updated apartment

We received a free entertainment center from my neighbors friend. It was kind of ugly to be honest, but I think we did a pretty good job by giving it this paint job. It used to be an oak color. I so badly wish we had a before picture so you could see the difference.

We're so proud of it. I'm so glad Scott enjoys doing these type of things.

I framed some Chinese artwork.

I. made this out of some necklace beads and Tibetan money from China

brunette

Do I look more like Katie now?

us

i love my man

China in my Home

Well, i had a lot of fun tonight. My new Chinese friend, Jackie (Chen Juan), came over and brought some friends with her. They all go to the U of L. Two of them are getting their Ph.D's and one is a postdoc. Yeah, they're way out of my league...but i do speak English better than them, so they want to learn more. Jackie brought some Chinese dumplings that were so delicious! Afterwards we played a game that practices spelling words. It was fun! I hope to do this some more. Scott wants to play them in ping pong. I want to play them in badminton. I'm so thankful for how God has brought China right to my doorstep.

dirty sink water

well, today they worked on the water, so it had been turned off all day. when i thought i'd check to see if it was working yet, i was all excited that it was coming out. i started to do the dishes and out comes this BROWN water!

my new friend

well today i met my new friend from China. she is an international student at the university of louisville. we are now language partners. today we met each other at starbucks and took a couple hours to get to know each other. she has been in the states (louisville) for a year now working on her Ph.D in chemistry. she has a few other Chinese friends that would like a language partner, but haven't been hooked up with one yet. so i''m thinking maybe we can all get together once in a while. she is really sweet, and i'm really thankful for this opportunity.

some things new

well, i'm still looking for a job. although i am pretty much hired to start working at Target next wednesday. but it's not the ideal situation. it's about half the pay of what i'm looking for. so i've been filling out more applications and trying to go through more temp agencies. my comfort is that God has the right job for me, and it just hasn't come up yet. so, what have i been doing in the meantime? hey, i'm actually reading. reading isn't my thing. i've also been crocheting like nonstop. i'm almost finished with another blanket. i've also been able to keep up on cleaning my house, which i know won't be so easy when i have a full time job. so i'm enjoying being at home for a little while. although i miss the feeling of being needed in an office. i guess that sounds kind of weird. or maybe it's that i actually miss my old job (not the pay).
i have a lot of things to look forward to besides getting a job. i am going to be an aunt three more times pretty soon. Both of my sisters, Katie and Janelle, are pregnant. Katie is due in December. Janelle is due in March. in some ways i wish i were pregnant with my sisters. but in some ways i don't wish that (we want to wait 3 or 4 more years). maybe by the time i have kids my little niece Grace can babysit for me. Also, my sister-in-law Tristan is pregnant. She's having another girl. So both of our family's are growing. Christmas time gets crazier every year. i can't wait for that.

Yes, a lot has happened since my last post

what do you want first? the good news or bad news? ok, i'll start with the good. our sink that was leaking is now fixed. so i don't have to drench my socks in the puddle anymore. still on the good side is that me and scott went on a date tonight to applebee's. we thought we would celebrate the temp job i just got. then comes the bad news. as we pull into the parking lot at applebee's the temp agency calls. they just received a call from the engineering company that someone had already hired a receptionist without their knowledge. so i lost the job before i had it! so what's the lesson i learned? life isn't fair, but God is in control.

what's new

well, a lot of new things have happened since i last blogged. One, my next door neighbor invited me to a party that was being held at her house. apparently, this group of 12 woman get together every month at a different person's house to play games and eat dinner. it was a lot of fun. and i finally got to meet more people. quite a few of them live in these apartments. and some of them were telling me about their church. so scott and i went to their church on wednesday. everyone made us feel so welcome. they actually had already heard about me from one of the girls at the party. we really enjoyed that church. they were such a blessing to us. they are really small, but they seem to be growing so much. just in the past week three people had gotten saved that they had been witnessing to for a while. so it was a blessing to see that. also, another exciting thing that is more recent news is that I Got A Job! the temp agency finally called and said i'd be starting as a receptionist at an engineering firm on monday. it's pretty good pay, and it sounds like it would get better when i'm not going through the agency anymore. so i am really excited about it, although i'll probably feel a little nervous on monday morning. this company is pretty big. they build all different things like hospitals, libraries, churches, schools.... it's a pretty solid company. anyway, that is a blessing to us. i've been waiting for that call for a week. while i've been enjoying the comforts of my apartment, i've also been drenching my socks every time i walk into the kitchen. the sink or something around there has started to leak. and we aren't sure where it's leaking exactly. i called maintenance yesterday before five and they told me they didn't have anyone to come fix it. they told us not to use the sink or dishwasher. very funny. how am i supposed to get away with not using the sink? and this morning it's 10:16 and they still haven't come. hm...well at least they have to fix it and not us. i just hope they come before they have to fix water damage. but overall we are really enjoying our new home in louisville.

First Days in Louisville

Well, Scott and I are now residents of Kentucky. Louisville that is. We have enjoyed our first week and a half here as much as you can when you're searching for jobs and unpacking. Our next door neighbors have been so friendly and helpful already. They are seminary students as well. And we really enjoyed the church we visited on Sunday. We are also really blessed to already have some friends here. Brad and Teresa Anderson moved here from Pembine, Wisconsin just a few months before we did. Although, we were planning to move here before they planned to. So, I have enjoyed the time we've had here so far. However, I must say that my least favorite thing has been filling out applications and going to job interiews. It wears me out! The picture below is at the end of a day of long interviews. I had had an interview at a huge five star hotel for a front desk job as well as an interview at a Bank for a teller position. I also applied at Pier 1, Banana Republic, Target, a babysitting job, starbucks, and a temp agency for a receptionist job. So that explains my face in the picture below.

Brad and Teresa!

We call them our food friends because whenever they come over they bring tons of food that they've gotten from second harvest. We have so much fun with them. And when me and Teresa get together we get kind of crazy. It all began when we started working together at Northland.

The Chinese characters framed below are me and Scott's Chinese names in ancient chinese writing. Stella bought it for us as a gift when we were in China this summer.

This is our kitchen.

And this is our new bedroom set. we love it!

The First Anniversary with the Cake Topper

Well, my mom did save the top of our wedding cake for our first anniversary. So on Friday we celebrated our first year anniversary by cutting our wedding cake topper. It got a bit messy. :)

well, here's a new post...china

Scott and I just got back from China Sunday night. We had a great trip! And we're still trying to get over jet lag. I have learned so much on this trip. One of the things that was solidified in my mind was how nothing is more rewarding than being a part of God's work. I had fun getting back in touch with Stella and Lina. I got to do a lot with Stella, including getting a perm for ten bucks. We also got our nails done for a dollar. She helped me shop for jeans and we got to talk a lot. Lina's house is beautiful and amazing. Everything was marble, and i got to hold her precious son. It was fun to be able to experience China being married to Scott. One thing i realized more is how good of a teacher he is. We have never had to work together on something so much as on this trip. We were constantly teaching or preparing to teach. We were glad to be finished teaching although it was a good experience. One of the best parts about siteseeing on this trip was in Beijing. The last couple of days we spent in Beijing. The best part was the Great Wall of China. It was literally amazing in every way. This wall is over 3,000 miles long and built by hand. The scenery while standing on it was amazing too with all the mountains. We also got to see the Olympic village from a distance. And i got an Olympic t-shirt for two bucks. It was sweet! So this trip was completely different than when I went two years ago. And i learned so much more. It was so nice to be with Scott and to share the experiences with him this time. Also, while we were there we celebrated his birthday and our first year anniversary! I can't believe we've been married for a whole year now. One thing I always say about being married is that it always seems to get better as we learn to work, live, and grow together. Anyway, there is too much to describe in words about this trip. But I will post some pictures when I get a chance.

Everything and Anything

a date at 12 foot falls

and we found the coolest tree root thing

Oh the joys of packing!

i just got new glasses. i was a little excited!

it took me a while to find some that fit my face. i have a really small head

some beautiful pics down by the lake

Leila

This is one of my friends from China, Leila. This was two summers ago.

This is her husband James doing Karaoke. Boy, that was an exciting time.

Me, trying to fish on their farm...i finally did catch a tiny one.

Their Mercedes that they always drove us around in.

Leila and James

She is so sweet! I can't wait to see her this summer.

These are pictures of her new baby she just sent me. Isn't he adorable? I'm not sure what his name is. She didn't tell me probably because they don't have an English name for him. Maybe she'll let me name him. Afterall, we gave her husband his English name. I can't wait to hold him.