Tomorrow we set off to the States for the holidays. We are excited about seeing everyone again...but we know that we will be very busy!! I just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We hope to be able to see each and every one of you...so that we can tell you that in person!!
I apologize for the lack of pictures, but our camera sucks. We have asked for a new one, so if we get our one Christmas wish we will have plenty of pictures to post of our adventures when we come back to China!!
See you in the New Year!! :)
Friday, December 12, 2008
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Eva
We are proud to welcome a new member to our family. Our little girl Eva became a member of the LaRouche family today, and has brought us so much joy already!!
As you may know, we planned to bring our dog Ralphie over to China with us, but in the end we decided that it may not be the best decision. Once we got here and got settled in, we began to desperately miss the companionship of our dogs. We briefly reconsidered bringing Ralphie over, but decided against uprooting him and bringing him to an entirely new atmosphere. I would hate to spend all that money and have him hate it!! So then, we decided that maybe we would adopt a dog here. However, since we are going back to the States and then possibly vacationing over Chinese New Year(end of January), we decided it best to wait until after Chinese New Year and see how we felt about it. Then, this past Thursday, we were at Byron & Bella's when she got a call from her friend. Her friend found a puppy that a man was about to abandon. We saw her picture and fell in love with her. However, we still thought it was terrible timing!! Then Byron & Bella agreed to keep her while we are gone, and the decision was made. She gets along famously with Potter (Byron & Bella's dog) and appears to be very smart!!
We love her already!! :)
Here she is sleeping in her new bed. She looks pretty comfortable, huh?
Here she is sleeping halfway in, and halfway out. She was really sleepy, but kept wanting to get out and play with us. :)
Here she is playing with her new cousin Potter. They have a lot of fun chasing each other!
One more...a video of her playing with her new toy. SO CUTE!! :)
As you may know, we planned to bring our dog Ralphie over to China with us, but in the end we decided that it may not be the best decision. Once we got here and got settled in, we began to desperately miss the companionship of our dogs. We briefly reconsidered bringing Ralphie over, but decided against uprooting him and bringing him to an entirely new atmosphere. I would hate to spend all that money and have him hate it!! So then, we decided that maybe we would adopt a dog here. However, since we are going back to the States and then possibly vacationing over Chinese New Year(end of January), we decided it best to wait until after Chinese New Year and see how we felt about it. Then, this past Thursday, we were at Byron & Bella's when she got a call from her friend. Her friend found a puppy that a man was about to abandon. We saw her picture and fell in love with her. However, we still thought it was terrible timing!! Then Byron & Bella agreed to keep her while we are gone, and the decision was made. She gets along famously with Potter (Byron & Bella's dog) and appears to be very smart!!
We love her already!! :)
Here she is sleeping in her new bed. She looks pretty comfortable, huh?
Here she is sleeping halfway in, and halfway out. She was really sleepy, but kept wanting to get out and play with us. :)
Here she is playing with her new cousin Potter. They have a lot of fun chasing each other!
One more...a video of her playing with her new toy. SO CUTE!! :)
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
December
Today is December 2nd and the high is 78 degrees. Andre and I were talking last night about how we don't even feel like it is approaching Christmas. I never realized how much the weather indicated the changes in season and the different months. When you have lived in a place like Indiana your whole life, a place with 4 distinct seasons, this not having cool weather during the holidays becomes a whole new concept for me!!
So the thing that cracks me up the most about this weather business is how much it effects the Chinese people. It has been in the 70's during the day, but drops to the 50/60's at night. To me that is the most perfect weather. You wear a T-Shirt and jeans during the day and then you throw on a sweatshirt at night if you will be outdoors. I have seen people (the majority actually) who bundle up in huge winter jackets and scarves when it is at least 65 degrees or higher outside. It makes me laugh, every time!! But these people are not used to the cold. They pretty much have three seasons, WARM, HOT, and HOTTER. So when it starts to cool off into the 70's and 60's it feels to them like 30's and 40's.
Pretty much everyday I wear short sleeves I have someone come up and touch my bare arm and do some kind of motion indicating "Are you cold?" Let's see...it's 70 degrees outside and the sun is beating down on me...heck no, I am not cold!! They always shake their heads and laugh or look at me like I must be crazy!
Last night we changed our doorbell ringer to We Wish You a Merry Christmas. I am sorry, but there is something that is just not right about hearing that song play while we sit in our short sleeves with our patio doors open. I wish for a white Christmas when we come home!! :)
So the thing that cracks me up the most about this weather business is how much it effects the Chinese people. It has been in the 70's during the day, but drops to the 50/60's at night. To me that is the most perfect weather. You wear a T-Shirt and jeans during the day and then you throw on a sweatshirt at night if you will be outdoors. I have seen people (the majority actually) who bundle up in huge winter jackets and scarves when it is at least 65 degrees or higher outside. It makes me laugh, every time!! But these people are not used to the cold. They pretty much have three seasons, WARM, HOT, and HOTTER. So when it starts to cool off into the 70's and 60's it feels to them like 30's and 40's.
Pretty much everyday I wear short sleeves I have someone come up and touch my bare arm and do some kind of motion indicating "Are you cold?" Let's see...it's 70 degrees outside and the sun is beating down on me...heck no, I am not cold!! They always shake their heads and laugh or look at me like I must be crazy!
Last night we changed our doorbell ringer to We Wish You a Merry Christmas. I am sorry, but there is something that is just not right about hearing that song play while we sit in our short sleeves with our patio doors open. I wish for a white Christmas when we come home!! :)
Success!
Today I spoke Chinese to a taxi driver and he understood me! I had to direct him to a place that I did not know the name of, so I told him the Chinese name of some apartments nearby, and directed him from there. He got it on my first try, so my pronunciation must have been passable! Yay!! :)
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