Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Found him!!

The trip was a success!!! We didn't get lost once! Although his luggage did. grrr...hopefully they'll deliver it tomorrow.

Anyway, Jonathan...welcome to Shanghai!!!






Joe and I took him out for really LOCAL food tonight...he's such a trooper! He fits right in!!! :D



haha...so fun to have you here!!! Happy Jetlaggin! ;)


Monday, March 30, 2009

Jonathan's coming!!!

I'm leaving RIGHT NOW to go pick up my brother, Jonathan, from the airport!!!

No, you didn't get that.

I, me, by myself am leaving. Jonathan and I are going to have so many adventures! The first one being as I step out that door and go try to find him at the airport AND bring him back again!

This process will include the following means of transportation:
To get me to the airport:
- the subway
- the Maglev (hovering super-fast train)
To get me back FROM the airport with Jonathan and all the stuff I had him bring for me:
- the bus
- a taxi

I'll be practicing the Chinese phrases Joe wrote down for me the entire suway and Maglev ride! haha...wish me luck!!! :D

Jonathan...I'm SO EXCITED!!!! Whoo HOO!!!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Officially 30!

No matter which timezone you're in, Joe is now officially 30! The age of envy! He's so lucky.
Because Joe has sooo many friends here, we had to celebrate his birthday 5 times with 3 cakes! It was the weekend of continuous celebration! SOO fun!!!

Thanks to ALL of you who have invested so richly into Joe's life the past 30 years to make him into the amazing person that I get to enjoy right now!

On Friday night we have small group...everyone was so great! There were 12 people that came, and each one gave a note to Joe sharing with him all the ways that he has benefited their lives. SO sweet of them!
Here is Joe blowing out cake #1!




Since Joe teaches a class on Saturday mornings, I was able to scamper around getting ready for a special birthday lunch for him! I cleaned off my balcony so we could eat "outside," made him lunch, and even bought and assembled a charcoal grill (shown in the background--supposed to be a birthday present!) so I could grill our chicken...but then "chickened" out using it since I'm not known for my grilling abilities and didn't feel like burning anything down on Joe's birthday!
Jonathan, when you come to visit you can teach me how to GRILL!!! :)
Joe still loved my meal, though, and the grill still looks so nice sitting there on the balcony... ;)





After lunch we enjoyed a leisurely walk through Zhongshan Park...the trees and flowers are all in bloom! It was beautiful. I gave him a set of badminton racquets! That little sport is quite popular here...I'm looking forward to trying them out with him! :)




Joe is an ALPHA leader, and his group meets on Saturday afternoons. I have SO enjoyed being a part of those discussions and meeting those amazing people! Patricia knew it was Joe's birthday, and brought a cake for him as well as a card for everyone to sign!
Here is Joe blowing out cake #2! :)



Sonny and Mali enjoying cake...

and Keen and Terry sporting their haircuts in honor of Joe's b-day! haha

My guy... (sigh)


Patricia and me!


After ALPHA was over, since it was still Joe's birthday, I stole him away for a special birthday celebration for just the two of us: Indian! I found this incredible, romantic restaurant called Tandoor that was PERFECT for our little party-for-two!
It was the kind of place that taking pictures wouldn't have been very appropriate...it was definitely a high-class setting and the best Indian food we have ever had in our lives.
After dinner I gave Joe my final gift: a book that I had put together filled with letters we had written back and forth to each other over the past year of separation. It will serve as a special reminder of how much we value going into this next phase of our relationship!
Sunday, the day AFTER Joe's birthday, we pulled a little surprise on him...I took him to a restaurant and several of Joe's friends surprised him there! After dinner we went to Peter's Tex Mex...famous for their cinnamon rolls! mmm!

Here is Norman digging into Daniel's cinnamon roll...dangerous thing to do! lol


And here is RJ, me, and Joe



Yes, it was a weekend full of celebrations!
As if it wasn't enough...here comes cake #3...on Monday after a staff meeting a Joe's school! I was there for the teacher's meeting, and got to join the March birthdays party! :D




Wow...great times celebrating a great person!
I love you, Joey...looking forward to many more birthday celebrations with you! :)

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Let the festivities begin! Joe's 30!!!

And I can't WAIT to celebrate! His birthday is tomorrow. (0r if you're in China, his birthday started about an hour ago. ;)

What do you get a person that has already given you soooo much? This is not only a milestone birthday, but the first one I have ever been able to celebrate WITH him! I've been toying around with ideas about this for weeks now. What do you give your best friend? The person that you want to share everything with, but when you walk through the mall nothing seems appropriate?

I will continue to ponder.

This weekend is going to be so much fun! Wish everyone reading this post could be a part of it! But I can't tell you what we're doing yet because I'm trying to work at keeping secrets. Sometimes it's better when I just tell ONE person, but I don't think a blog is an appropriate place for that. >wink<

This week, though, we did start some birthday festivities with our friend Percival! P's birthday was on the 18th, Joe's is on the 21st. So, why not celebrate together???

We went out for Mexican!

Percival's birthday was March 18th, so we had fun celebrating with him!



Since it was also St. Patrick's day, Joe and I had to dress in green and order a guacamole milkshake. (haha) YUM!





When all the lights in the restaurant went out we were wondering what was going on...till they came out singing happy birthday and giving us carrot cake! (A benefit of going to an American-style restaurant for birthdays!)



For dessert, Percival treated us to his favorite icecream shop! They feature only one kind of icecream here. Guess what kind?





So...let the festivities begin!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOE!!!

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Introducing...my new home!

I am now at my new apartment! Internet was hooked up last Monday, the new washing machine delivered on Tuesday, the refrigerator on Wednesday, the armchair on Saturday, and today (Sunday) when I got home from church, the wardrobe had arrived! (just made! I'm going to sleep on the couch tonight because the smell is so strong still from the varnish! ha)

I am SO blessed! It is so fun to prepare our future home!

Me shopping. haha...Joe's life will never be the same... ;)


It felt like Christmas when I got to unwrap my brand-new, stainless steel, beautiful, too-big-for-my-kitchen fridge!






Here is my handy-man hanging up my curtains! (wow, it's nice to have a guy around!!!) :)

(If you've EVER gone curtain-shopping with me, and chances are you have b/c I've gone SOOO many times!!!, you'll know HOW indecisive I can be! Curtains are SUCH a statement in a room...they have to compliment, not dominate. Such a challenge! Joe was SOOO PATIENT with me!)

What my room currently looks like:



And my bathroom, after hanging shower curtains, mats, trash can, and pretty flowers on the window sill:
(at home I had these flowers in four vases in a row on my kitchen window sill...but since my vases are still in Ontario, these substitutes will have to do for now! ;)


I'm still thinking about curtains for the living room...and a carpet. Any suggestions? It's still a work in progress, but I'm loving it!


And our wonderful kitchen table! I looove it! (also expands, so we have room for company! hint, hint! ;)

The view from the dining room into the living room:


Joe and I celebrating furniture with Papa John himself! :D
(our first meal together in our future home) ;)


So this is where I live! (in its current state. ;) Can't wait to show it to you in person! :D
Nica

fitting into dresses? Not for another 4 months...

Joe and I have been SO BUSY this week! Getting my apartment set up, working on our guest list and wedding website, and doing thing with friends.

Here is a pic of Joey and I working together on our wedding! Something we do SO MUCH of, but never think to stop and take a picture of it! This was taken last Saturday on "our" couch at our favorite coffee shop. :)



Last Saturday was a full day for us (literally!) I worked from the coffee shop on wedding stuff in the morning while Joe taught a Sat AM class, then he joined me (above) until it was time for us to leave to go to ALPHA (Joe's been leading these groups for a while, and it's so neat for me to watch him lead these discussions with new believers!) and then we started to party-hop!

Sarah's birthday celebration started at 6... (Mexican!!! Yum!)
Me and Sarah:


...and Andreas' birthday celebration started at 8! (an 8+ course meal cooked in their home! YUM!)
Joe and I with Andreas:


Have you ever had a personal chef come into your home to prepare a gourmet meal for you and a group of your friends? It's amazing to see what can come out of YOUR kitchen! I snuck into the kitchen to see the chefs in action...I was amazed at how fast, clean, and relaxed they were!






They kept bringing out more and more dishes...each soooo well prepared...each so delicious...especially after eating Mexican at Sarah's party, you can IMAGINE how STUFFED Joe and I were after we left Andreas and Christine's place! phew! ;)

Here is Christine (smiling on the left) with a few of her guests in her home)
And here are just a few pics of some of the courses that were served. Amazing!



And the chef...still smiling and still so clean after it was all over!


You're going to think from this post that all I do is eat here...which is partly true. There are sooo many new dishes to try and types of food represented over here.

This is me enjoying some good ol' bibinbop to remind me of Korea.

But of course, despite how I rave about amazing food from different countries here, what was I craving today? bacon and eggs. and then the gooey chocolate chip pancakes were a bonus.