On Friday night I was chatting with a friend talking about the weekend.  They were going to a soccer game in the morning.  They really wanted me to come and even though I wasn't keen on going to a soccer game early in the morning, I made a decision on a whim to go.  So I got up and stole Michael's Blue sweatshirt and put on some white jeans (Our school's colors).  I got a thermos of tea, Mom got a thermos of coffee, and we grabbed some granola and was out the door!  We took the bus at 9am to the field and watched the game.  Then others from our school came in a later bus to set up their bake sale.  Though TIS lost the boys JV and varsity boys games, the girls won their game.  I so enjoyed sitting on the bleachers cheering on our school in the cool morning with my breakfast then later eating Kim Bop (Korean Sushi) and Brownies from the bake sale!  All in all I really enjoyed my Saturday (and way prefer it to being asleep)!         

On Friday night I was chatting with a friend talking about the weekend.  They were going to a soccer game in the morning.  They really wanted me to come and even though I wasn’t keen on going to a soccer game early in the morning, I made a decision on a whim to go.  So I got up and stole Michael’s Blue sweatshirt and put on some white jeans (Our school’s colors).  I got a thermos of tea, Mom got a thermos of coffee, and we grabbed some granola and were out the door!  We took the bus at 9am to the field and watched the game.  Then others from our school came in a later bus to set up their bake sale.  Though TIS lost the boys JV and varsity boys games, the girls won their game.  I so enjoyed sitting on the bleachers cheering on our school in the cool morning with my breakfast then later eating Kim Bop (Korean Sushi) and Brownies from the bake sale!  All in all I really enjoyed my Saturday (and way prefer it to being asleep)!         

Recently a few of my Mom’s friends from America came to China to lead a woman’s retreat and brought some special craft supplies to make journals.  They, generously, gave the left over supplies to my Mom when they were getting ready to return to America.  So, one night Rachel and I decided that we’d try it out!  We had already previously received scrap booking paper from another friend that we also used to make these journals.  We bought small spiral notebooks to start out with.  Then we cut two pieces of paper to cover the front and the back covers.  Then we took a thin ribbon and tied it to the top ring of the spiral notebook, as a bookmark.  After that we used different paper, cut into a strip about 2 inches wide, and glued it so that it folded over the spiral part of the note book.   For a finishing touch we glued a ribbon over the line where the two papers overlapped.  This simple process turns a boring spiral notebook into a beautiful journal in just less than 30 minutes and costs a lot less then one you would buy at your local book store.  I had so much fun making them and I was so pleased with the end result!

Sometimes in China you walk into a store look around and see that one item that makes you think to yourself “who in the world would eat that?” Well at least I’m sure that I am never going to eat something like Spicy Duck Necks……

Each year the student council in middle and high school hosts some sort of sleepover party.  For the Middle Schoolers it is named the Lip Sync Party because they have a Lip Sync competition the night of the sleep over.  For the High School they just name it the Lock In.  Because I am Freshmen Class President I am part of the planning for the High School event.  Even though I have been at this school for two years I have never participated in the sleepover part of the Middle School Lip Sync party, so this was my first year to sleep over in the school.  I was so nervous that some part of our planning would go wrong, however God really blessed our party!  Everything stayed on schedule and all of the activities we planned went smoothly.  I had a blast!  Every activity was a ton of fun; among the different activities, my favorite was the Student vs. Teacher Dodge ball, Dice Game called Screamo, and a game called assassins.  All the food, Korean, American and Chinese food, was fresh and hot when we ordered it; in one case a place delivered the food at midnight for our midnight snack!  Once it was about 3am, the activities were finished and we could either play ping pong or bad mitten, watch a movie, or play board games or cards.  I opted to watching the movie because I was too tired to do anything else, additionally there were cushions for you to lay on in the movie room, where as in the sleeping room it was only the hard floor.  I purposely fell asleep on the cushions to catch a few hours of comfortable sleep. I had a ton of fun and will always remember this Lock In!  It was everything I hoped it would be and more!

Each year the student council in middle and high school hosts some sort of sleepover party.  For the Middle Schoolers it is named the Lip Sync Party because they have a Lip Sync competition the night of the sleep over.  For the High School they just name it the Lock In.  Because I am Freshmen Class President I am part of the planning for the High School event.  Even though I have been at this school for two years I have never participated in the sleepover part of the Middle School Lip Sync party, so this was my first year to sleep over in the school.  I was so nervous that some part of our planning would go wrong, however God really blessed our party!  Everything stayed on schedule and all of the activities we planned went smoothly.  I had a blast!  Every activity was a ton of fun; among the different activities, my favorite was the Student vs. Teacher Dodge ball, Dice Game called Screamo, and a game called assassins.  All the food, Korean, American and Chinese food, was fresh and hot when we ordered it; in one case a place delivered the food at midnight for our midnight snack!  Once it was about 3am, the activities were finished and we could either play ping pong or bad mitten, watch a movie, or play board games or cards.  I opted to watching the movie because I was too tired to do anything else, additionally there were cushions for you to lay on in the movie room, where as in the sleeping room it was only the hard floor.  I purposely fell asleep on the cushions to catch a few hours of comfortable sleep. I had a ton of fun and will always remember this Lock In!  It was everything I hoped it would be and more!

Megan’s preschool class lead the weekly chapel time in her school this
week. Their lesson was on sharing, and the students enacted short skits
on sharing and being greedy. Then they lead the other students in a song.
I enjoyed spending time in her school and conversing with other moms of
her classmates.

This Friday, Jessie and I began our very first small group! For weeks, we have been planning to host a bible study using Beth Moore’s “Breaking Free.” We worked from 3:30 pm to 6:00 (the time our friends were supposed to come), getting prepared. As an introductory, ice breaker session, Jessie and I decided to decorate prayer journals for a craft. After school anyone watching she and I would have been laughing at our attempts to run/ waddle down the hallway loaded with books and computer cases, trying to buy small notebooks at the student store before the bus left. Thankfully we made it on time and quickly arrived at our home. We then set ourselves to work, cutting appropriate sized paper, and ribbon so that our friends would have everything ready to start sticking! Finally it was 6:00, and Jessie and I said a quick prayer asking for blessings for the night. Our friend from school was the first to arrive and you might be surprised at me saying that she was the last to arrive as well. It ended up that one girl couldn’t come due to having previous engagements, another was sick and the last was hosting a middle school party at the school. However, this did not stop us from having tons of fun together! We talked, cut, pasted, read, ate, drank, prayed and giggled for two hours straight! The Lord blessed us in a way that we didn’t expect by giving us this time alone with a sweet and joyful friend.

We catch the school bus at 7:20 each morning. Today I had my camera along
and took a few shots along the way. Usually sitting in the front seats,
my big kids decided to make a change this morning and sit in the back.
Megan joined her friend, Keli, for the ride to school. Buildings here are
made from concrete cinder blocks, look closely and you can see. This one
has been under construction ever since we came in 2008, not sure what the
roadblock is to its completion. This time of year much effort is made to
improve Tianjin with the planting of trees, shrubs, flowers, etc. The
truck is carrying trees to be planted somewhere in our city. Also notice
in the forefront of the truck picture, the ground shrubs are protected
with green plastic tarping. In fall, thousands of workers construct these
green plastic “cages” around all the trees and shrubs to protect them from
the wind in winter.

Although we have enjoyed slightly warmer temperatures the past couple of weeks, the air is still not quite warm enough to spend too much time outdoors. Last Friday morning Megan’s preschool had teacher-in-service day. We were invited to go swimming with some of Megan’s friends. In Tianjin, work-out gyms, like Lifetime Fitness do not really exist. Instead, luxury hotels offer memberships to their indoor pools and work-out facilities. Our friends have a pool membership at the downtown Westin Hotel. It was such a treat for Megan to go swim. About the time the girls were ready to head into the locker room to warm up in the hot tub, (they were also a bit cranky), we realized that it was almost lunch time. So we spread out towels and had an indoor picnic of peanut butter sandwiches and granola bars. Pictured in the background, my good friend, Tami, who has been the “kindred” spirit for me as I learn to live life in China.