Transition

This week, Teaven and I celebrated our one year anniversary!

I can't believe it's already been a year since that wonderful June day. I've been so blessed to have such a wonderful man by my side and can't wait to spend the rest of forever with him!

Although our actual anniversary was this week, we actually celebrated a couple weeks ago. We went to Seoul to see Wicked, which was SO amazing! If you haven't seen it, go. right now. We also ate some delicious Mexican food (of course!) and just had a great time spending the day together.

In case you didn't know, my entire family is going through a time of transition. My older sister, Carissa,  and brother-in-law, Eric, are visiting Texas this week to spend time with my little sister, and low and behold, he gets an interview for a position in San Antonio! We'll find out at the end of July if they'll be making the big move back to Texas. They've lived in Illinois for the past 10 years, so it will be really nice to only have them 2 hours away from us instead of 14 (well, that is whenever Teaven and I get back to Texas).

I miss these kids.

Speaking of Teaven and I getting back to Texas, I guess it's no secret anymore that we're trying to come home. There's been a lot going on with my family, and we just feel that it's time to head back to good ol' Texas. Eric wasn't the only one with an interview. Teaven and I both interviewed for jobs in central Texas this week. We are trusting God to lead us in the right direction. It would be so exciting for us both to get jobs and be able to move back in a month. However, if we don't get these jobs, we are planning on moving back in March of 2013, which is so far away compared to a month!

So, you can be praying with us as we are trusting God with our future plans. We should be hearing back about the positions sometime next week. 

"We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps." Proverbs 16:9

Nike Women's Race 7k

That's right, ladies and gentlemen, I ran my first race in Korea. I trained for about six weeks with my lovely friend, Jamie, and we made our goal of finishing in under an hour! 55:40, baby!

As I approached the finish line, I was quite pleased to see the clock telling me I was under an hour because I was having my doubtful moments during the run. There were much more uphills than I had planned for while training. Maybe I shouldn't have avoided going uphill during training. hah. But, I will tell you, I am very pleased with myself. In February, I wasn't working out at all. ever. In March, I started Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, and a couple weeks after that we started training for the race. There's a huge difference in my physical endurance between February and now. It's a great feeling.

We felt like cattle for a while. There were so many people crammed together. I told Jamie during the race that if we didn't finish in an hour, I was blaming it on the crowds who were walking.

Finished!

My wonderful husband and awesome supporter.

Overall, it was a great experience. I mean, how many people can say they ran their first race in Korea? I do think it will be a different experience running in America though. There would be Korean women who would sprint for a little bit and then stop to fix their makeup. Ridiculous. haha

Happy Graduation!

Being so far away from family can be really hard sometimes.

Like this weekend.

When my younger sister, Kayla, graduates from high school.

Is this really happening? Wasn't it just yesterday that she was the annoying pre-teen with triangle hair?

I must say, she has grown out of the annoying little sister stage and into a beautiful young woman. She's one of my best friends.

Congratulations, sweet sister! I look forward to making many more memories with you and watching God mold you into the woman you are meant to be!

Fun Things Ahead

It's finally happening. I'm finally working towards a goal I've been dreaming about for a long time. A goal I've been terrified about but secretly longing for. 

That's right. I've entered a 7k race. My friend, Jamie, and I have started training for it, and I'm so thankful I have her doing this with me. You see I have this problem of not believing in myself. But this is the time where I'm working to change that. Already this year, I've accomplished a huge goal that I set for myself over a year ago. I finished Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. It's hard for me to see my progress sometimes when I'm outside running and wind up having to walk because it gets too hard. But when I think that just a couple of months ago, I could barely make it 3 minutes without stopping, I consider this an accomplishment. I need to remember these little "accomplishments" on my way so that I don't become so discouraged with myself. My goal is to run this race without stopping, but even if I do have to walk, I will be content knowing I finished, knowing I've accomplished yet another physical goal. 

In other exciting news, guess what Teaven and I will be doing for our 1st anniversary...

We're going to see Wicked! Teaven's already seen it, but I haven't. We're both super excited about it. Don't worry, it's the Australian tour, so it will be in English. 

See, didn't I tell you our lives would get more exciting once the weather got warmer? So much to look forward to. 

Crazy Times

I realize that I have been horrible at blogging lately. I truly am sorry. But it's been a cold winter.. much colder than I'm used to, and in all honesty, Teaven and I haven't done anything super exciting. Thankfully, the weather is finally starting to get warmer, and I am ready to be able to play outside again.

Thanks to that warmer weather, Sader and I have started running several times a week, and one morning we saw this beautiful view as we walked down a road near our apartment.

We are planning a trip to Cheongju sometime this month. It's a bigger city about an hour away from us. Our friends told us it has an awesome Indian restaurant that we are excited to try! We miss Indian food. 

One exciting thing that happened for me (I say for me because this very same day Teaven had a very awkward and frustrating encounter with our vet.. more on that later) is my trip to Seoul about a month ago. As an early birthday present, I went to Seoul to get my hair dyed. Now, you may ask why I would go all the way to Seoul just for my hair. Well, here in Chungju, it's very difficult to find salons that have real blond hair dye. Most of the time it's more of an orangy color. In fact, there was a high school student who passed Teaven and I on the sidewalk and said "you, me, hair color same" when in all reality it was no where near the same color! So, all that to say I went to Seoul because I researched and found a place that has experience doing hair on foreigners. I had so much fun that day! When I arrived at the bus station, I took the subway to Hongdae, where the hair salon is located. Lucky for me, there was a Taco Bell right down the street, so I ate there for lunch before my appointment. My appointment was great. I felt so pampered. They gave me English magazines to read (such a treat when I haven't read a magazine in 8 months!), and always made sure I was comfortable. Their English was great as well! My hair turned out great. In fact, I believe it's one of the first times that I loved my hair immediately after it as done. Usually, it takes me a couple of days to love it. I will admit, it was pricey, but I loved it. If you ever need your hair done in Seoul, check out Hair and Joy. Afterwards, I went to a mall that Teaven and I really like and bought him video game since he had such a bad day back at home. Then, I headed to the bus station, had KFC for dinner, shopped around a bit, and then had Baskin Robbins before my bus was ready to leave. It was a great day!

Now, on to Teaven's side of the story. I apologize if I get any details wrong. He is much better at telling it than me. A little background first: Teaven and I have been going to a vet not far from our apartment. When we first started going, he did his best to speak English to us. Then, he found out we have someone who can translate for us, and he began to rely on her every time we went to the vet. Well, we decided to get Sader fixed before he gets much older, so we asked the vet for an appointment. We had a holiday on Thursday, so we decided that would be a good day to get it done. We met Mina, our Korean co-teacher at our Hagwon, at the vet, and she was able to tell us everything that was going to happen before she had to leave. What ensued was about 3 hours of craziness. The vet would bring Sader to us each time he got a shot until he finally fell asleep. Then, after the surgery, he called us in to help him as he was finishing everything. This was weird for us, but we dealt with it and finally got to take Sader home. The vet told us to come back the next day for Sader to get some shots. Well, since this was the day I went to Seoul, Teaven had to go by himself. While the vet was trying to communicate something to Teaven that Teaven already knew, three Russian people walked in. The vet was getting frustrated because he didn't think he was being understood, so he went to the Russian people and told them everything, hoping they would be able to tell Teaven. However, these Russians did not speak English, and it was the vet wasn't very smart to assume all white people speak English. They spoke Russian and only one of them spoke Korean. So, Teaven and the Russians both tried to explain to the vet that they did not speak English, but he just was not getting it. After the vet finally gave up, Teaven found his assistant attaching old x-ray film to Sader's cone to make it longer. It's ridiculous to think they thought Sader wouldn't be able to chew the x-ray film off. Obviously, they need to invest in some bigger cones. After Teaven told her to stop, he tried to pay, but they wouldn't give him the medicine. So, he called Mina to tell them to give him the medicine, and the phone conversation turned into a huge yelling match between the vet and Mina. Teaven was finally able to pay and hasn't been back since. lol. I'm sure I left out some details, but as you can imagine, it can be extremely difficult to communicate to people in a different language. It's also a little eye-opening living in this country because we are able to experience a little of what discrimination is like. In America, that would never happen. 

Anyways, that was much more long winded than I expected, but I hope you enjoyed it!

Tagged

I've been tagged. I've seen this two ways, so if you don't have time for the 11 facts, you can just answer the 11 questions.

The Rules

1. You must post the rules.

2. Post 11 fun facts about yourself on the blog post.

3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then 

create 11 new questions to ask the people you've tagged.

4. Tag 4 people and link them on your post

5. Let them know you've tagged them!

11 Fun Facts:

1. I live in Korea.

2. My favorite season is spring, and one of my favorite parts about spring is looking forward to spring break (which I will not be doing this year. i.e. refer to fact 1. lol) But I also love spring because of the fresh air and cool weather. It reminds me how much I love hiking and playing outside.

3. I love playing board games and card games. Seriously, I could play for hours with friends and family. 

My little sister whilst playing some type of board game. lol

4. I love to sing and dance in front of the mirror. It's true. Just ask anyone who's ever lived with me. I don't have any pics of this, but I am sure there are several videos on Facebook. 

5. My favorite playlist on my iPod has the most random mix all the way from Dixie Chicks and Jo Dee Messina to NSYNC and Justin Bieber to Nelly and Chris Brown.

6. I love making my husband laugh.. like really laugh.. where he gets going and has a hard time stopping. Those of you who know him know what I mean. You see, he's the funny one in our marriage and we have different senses of humor, so I get really proud when he thinks I'm funny. :)

7. According to Teaven, I have random accents at random times (but sometimes it's not on purpose.) For example, I just asked him to think of something fun about me, and he asked why. To which I replied, "Because you're me husband." And so, this fact appeared.

8. The older I get, the more I act like my dad. I'm forgetful and make up my own songs. Good thing I love that man!

9. Whenever I watch really good hip-hop dancers, I secretly picture myself getting up and dancing with them. Let me tell you.. that will never happen because I'm a much better dancer in my head than in real life. I'll stick to the mirror, thanks. 

10. I'm great at telling people what to do, but I'm horrible at telling myself what to do (or rather following through with telling myself what to do)

11. One of my goals in life is to visit every national park in the U.S. I just gotta get Teaven on board!

My brother-in-law and niece with me at the Grand Canyon.

Now, 11 questions:1. If you could go on a vacation tomorrow, price not important, where would you go?

Without a doubt, I'd go to Italy. It has always been my dream place to visit. I will get there one day.

2. What ridiculous fashion style have you embraced at one point? (hair style, tube socks, bright eyeshadow... you know there was something!)

When I was in 5th grade, I stole my brother's basketball jerseys and wore them with baggy, black jeans. Oh yeah, I was way cool.

3. Sweet or salty snacks?

It really depends on the moment. Lately, I've been craving sweet things like crazy. I love to bake, and I miss it so much.

4. What was your favorite childhood movie?

Little Rascals. 

5. What is a food you could never give up?

Oh man, this is a tough one. Before I moved to Korea, I would immediately say Mexican food, and while that is probably true, it's not relevant to my current situation. As long as I live in Korea, I will never give up pizza. I love it.

6. Would you prefer to be inside or outside on your day off?

If the weather is sunny and warm, I would rather be outside. It's always around this time of the year when I look forward to going outside the most because the weather is finally warming up.

7. Do you have a favorite verse or Scripture passage?

Joshua 1:9- "Remember that I commanded you to be strong and brave. Do not be afraid because the Lord your god will be with you wherever you go."
8. Do you sing in the shower?

Most of the time. Especially if I have my iPod playing.

9. What is your ideal outfit for a date night?

Jeans and a really cute top. 

10. What are three things you hope to accomplish over the next 10 years?

Pay off all of our student loans, land teaching jobs in America, and travel

11. How have you seen God working in your life this past year?

He is teaching me a lot about my personal spiritual growth. It's hard for Teaven and I to be here without a Christian community around, but I can see that God is teaching us through it. We are learning to trust him more.

People I tag:

Carissa at A Table for Seven

Lauren at Sincerely Yours,

Robyn at Lessons I am Learning

Jill at Lord, Whatever You Ask

My questions for you:

1. What are two TV shows you must watch every week?

2. What is the song/artist most listened to on your iPod?

3. What are the top 3 places on your "must visit" list?

4. What did you want to be when you grew up?

5. What story does your family always tell about you?

6. If you could build your dream vacation house, would it be a mountain house or beach (or other)?

 7. What is the furthest you've ever been from home?

8. Are you a morning person or a night person?

9. Are you a talker or a listener?

10. Are you country or city?

11. What is something that never fails to make you laugh?

2011 Recap

January:

Teaven and I rang in the new year with his mom and step-dad. We went to downtown Oklahoma City, ate at Toby Keith's and watched the ball drop. It was an awesome experience, and I can't wait to do it again!

February:

Not much happened this month, but I did have my last Mother/Daughter weekend at Burt Hall. My lovely mother-in-law was able to join me.

March:

Teaven and I were able to go to Camp Eagle for a service project. It was my first time ever going, and I really loved to see God work in adults and teenagers as they willingly gave their time to serve others. I loved every minute of it and hope to go back someday. At the end of the month, Teaven and I were able to go on our first weekend retreat together with our pre-marital counseling group. It was such a sweet time to learn more about each other and spend time with other Godly couples.

April:

My 21st birthday. My bridal shower. My final RA banquet. Sweet times.

May:

Graduation... finally!

June:

This is the month of months right here. Teaven was able to go with his youth group to Camp Eagle the week before our wedding. I am so happy he was able to do this because it's apparent this is God's calling on his life, and he loved every minute of it. 

Then, of course, you have our wedding, which was freaking amazing!

The end of June was filled with spending as much time as possible with our friends and family, including a trip to Sea World, before our big move.

July:

The big move to South Korea. We packed our bags, said our tearful goodbyes and hopped on a plane, trusting God with every step we took.

August:

Teaven's 23rd birthday. Our first experience at a norabong (singing room). Our first touristy trip to Seoul. A free trip to Japan thanks to us needing to get our work visas. One more stamp on the passport!

The beach in Fukuoka, Japan

September:

Chungju Martial Arts Festival. First Korean baseball game.

Funny that he's wearing the same shirt, but this did not happen on the same day.

October:

Enter Sader, the wonderful new addition to our family. He's hyper and cuddly and we love him so much. Pumpkin carving with our friends, Jamie and Brian. Followed by we a school Halloween party, which was a lot of fun.

November:

Peppero Day! One of the greatest holidays I've celebrated here. lol. 

My first time actually seeing leaves change colors for fall.

And our first Thanksgiving away from our families.

December:

At On the Border after seeing The Nutcracker. Delish.

First time at the ballet.. The Nutcracker. 

Work Christmas party, exchanging secret santa gifts.