Christmas shopping...

I found the best Christmas present!!
But I can't exactly tell you what it is in case a certain someone stumbles upon my blog before Christmas, sorry.
But, I will tell you, I was SO excited to open it when it came in the mail...



OPPS! LOL

WHO IS THIS???! I DO NOT KNOW!!

They sent me the wrong present!!

I HAD to laugh when I opened the package!!! LOL LOL

Birthday Bash 2010

Happy Birthday to Mike!
I try to do something fun and clever for Mike's birthday, but this year I didn't have a ton of money, so I had to be a little more creative. This is what I came up with; I put it on his apartment door. His roommates were jealous ;)


I also took him to the local Museum of Idaho; Decoding DaVinci was the theme this term. It was a very fun, learning experience about DaVinci and what he invented, helped invent and tried to perfect. Part of the museum was hands on so you could see how it worked. We had fun!

I know you all know about the Shade clothing company.
Well they were having a going out of business sale. It started EARLY and a lot of items were only $5, so of course I got there a few minutes early and started shopping and just started grabbing clothes. By they time my friend Courtney and her sisters and mom got there I had a bunch of clothes but they also grabbed and grabbed! After we think we got everything we want/wanted we satt down, tried on and tossed out. So...this is our pile!! :)
Girls love shopping! ESPECIALLY cheap sales!


Kelsey was our lovely model

Cars

Here are a few examples of cars you see in Idaho...

Monster truck in the middle of the mall


Stretch bug limo at the bank


Four wheeler at the pump getting gas

(Sorry this one is a little harder to see)

Pink Lady


Dune buggy in your front yard

Fall 2010

Since I live with Terressa and her five kids I see, hear, and experience some fun, crazy hilarious things!! Ah, the joys of kids. Here is a small example of what I saw one day...

Kayelynn decided to sit in the laundry basket and play; it was pretty funny because she is just not like that.

More with the kids...
Kayelynn and I with pom pom's on our heads :)



Lydia pretending she is sleeping in this baby crib.
But she was just too cute and fit perfectly!
Oh Lydia...







Since being in Idaho Falls I have done some fun things; some I would never do back home, or just some things I never did do because I had no one to share it with or any one who would enjoy it.

I started working at Elison Orthodontics the last Monday of September, so by the time Halloween came I had only been working there for a month and they informed me that they dress up for Halloween and that I have to dress up!! (this is one of those things I NEVER do). So they decided they wanted to dress up in 80's, oh man seriously?? but they kept telling me that yes I had to dress up...Crap! So two days before I was to dress up I went to the DI during my lunch break and found a shirt to wear and decided that was as far as I was going to go. Well that night I went to Walmart and found some sweet earrings that I had to get to go with my outfit. This is how I looked...

I also found this sweet Halloween dinner recipe for Halloween and HAD to make it! I made mice, eye balls, and then made some pile of...stuff...
The kids thought it was gross and didn't want to eat it, but we made them try it and they actually really liked it!

I was pretty excited and happy how it all turned out!

Catch Up

I just have to say I'm sorry I didn't post as many photos as I was hoping. My computer ran out of memory so all the pictures are on Mike's computer and I just can't use his computer all the time; aka school, so I apologize. But maybe i'll sneak his computer one of these days and add more, so be on the look out!! China was amazing and beautiful, most of the time. hehe

When I got back from China I just wouldn't do long distance again. I decided I wanted and needed to be close to Mike; long distance is hard! So I searched and searched for jobs in Idaho Falls, Rexburg, Rigby, etc. Finally after about a month of searching I had some interviews and found an amazing job as an Orthodontic Assistant in Idaho Falls! I work at Elison Orthodontic in Idaho Falls and love it! The doctors are father and son and they are very nice and fun! And the whole staff is all very nice and friendly! I am so grateful and thankful I have a wonderful job with wonderful people!

I live in Idaho Falls with Terressa and it's so fun! I love my nieces and nephew and they have built me a room in the basement, they love me :)

Working and living in Idaho Falls is so nice, because I get to meet new people and make new friends and live with family, but most of all and most important it's so nice to be so close to Mike and see him more often!!

We have done a lot of fun stuff together and I LOVE it!!

When I was in Meridian searching for a job Mike was in Seattle waiting to be in his friends wedding, so he could finally see his parents, in Kentucky, after getting home from China.
So this is him at the wedding



And this is his fohawk mullet he tried to get while in Kentucky!

C H I N A

On the plane to China :)

Well as most of you know Mike and I moved to China this year for a semester to teach English! We have been back for a few weeks now and are pretty adjusted to American life; for the most part. We started off in Hong Kong, going to the Hong Kong Temple everyday doing baptisms as a group, there was about 20 of us; that was a very neat experience! We then headed into 'real', Shenzhen, China and had some crash courses on teaching English (ESL training). After being in Shenzhen for a few days we all headed our separate ways to each of our schools. We taught at college kids at the Hunan Institute of Engineering. Our students were a blast and hung out with them a lot and they loved it and we loved it! We were always busy; being in competitions, or going to watch out students in singing competitions, model competitions, fashion shows, graduation, etc. We didn't get to do a whole of traveling during the semester. We worked five days a week, so it was hard to go anywhere over the weekend. We did have two days off during the semester so for one of those trips we went to the Huanshan Mountains aka the Yellow Mountains we all hear about when people talk about China Mountains. It was an AMAZING view! We camped on top of the mountain, then woke up early to watch the sunrise! GORGEOUS!! We then finished hiking all the way back down the mountain. For the other day we had off during the semester we went to a nearby city to buy the famous China dishes. They were all made in the city and they were pretty cheap. One of my students lives in that and he invited us over for dinner and his family had bought me a gift! His mom and him bought me a hand painted China vase! It's gorgeous!
After we were done at our college we traveled up to Beijing over the fourth of July and saw all the famous sites there; Tian anmen Square and watched the soldiers raise the flag during the sunrise, Forbidden City, saw Chairman Mao's body, Summer Palace, hiked the Great Wall, camped in one of the towers and watched the sunrise! went to an acrobatic show. We had a blast in Beijing! And of course LOTS of shopping and bargaining!! I am a pro! :) Ask Mike!! When we got back from Beijing we had found a new job for the month of July in a near by middle school (about 6 hours away), so we had to hurry and pack up to move the next day. We had a blast with them too! Little kids are so fun, happy, and just too cute. It was really hard to not bring all of them home with me! No, really, it was.
After our last city, Cili, we headed up to Shanghai. We took the train and rode it all night and arrived the next day at about 4pm. We found our hotel and immediately went out to see the city! We only had that day to see Shanghai but we saw more than we were planning. We saw the famous Bund, and all the big buildings. We went to the top of the famous tower, which took about 2 1/2 hours of standing in line! After that is was about 11pm, so headed back to our hotel. We really wanted to see the World Expo in Shanghai, but when we found out our train ride and what time we would be getting in we knew we would have to pass that up :( But that's ok, we enjoyed what we saw WAY better! :) We had a blast!
In the morning we packed up and called a cab and took it the airport to head back to America! The cab cost about 150 yuan which is about maybe $50!! But we were not about to try to lug all off our seven bags on and off the train at 8am on Monday morning in the middle of Shanghai.
So we made it home and we loved our time in China a learned a lot!!
Here are a few pictures of what I have on my computer:


Downtown HONG KONG


Over looking HONG KONG


Me over looking Hong Kong


Just having fun :)



Just having fun at Big Buddha/Pnong Ping


Eating in China / Famous shopping and bargaining street in Hong Kong


Me in the shopping street / housing above shopping street

Laser night light show on the Hong Kong Harbor



More on the Hong Kong Harbor




Goofing around on the streets
trying to spell CHINA with our bodies

Purple ice cream (aka UBE ice cream; gross)


Hong Kong Temple


Eating with chopsticks :)




Shenzhen, China



Dancing and playing pool with the locals; Americans!!
Walking the street of Shenzhen. Our first real chinese meal


This is where our first meal was and how the eating area was set up


Cute girl riding this bike while we were all playing pool
Karaoke-we always drew a huge crowd


Fresh Sugar cane on the street; for about one yuan (about ten cents)