grocery shopping and allows us a few things from home... this meal was decidedly American.

We've enjoyed some fun days off and more great Sunday lunch picnics with friends at Riverside Park.

Having a car also allows us to visit Daegu Costco whenever we want! This could be dangerous...

My friend Charlotte had a birthday recently and we were able to have a lovely afternoon at Hands coffee and I got some Isaac cuddle time. He's my favorite. He and James will be such good friends!

Jared's birthday called for some celebrating so a few of us Gimcheoners got together for an impromptu birthday party at one of our favorite meat restaurants and then Lucky Penny for milkshakes and cake :)

We headed to Daegu for a date day and just enjoyed walking around and taking pictures. :) Of course we couldn't pass up a chance to eat at Little Italia!

What can I say... Jimmy loves his Starbucks! :)

Poor Robert... his phone had just been stolen and he had to erase its contents remotely and then go order a new one.

I have had such a fun time with this semester's mentor group! They are such a great group of girls. We decided to have a movie day and go see After Earth. It was a fun Saturday spent with my girls :)

... and another picnic (told you we loved them!).

I got an amazing box in the mail from Grandma Tina, Grandma Great, and Auntie Ro... I had so much fun going through all the adorable clothes! So special.

I've managed to grow Basil from seed! Those of you that know my gardening skills also know just how miraculous this is...

30 weeks along and I finally ate the hotdog I had been craving for weeks! :)

I've never enjoyed doing laundry so much! Doesn't get any cuter than this stuff...

days in may

2013-06-19T18:57:00.001+09:00

The semester is quickly coming to a close and with it, many of our usual activities. This year the university was so kind to offer the professors a weekly beginners level Korean class that would help us go at a slower pace than the regular class offered to the foreign students (they cover in a day what we covered in a week). It was an absolute riot some evenings as it was held at the end of two very long teaching days with a class full of worn out and quite goofy professors. Our teacher was an absolute gem and I really loved the class! Looking forward to returning to it after little Jimmy arrives and I get settled into a new routine. :)

As many of my previous posts have shown, Robert and I have been having a blast rediscovering our little town. After living here for almost 2 years, we're getting to see parts of it that we never knew existed. We ventured out on a Saturday for a leisurely day of thrift shop hopping and visiting a quaint little eye glass shop that has been there for 30 years (and still has some of the same advertisements hanging up too) :) The owners were adorable!

Doing my "posing" for Robert to snap pictures unawares :)

This was a very special Mother's Day as it was my first... I can't wait to meet this little growing boy inside of me! He is such an active little guy and brings me so much joy already, I can't even begin to imagine how much I will love this kid when I can hold him in my arms!

We had a lovely little picnic in our favorite spot and enjoyed the gorgeous weather and scenery.

Our friends from the University, Chandan and Pooja, came over and cooked us authentic Indian food! It was divine. Robert started us out with a lovely bruschetta appetizer and then I finished us off with some shortbread and tea. It was truly an international meal :)

Teacher's day rolled around and my Mentoring students surprised me with these adorable signs they had made. They were so sweet! I have had such a wonderful time getting to know these three girls better! :)

This is the first "Korean" thing I have bought for baby James. I can't wait to see him in this adorable little shirt and to hold him!

Robert and I spent another day relaxing and enjoying our local town. Our friend from Jikjisa Temple invited us to eat dinner with him inside the temple. This was a pretty cool experience and we also enjoyed tea in the Temple tea house. They were doing their evening ringing of the bell for the animals so we got to see that too which was very interesting.

After walking around the Temple grounds a little bit, we decided to take a drive around the mountain to see what we would find. It was a gorgeous evening and the scenery was beautiful. It's amazing to think that this is our "backyard".

a walk in the park

2013-06-01T11:08:00.002+09:00

With Summer on its way, we have had some pretty hot days but the evenings are absolutely gorgeous so we have enjoyed several evening up on our rooftop. Its so relaxing to take a pot of tea, lawn chair, and maybe even a movie and just sit and enjoy the surroundings.

As I mentioned before, the addition of Perry has opened our eyes to a completely different version of Korea than we had seen before. We are now able to see the real Korea and appreciate its beauty. We have been taking advantage of every opportunity we can to see more and explore more. Though we came to a familiar place, Jikjisa park, we still had new experiences and enjoyed the time immensely! The afternoon was a bit misty and overcast which only made the colors more vibrant and fascinating. This is extremely high praise but it kind of reminded me of our trip to Ireland because of how green every was. It was so gorgeous!

Chestnuts... they're my favorite.

Robert had heard about this Tea House at the entrance of Jikjisa Temple and wanted to try it out so we did. Talk about an amazing experience! You order one kind of tea but by the end of it the lady has brought out about 5 different kinds to try~ herb, floral, mixed flavors, you name it.

While sitting enjoying our tea, the owner came over to talk to us and we understood about 55% of what she said but halfway through we got lost. She was talking about a friend and something about English. We apologized and she said not to worry about it and left. We forgot about it and then about an hour later a monk shows up at our table and says "hi!". She had apparently called him to come down from the temple to meet us. :) He was such a nice guy and we struck up a great friendship with him.

What an awesome rainy day experience, huh?

exploration begins...

2013-05-27T22:32:00.001+09:00

As I mentioned in the previous post, we became proud owners of a little blue set of wheels named Perry. Up until this purchase, Korea was never really viewed as a beautiful or exciting place to either Robert or me. However, now that we have easily accessed transportation, Korea has blossomed in our eyes. Suddenly we are seeing streets and back roads, mountain passes and quaint neighborhoods that were otherwise invisible to us before. It has been an exciting several weeks as we have embarked on weekend drives to simply explore the areas around us. Whether that means we are visiting a nearby city for dinner or exploring a backwoods road that takes us to new areas of town, we are having a blast!

We decided to stay pretty close to home on Buddha's birthday because that is a huge traveling holiday here. We decided to go spend the day in Gumi. We had a lovely lunch at Terrace 5, walked around an open market taking pictures and talking to adorable old people, watch Great Gatsby, and then headed home after some window shopping. It was a fabulous day!

If you haven't noticed, there is a substantial increase in pictures... that's because we finally replaced our Canon elf! Robert has been having so much fun snapping pictures of Korea and finding the things that others view as old and outdated but that we find to be the beautiful side of Korea~ the old and traditional. It still exists but you have to look hard and long to find it. This is the viewpoint from our rooftop. The days have been extremely hot but the nights are absolutely gorgeous so we have enjoyed sitting up there in the evenings this past week.

Saturday called for a stroll around our own little neighborhood. This brought us to an adorable little cactus store that had the most amazing cacti! Some were shaped like roses, lotus, and many more. It was fascinating!

Gimcheon is covered in red roses and hydrangeas! It is absolutely gorgeous!

We decided to christen a newly opened coffee shop in town with our friends, the Moonesars :)

Perry took us to Daegu to celebrate our first Parent's day :) Here in Korea, Mother's day and Father's day are combined into one day. We had a great American meal at TGI Fridays and then gelato from Davinci's Coffee. We bought a few things but realized when we got home that our bags never made it home... that's always a bummer.

Trying to get used to this new phase in life: very short energy spurts! :)

It really cuts into a girl's shopping experience! :)

As always, we are doing our best to have an absolute blast. Our life is about to change a great deal and we couldn't be happier about that fact. These next few months are going to be full of fun and new adventures! We're simply going to have a little guy to share them with from now on! :)

GU School Festival 2013

2013-05-22T23:14:00.003+09:00

This year's school festival was so much fun! The kids did an awesome job on their tent and seemed to really have a great time. Even though I spent a lot of time at the English department tent, one of my favorite parts of festival was walking around to see all my General English class students with their own departments. They get so excited to see you and sucker you into buying food from their tent :) It's a ton of fun. There are so many kinds of food being sold, department chanting, and loud upbeat music playing from each tent. If my child likes techno music straight out of the womb, I blame Korea entirely...

The President always tours the department tents and gives each one some encouragement and a little money to help on their expenses. Our kids had a special little song prepared and everything :)

The students practice for weeks on their department cheers. It's a pretty amazing thing to watch and listen to! They are so organized about it :)

My favorite little guy showed up to festival too! :)

Enjoying some relaxed time with the other professors.

Robert participated in a relay representing the English department :)

I loved seeing the student body gathered for the closing ceremony. It was pretty cool to see.

Robert with one of my students from last year :)

English department DJ :)

In the midst of the excitement of festival, we purchased our little Kia Morning named "Perry". It makes such a huge difference to have a car now. I haven't ridden in a taxi for weeks now! It's amazing! :)

James' first School Festival :)

We decided to set a record right off the bat of how many we could fit in Perry... 6 people! :)

English department on the last night of Festival

It was such a great School Festival! I enjoyed the week so much and look forward to next year! :)

A few days of Spring

2013-05-16T10:57:00.001+09:00

While it was short, we did have a little Spring and we took advantage of it. Our friends Hyunuk and Jeongbong own the Lucky Penny here in town (its an American-style bar and restaurant). They lived in Japan for 9 years and San Francisco for 9 years so they are completely familiar with being a foreigner in another land. They called us up one night and told us that they wanted to give us a Baby shower because they knew how lonely this time could be (they had their second child in America). They're right. It can be extremely lonely, but knowing we have friends like them make it just a little less so. They invited a few of our friends and put together an amazing Sunday lunch of some of the best homemade lasagna I have ever had, grilled meat, salads, fruit, cheesecake and coffee. It was such a fun day hanging out with everyone, playing the Wii, and being together. BB is spoiled already! :)

All BB's stuff :)

With the weather so good, we couldn't pass up the chance to walk to the park for a picnic! This is our favorite picnic spot in town and with good reason. It's so peaceful and gorgeous.

I love living in Gimcheon...

I am currently addicted to fruit smoothies...

Robert is a master chef and I always love his cooking, but I always get a kick out of the state of the kitchen after he is done! :) He can cook, but he sure makes a mess!

My mentoring girls and I headed out for another picnic on the weekend but the wind was so bad that day we ended up walking back to a coffee shop and enjoying the rest of the time over cookie shakes and americanos.

Catching one of the last taxis for awhile... (stay tuned to meet Perry) :)

early April days

2013-05-15T00:47:00.002+09:00

Although winter was holding on with a fierce grip this year, we did manage to have some beautiful days in April. The cherry blossoms were gorgeous as always and we tried to get out to see them as many times as possible. They have a rather short window before they disappear.

This is a rather peculiar dish that is weirdly delicious... It's a "Salad Pizza" that is just that: a salad that has a sometime sweet dressing over a thin crusted pizza. The whole time you eat it you keep thinking, this is kind of weird... and then you reach for the next piece.

My mentoring girls wanted to learn how to cook "American" food so I invited them over and showed them how to make a tomato based pasta and alfredo pasta. I also did fresh garlic bread and salad.

^^It was a fun evening. ^^

I spend so much time in coffee shops doing homework, that sometimes I forget to just enjoy a coffee shop now and again. One of my favorite things to do is to spend an afternoon sipping a cappuccino and either writing letters or reading a book.

Probably one of our favorite ways to spend an afternoon and evening is to head over to Daegu for some shopping and dinner. We decided it had been long enough since we went (after all, the owner at our favorite restaurant didn't even know I was pregnant!) and headed over to spend a fun filled day together. We did some substantial shopping, sipped coffee on the veranda of a coffee shop, and then enjoyed a delicious meal at Little Italia....

Some of my students enjoying a "Market day" activity with another class.

We stopped by one of our English department student's work place and tried out the food :)

We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of our little boy in a few months! I'm getting exciting about making the baby room soon! :)