Chinese New Year

In honor of the Chinese New Year, I decided to take a trip down memory lane to our tour of China last year. We really fell in love with China during our trip. I would love to live in Beijing if we ever get the chance. We went with a tour group out of Los Angeles and all of the people on the tour were first or second generation Americans. They were Chinese, Vietnames and Tawainese. (so we always had a least three tour guides speaking in different languages). The diversity in our group also provided us a great deal of insight into the history of China, we got to hear all sides of it. The people in China were so kind and friendly.  They also tell the most wonderful stories. Everywhere we went, we heard lots of great stories about each place and artifact we saw. It was quite a unique experience because many of the people in China idealize caucasians and were very excited to see us. It was especially hard to blend in with a husband who is over a foot taller than anyone we saw in China, and the blonde hair didn't help either. I could write a novel on our trip but pictures are much more fun.

We went straight to the great wall after arriving in Beijing

Shopping in Beijing

Tiananmen Square

The Forbidden City

Next we flew from Beijing to Shanghai

Shanghai

Then we took a bullet train to Nanjing

Confucius Temple

Nanjing city wall. The brick makers had to put their name and address on each brick they made. If it fell apart, they were killed

West Lake in Suzhou

Garden in Wuxi

Loved these kids in our tour group

Gondola ride in Wuzhen (the Venice of China)

Tea Plantation in Hangzhou

Buddhist temple in Shanghai

World Expo

Sister Fest

As often as we can my sister, Sarah, and I like to have sister fests. These usually are a fun filled day of sister time, shopping, good food and sometimes a sleep over where we like to stay up all night talking. Today we started by getting our hair cuts together. Then my sister thought it would be great fun to buy crickets for my cats to play with and eat. I know, it sounds horrifying, but lots of her friends do it and as a dedicated cat mom I gave in. Turns out, cats really like to eat crickets. As soon as we put some out Bella started drooling a lot. Moby couldn't resist eating them to enjoy playing with them for very long. It turned out well, but you have to buy 36 crickets at a time. So now there are about 30 crickets in a box, in a closet, in the spare bathroom so I won't be able to hear the chirping (it makes my skin crawl). We already have another sister fest planned for next Saturday, we have tickets to a fashion warehouse sale and then a wii dance party throw down!

New Hair

Do we look alike?

Yucky

Trying to figure out how to get to the crickets.

Dinner time

Handywoman

Taylor and I decided early on in our marriage that when it came to chores and tasks we should each stick with our individuals strengths. Taylor's area of expertise lies in electronics, cars and cleaning up the house. (I get way to distracted with the organization of everything and I usually end up just making a bigger mess) My strengths lies in handy work, earlier this week Taylor asked me to call the apt office because the drain in our bathroom was clogged. I got out the tools and went to work fixing it before he got home from work. To me it seemed easier to just fix it then call someone else. We recently purchased a dresser and I honestly couldn't wait to put it together. I just love following the directions and putting together all the pieces. I think it satisfies the minor OCD I seem to have. Growing up, one of my favorite things about Christmas was putting together my little brothers lego sets. So yes, getting a new piece of furniture is kind of like getting a toy. I greatly enjoyed putting it together this week, I even used a whole bottle of wood glue to make sure it lasts a long time.
Things have been very exciting with Taylor working at his new job. A news station in Dallas hired Gandolfos deli to run a food truck as part of their morning news segment called the daybreaker. Taylor was on the news each time they did a segment. They took last week off since the host was out of town but they continued running commercials that you could see Taylor in. He will be back on the news this week and Taylor tells me the news station will compile all the footage and I hope to get a copy. If I get my hands on it, I will be sure to post some. Happy MLK day!

Daybreaker and Gandolofo's Food Trucks

Bella helping weigh part of the dresser down so the glue would stick.

 

 Finished product

A New Year

"This is going to be my year!" is what my sister likes to say every New Years. I guess I am a little less optimistic, being in school and with my parents going through a divorce but I am trying to make improvements and have a better year. So far this week I have attended my new yoga class and volunteered so I am off to a good start. Health and fitness is a big new years resolution for me. Over the break my spine doctor took a look at my MRIs and told me that I have two bulging disks in my lower back. He said some good core strengthening could really reduce my pain and I should be fine for many more years.

New Years Eve was pretty quiet for me. Taylor was working at the Big D NYE where 30,000 people gather in downtown Dallas to celebrate New Years Eve. He didn't get home until almost 5:00 am. I just stayed home and curled up with my cats, which is what I needed after my busy break. Last New Years Eve was much more exciting. We were almost done with our tour in China and on New Years Eve we took a cruise down the Huangpu river in Shanghai. It was so beautiful and I will never forget it.

So much happened last year which is probably why I am a little apprehensive about 2012. But looking back there were a lot of great adventures too. We had two big moves, one from Utah to San Antonio, TX and another from San Antonio to Dallas. I got in and started PA school. We adopted Bella, our kitten. We traveled through China and spent our anniversary in Jamaica. We also got to take trips to New Orleans and Utah. Here's to 2012! I hope everyone had a happy New Years.

Taylor's New Years Eve

My New Years Eve

 New Years Eve 2011

 

Christmas Break

I'm back! I have been busy thoroughly enjoying my Christmas break. Right after my last school final, I flew to San Francisco and had a great time catching up with some of my best friends. I came home for a couple days and then flew to San Antonio to visit my fam. Unfortunately, I got the stomach flu and spent most of the weekend in bed. I went back home for a couple days and then Taylor and I flew to Utah for a week. I don't know what I was thinking when I was planning all this. It was a whirlwind but it made my break seem very long and I have this last weekend to recover before going back to school on Monday.
My mom, brothers and sister all came to Utah for Christmas so it was one big family Christmas. My mom rented a house up in Midway for the Christmas weekend and we really had a blast. They headed home and then we spent the rest of the time with Taylor's family. I took some pictures of our adventures. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

We went swimming in the crater at Homestead

We went tubing in Park City

We took a carriage ride on Christmas Eve

We opened our presents on Christmas Eve (yes we know we are too old for this picture but my mom insisted)

We saw two bald eagles sitting right next to each other (didn't get my camera out fast enough)

We ate at our favorite restaurant, Cafe Rio, five times. (don't judge)

We took pictures with Taylor's family.

Deli Boy

When I first met Taylor he was a manager at Gandolfo's New York Deli in Provo. Anyone who has lived there remembers this great sandwich shop. We would always go out after Taylor got off work and he would always smell like deli. I don't quite know how to explain the smell  but if you ever find yourself in Provo, go down to the basement of Gandolfos and you will smell it. I use to tease him about it and call him "deli boy" but secretly I LOVED it. Just the thought of the smell makes me smile. About a month ago we ran into the new owner of Gandolfos in the Dallas/Fort Worth area at a charity event. He and Taylor ended up talking for over an hour and last week Taylor accepted a job offer. Taylor will be starting at Gandolfos at the beginning of January. I am so excited to have my deli boy back. This is such a wonderful opportunity and I so him proud of him. This past month he has been working full time at Vivint, part time at Gandolfos (trial run) and has been going to school full time. (I know he is crazy) On top of everything, he has been keeping the house together and been so supportive of me. I am such a lucky girl.

NOLA Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving Taylor and I went to New Orleans. We had such a wonderful time. We spent Thanksgiving day with my mom's family which was really special. I never met my grandfather and my grammie passed away almost six years ago. My Aunt Dot who is really my grandma's cousin, grew up with my grandma and is so much like her, a real spitfire (as are most of the women in the family). Her husband "Uncle John" is so sweet (as are most of the men in the family to be able put up with us spitfires) and together they tell the greatest stories. Thanksgiving day was spent with all of their family and everyone had such a good time. There were tears all around when it was over. For the rest of our trip Taylor and I explored the French Quarter. Since this was Taylor's first time in New Orleans, my number one goal was for Taylor to fall in love with the city, just as I had. I believe our trip was a success!

Sisters.

Can you spot the rooster in the tree?

We are standing under the rooster.

After the feast, we walked down the street to Lake Pontchartrain

St Louis Cathedral, where my Grammie was baptized and went to church.

Who wouldn't love this city?

Occupy New Orleans