What to do next...

Life here in Nanjing is really great.  I am not going to lie.  I honestly feel like I am in a fairy tale right now.  I know that part of that is because I am probably still in the honeymoon phase.  I also attribute it to my attitude.  I consider myself a positive person.  I know my cup is half full not half empty.  I have control over how I react to what life throws at me.  I also attribute my positive attitude to my faith.  I know that I would not have made it this far in life without God's help. Also I know people who are "Debbie Downers" and it does not seem like a good way to go through life.

My life these days consist of Thai Chi, having lunch with my girls, shopping for groceries and other fun China finds, weekly massage and soon a Bible study that I will be attending on Wednesdays.  I was laying in bed the other night and thinking how great it is to be able to do all these things.  But I know that God did not send me to China so I could spend the next 3 or more years doing the a fore mentioned activities.  But that is where I am stuck right now, wondering what else God wants me to fill my time with.  As I was thinking about the next few years, I thought that as much as I love how my days are filled right now, it will get old after a while.  I could spend the next few years just doing these activities, but it is probably not the best use of my time. ;o)

I worked in non-profit before leaving Michigan and working with the less fortunate, underprivileged or however you may classify that demographic, was and still is my passion.  I do not feel like God has blessed Michael and I so we can just bless ourselves.  I know He gives to us so we can give to others.  So I just emailed a couple of non-profits I found, The Amity Foundation and Hopeful Hearts.  The Amity Foundation seems a little bit more up my alley because of the type of work they do, but Hopeful Hearts helps children with heart defects and one of my best little buddies Luke was born with heart problems, so that is an issue close to my heart as well.   I look forward to hearing back from them to hear how I can get involved.  I will keep you posted.

Thanks for listening to my little rant.  I know it is not that exciting, but I am just trying to share the process I am going through as an expat trying to figure out life in the Far East. ;o)

I will leave you with a few pics of what I have been up to as well.

this is my new friend Izzy ;o) a cutie pie...she and her mom and I went to the flower market in our neighborhood

my friend Mira, Izzy's mom, buying Orchids..these huge orchids are less than 10 dollars a piece

we attended an Italian dinner/Halloween party on Saturday

this is Carms, the cook, the food she made was AMAZING!

Bruschetta and roasted peppers!!! YUMMMY!!!

Michael dressed up as an Italian Stallion!

Tiramasu and Cassata Cake!!!

more yummy desserts

one of the plants I got from the market...the roots are just in water and you can put a fish in the bottom, I guess they just feed off the roots, I am going to get a fish and see how long it lasts!

a couple other cuties...including the shabby chic ceramic pots, they were less than 3 dollars a pop...I do love China prices!

Life is wonderfully busy...

Our life in Nanjing is moving right along...QUICKLY!   My days are filled with some wonderful new things.  I started doing Tai Chi.  Tai Chi is no joke!  My teacher is very tough and it works my legs until they are jello.  I really like it though.  I just take it at the club house in our complex.  

I have also met several ladies in Nanjing.  And we have become fast friends.  There are many activities that the wives do here.  Their are tai chi classes, cooking classes, language classes, painting classes and probably many others that I do not know about yet.  We also do a lot of going out to lunch and venturing out into the city to find cool new places to shop. ;o)  There is no lack of activities to participate in.  I feel blessed to be a part of this community and to have the opportunity to meet new friends and experience some new activities. 

Our friend Jon was also in town this past weekend.  He was on an Asian adventure of his own visiting people in Japan, Nanjing and Hong Kong.  We were happy to see a friend from back home and we had a great weekend with him.  He arrived late Friday night, so we just picked him up at the airport and then came home and had some pizza and beer.  The next day we visited Purple Mountain.  There are many, many, many things you can do at Purple mountain.  You can walk and walk for miles and miles.  We went to Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum. We also went to Ming Dynasty Tombs.  That was my favorite part because they have these huge stone animals that are AMAZING!  If you know me, you know I love animals so I really enjoyed the statues.  I have many pics below of the statues.

Michael taking a picture of our friend Jon

entering Sun Yet-san's mausoleum

many steps to climb

Michael's first...Can I get a picture with a white person picture.  It has not happened yet in Nanjing because most people in a city like Nanjing have seen white people.  But at a tourist attraction like Purple Mountain many people are from out of town, maybe the country side or from places in China that are not that exposed to Westerner and are they are excited when they see white people. ;o)  Michael got asked for pics more than once that day.

eating lunch...it was YUMMY!

these beef noodles...AMAZING!

these beans...REALLY Amazing.  if you know Jon ask him, he said it was the best thing at that meal

stone horse

these stone elephants...SUPER COOL!

stone camels...really COOL!

These are 2 of my new best gals.  We went shopping at IKEA this day.  Angela is on the left and Carol is on the right.  The are both from Michigan as well.  They are have been super sweet and supportive.  They have helped me find all the yummy places to eat, all the great places to shop and have literally made life easier for me here in Nanjing.  Not only by spending time with me and showing me the ropes, but also because they introduced me to the best thing since sliced bread....my Ayi!

This is Li Huai Ping and myself.  She is awesome!  She is super sweet and pretty much does everything for me these days.  I really can't put into words how great she is.  She is sweet as pie and works extremely hard.  I really wish all my friends and family could have an Ayi.  I don't know how to describe all that she does and how much I enjoy her help without sounding like a spoiled brat.  So I will leave it at that.  She is amazing.  I know Michael and I are blessed to have her.  Having house help is not the life we came from and it is not the life we will return to, but we are very thankful to God for blessing us with this experience.  We know that all we have comes from Him! 

What I saw today...

Coco with me on the mountain...taking a water break

pretty flowers on the mountain

Coco Tired on the Mountain!

a man running up the mountain in a wife beater and boxers?

another man walking on the mountain..fully clothed

me on the mountain..flushed

woman on the mountain...getting their work out on!

more woman...hmmm. unusual.  I usually only see a handful of people

ok ...really unusual...never seen crowds like this

ok...must be a tour group or something

pretty mountain berries

me eating the berries!  NOT!  you know what they say about berries...if they have not been eaten by some animal in nature it is probably because they are poisonous!  I left them alone.

made it home..walking up the path to our house

our front gate

my chinese tea...everyone here drinks it in bottles like this

they have filters on top like this so the loose leaf does not come through

our friend Jon made it into town from Michigan...sorry about the red eye Jon, it is to late to edit photos! :o)

Hello Kitty in a Kimono...Jon got it for me in Japan!