11 Months

So for those that haven't kept up with my life to this point... I'm in CHINA. No big deal. Just halfway across the world. It's awesome. 

It's been really cool talking to Chase about it because he's already dealt with being in a new culture and dealing with that and so it's nice being able to talk to him about it. It's cool that we're having the same experience kind of. I mean his is a lot more strict with more rules... But it's still close to the same thing. haha. 

We were able to Skype for Christmas this month, which was great!! I love Skype. It is the best thing ever. My whole family got to talk to him too which they loved. 

Celebrating holidays was weird without him. New Years Eve was always my favorite holiday and it was sad not having my New Years Kiss this year. But only one more without him!

This Month...

He...

had a ward Christmas party

performed in the talent show

started teaching Stephany

opened my Christmas package

stayed up till midnight to watch NYE fireworks

baptized Ariel (from El Viejo, his old area)

hiked Volcano Cosiguina

got to talk to his dad on Christmas too

started teaching Stephany's sister Kenia

sang in the stake choir for stake conference

got a new companion: Elder Rodriguez

baptized Mario

I...

got new camera equipment and a kindle for Christmas

had our traditional Christmas Eve Sleepover with my brothers

got a puppy! (his name is Jake. he's adorable.)

went hiking at 5:00 am. that was ridiculous.

went to Boyden's farewell

moved to CHINA

traveled for 26 hours straight

saw a Chinese temple

ate fried squid & other street food

said goodbye to some friends :(

went shopping and had to barter

started teaching!

China: Day 1

4 hours of delayed flights, 13 hours of flying, and a 4 hour bus ride in the middle of the night, we finally arrived at the school at 2 AM. 

Traveling was a nightmare. our first flight got delayed and would have made us miss our connecting flight, except that our second flight also got delayed 3 hours. So we finally left San Francisco at 4:30, and took the long 12 hour flight to Shanghai. Once we arrived there, we had to go through customs and all that. I got a sweet new stamp on my passport! And luckily all my luggage made it safely with me! (That was my biggest concern about this entire 6 month trip was that they would lose my luggage). So then we had to rush through the airport because apparently in China there's a law that we had to get on the road before 10:00 or we would be stuck at the airport... weird. I know. And it was pouring rain the entire drive, and the bus was LEAKING. yeah. so not fun. 4 hours on a bus that barely fit all 20 of us with our luggage, and a leaking ceiling. It was an adventure for sure. 

So our dorms are super nice. Compared to the rest of China. We actually having flushing toilets! We're so spoiled. Except that we can't flush the toilet paper... And the water will make us sick so we have to brush our teeth with bottled water... And I got to take a freezing cold shower this morning because the water is only hot for 4 hours a day at certain times. And we're constantly freezing because there's no heater in the hallways, only in our rooms... And the remote for it is in Chinese. It took us a good 3 hours to figure it out. The beds are awful. The mattresses are literally two inches thick. It's like sleeping on the floor. Except I think my carpet at home is probably more comfortable. Because we're so tired it hasn't been too bad yet... But I'm definitely going to invest in a very thick blanket to sleep on.

So far the food hasn't been bad! For lunch there was some fried pork and rice, with some spinach type stuff... And then dinner we had some eggs with peppers and rice again... I'm pretty sure we'll be living off of rice. And the McDonalds down the street. Tonight after dinner we went down to the mall. And I had a McFlurry and it was the most heavenly thing ever. Hopefully I'll get used to the food, if not.. I have 20 granola bars. Lets see how long I can make those last...

That's about it!
Teaching starts Monday!
Can't wait!

After All This Time? Always.

Yep. Even after 11 months of being apart from my other half, I'm still here waiting. And having SO much fun coming up with ideas for packages. This one is by far my favorite one that I have sent. And I don't know if I'll be able to top it! I'm such a Harry Potter nerd. Chase isn't really, but he's watched the movies enough with me to at least understand my obsession.

Contents Include: 

wands
4 ties (one for each house)
Wizard's Chess Set
Polyjuice Potion
Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans
Packet of Parchment
Quills
Golden Snitch
Tom Riddle's Diary (with socks for Dobby)
Marauder's Map

Ties

 Now I bought the ties before I decided I was doing a Harry Potter Package... So... Some of the colors don't match perfectly. Like I have a pink tie for Gryffindor. Forgive me. I promise I DO know the house colors, really.

Ollivander's wands

(they're really just glowsticks)

here's the printable label

Polyjuice Potion

really just Hawaiian Punch mixes that just add to water!

here's the printable label 

"Tom Riddle's Diary" with socks for Dobby

(I wrote my testimony in the cover of the Book of Mormon also)

 Wizard's Chess Set

This was the coolest find at Walmart! And it's awesome because it's magnetic so he can take it when they're walking or driving places. 

 Packet of Parchment

 Quills

 Golden Snitch

Just some random glow in the dark bouncy ball. I just really felt the need to add the golden snitch and it was the best thing I could find. 

 Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans

Now, I know that you can actually get these at Harry Potter World. So if you plan enough in advance then order them from there! But with this, he'll at least get all normal flavors! 

The Marauder's Map

This is my favorite item of the entire package. Now it isn't really anything other than a piece of paper. But I love it.
printable version link