Great Friend... Great Goodies

Jen surprised me with goodies from a Western Store in Beijing called Jenny Lou's. She is so great... here are the goodies she blessed me with.
Dr. Pepper :-)
Twix Candy Bar
Cookies, Brownies and Muffin Mixes!!

What did we buy??

Metro (the Sams Club of Changsha... not to be confused with the train)
This super store has many Western treats... what did we buy and lug home to Hengyang...



Hersey's Syrup, Coffee, Peppermint tea, Creamy Peanut Butter, Beef for Stew, Bacon, Pancake mix, Mustard, Granola, Pizza sauce and Cheese for pizza... Lot of deliciousness!!

Thanksgiving... thankful for Friends in Changsha

This year... my first year away from family on Thanksgiving.
I think the hardest part was skyping and seeing everybody... but it was also the best part :-) I dearly love and miss my family.

So what did we do this year
A visit to our family in China... The Bart Family. As they say in China, we are "country mates" with the Barts. Their hometown is also in NC and a stones throw from Raleigh. We became good friends with them back in the state through the China process and were very excited to be placed in the same province.

So Thursday, Thanksgiving day, Wes and I go to the Fast Train Station for our first "bullet train ride" It was incredible. Here is a picture of us at the train station, the train (it looks more like a spaceship) and the speed of the train at one point in our journey.
Departure time 11:58 ... the train literally only stopped for 2 minutes. There is not time for dilly dalling.


Our speed-- 334km/h ... that is 207.5 mph ... WOW!!! That is FAST :-)


It seemed like the moment we sat down in our seats... we arrived in Changsha. We got a taxi to the Bart's house. After the hussel and bussel of travel... the best greeting possible-- a HUG from a good friend.

We had a great weekend (despite the fact I was out for the count the first night and day with a stomach bug)

We planned our winter trip to Thailand, took a shopping trip to Metro (the Sams Club of Changsha), ate Western food, decorated the Bart's house and simply enjoyed each others company.

It was a great weekend and this year... I am truly grateful for our China family. Love you Bart Family.

Tomorrow Lesson for Sophomores...

Weddings!!

I very excited to teach my Sophomore students about American weddings and traditions tomorrow in class... so in order to prepare for my lesson... I watched our wedding video! THANK YOU Uncle Coerte for having this video made for us! Wes and I had a great night watching and thinking back on the great memories. The video truly captured the beauty and love of our wedding. Thank you for blessing us with this special memory.

Wes and I celebrate 3 years on December 15!!

Reality Check

Today is a beautiful sunny day in Hengyang. It is a little chilly... enough to wear a sweater but warm enough that you can't see your breath. Wes and I did a little venture out today ... just to get out for a bit. We went to the other side of town. We had just walked across a busy intersection, I was looking back at the intersection and saw the traffic guy kick a man on a his moving motorcycle... within seconds the motorcycle t-bones a taxi. The driver flies off his bike and hits the ground. I stand off to the side ... helplessly watching it all take place. Within an instant my whole body becomes hot and my lunch nearly comes for a revisit. The man did not move for minutes... my thoughts... he isn't alive. But after what seemed like forever, he sat up. His life spared by the Father. Hurt, nonetheless, but alive.
What a reminder to me... life is fragile.
And after the shock and sick feelings wore off... I thought about how Mototaxis are not a good option for getting around town.

Fellowship Friends

About 2 months ago, we meet some other American at Nanyua University - University of South China (in our same city... just across town)
We have LOVE spending time with them... laughing, eating, singing, talking about our Father and blessing other people.
One Sunday after fellowship and lunch, we saw a lady selling balloons... we all thought it would be great to buy all the balloons and hand them out to children we saw on our walk home... so that just what we did. Edwin and Mary pulled out 50 RMB (less than $10 US) and we made LOTS of kid's day. It was so great to see the little smiles :-)
Here is Edwin and Mary with the mass of balloons!!

Capturing the smiles

sister of the year award goes to...

Ashley Velazquez!!!

My sister sent me a package for Thanksgiving that made my week!!
She is amazing at packing boxes!! She even included a list of everything that was inside!! If you want to send the perfect box... here is the list... but don't forget to include all the LOVE that she did. THANK YOU ASHLEY!!

Chinese Name for Avery

My friends and students came up with a Chinese name for me.
This all came about after going to the Three-Self Church one Friday. The pastor came to speak to me after the service and one of my students translated. The first phrase (of course) -- what is your name? I say "Avery" He says "huh... I mean your Chinese name" My student told the pastor she would work on that :-) I told them the only requirement I have for a Chinese name is -- I must be able to say it and it should have a good meaning (as this is important in culture)
A few days later... they told me they have a name.
Ai Xi
This name isn't common in China -- but then neither is Avery in America
The name means "Precious One or Something to be Cherished" If you break the name apart-- Ai is for Love, Xi is for Hope for a new day.
I think they did an amazing job picking out a name for me!!

more cooking with Avery

Every Sunday morning I make a tasty treat to take to our fellowship. So far I have taken

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Cinnamon Rolls - my first time ever to make from scratch and they were delicious!!

Orange Lemon Muffins and Pumpkin bread
Next week I am thinking about apple pastries or apple fritters... we will see what the ingredients I can find!! Lets just say- our friends always anticipate the sweet treat in the red basket.

Our State Fair!!

Back home in NC... the State Fair just ended. I have been a faithful state fair attendant since the time I was 10 years old. Since it wasn't a reasonable excuse to fly home... we created our own fair. Here are some pictures from the fun filled day!
Painting Pottery. Only 15 RMB meaning just about 2 US dollars. Lots of fun and lots of people wanting to see how the "foreigners" paint.
The little man is holding a book. Wes and I decided they must be going to Fellowship... so we made it the HOLY Book :-)
Cotton Candy... it's got nothing on American cotton candy... but I did get to pick my color and watch her make it.
Wes was brave and got into a floating wheel. He had fun running like a hamster :-)
Captain Wes-- we took a little boat out for a ride. it was great until the engine sucked up some trash that was floating in the pond... we hurried the boat back to shore just as the boat started to die.

Fun Foods :-) Something candied on a stick... don't know what the something was.
Something fried on a stick