The Latest and Greatest...

So, let's face it...I'm a horrible blogger....the last time I blogged was *cough* Christmas.

Whoops.

I blame it on pregnancy and genetics (my mom puked for 9 months and it doesn't seem like I'll be that different). It's all your fault mom...just kidding. It's just your genes...but if I can fit into your jeans (we share clothes) at your age, I guess I'll take your genes too. :)

However, I wasn't a great blogger/journal keeper before, so it can't all be because of our little package on the way.

But, to save the one or two people that still read this from one REALLY really long post, this is only a semi-long post about what we've been up to since the last time there was any action on here:

-We had a wonderful Christmas in China and found out we were pregnant! It happened much faster than we ever expected and we were and still are just beside ourselves with excitement.

-Pregnancy was a dream until 6 1/2 weeks (haha)...then I started puking and couldn't stop. Most days I couldn't keep anything down and some days I couldn't even keep water down. It was pretty rough trying to deal with that and keep up a 40-60 hour workweek at Wizard China. For a while they let me manage with a mixture of Skype at home and going into the office part time, but that changed and you'll hear about that later.

-We enjoyed seeing what Chinese New Year was all about with the Year of the Bunny. (I'm a Bunny circa 1987 and our little baby will be one in 2011 too!)

-Our bunnies turned out to be two females, which meant they kept peeing on each other and started to bite each other after bunny puberty. They also lost their potty training we were so proud of. This didn't work so well with my over-sensitive nose...so we sadly got rid of them. We decided to take them to a local pet store for someone else to love, but a miraculous thing happened. Just as J was leaving to take them, he met our neighbor and her 14 year old son in the hall and they wanted them! We were happy to give them to our "Ron-Charlie" friend, who is actually a student of ours at school. Hopefully they keep them as pets for a while and they don't end up in some one's soup...but they had a good home for a little while longer- so we felt good about it.

-Jordan had a birthday on Valentines day and officially got older. We celebrated with a day at work after a cinnamon roll breakfast (probably the one thing I've made since being preggo...poor J), our little kid students singing "Happy Birthday" to him, and came home to the best pizza we'd had there via the delivery woman. J's one birthday wish was to become a Dave Ramsey lifetime member. And now he is...so look out world. :)

-We successfully ran two last minute "Winter Camps." These were two whole weeks of kiddy day care from 8:30 am to 7:30 pm (that ended up being sold cheaper than most babysitting or free)...but included intense English lessons, multiple meals and cooking classes, dance and singing lessons, games, cultural lessons about America and a Road show at the end of the week. It was fun for me to plan (but would have been more fun with more time in advanced notice and if I felt better) and thanks to my awesome teachers and J, we pulled it off. I did like teaching dance for the road show... and we did have some mighty cute kids at it. The theme for the week was "From Sea to Shining Sea" and we stopped in different regions of the United States, singing, dancing and teaching our way through. Overall, it was a rewarding experience. (This pic is actually from a different event, but still...you get the idea)

-As you could tell, things at work were getting pretty rough. We were sent from Brazil to manage and to make sure that everything was happening according to Wizard's franchise standards. Since day one, Wizard China didn't seem to understand what a franchise was or want to have anything to do with Wizard school standards. They also didn't want any American or Brazilian input, which makes it difficult for a Brazilian based company that teaches American English. To make a long story short in the end, the health of our baby, my health, little financial benefit and no opportunity for advancement made our decision to come home the most logical choice. We still have great feelings toward Wizard Brazil and the opportunities they've given us, but know that China might not be their best opportunity for growth right now. Overall, we've chalked up China as a really positive experience, as we often learn more from rough times than ideal ones. It has given us invaluable leadership and management experience, further international experience, taught us how to deal with difficult personalities, and helped us see a different side of the world....which we'd like to keep doing and go international again someday. We walked away with lifetime friends and memories that we will cherish. We wouldn't trade our year abroad for anything, and as a couple it brought us closer together than anything else in our first year of marriage could. Being on three different continents and dealing with the changes we did in one year is enough to make or break you. And it made us.

Here's a little sentimental trip through a few of our China highlights...

-J and I enjoyed a couple of days in Beijing before we left to see the sites and get ready for the long flight home.

-My mom picked us up from LAX and we were only on the ground for a few hours when J and my Dad couldn't take it any longer...they called up "My First Peekaboo" and made an appointment for that night... we found out WE'RE HAVING A GIRL!!!!!!!!

-A few days later we went to Aptos/Salinas/Monterey area where we got to be with J's family for a little reunion for a week. It was beautiful and we had a great time together.

-J is now in Utah interviewing and I am staying with my parents trying to learn some domestic skills from my mom until we know what we're doing and where we'll be. It's fun to be so well taken care of at my parents, but I'm really missing J! Hopefully we'll get some plans in concrete soon.

That's all of our news for now...we're back in the States and have been having a great time reuniting with family and friends, eating wonderful food (finally!!! good food and it's staying down!), and exploring the opportunities that lie ahead. We're not exactly sure what is next for us, but as long we put our faith in the Lord and get to be together (all 3 of us now :), it's sure to be an adventure.

xoxo, MJ & J