Happy Halloween!!!

xoxo

MJ & J

We are Parents…

of Bunnies!!!

  

Meet Ying and Yang…

Ying is the cute little girl (we think) and Yang is the fun bigger male.  I guess we’ll really find out what Ying is if we start to find other little bunnies…but for now, just her sweet personality screams girl, while Yang is speedy Gonzalez and all over the place!

They are the first (and most certainly not the last ;) to

join our little Hastings family.

Y & Y are hopefully baby dwarf bunnies (our apartment is great…but a little on the small side for BIG bunnies). Cleaning up after them is helping us practice for real parenting positions…and we LOVE them!

 

In other news:

• We’re slowly getting our apartment put together.  We’ve finally figured out where to get the good stuff on the cheap, have a couple of rugs for the living room, found my dream bed set and pillows at silk street in Beijing (that place is worthy of a whole other post!) and are gearing up to paint our wall either a bold red or a bold teal.  We’ve also started decorating for the holidays, which really helps to feel more at home!

Trick or Treat!!!

We’ll see how many kids we get this year! Happy what?!

(I had to dig through the gourd section at the store, but finally found one that somewhat resembled a pumpkin!)

• Cooking.  Good old fashioned American (or anything close to it) cooking is hard to find here.  BUT…we’re also figuring that out…slowly. ;)  We got an oven, so that helps since almost everybody here only fries things on hot plates (blech). After bartering for some imported powdered sugar from the relief society pres. in our branch, I made a batch of home made cinnamon rolls that turned out pretty dang good!

• Work = chaos that is getting better.  We’ve had a crazy busy first month…but I guess that’s what you can expect with a change in management, especially if you’re the new management!  It’s already gotten better though and I feel like the company’s made some real progress.  I have a great team of teachers and love how the Chinese receive our school and our marketing. Here’s a picture of a party we threw for marketing…

• The Chinese love fireworks…we see them every night from our apartment…but we had our own little pyrotechnic show in our apartment this month.  Jordan was lying down with the laptop on his stomach (and more manly parts), got up and less than 2 seconds later…BOOM!!! His battery exploded and started a fire in our room.  I was in the living room and heard this huge bang, looked around the corner and saw flames under the door.  We put it out but it kept exploding like a firework fountain.  Everything but our floor left with a nasty battery acid hole was fine…but I’m pretty sure HP is getting a few phone calls. ;)

These are the charred remains of J’s battery!

• I’ve passed my first language test and it was the same one I took in Brazil…TMI, I know, but you know you are on your way to independence in a country when you can go to the pharmacy and get your birth control!  Sort of sad here though, they didn’t really know what it was and kept trying to hand me the abortion pill. Mmmm…No thank-you.
• My sweet dog, Corkey passed away.  He was the best dog ever (yes, J…even better than Shasta!) and lived to the ripe old age of 18ish.  My mom said he got really sick and started having what seemed like strokes the day that J and I left for China.  I feel like my favorite dog stuck it out one last time for me.  Thanks Corkey.  I still remember picking you out at the pound, growing up with you, you barking at old boyfriends you never liked and our many trips around the block as you pulled Nic and I on the scooter  or our roller blades (you were one buff ten pound pup).  So many good memories and many more to come, as I’m sure my two grandmas upstairs are taking good care of you.  Love you Cork.

2 Birthday Boys!

 

Last week was a very special week for two boys of mine…

My brother, Jon, turned 32 (wowzas ;)

and my nephew, Andrew, turned 2!

Happy Birthday Guys!!!

xoxo

Wu Flung Poo…

Yes folks, this phrase was something that my brother, Nic, and I used to say to each other growing up.  Unfortunately, everything here so far has sounded like a weird combination of this phrase and the word “zhege, zhege, zhege.”

So, thanks for prepping me for China all those years, but I guess I should really start working on my Mandarin now.

;)

Aside from having absolutely no idea about what people are saying, we quite like it here.  Don’t get me wrong, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in Brazil…and don’t tell any of our Brasileiro friends this...but I think I’ve convinced myself I like this place a little better. Here’s why:       

• Here we have our own apartment (Roomies, we had our fun times…but there   are definite reasons why married couples don’t usually live with others. haha)
• We have 2 rooms in said apartment…this means we can have guests! Please ignore the above complaint about roomies, because guests= Not Awkward. :)
• Each room in our little apartment has bay windows with breathtaking views of the city.  I don’t think I’d trade our apartment for one twice as big if it meant I had to give up my sparkly views!

This is how a sunrise looks from our bedroom window.

• We are surrounded by 14 (no joke) malls and a plethora of gorgeous parks.  There is also a huge river, lots of tree-lined walk-ways and an Italian district all within a 5 minute walk of us.    
• Campinas, Brazil was the second most expensive place to live in on an expatriate site I found.  Tianjin, China was the very last.  I think I’ll enjoy that financial freedom a little more.
• It seems to be a lot safer here.  Laws are extremely strict here against criminals all the time, but especially when somebody messes with a foreigner.
• Chinese Nationals seem to love Americans.  In some parts, you may be the first foreigner many have seen, so they treat you like rock stars.  This can get old if you’re in a hurry, but so far we’ve enjoyed it and it’s been a great marketing tool for the company.
• Because of the things mentioned above, I feel like we have a lot more freedom…which is pretty ironic, considering that we live in a country ruled by communism. 

 

Here’s a quick picture recap of a Sunday evening stroll down the river:

A couple of views from the river in our He Ping District.

Jordan in front of the Italian District.  When we get tired of the weird spices, we’ll have to go there.

Jordan had me pose here so we could secretly capture the guy in the back practicing Kung-Fu.  He was awesome!

A native making decorative lollipops by hand.  He free-handed this in about 2 minutes.  If it weren’t Sunday, we would have gone home licking a dragon one ourselves…

A crazy “Rudolph” catfish we found at the port.

Jordan in front of one of the cool palaces close to our house.

Following a tradition for their Autumn Holiday, we got to write our wishes on a hot air balloon and release them over the river.  It was so pretty to watch our wishes float up and away over the city.  It kind of reminded me of a Mary Poppins scene, except more romantic after the initial scare that a truck would run it over when ours first decided to float down instead of up!  It got over that obstacle and is now somewhere waiting to get our wishes processed! ;) Next time we’ll wait for enough hot air!

I’m sure we’ll find things we don’t like so much (such as unfavorable food and foul smells), but why not bask in the glory of China’s honeymoon phase?!

So, for the time being, I’ll try to keep you updated on all of the good…and interesting things that we find here.  But really, you ought to come and hear the “Wu Flung Poo, zhege, zhege” for yourself!

Back to the Future

Saying Goodbye stinks...

BUT, we made it part way and

right now we're sitting in the Seoul, Korea airport waiting for our plane to China...

Crazy, but we got on the plane at midnight on Thursday....

...and now it's Saturday morning.

We literally skipped all of Friday...

Weird/Awesome.

I like what I see so far!

Anyways, can't wait to post something in China...because that means we'll have figured out how to get past their firewall!

Come Fly with Me, Let's Fly....Let's Fly Away!!!

A couple of weeks ago, Jordan and I flew back to the good old United States...

...and boy does it feel good to be back!

We LOVED Brasil, and I'm sure we'll like China too...

but there's just something special about being HOME.

...Being home in your own country...

...Home eating peaches and strawberries...

(plus almost everything bad for us...we're not worried...we're going to CHINA! The shock diet starts next week.)

...Home playing with our pets and animals (the ones at my house are becoming increasingly geriatric. No joke, my dog has diapers! )...

...Home watching hometown parades and crying when the grand old flag or veterans pass by...

plus

...fixing up our old cars...

...catching up with a baby niece and a toddler nephew...

...camping and riding quads...

...hiking...

...shopping...

...road trips...

...watching football games...
...beach days...
...general laziness...

and most importantly

...Spending time at HOME with FAMILY.

And that is my favorite part.

We also celebrated my 23rd Birthday last week. This year marked the first year I can ever remember feeling OLD on my Birthday. Gross!!! Hopefully that feeling goes away and never comes back. Because, I have a plan...I'm going to go up to 29 like normal, then just count my way back and forth through the twenties for every decade of my life. Sounds great to me!

What do you think?

Despite this new icky feeling inside ;), my Birthday was nothing short of AMAZING!

We celebrated on Sunday with the most beautiful cake made by Kara, my awesome SIL, after a wonderful lunch of my favorite things!

On Monday, I spent almost the whole day on a Shopping trip with my Mom...which we all know makes for the perfect day.

In the middle of the day, Jordan swooped me off for the most wonderful surprise....he chartered a plane to take me flying over St. George, Kolob and Zion's National Park!

There was an extra seat, so my Dad got to come and even flew the plane! I think he's dreaming of a new retirement career in aviation as we speak!

The breathtaking views and exciting adventure (especially for a flatlander like myself) made for an experience I will never forget!

And as if the day, couldn't get any better, Jordan's Mom took the family to see "Tarzan" at Tuachan. WOW! That show was definately one of the best performances I have ever been to!

Thank-you everyone for such a fun Birthday! I had a blast and I love you all!

Now, we'll enjoy being HOME a little longer before we have to fly away to China!

I will try to get caught up with Brazil and post a few pictures of our vacation here, but it will probably take a while for us to get set up in the far East...so until then...

"Once I get you up there where the air is rarified

We'll just glide, starry-eyed

Once I get you up there I'll be holding you so near

You may hear angels cheer 'cause we're together

Weather-wise it's such a lovely day

You just say the words and we'll beat the birds

Down to Acapulco Bay

It's perfect for a flying honeymoon, they say

Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away!"

Parabéns Nathan!!!

"Parabéns a você, nesta data querida.

Muitas felicidades, muitos anos de vida.

Hoje é dia de festa, cantam as nossas almas.

Para o menino Nate-dog, uma salva de palmas!"

Happy Birthday, Nate! You're the best!!!

xoxo, MJ

PS Everyone- we fly back to the states in less than 24 hours!!!

Tchao Brasil....Wei China!!!