following an unknown path

a bad typo: nail remover

2009-07-10T10:15:09+08:00

Thankfully it only removes nail POLISH and not the entire NAIL! :)

And, yes, let's chalk it up to "typo" and not bad English.

why i've not been blogging

2009-07-08T15:42:28+08:00

1. I finished grading about 120 final essays and research reports . . . I was at a total loss for words after that. :)

2. I had company last week. One of my best friends from college came and spent three days with me . . . we talked, did a little shopping (I think we spent 3-4 hours in one book store and another 2 in a bakery supply store), we made apple crisp, pizzas, chocolate chip cookies and carrot cake, and we talked, talked, talked. It was good to catch up with her.

3. I'm caught in the middle of a book I hate but can't stop. Someone loaned it to me, it is based on a true story of our criminal justice system gone really wrong. I hate it because I just don't want to believe it's true, but I can't stop because I keep hoping for a happy ending (which I know won't be there but I can't stop hoping either).

4. My camera died. The shutter won't stop shaking--totally not a good thing for picture taking. There have been more times than I could count with my two hands that I wanted to take a photo and couldn't in the past two weeks. My purse feels so empty without it's constant companion.

5. I'm trying to start digital scrapbooking. Most recently, I helped my mom to make an invitation to my sister's baby shower. I wanna get started with it, and I'm trying to discover what is "my style" before I start investing in kits and supplies. Any suggestions from experienced digital scrapbookers are welcome. I currently am leaning towards sites like Ali Edwards and the other Digital Designers, Heather Ann Designs, and Simply Yin. And, I like what I'm learning over at Write. Click. Scrapbook.

6. I'm helping Lawrance to create a storytelling summer class . . . spending time looking for images to make flashcards with and creating worksheets. Fun, but time consuming.

7. And, finally, there is so much I wanna blog but haven't had time to, I don't know where to start now that I have a bit more time.

I'll leave you with a photo that Lawrance took two weekends ago when we were in PingTong at a worship gathering of 17 different Taiwanese churches in the southern area of Taiwan. Sarah took it from our flickr stream and "painted" it for us. :)

Gorgeous, right?

answer to the "guess what"

2009-06-24T23:16:38+08:00

As Mrs. Happy Housewife guessed from some great observation . . he was waiting for a hair cut!!

Here is the ticket that the machine gave us . . . the store is called "Just Cut House" because all they do is cut hair--no washing, no styling, noting else but cutting.

And here is a before and after. :)

As Lisa mentioned, it is really simple--at first she trimmed him up, but then I told him just go for it and get it buzzed all over. It's perfect for summer time. :)

And do you know what!! My man has curly hair too!! Granted not nearly as tight a curl as mine, but there is some definate curl going on there. Too cute!!

living my dream (aka: doing my man's laundry)

2009-06-24T22:58:18+08:00

Summer vacation is not here for me quite yet. Grades are due this Friday. And, Lawrance just started working full time two weeks ago (YAY!! PTL for his new promotion from part-time teacher to director of the English program!!) .

Everyone keeps asking me what I'm doing for my summer break. I reply "just being a housewife."

Without exception every Taiwanese friend, student, and stranger I've had this conversation with then expresses their sympathies for me, trying to cheer me up.

What they don't realize is that I need no cheering up. I am SO looking forward to the month of July where I get to be a full time housewife for the first time in my life. I've already enjoyed these past two weeks of laundry and washing dishes . . . it's so much easier and more enjoyable when I can do it during my day as time allows and as my work for the day rather than as a chore I must squeeze in before going to work.

They don't get it.

I don't know. Maybe you won't either . . . maybe you think, "silly girl, wait to you've done ten (twenty, thirty) years of your man's dirty laundry--then we'll talk about the 'joy' you have then."

They also worry about me being lonely being home alone all day. How could I possibly look forward to being home alone all day with nothing to do but take care of the home?

Depending on the situation and/or depth of the relationship, I will remind them that not too long ago I was living alone all day everyday. Now, I have someone to anticipate coming home to me. Now, I get to eagerly wait for him to call me and return back to me. It's WAY better than living alone 24/7.

And, crazy as it may sound, it is way more fun to clear the table, change the sheets, dust the furniture, or what-have-you when I know I am blessing someone else. When it was just me living here . . . OH it was SO miserable "keeping house."

I hated it with a passion.

I secretly wondered if I'd even make a good wife. My married friends were able to manage their households of 3 or 4 or 5 . . . . and me? well, I was struggling with my little household of 1. :(

I know I wouldn't score perfectly in housekeeping 101 (I thank God my hubby is so patient and understanding), but I do know (again, crazy as it may sound) keeping house is a lot more fun and rewarding and joyful when I'm not the only one making the messes. ;)

So, yes, I totally look forward to a "boring" summer of being a stay-at-home wife. I'll be honest: it almost feels as if I get to "play" at being a house keeping wife. I'm all giddy and happy about it. Is it weird that I feel that way?

And, actually, it feels like I'm getting to live my dream. For the latter half of my 20's I dreamed about being married . . . I longed to have someone's socks to wash and underwear to fold.

Speaking of . . . I think there's a basket a clean laundry awaiting me in the other room right now as I speak!

guess what he's waiting for

2009-06-23T12:18:37+08:00

Sunday evening at about 9 pm, after visiting with Law's parents, we stopped by the grocery store for some milk and chocolate ice cream (basic necessities, you know). After walking into the grocery store, Law saw this and just had to stop and get in line.

He put 100 NT (about 3 US dollars) into the machine and it gave him a ticket with a number. So, can you guess what he prepaid for? Why is he waiting in line?

By the way, the red light means wait time will be 15 min, yellow means wait time will be between 5-10 minutes, and green light means no wait necessay. I think we waited about 3-5 minutes . . . not too bad for a Sunday night! :)

ordinary

2009-06-21T08:35:15+08:00

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. (ESV)

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. (NIV)

Acts 4:13 is one of my all time favorite versus of scripture. Over and over again throughout scripture, God calls the uneducated, the common, and the ordinary; in fact, many times he calls the small and the weak--using them to do great things.

One of my favorite OT stories is the story of Gideon. Once again God chose to use the least of family from the weakest tribe. Later, God reduced the number of men who were going to fight with Gideon, making the odds impossible for a victory. He wanted there to be no way for Israel to boast. He wanted there to be no doubt as to what he had done.

For Peter and John . . . these unschooled men with no formal training . . . These ordinary, blue collar workers with thick, tanned skin from the their hard work in the hot sun . . . what gave them the boldness they had, the authority with which they spoke? Why were they able to have so much courage?

Ah, yes, they had spent time with Jesus. They had been with Him.

faith like potatoes

2009-06-08T06:00:00+08:00

Lawrance and I picked up this movie based on a true story yesterday afternoon not knowing what it was all about . . . .

It was EXCELLENT! We both really enjoyed it.

I don't often recommend movies . . . but this I would recommend.

Has anyone else seen it yet? What'd you think?

about this time a year ago

2009-06-03T06:02:00+08:00

. . . Lawrance asked me to be his wife.

Ahhh . . . what happy, happy memories!

God is KIND!!! :D

"Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us! What joy!"
(Psalm 126:3 NLT)

happy birthday, sweet boy!!

2009-06-01T12:06:36+08:00

Dear precious Nate,

Your Aunt Minda and Uncle LawLaw so wish we could have been there to celebrate your very first birthday!! It makes us so sad that we couldn't be there to watch you enjoy your cake and open your presents! We love you very much nonetheless. Happy Birthday, little guy!!

We love you,
Aunt Minda and Uncle LawLaw

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Photos my mother, Nate's Nonny, sent to us so we could see the celebration from afar . . .

apartment tour: our living room

2009-05-29T06:03:00+08:00

In my opinion, our living room is comfy. We've not finished decorating it yet. We have a few more pillows to add. And, the things along the wall with the TV aren't permanent.

We are blessed by having a huge window in our living room. And, it has a "window seat"/ledge. Of course it is too scary to actually sit on since we live on the 7th floor and it is ALL WINDOW. :) So, we keep wedding photos on it.

If you were to sit on it and look out across our home, this is what you'd see.

We keep two baskets by the front door. One for guest slippers and one for Gilby's toys (which he has too many of and needs to declutter).

In between the living room and dinning area is a "little hallway" to the bedroom. Next to the front door in this little hallway is our shoe cabinet. And. here it is open and closed.

Here is a close up of the things hanging on the walls in our living room in addition to our new wall hanging that is.

And that's all for now. We have a guest bedroom, a study, and a hall bathroom too, but they are still in need of a bit of "spring cleaning" that will hopefully take place this summer. So, that would make it summer cleaning, but that just sounds so totally wrong! Anywho, thanks for coming along this week and touring our home from afar! :D

apartment tour: our master bathroom

2009-05-28T06:30:00+08:00

Like I mentioned yesterday, I totally love our tiny tropical master bathroom.

All our monkey stuff came from my bridal shower in the States--from my aunts.

When one of my aunts asked me about the back story of the monkeys my simple answer was "I took my kid brother to help me register. :)

I later double checked with Law about the monkeys and he LOVED them too.

So . . . as a result, this room saw the largest transformation due to marriage. :)

It truly is tiny. :) (The photo's kinda blurry. oops.)

Some of the really cute monkey stuff. :)

When I visited Japan, every home I stayed in had a calendar hanging across from the toilet. I have NO clue if it was just coincidence or if it is an actual Japanese cultural thing.

However, I kinda liked the idea. So, every time you hear nature's call you can review your monthly appointments. :)

Can you see why I love it? Isn't it SO cute?? :)

Tomorrow, the last day of our apartment tour, I'll show you around our living room.

apartment tour: our master bedroom

2009-05-27T06:23:00+08:00

We've not hung anything on our bedroom walls yet . . . it is on my to do list . . . maybe this summer.

The doorway to our bedroom is kinda unique. It opens right up into the bathroom and to the left is the bedroom.

My bedroom used to be light tan and blue. In order to keep most of the decorations that I have (lamps, wall hangings, flowers) but make it a bit more masculine, we decided to juts change the bed linens. When I was back in the States, I fall in love with this duvet cover that added a dark brown. So, my best friend gave us the duvet cover as a wedding gift.

Our closets. Unlike in America, they are not built in. Here is a little confession . . . I take up two and a hallf, Lawrance only takes up half of one . . . poor guy. However, he does get twice as much dresser drawer space--so maybe it's fair after all. Nah . . . it's probably not! :)

Here is totally boring photo . . . but this is what you can see from the bed. It is our dresser and make up table. Along with our laundry baskets. I'm not sure where I got the idea from, but we sort our dirty laundry as we throw them into the right hamper--lights, darks, and towels/sheets. (I don't like the baskets out in the open, but it is practical and there is no where else for them to go.)

And, that's it for our very simple master bedroom. :) Tomorrow, I'll show you our tiny tropical master bathroom that I just LOVE! :)

apartment tour: our kitchen

2009-05-26T06:20:00+08:00

Welcome to our tiny kitchen. It is literally about 2-3 foot wide to about 7-8 foot long. We can stand side by side, but passing each other to get back and forth is not easy.

It didn't take long for me to begin to despise what I once appreciated . . . kitchen counter space!!!

At first I was SO happy with the counter top space. Very quickly I began to complain again that they were too small.

If you are standing at the door way to the kitchen, this is what you will see:

Stepping past the new fridge, you'll see the sink with the dish dryer over it. Of course if you want see exactly this view, you're going to have to step outside onto our porch.

Turning around to the left, you'll see this on the right:

and this on the left. It is our "pantry." And, yes, it is all totally open--no pantries are needed when you shop fresh at the market daily (which I don't, so hence the need for a pantry).

At the end of the kitchen, if you turn around, you'll see this.

Right behind our sink are double glass doors leading to our laundry porch.

And if you come back to the kitchen doorway and look the other way, you'll see where we eat. That's our bedroom door in the background.

This photo taken from our bedroom doorway shows the kitchen/dinning room table and cabinet where we store all the dry baking goods and Lawrance's snacks as well as keep our rice cooker, little oven, and cookbooks.

There are some random facts about our kitchen here. And, if there's anything else you wanna know, just ask. :)

Up tomorrow is a look at our master bedroom. See you then!

apartment tour: from the front door

2009-05-25T06:40:00+08:00

My mom and sister have both been asking for photos of our apartment. So, I took a few. And thought I'd share them this week.

Standing from the front door here is what you can see . . .

Looking right:

Looking a little less right:

Looking straight ahead:

Looking kinda left:

And, looking very left:

Coming up next . . . our kitchen.

And, here is what our apartment looks like empty; taken two years ago before moving in.