Did anyone miss me?
Glad I didn't make a resolution to blog more often in '11, cause I would've failed big time.
I had 2 very good reasons for my blogging break. First, we took about 2000 pictures in China, and I seriously stress about posting every single one for everyone to see. That's never gonna happen, so they're coming in small spurts. On Facebook. Second, we're temporarily staying with Mark's uncle, whose wireless Internet makes me feel like I live in 1912. It sucks a big one.
But I'm back now and I'll try to be more regular, for all my millions of fans. Here's a recap of life in the last while.
October - We returned from China at the end of the month. (China was amazing. I'd love to go back for another few months - or a year - but isn't super likely. We had the chance to see some amazing sights and really open our eyes to a part of the world most Westerners will never see.) Moved in with Uncle Bob while we started looking for a house. Thought we'd be out in 2-3 months, but we're pretty much having the worst time house hunting...gone through inspections on 2 places, been outbid on a foreclosure (that we offered full price on), and just had a sucky time. Right now, we're waiting for a response on a short sale we put an offer in 2 weeks ago. Fingers are crossed for this one, but we're not holding our breaths.
November - Celebrated Thanksgiving in Nashville with Mark's sister and her family.
December - We were each sick on our birthdays, so those were lame. But Christmas in Florida was really fun.
January - I had a voucher from Delta and used to to get away to Boulder, Colorado for a week to visit Emily. We did so many fun things (ghost tour at The Stanley Hotel, tour of Celestial Seasonings, visit to the Molly Brown House and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, to name a few) and it was so great to catch up. I loved getting to meet her adorable foster baby and also being one of the first to find out she's expecting! 
These pictures took about 45 minutes to upload - no exaggerating - so if you want to see more, I put most of them on FB. I gotta take a break, so I'll be back with February and March shortly.
National Day (October 1) kicks off a week long holiday in China. Mark even had a few days off, which was great. Here's what we did...
[Side note: You'll notice that Mark isn't in very many pictures. That's cause I lost our small camera, which I used to take pictures and videos from these days, and also our trip to Macau. We are very sad.]
On Friday, we went to the Shenzhen Safari Park (aka the zoo). It was surprisingly fun. And much nicer than we expected. I learned that Chinese people can speak monkey. I had a video to prove it but it's on the lost camera :( So you'll just have to take my word for it.
When it is hot (which it always is, in Shenzhen) the guys walk around with their shirts pulled up. They also go to the bathroom outside. And I'm not talking pee. Stay classy, China.
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Gotta love the "English"
I'm a celebrity!
On Saturday, we went to Hong Kong. We had planned to ride the junk boat, but decided to save some cash and ride the Star Ferry instead (and we're glad we did cause it was really windy so the sails were down, and the junk didn't even look that cool). I had planned a busy day, visiting a few different tourist places, but we pretty much scrapped that and decided to visit Stanley Market, on the south-side of Hong Kong Island. This part of the island is absolutely gorgeous. Definitely the prettiest scenery we've seen in China. The taxi ride there was so beautiful and we had a fun time wandering around.
The Junk Boat
On Tuesday, we went to Hong Kong again. We had to go meet with a colleague of Mark's dad, and we also visited the Nan Lian Garden (one of my favorite places) and got to go to the temple.
Empty Metro...a rare sight.
Did I mention we're in China? I know you're all dying to see pictures and hear more about it, so I'll just jump right in. We've been here for about 2 months now and will actually be wrapping the trip up in just a few more weeks. It's been a blast so far. My favorite things are: the hotel staff (they are super friendly and I love being called Mrs. Mark, although most of them know my name now), everyone smiling at me and saying "Hello!", strangers taking pictures of me, babies and their crazy crotch-less pants, the amazing temples/gardens/history that we've seen, and just getting to see a place that is SO foreign to me. My least favorite things are: the squatter toilets, people hocking loogies all the time, people peeing (and occasionally pooping) in public all over the place, weird guys who just stare at me, the complete lack of personal space, smoking (everyone smokes, everywhere...it's very hard to breathe here), and spending most of my days alone. I'm pretty much by myself all day, every day (except for the weekends). I had a friend that I was able to hang out with for the first month or so, but she's back in the States now, so it's just me. I'll make plans everyday so I can get out and see everything I want to here in Shenzhen. Yes, somedays the plan is lay by the pool, but most days it's a bit more exciting.
But then again, sometimes I'll just walk down the street to Walmart. It's about a 15 minute walk, or just 1 metro stop away from our hotel. A week or so ago, when I last went, I took a few pictures. Enjoy.
I love the flavors...in case you can't read the small print, these are Little Tomato Flavor, Lemon Tea Flavor and Breezy Blueberry Flavor. I also like how they're "Cool & Refreshing".
And here we have BBQ Steak, Shrimp and Aromatic Crispy Chicken
The ever popular "Intense and Stimulating" Numb and Spicy Hot Pot Flavor
Dragon Fruit
Dried fish...smells as good as it looks.
I'll take the eel head, thanks.
Rice cookers
Want to get a new mattress?
Love this aisle...so random.
Right now, Stacey is thinking, "Is this a deer?" (Don't deny it, Stace.)
Ok, who knew buffalo's tongues were so insane?! Not me! You should've seen how long they were (this picture does NOT do it justice).
The only animal I saw Mark feed.
Here's the "lame adults" sitting down when they could be getting slobbered on by animals. Chad, you are especially lame for being on your phone. :)
December - We were each sick on our birthdays, so those were lame. But Christmas in Florida was really fun.
January - I had a voucher from Delta and used to to get away to Boulder, Colorado for a week to visit Emily. We did so many fun things (ghost tour at The Stanley Hotel, tour of Celestial Seasonings, visit to the Molly Brown House and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, to name a few) and it was so great to catch up. I loved getting to meet her adorable foster baby and also being one of the first to find out she's expecting! 
These pictures took about 45 minutes to upload - no exaggerating - so if you want to see more, I put most of them on FB. I gotta take a break, so I'll be back with February and March shortly.
When it is hot (which it always is, in Shenzhen) the guys walk around with their shirts pulled up. They also go to the bathroom outside. And I'm not talking pee. Stay classy, China.
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Gotta love the "English"
I'm a celebrity!
On Saturday, we went to Hong Kong. We had planned to ride the junk boat, but decided to save some cash and ride the Star Ferry instead (and we're glad we did cause it was really windy so the sails were down, and the junk didn't even look that cool). I had planned a busy day, visiting a few different tourist places, but we pretty much scrapped that and decided to visit Stanley Market, on the south-side of Hong Kong Island. This part of the island is absolutely gorgeous. Definitely the prettiest scenery we've seen in China. The taxi ride there was so beautiful and we had a fun time wandering around.
The Junk Boat
On Tuesday, we went to Hong Kong again. We had to go meet with a colleague of Mark's dad, and we also visited the Nan Lian Garden (one of my favorite places) and got to go to the temple.
Empty Metro...a rare sight.
I love the flavors...in case you can't read the small print, these are Little Tomato Flavor, Lemon Tea Flavor and Breezy Blueberry Flavor. I also like how they're "Cool & Refreshing".
And here we have BBQ Steak, Shrimp and Aromatic Crispy Chicken
The ever popular "Intense and Stimulating" Numb and Spicy Hot Pot Flavor
Dragon Fruit
Dried fish...smells as good as it looks.
I'll take the eel head, thanks.
Rice cookers
Want to get a new mattress?
Love this aisle...so random.
