fighting the heat

First of all our good friend Emilio (far right) had a big chinese test to take that determines his future in China so we took him out for a good luck dinner!

This is our gang..

Then on Saturday afternoon we decided to fight the heat...

Lately in Changsha it has been SO hot and SO humid. kill. me. now.

Summer is supposed to be the time of year that you are always outside but where

I live you stay inside or you lose twenty pounds of sweat the second you walk outside.

and the whole garment thing doesn't make this much easier if you know what I mean.

Anyways we decided to go down town and check out some shops.

Then we went and saw Mirror Mirror..it twas a good day.

Due to the one child policy twins are even more exciting to see in China:)

Then on Sunday after we listened in on church we got lunch at our favorite restaurant.

This is Liu Jie. 

She is the one who gave me my chinese name so

 I guess that makes her my chinese mama:)

and then she gave us this present? This past weekend was a holiday in China called 

The Dragon Boat Festival....

When we asked our chinese friends what they do for the holiday

they just said they don't have school or work and they eat lots of food.

Apparently this little contraption is a kind of food they eat on this holiday.

then we saw these months celebrating the holiday in their own special way....

on our long walk to the island this random group of lovely's asked us to take a photo with them:)

photography posing at it's best.

and this is what was in side of that contraption...rice. Big surprise!

and then I beat Chance like 20 times in a row at speed. 

let's just say I did not have a happy husband.

this man is ALMOST as competitive as me which makes for intense games.

The face of a winner!

then we finished off the night with a little shao kao...that is chinese for bbq. and it is delicious.

It is so awesome. Every night these people come out and set up hundreds

of chairs and tables and they set up about twenty grills or so. 

It is one of our favorite things to eat and it is so cheap.

those stands are the grills. you gotta love China.

grilled chicken, bell pepper and sausage.

this photo goes out to the one and only Alexis Alger.

I like sausage. 

believe it or not that hole in the wall opens up to a street of about 20 restaurants.

Chance my b-ball star.

I have no clue what it says but I think it is sweet.

I love me some Chancelor.

Well folks that's all I got for today.

The biggest news right now is Staci and Andrew will be here in 2 days!

I cannot wait to hug the crap out of her when she gets off that plane:)

peace.

-bb

China

Have you ever met a 9 year old that can speak two languages? It is the most incredible thing. These kids are so smart and so motivated. Their parents care so much about their education and how far they will go in life. Sometimes I feel bad because some of them miss out on being a kid. That is why we try to make our classes fun. We play games, talk a lot and eat lots of candy. I'm sure you are wondering if they are learning...let me tell you. They are! A lot! They are progressing so fast and we can have full conversations with them now:)
Living here has opened my eyes to how big the world is. It is so easy to just live in our own little bubbles and not realize how much more their is to life. Sure, I miss my family more than words can say and sometimes I feel lonely without my friends but this experience is going to shape our future. I know that when we look back on this time in our lives we will be grateful for the courage we had to do it!
It's crazy to think that I would have never met these kids if I would've said no to this opportunity. I'm so glad I said yes. They have made me so excited to one day start a family and to teach my own children. I hope to mix a little bit of China into the way we raise them... give them many opportunities to learn and give them so much love they won't even know what to do with it! I want them to learn more than one language from the beginning. Those immersion programs are awesome!
I'm writing all of this down so I can look back on this when i'm confused about why I am living in China. I want to remember this feeling, this feeling of love and thankfulness. I love our students and I know that we will stay in contact with many of them. Who knows maybe one of them will be an exchange student one day and we can meet again! Life is just that crazy!
From China with love,
-bb

Ni hao! Wo xiang ni!

well thanks to a great friend we finally got a vpn up and running...it's a little slow but it is great to connect with everyone back home again. As I got on facebook and read some of my friends blogs a strange feeling came over me. It was so weird to realize that my life back home was still moving forward but without me in it. I almost felt like I wasn't progressing anymore. It was so wonderful to look at pictures of everyone and to see the smiles on their faces. I loved more than anything seeing the pictures of the new babies that have entered my friends lives and to find out what they named each one of them. It is crazy how many things will change in just 4 months. To all of my wonderful friends back home congratulations on the extending of families and how happy life is! I have never seen more beautiful babies....you people know who you are! (Basically any of my dear friends that have had babies in the last 4 months haha!)
Life in China is still great! The language is coming so fast for Chance and a little slower for me! Since I'm not in a class I have to study and learn on my own and anyone that knows me knows i'm not the most motivated student. We have met many new friends and learned so much about a completely different culture. It has been a humbling experience and I wouldn't change it for the world. We are coming home on July 18th but we have actually decided to do one more semester so we will come back to China on September 10th and stay till December!
The country is bursting with kind and loving people. They have made us feel so welcome in their home and have taught us so much. Yes things are quite a bit different here and not all of the differences are ones that I love but we'll just leave it at that. Both Chance and I are teaching many english classes and we love it. It get's tiring but it is so amazing to watch some progress! Especially a child, their minds are incredible! We have made Changsha our second home and when it comes time to leave for good it will be a sad day.
Right now we are getting a little excited to come home though....getting on facebook and all the blogs makes us miss everyone so much! It's so easy to get caught up in life over here but when I remember all the little things about home I get sad. The biggest thing right now is i'm sick of chinese food haha! The food here really is great but 4 months of it is starting to get to me. I miss Wingers so much and movie theatre popcorn! Mexican is definitely a nightly crave for me....mmm chips and salsa! Okay that's enough.
Well everyone, what I really want to say is thank you. Thanks for being such wonderful friends and family. Love you all:)

we are ALIVE

welcome to Changsha, Hunan.....CHINA!

we love it here and can't believe how quick we are getting used to life here.

we have already done so much, hiking, shopping, visited an orphanage, got a chinese massage and nails, went to karaoke, ice skating, watched the fireworks, went to a movie.....oh and I'm teaching english at a pre-school! I love my life:) 

Blogspot is blocked here in China but my friend

has this thing that gets through the firewall so I can only blog every once in a while so what you are going to get is a lot of pictures and very few words....hope you enjoy! Next time I'll explain a little more about our life!

Miss you all and hope all is well in the states:)

Karaoke

Ice Skating

Chance and Emilio helping two chinese girls stay on there feet...Chance felt so awkward haha

 my boys:) Emilio, Chance and Kev

The Couple Photos

Eric & Sophia, Chance & I, Emilio & Kev haha

The view from our apartment!

 Our favorite restaurant!

 and our favorite waitress! she gave me my chinese name.....Mei Li (which mean beautiful)

She is the cutest lady!

 Her hubby the best cook!

Our city and he is pointing to our apartment!

 The Chinese LOVE foreigners! They will stare at you until you smile then they get so excited and they always want pictures with you! we are local celebrities:)

 we caught these guys taking a picture of us so we took one of them haha

 Here in Changsha the do a firework sure every Saturday night! IT IS INSANE! 

I will never be satisfied by another firework show.

 Oh and you get to let off huge lanterns like on Tangled! it is so beautiful!

 She sold me the lantern:)

 ah stinky tofu. it seriously makes me want to barf.

You can smell it 100 ft away. The people here LOVE it. It is so gross. I can't even bite into it.

Chance almost lost it when he ate some!

The Chinese Toilet aka the hole. gross.

good ole' Ronald McDonald is here in China:)

Chance bought me this rose on the street then we saw this couple in McDonalds so I gave it to the guy to give to his girl....pay it forward my friend:)

Whelp, thats all for now.....and it's not even half of the pictures I've taken...I have a lot of catching up to do! 

with love from China,

-bb