Pics, Pics and more pics...

I thought I would post some more pics from our Shanghai/Beijing vacation with our friend Brian.  I have posted a few but just unloaded my memory card, so thought I would share a few more.

me with the smurfs in Beijing

entrance to the Forbidden City

Forbidden City

I was obsessed with the corners of the roofs...I just loved the way they looked.  I want to make a collage or something.

Forbidden City

Forbidden City

Tiananemen Square

Brian and Cherry, our tour guide to the Great Wall

the Great Wall...it was breath taking

I loved the sentiment written on this stone...something like, Once intended to ward off enemies..today it brings together the peoples of the world.  The Great Wall may it continue to act as a symbol of friendship for future generations.  I love that!

a guy writing calligraphy with soap on water on the stone...it just eventually disappears

bugs on a stick!

me buying Gelato...nom nom!!

Brian taking a pic of the bathroom sign...can you see it?  it is like a guy peaking over the stall...funny!  This is at one of our fave restaurants in Nanjing..Pisa Pizza!

Michael took this..we thought it was cool that it said Jesus loves you on the edge of the table

Michael waiting for our train to Shanghai

Michael doing what he loves best...taking pics!

Some things that make our house a home...

I think that having Michael here and our pets ☺ is what makes Nanjing feel like home.  But I also have things that we brought from the U.S. to make our house feel like a home.  I understand that material things are just that...material things.  But I have decorations and things that have helped make our transition to Nanjing easier because they remind me of home.

Our house came furnished by the landlord, so I knew for me the decorations are what will make it feel like home.  I thought I would share a few with you and try and show some of our house in the process. 

the pic in the center we got in Florence on our honeymoon...the pics on the side our from Michael's Nana...she got them in Italy many years ago

a chair I garbage picked back in MI...not bad, huh! I love it.  And a piano that Michael got from his Uncle when he was 3 yrs. old...our dog plays it now...FOR REALZ!

a mirror that hung in our living room back in MI...I love it, a great find at Lowe's...and a vase my good friend Barbara gave me, with pussywillows I got at the farmers market back home...they made it all the way to China.

some lovely little pictures made by artist Kelly Rae Roberts

gotta love Fiestaware!

some handcrafted flowers I got at the Yellow Door Artist market back home....love them!

my vanity that my dad made for me...PRICELESS...I do my hair and makeup their as you can tell from the stuff all over it...sorry I did not bother to tidy up before the pic ☺

the little photo in the pic I got back home as well ...from Leon and Lulu...I did not zoom in so you could see the couch and our water cooler.  That is how we get our water here in Nanjing...and as you can see the loveseat has so many pillows on it, you have to take them all off before you sit on it....Michael always like to mention that

this piece was hanging in our dining room back home...a gift from my brother and sister in law one Christmas

this is a old and new piece...the jewelry box I bought here..but keep pens and other random items in it...it is sitting on a table that my oldest brother made for me one Christmas

a nice little print I got of MI

our "tea room" which we use for a pantry as you can tell from the shelves...the table is a huge root and the chairs are made from logs...it is pretty cool in person...we also have one in our basement and we also had one in our living room before I made the landlord remove it...it was tea table overload.  he sells them as a side business.

our stove...also not from home, but I love it..underneath is not an oven, but a place to sanitize your dishes

here is the stove with the top open...2 burners..I like that you can put the lid down for extra counter space

we have pics of friends and family in the house, but this is a special one given to me by my great friend Krista...it is hard to see but it is a pic of her two boys, who I adore...she put it in a necklace and on the other side is a little picture that her older son drew...she shrunk it down and put it on the other side of the necklace...which is also see through glass like this side.

 

 

I realize, after seeing the photos, they are not really pics that show our house.  Sorry!  It is hard to get pics of our place because it is tall and skinny, so I can't back up enough to get a good pic of a room.  I will have to have Michael try and take some because I know people have asked what our house is like here and we want to share!  Until next time...

Peace ☮ Love ❤ Hope

What's been going on...

We are 10 days in 2012 and so far so good!  Sorry I have not posted in a while.  After being on vacation and then being sick and then just trying to get back to my normal schedule I almost forgot about my blog. 

But I am back! and hopefully 2012 will bring some good things for me to post about.  One of my goals for the new year was to try and get more involved in things that I enjoy and try not to hole up in the house all day. 

Another goal was to start working out again regularly, which so far has been successful.  It is not like I don't have the time. ☺  I do work out tapes that I have in our basement and I also walk a lot here as well.  I really want to get a bike, so that will probably be happening sometime soon.  Well, what I really wanted was a scooter, but Michael is not so keen on that idea.  He thinks I might get killed.  I am not so worried.  I would only plan on using it close to home and even though it is a wee bit dangerous, I just like the idea of being able to get around without having to always use the driver.  They also have really cute scooters over here, so I would totally want a cute one!  But I think a bike will have to do for now...but maybe in the future my hubby will change his mind. ☺

I also upped my language lessons to twice a week.  I was really not progressing very quickly with once a week lessons.  And even though my brain hurt when I was done with my lesson and I really did not want to do 2 days a week, I knew it would be better if I really wanted to try and up my language skills this year, so twice a week it is.  I really love my teacher though, she lets me go at my own pace.  I will have to post a pic because when she told me her age I could not believe it!

I am also adding to my schedule a weekly ladies Bible study.  I am looking forward to that.  And I am going to start volunteering at Hopeful Hearts.  My first volunteer meeting will be this month and I look forward to that.

But I am also just trying to enjoy this time I have to myself.  I think that a lot of times we think we need to be doing something all the time or we are not being productive.  And then we tend to over extend ourselves.  And right now that is not a problem for me. ☺  I think this is a gift God has given me.  A time to just kind of discover myself more and spend more time with Him.  I know that one day this will all go away, when we go back to our "normal" life.  But for now it is nice to live in this slow and quiet pace of life.

I will try and post more frequently, even if it is just a small thought or a picture.  Until then....

Peace ☮ Love ❤ Hope