tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91493377159712972742024-03-13T06:01:56.146-07:00From Stanwood to SeoulMeet the Carlsons: two teachers who have always wanted to move overseas and teach in a different culture, decided that now (with their four year old daughter and two year old son in tow) was the time to do it. Follow their path from Stanwood, Washington (population 6,000) to Seoul, South Korea (population 10 million).Chelseahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473492522891027172noreply@blogger.comBlogger542125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149337715971297274.post-41319807372462743002016-10-16T09:41:00.004-07:002016-10-16T09:41:58.966-07:00In Texas<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The.most.amazing.thing.just.happened.<br />
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I got caught up. Just for a minute.<br />
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It's the weirdest feeling. In fact, I barely remembered how to load pictures and edit in Lightroom.<br />
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It's been so long since I've used this laptop for anything personal that I seem to have no idea what I'm doing. But nonetheless, here are some pictures.<br />
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Just so you know we're still alive and kicking. In Texas.</div>
Chelseahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473492522891027172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149337715971297274.post-1039943286947575442016-06-17T14:54:00.001-07:002016-06-17T14:54:46.935-07:00366 Project: Week Twenty-Four<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We have been back in the States for a week now, and it has already been a <i>wild</i> ride. Car broke down. Renters won't leave. Baby doesn't sleep. To say we're in survival mode is an understatement. We're trying to figure out how we'll get to Texas in a few short weeks. Where we'll live once we arrive. What (specific) jobs we'll have when we get there. How we'll sell our house. When we'll work on it. When the renters will be ousted by the sheriff. All of this with little sleep and a kid who is struggling with all of the changes in his life. It ain't pretty. Nonetheless, here's a recap...<br />
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162/366: The "luggage shuffle" took us nearly an hour, but we made it to the bus stop with all 12 bags and 4 backpacks with 6 minutes to spare! And except for our grouchy bus driver who assumed we had other options for getting all of our bags to the airport, this was been one of the easiest airport trips ever. Our check-in was easier than ever, and we had plenty of time to run around and get energy out since our flight was delayed an hour. It was a pretty good flight, too, since we took off at bedtime and the kids slept for most of it!<br />
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163/366: Of course, we re-lived the 10th, which meant we had time for dinner with my family before we headed to Eric's mom's on the 11th. The drive was pretty stressful in our car that was barely running and without working phones, but we made it, and we enjoyed the blue skies!<br />
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164/366: Good riddance to this thing. It served its purpose by getting us and all of our stuff around last summer, but now it's time to go.<br />
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165/366: Poor Cade went much of the year with tennis shoes that were falling apart. It was bad. And embarrassing. We were all pretty excited to get the kids some new shoes!<br />
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166/366: This kid is still barely sleeping. Not sleeping by himself. Not napping well. Screaming when we try to put him down. Waking for hours in the middle of the night. So, it's been important to keep him moving outside in the evenings to get him a little closer to a reasonable bedtime. Especially if it means I have to go to bed with him. I'll be glad when this phase is over!<br />
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167/366: Eric, Reece, and I spent a long day driving up north to get Dad's truck so that we have something to drive for awhile. The day was full of <i>extreme </i>ups (a fun lunch and afternoon with Travis and Tasha!) and downs (showing up at our house to discover we're locked out). It ended with a drive (by myself!) under cotton candy clouds that I couldn't keep my eyes off and another night cuddled up with my toddler (who no longer sleeps unless he's touching me). Every day has its challenges, but we survived another one.<br />
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168/366: Thursday morning was spent stressing about my interview, only to find out that they were going to have to re-schedule. As it turned out, I was able to just take a call from the department head while everyone else headed down to Tolmie Beach. It was a good conversation, and now, aside from trying to get rid of the Expedition, we have a couple of days to relax before really getting to work on Monday. So, an afternoon at the beach was the perfect way to unwind. Followed by a growler from the local brewery, of course!<br />
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This week, we're fitting in some family time, as well as getting to work on the outside of the house, so some fun followed by a lot of work! We will certainly appreciate your continued prayers as we deal with everything!</div>
Chelseahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473492522891027172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149337715971297274.post-6129572340282898922016-06-09T05:26:00.001-07:002016-06-09T05:26:54.809-07:00366 Project: Week Twenty-Three<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Okay, this is going to be a short one because, well, in less than 24 hours we will be on a plane...<i>moving</i> to another country. Our passport country, but still. And, I won't get any sleep tomorrow night with a toddler strapped to my chest and two bigger children to deal with, so I need to sleep well tonight!<br />
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155/366: Our end-of-school picnic. Shauna said we should get a picture together, and I'm so glad she did, because she may have been the only person that I took a picture with. Whoops. Best laid plans.<br />
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156/366: A shot of one of the local grocery stores with all of their produce outside on the street. I'm trying to remember the things that seemed strange at the beginning!<br />
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157/366: Day one of Japan! We literally walked right into a parade and festival when we went to find our hotel, so we strolled through that for a few hours before getting dinner at the brewery in the harbor just behind our capsule hotel. Pretty much couldn't have asked for a better day.<br />
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158/366: We packed it in on day two of our #Tokyotripfor2. Starbucks at Shibuya Crossing, Meiji Shrine, sushi and shopping in Harajuku, followed by the Tokyo skyline view and dinner in Shinjuku. Almost 19,000 steps and 9 miles. The girl was passed out by 9:00 again!<br />
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159/366: The day's original plans were thwarted by rain after our trip to Tokyo Tower and Zojoji Temple. We made do with lunch and shopping before heading to the airport for our return trip home. Eventually...maybe...you'll read the details of our trip!<br />
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160/366: The kids got in a few hours with our friends and neighbors at the playground before they left for the airport. It was a heart-wrenching final goodbye for them.<br />
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161/366: We spent our final day in Korea packing, cleaning, shutting off phones, and closing accounts. Then, we spent our evening strolling through our old beloved neighborhood and eating at our favorite Korean restaurant. It's hard to believe that our time in Korea has come to an end. The past five years have been been full of ups and downs, challenges and victories, and have changed us in more ways than we can count. I'm so thankful that God brought us to this place and these people for this time. Tomorrow, we return to 'Murica, and I'm excited and terrified at the same time.</div>
Chelseahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473492522891027172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149337715971297274.post-7184323660090247502016-06-02T04:14:00.001-07:002016-06-02T04:14:19.907-07:00366 Project: Week Twenty-Two<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
There are no words at this point in this particular week. We're all tired. Emotionally and physically. And so...<br />
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148/366: We began (ended?) our week with a little "reunion" dinner with our original <i>Lost </i>group. Remember how we had dinner and watched <i>Lost</i> with this group our first two years here? Well, since then, we've done a terrible job of all getting together at the same time in the same place. They've all been over for dinner a couple of times this year, but we decided we needed to have them all over at the same time one last time.<br />
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149/366: Saturday night was the YISS Mom's annual "goodbye" get-together. It has evolved over the years from coffee shops to brunch to dessert. These evenings are always emotionally draining, but so needed on the road to ending well. I've spent years fearing my time on this "stage" (it's so awkward to sit and cry while a room full of women tell you why they will miss you!), but I survived the spotlight--exhaustaed but relieved. It's so hard to imagine not seeing some of them regularly. Expat bonds run deep, which makes this life a great one but <i>such </i>a hard one come June.<br />
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150/366: Sunday was our last Sunday at church because Kennedy and I will be in Japan this coming Sunday. Again, it's a little awkward because our church has a long tradition of praying for those who are leaving on their last Sunday in Korea. But again, we survived, and then did all of the small talk afterwards at the church picnic. After the picnic, Eric and Cade were off to a goodbye party while Kennedy, Reece, and I headed home and worked on notes for friends. Gah. So many emotions all the time.<br />
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151/366: Monday was Cade's end-of-year class party. As a classroom teacher who enjoys structure and organization, the elementary classroom party drives me mad. So much chaos. So much noise. So many kids with nothing to do. But, I've never been willing to be the one to organize these things, so props to the mom who is. And mad props to the elementary teacher who puts up with it! I was happy to show up late and leave early! (And of course, there's another one coming!)<br />
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152/366: I spent the morning watching Cade receive his Honor Code award and Kennedy play with her classmates at the 3rd grade class party. All while chasing a toddler, of course. Even after spending all morning at school, Reece was a trooper and waited until we got home (actually in the apartment this time, as opposed to the two previous days) to fall asleep in his crib. It was a busy week for him!<br />
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153/366: The last day of school was a roller coaster of emotions: elation at the end of another great school year and the start of summer, broken-hearted as goodbyes began in earnest to classmates and students, and then a whole lot of laughter as we ended the night with dinner and noraebang with great friends. This transition has been so much more physically and emotionally exhausting than I ever could have expected, but I'm so grateful for the fact that it means we've built unforgettable relationships in our time here. Here's to #endingwell and #startingstrong.<br />
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154/366: I feel an obligation to include a shot of Reece because you haven't seen or heard much about him recently. I'm spending the moments that I'm not packing with my pinky in his mouth as those canines make their way through. He has been talking a lot more ("more" being his new favorite), but not eating or sleeping well this week with those teeth bothering him. I had a feeling that they would start to rear their pearly heads just as we started getting ready to board another plane. It just seems to happen that way!<br />
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And now that the obligatory weekly blog post is done, I'm going to relax for a bit before I fall fast asleep because this week has been utterly exhausting and tomorrow is the mother-of-all goodbyes--the last gathering before everyone takes off for the summer--which means a whole lot more tears are coming. </div>
Chelseahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473492522891027172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149337715971297274.post-6017341422665463202016-05-25T22:36:00.002-07:002016-05-25T22:36:37.764-07:00366 Project: Week Twenty-One<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well, I have 10 days until I need to have our entire lives packed into a number (still undetermined, thanks to difficult airlines) of suitcases and bins. We got rid of some big things this week, which helps me feel like I'm making some progress, though I'm not. Today is my first day of the week to actually be home to get some packing done, and here I sit blogging. I'd better get this done, so I can get back to work!<br />
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141/366: Of course I got some shots of the girl actually singing in her concert, but the shots I got of her and her friend, Ella, were way more fun. Our Friday night was a little crazy with Kennedy's concert and the 8th Grade Gala. Our friend got hurt playing basketball, so his whole family was in for the night, and they let us borrow their car to get to school and back. That was a huge help with everything going on, but we were actually pretty lucky because at least our events were on campus and none of us had to spend the night!<br />
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142/366: Kennedy's first swim meet was on Saturday, which meant the two of us spent most of the day there. It was actually a lot of fun, and of course, we were so proud of her! I have lots more pictures to share, so hopefully I'll get around to that at some point.<br />
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143/366: On Sunday, we took our down day seriously. With such a busy week finally behind us, we spent Sunday working on getting some packing done and spending time as a family. The weather was beautiful and the clear skies are greatly missed at this point.<br />
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144/366: Yet another last on Monday, this being one that I'm going to miss more than words can say. The monthly YISS Moms' outings have always been one of my favorites. I've gone through several stages of them over the past 5 years (the '13-'14 school year being the only year I couldn't participate at all). Our first year here, I brought both kids when my school schedule allowed it (rarely). My second year, I just brought Cade, again when my schedule allowed (more frequently). The past two years, I've just had Reece while the older two have been in school, and even though he hasn't always benefited, it's always good for me to get out of the house and hang with other women. The group has morphed significantly over the years, too--different moms and different kids (in fact, only one of these kids was born when we arrived!). I'm not even going to start on how much I've loved doing life with these ladies and their kids, but I will say that it's hard to imagine a future without seeing them on a regular basis.<br />
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145/366: Tuesday was a bit rough. I went on Kennedy's last field trip--it wasn't a great one. The trip to school in the pouring down rain was a little tough once I discovered that there were about 10 other people also waiting for taxis at our intersection. I headed for the bus--which of course was packed--so I arrived at my stop at the same time I was supposed to be in the school lobby. Thankfully, I was only about 5 minutes behind schedule, but then my lunch bag ripped in the middle of the street (a paper Starbucks bag does not make a good lunch bag when it's raining!). A friend was there to help me rescue the contents the first time, but the second time around, I had no help and was walking up a steep hill, so most of my lunch contents were lost down the road. The field trip itself ended up being all in Korean, so I had no idea what was going on most of the time (nor did about half the kids), and Reece was not loving it. In the afternoon, I was home long enough to clean up the house and prep dinner for the babysitter and then I was off to meet Eric for the SIP dinner in Itaewon. Thankfully, the day ended much better than it started, but these were two lasts that I won't miss!<br />
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146/366: Wednesday was much more relaxed as I didn't have to go to school until the afternoon to watch Cade's last swim lesson. He's made such huge leaps in the last two years in the pool. When he started, he would crouch in the corner of the pool, pretty much hating the water. He's not quite swimming across the pool yet, but he's making progress! After swim, I went to my last Zumba class; I'm going to miss looking like a crazy person dancing with those ladies!<br />
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147/366: This week has been kind of depressing, I'll admit. Part of it is bad news from home, part of it is being so close yet still so far away from the end. But, I think a big part of it is this nasty air that we've had. Sure, last week was hot--about 90 degrees every day, but I'll take multiple showers every day over 80 degrees with stagnant hazy air. It's still hot, but now we don't even have cool evening breezes, and if we did, we couldn't open the windows. I'm SO ready to be done with the nasty air!<br />
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And now, I must get back to work! This stuff isn't going to pack itself!</div>
Chelseahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473492522891027172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149337715971297274.post-40656149378458204092016-05-19T03:23:00.006-07:002016-05-19T03:23:59.357-07:00366 Project: Week Twenty<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I think I already mentioned last week that emotions were running high, and I can promise nothing has eased in that department this week. Even Cade cried this week--for the first time admitting that maybe he doesn't want to leave Korea. I had to say goodbye to a good friend on Sunday, and then there was the first of many farewell speeches at the end of Cade's concert on Tuesday that had us all in tears. It feels too early to start this stuff still, but I suppose if we left it all for the last week, then things would be pretty ugly.<br />
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134/366: Friday was a long day because Eric went glamping after school, but it was nice to have clear blue skies, perfect temperatures, and kids in good moods. Kennedy was a huge help--doing both the dinner and breakfast dishes (I did have to redeem a mom's day coupon, but it was worth it!)--and both boys were pretty good, too.<br />
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135/366: Saturday was another big last: the International Bazaar. Full of some of our favorite people and our favorite foods, we are always amazed at the size and intensity of this event. This year, I had a Japanese pancake, an Uzbek stir fry, Turkish ice cream, and a Thai iced tea (but that's only because I refused to have Indian for the 2nd this week--it's usually my go-to!). We are going to miss this!<br />
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136/366: It's a real shocker as to why this place was on Kennedy's #bucketlist. Chocolate chip French toast is always her first choice at Suji's Deli. We had to say goodbye to friends from church who are PCSing, which wasn't much fun, so comfort food seemed like a good idea.<br />
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137/366: I'm going to say that these Cranberry Ginger granola bars were #eatingdown success. They depleted the rolled oats, the flax seed, the crystallized ginger, the almonds, cranberries, and the last sheet of parchment (which may or may not be stuck to the bottom--oops!). It does leave me feeling a little better about my pantry, and they taste good, too!<br />
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138/366: I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the kids' concerts (which is funny because that's what Ms. Weir posted on IG after the concert ended, too!). I hate that we show up 30 minutes early, but immediately upon arrival feel late because the line for seats is out the door. I hate leaving the house feeling like I'm dressed up (appropriately) for the event and then arrive to find every mom dressed in heels and hose. I hate that I'm just proud of myself for getting us all dressed, fed, and out of the house on time, and then walk in the door and remember that every other parent has done those things, AND had time to stop and pick up a bouquet for their little singer. But, then the lights go down, the music starts, the kids file in, they start singing, and I'm in tears because their little voices are just precious and they're the cutest things ever. And this music teacher is one the most amazing teachers our kids have ever been blessed to have. She puts together incredible concerts and has over 150 little 1st and 2nd graders clapping, snapping, and singing in perfect time, and it's so impressive!<br />
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139/366: Matching girls playing at the playground. Mika is in first grade with Cade, but she has a little brother in Kindergarten, so having them as neighbors has made it easy for all of them to play together. They have all grown pretty close this year, and it's going to be tough to tear them apart in about three weeks.<br />
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140/366: Field day! These two were so excited that they picked out all of their blue clothes the night before, and then they were up and out of bed 10 minutes before I normally wake them up. It was a bit hot--a high of 90 (and now, at 7:15, it's only down to 80)--but they still had a lot of fun and managed to come home without a sunburn. They were ready for bed early tonight, though!<br />
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Tomorrow will be pretty crazy with Cade going on his final field trip, Eric going to the 8th Grade Gala, and Kennedy having her concert (at least they're on the same campus!). Saturday, Kennedy has her first swim meet, so we're excited, but it's a long day. Next week might be slightly less busy since we don't have any concerts; we just have other plans every night of the week. This whole "ending well" thing is tough, but it's worth it. And now, I'm going to take advantage of some down time to relax!</div>
Chelseahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473492522891027172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149337715971297274.post-1245337563582351652016-05-16T22:59:00.001-07:002016-05-16T22:59:05.964-07:00Nancy and Michael's Visit<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Do you remember how <a href="http://stanwoodtoseoul.blogspot.kr/2015/05/michael-nancys-visit.html" target="_blank">last year</a>, as soon as Nancy and Michael left everything got really crazy, and it took me until the end of the month to finally post something about their trip? Yeah, I remember that, too. And things haven't really changed this year, except maybe (if it's possible?) we're even busier. Last year, we moved apartments and flew to Jeju for three days. This year, we're moving countries and Kennedy and I are flying to Japan for three days. Apparently, we don't learn our lessons!<br />
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But, I am going to try to get this post done before May 30th, and then it might be quiet again. Except for those weekly posts. I don't think I could ignore those if I tried. (Though I should probably see how I'm doing for this week and get some photos loaded!)<br />
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I spent my morning working on getting myself a little more organized. I've felt like I'm kind of at a standstill...can we live without that pan or pot for three weeks? Can I pack a few more books? Do we really need this many clothes for just three weeks? But, once I booked those tickets to Japan and realized that I need to have all of the bigger suitcases in "final pack" mode before I leave, it became clear that we're just going to have to live without that stuff. If I don't get started now, I'll never finish in time!<br />
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We still have some big jobs to do, and not a lot of free time in which to do them (some of them complicated by the fact that we no longer have a car), so things are a little tense around here. Emotions are high as we think about all of the changes to come and the people and things we're leaving behind. But, we're doing our best to end well.<br />
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This week, we have concerts for both kids, Kennedy's first swim meet, Cade has a field trip, and Eric has the 8th grade gala, as well as the regular stuff like swim lessons and Awana. The kids are really excited about field day on Thursday, too. With any luck, next week won't be quite as busy in the evenings, but it seems unlikely since there are still people we need to schedule final dinners with. We're got to give it our all right now, even though it doesn't always feel like we have much to give.<br />
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Our time with Michael and Nancy was really good, though, and it gave us a chance to get some major things checked off of our bucket lists. They arrived really late on Tuesday night after a delayed flight and an "express" train that blew right by Hannam-yok, making their trip much longer.<br />
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They hit the ground running on Wednesday, though, with Michael getting up early with Eric to go play basketball at school. He and the kids had school that day, and Kennedy had two tests, so we thought it best that they both just go, in spite of our guests. I took them to school in the late morning, and then they visited the kids and hung out with Eric for a bit before taking the "scenic route" home.<br />
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That night, we had big plans to go to the National Museum of Contemporary History for the night view of Gyeongbukgong Palace, so we picked up some Moroccan sandwiches at Casablanca (one of our favorites!) for a quick dinner before our neighbor came down to watch the kids (and by "watch," I mean be in the house with them while they all read or slept!), and then we were off!<br />
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I took my time getting the perfect shot (or the best I could do...I wish I could see some of the shots that the real pros up there were getting...at least I looked the part with my tripod and stuff!), so they had time to peruse the museum for a bit before we headed down to the Cheonggyecheon to see the lanterns that were not yet lit. (<a href="http://stanwoodtoseoul.blogspot.kr/2011/11/seoul-lantern-festival.html" target="_blank">This </a>is what they look like lit up.) Then, we began the trek to find a taxi and eventually made it home.<br />
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On Thursday, the kids were home from school but Eric had to work, so we played lots of cards and had a relaxing morning while Reece got in a 3 1/2 hour nap (because that's what toddlers do when you're all waiting on them to wake up!). Once he woke up, we took the van to school and walked through Itaewon to one of our <i>very </i>favorite restaurants--Petra Palace--for the last time. We had chicken and hummus, lamb and laban, tabbouleh, and of course, naan. The only thing I'm sad we skipped on was the falafel, since there's is delicious, and I probably won't get to go back. Oh boy. Now I'm hungry, and I already ate lunch.<br />
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After we stuffed ourselves with Lebanese food, we headed to a store right across the street that has been on Kennedy's bucket list ever since it opened in November. I have no idea what Line Friends is, and I don't care to put in the effort to Google it, but it is extremely popular among Koreans (what isn't?), and it would seem, 3rd grade girls. The store was not stroller-friendly, nor was the line of Koreans waiting to take their picture with an over-sized stuffed bear, so Reece and I hid in a corner while Nancy and Michael escorted the kids around the store. What a thrill it was!<br />
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By the time we were done, Eric was done with his meetings and he met us as we meandered through alleys on the way back to school. He put sincere effort into finding a restaurant that he went to years ago with friends but hasn't been able to find again since. The upside for us was walking by one of the touted "best coffee" shops in Seoul for a refreshing iced coffee. It was pretty delicious, but no doubt I won't make it back to Peer Coffee, either, in our limited time remaining.</div>
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For dinner, we continued our world food tour with a trip to Busan Galbi (and a return to Itaewon...we got lots of walking in!) for Korean food because no trip to Korea is complete without it! We had both pork and beef galbi, kimchi pancake, and dolsot bibimbap, as well as the many banchan. Probably another last for us as it's not a cheap meal, and we've got money to save (though it is much cheaper now that Reece is a picky eater; he definitely ate more than his fair share the last time we had galbi!).</div>
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Well, I still have tons to do this afternoon in order to get us all bathed, fed, and out the door for Cade's concert tonight, so I'd better get to it. Nancy and Michael still had three more long busy days after this, so I'll have to get back to it another time! I'm off to get Cade from the bus!</div>
Chelseahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473492522891027172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149337715971297274.post-46434723462007685272016-05-12T04:47:00.002-07:002016-05-12T04:47:34.887-07:00366 Project: Week Nineteen<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We had a great visit with Nancy and Michael (lots more pictures to come from that!), and we've hit a few more major milestones in the countdown. We have less than a month to go, so we're shedding stuff like crazy, and life is beginning to feel a little uncomfortable as our ordinary conveniences are passed onto others. Maybe all of this discomfort will help the last month fly by? Hmmm...seems unlikely! I am feeling more and more thankful that I decided to do this project, so that I have the motivation to actually take all of the pictures that can seem silly or mundane, and actually record them here. Sorry if it's a bit boring for y'all!<br />
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127/366: Cheater day. It rained all day, and Kennedy was sick all morning. Eric, Cade, Michael, and Nancy went to the school "picnic" that had to be moved into the cafeteria because of the rain. We had planned to go on an afternoon bike ride after the softball game that usually happens after the picnic. Our plans started a bit off when Kennedy woke up with an earache and ended up throwing up. Then, it rained through the picnic, and we ended up hanging out playing games. Nancy and I headed out in the afternoon to get coffee at Fazenda, but I forgot to take a picture of that, so I'm using the picture I took the day before at Peer Coffee (another bucket list stop for me! It was delicious, but it's expensive and inconvenient, so I doubt I'll make it back.). My one picture from that day is an awkward one of Reece changing that one of the kids took.<br />
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128/366: No danger of a lack of pictures of our trip to Nami Island on Saturday, though. I took pictures all day long on one of my major bucket list trips. Not somewhere I would need to go back to, but at least now I won't wonder whether I missed the most amazing place in Korea!<br />
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129/366: On Sunday, we took off on a Mother's Day hike out in Gwacheon where Eric used to play baseball. Most of our hike was not actually on Gwanaksan, but we had some pretty views of it, nonetheless.<br />
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130/366: I spent Sunday night doing the packing dance, as Michael was taking back three 70 pound bags for us. Thankfully, I had done a lot of prep work and had most of the stuff stashed away already, but there's still that final pack--making sure that everything is full so nothing moves, the breakables are properly packed, and the weight limits have been met but not exceeded. It was quite a show. He took off Monday afternoon, after a quick ride to the airport bus, because it didn't seem fair to make him do the luggage shuffle that we do when it was our bags!</div>
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131/366: It rained most of the morning, so the plants were looking lush with raindrops on them when I went to pick Cade up from the bus stop. I couldn't help but take a picture, and since it was exactly one month from the day we fly out, a quote seemed appropriate. At this point, this is the kind of reminder I need because the alternative is curl up into a ball and cry.<br />
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132/366: We had to get rid of the car this week in order to avoid paying the hefty fees for vehicle inspection and insurance, so Reece and I made (hopefully) our last trip to Emart. Unfortunately, I didn't remember until late in the day that we're probably still going to have to make a trip to iPark to get Kennedy some pants or a skirt for her concert next week. Wish I'd done that before we got rid of the car!</div>
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133/366: And some days, you just gotta have fun. Without a car, our lives will be considerably more homeward bound, but this kid often finds himself needing to get out of the house in the afternoon. So, we walked a few laps around the playground to get in some exercise, and then he took several laps up the stairs and down the slide to get some energy out.</div>
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Tonight, we got rid of another load of stuff for the Seoul Swap on Saturday, so after nearly 10 boxes last weekend, plus three suitcases back to the States, we're feeling like the load is lightened a bit. Most of what we have around now will be either delivered or thrown away in the next couple of weeks as we finally start to figure out suitcases for the final pack. It should be interesting! We have another busy weekend ahead of us with Eric going glamping with friends tomorrow night and the International Bazaar on Saturday. With any luck, we'll have some time to relax on Sunday, because I think we're ready for it!</div>
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Chelseahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473492522891027172noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149337715971297274.post-19109580627567395802016-05-09T20:18:00.003-07:002016-05-09T20:18:19.121-07:00Things We're Going to Miss<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Obviously, I can't write the post of <a href="http://stanwoodtoseoul.blogspot.kr/2016/04/things-were-not-going-to-miss.html" target="_blank">things we're not going to miss</a> without also writing about all of the things we <i>are</i> going to miss. But, the truth is that this one is a lot harder to write. This one will bring all of the emotions to the surface, whereas the list of what we're not going to miss just makes it that much easier to throw things into boxes and suitcases. We have exactly one month left here, and it is going to be an emotional roller coaster for all of us. Since I like to generally be emotionally stable, I'm really not looking forward to it, but I guess I may as well get started...<br />
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1. Ynot food delivery: Let's start things off on a lighter note, okay? A couple of years ago Ynot? entered into business--the only English-speaking food delivery company in Seoul at the time. It took me a really long time to try it, because, why? I could walk anywhere I wanted to, to get nearly any kind of food I wanted, and if I didn't want to walk, I would send Eric. (Because he's good like that!) Then, one night, Eric was gone, I was vastly pregnant, and the big kids and I needed food. Enter Ynot. And it hasn't left our lives since. It's actually been huge for us since we've moved neighborhoods and not everything is within walking distance anymore. With Reece, we tend to eat in a lot more often, and Ynot is really handy when we don't have time to cook or go out and get food.<br />
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2. Food from all over the world: While I do not love city life, I do <i>love</i> having access to food from nearly anywhere in the world. Let's just see how many I can think of...Korean (see #3), Japanese, American, Canadian (yup, it's a thing), Mexican, Italian, Turkish, Greek, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Filipino, Indonesian, Moroccan, Lebanese, Russian, Australian, Bulgarian. That's all I can come up with off the top of my head. Obviously, some of these we enjoyed even in little 'ole Stanwood, and we definitely have favorite restaurants in the States, too, but I'm really going to miss some of these. Especially Turkish and Lebanese. I think I could eat it every day.<br />
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3. Korean food: Let's just continue the food theme, shall we? Korean BBQ, japchae, bulgogi, and sticky rice have definitely become staples for us. Even dongkatsu. It's not one of my favorites, but we'll miss it. The banchan. The kimchi pancakes. The kim. The bibimbap. Even the sweet and spicy friend chicken.mThere are still so many things that we haven't even tried yet; it's shameful. Word on the street is that there is a Koreatown not too far from where we'll be living, and the kids are already excited to go check it out.<br />
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4. No tipping: Okay, this is just one of these convenience things that we don't think about anymore (well, unless we're just about to head back to the States). Years ago, I used to be really bothered by Korea's definition of restaurant service, but now it feels normal, and I appreciate that they just leave you alone unless you need something. Because they generally leave you alone, there's no need to tip for good (or bad) service. And I kinda like it. (I've clearly never worked in the service industry, so please don't stone me!)<br />
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5. Free entertainment: The parks, the museums, the palaces...so many of these spots are free (or really cheap) that I am now at a place where I feel like we spend more when we get to the States. Sure, we might have to pay a little to park at some of these places, but I feel like so many parks and trailheads charge in Washington now that we can barely leave the house without having to fork out some cash just to get outside.<br />
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6. Public transportation: There are some obvious downsides to relying solely on public transportation, but having a car and being able to use public transportation when you want? That's the best of both worlds. I'm going to miss the convenience of buses, taxis, and subways when I want them. Whether it's because there's nowhere to park, traffic is terrible, or just because we don't have two cars, it's pretty handy to have alternate choices. School-provided transportation to and from school every day for teachers is also a perk that we have benefited from for the past (almost) five years.<br />
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7. Convenience: Everything is literally minutes away. Having grown up in the country and always feeling like it took 15 minutes to get anywhere, this was big for me. The stuff dreams are made of! And it has been so nice to be close to the school, the grocery store, our neighbors' houses, and church (though we do have to drive there now as opposed to the 10 minute walk we had before). We have many friends' houses who live within walking distance (and great neighbors!). We can walk to the nearest store for milk and be back within 10 minutes. When it's raining, snowing, or just frigid, I can go down to the car, drive to the parking garage at E-Mart, and never even go outside! It's about a 10 minute drive to school, but only because of the traffic. It takes us less than 10 minutes to walk down to the bus stops, even the airport bus is so convenient! (Thankfully, since we are going to have innumerable bags when we leave here!) Biking from our front door and down to the "trail" on the Han River is really convenient, too. Obviously, the huge hills are a pain, but it's nice to not have to load a bunch of bikes and the trailer into a car just to go for a ride. While I'm definitely looking forward to country life again, I'm going to miss the convenience of city life. A little story for you...<br />
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A few weeks ago one of the nuts fell off of our stroller, causing it to crumple (with Reece still in it!) in the middle of the street. (The actual experience--Eric hauling bags of food to bring to pass out to the homeless at Seoul Station, along with the two big kids and two others from church--was a major pain. All you can think at that moment is why can't we just drive?! Park, pass out food, and drive home. Seems simple enough. But no, they take the bus or the subway and it's kind of an ordeal. Luckily, I showed up just in time (returning from my retreat via subway and a long walk) to take Reece home in the car, and they were able to continue on without the broken stroller!) Anyway, the point is that the broken stroller only needed a new nut, and after a quick drive over to our old neighborhood (because I knew exactly where the store was), I parked right on the sidewalk outside of the "store," left the kids in the car (I was never more than 5 feet away from them, but it wouldn't have mattered here anyway), grabbed the stroller and went inside. The man who owns and runs the shop found the nut within about 5 seconds and sent me on my way free of charge.<br />
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8. Seasons: By this point, no doubt, you've noticed the cherry blossom pictures in this post. In spite of the fact that my pictures do look pretty much the same as every other year, I did have to go out and document them in our last year, or #thefinalseason as I've been hashtagging (is that a word?) on Instagram. One of my favorite parts of living here has been the four distinct seasons. Unfortunately, winter and summer are definitely the longest seasons, and obviously the most extreme. Fall and spring are perfect, so they don't last long enough! The weather is a mild mid-70s for October and November, as well as April and May. In the fall, we get real fall leaves (everywhere!), and in the spring, we get all of the beautiful flowers. I'm going to miss that!<br />
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9. Exploring: With life in the city and a new culture, there is <i>always </i>something to explore. We do go back to our favorite places, but if we wanted to, we could probably go somewhere new every single weekend. Baseball games, palaces, plays, museums, parks, street food, shopping, traditional markets, amusement parks, mosques, churches...all of this is a subway, bus, or car ride away. I couldn't even name all of the places that we have explored and loved here! Years ago, I wrote <a href="http://stanwoodtoseoul.blogspot.kr/2011/12/where-should-i-visit-in-seoul.html" target="_blank">this post</a> about where to visit in Seoul, and it seems so naive now because we'd been in the country for such a short time. I recently read this quote, and it is oh-so-true: "Spend a day in a country and you can write a book. Spend a week, you can write an article. Spend a lifetime, you can hardly write a sentence." It puts things in perspective for me.<br />
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10. Community: The built in community that comes from working at YISS is the number one thing that we will miss when we leave here. Obviously, we've made wonderful friends--some that we will see again and some that we won't, but being plopped into this amazing community on day one is something that I had never experienced before in the same way, and something that I don't think any of else will forget. When you move overseas, you leave your entire family, all of your friends, and a life that you will never regain behind. That alone creates a sense of comradery that is nearly unmatched, but when you realize that your friends and co-workers must become your family, it helps to change your perspective on those people around you. Little things that could become annoying have to be overlooked. The fact is that you can either choose to love those you're with or you can choose to be alone, and alone is not a good way to go when you've been plopped into a new country and culture. Without a doubt, we will miss both the YISS community and the community that comes from being an expat.</div>
Chelseahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473492522891027172noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149337715971297274.post-88460548320574068682016-05-05T21:40:00.001-07:002016-05-05T21:40:57.149-07:00366 Project: Week Eighteen<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's crazy that we can continue to have lasts every single week. Do we even do that many different things? That we can do them all for the last time? I dunno. Our major last for this week is having our last visitors. It's definitely all down hill from here with just over a month left to go!<br />
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119/366: This guy. He's had a cold this week, and he's been a little cranky at times. He actually really enjoyed this morning bath (it's rare that he gets the bath all to himself!), but in the time it took me to grab my camera, his 'tude changed, and this is what I ended up with.<br />
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120/366: The big kids and I spent Saturday at the end of the soccer tournament (a torturous game to watch that ended in a loss after overtime and a shootout). Since we didn't stick around to watch the awards, I ended up with pictures of the azaleas at school. I have enough pictures of those soccer players, anyway.<br />
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121/366: Eric and the kids did their last homeless ministry while Crankypants and I headed home for a nap. On their way home, they picked up some flowers for me for May Day.<br />
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122/366: Reece and I did some cleaning up in preparation for Michael and Nancy's arrival. This is his version of cleaning up. Haha. Most of these are toys that we will be passing onto friends in the next couple of weeks, but capturing a shot of them made me feel a little better.<br />
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123/366: On Tuesday, Michael and Nancy arrived, but it was pretty late. Reece and I headed to Emart in the morning to pick up a few necessities. I felt a sudden compulsion to capture the "packaging station" at the store. These little stations used to make me sweat when we first arrived. They're usually pretty busy, and the idea of putting together a cardboard box and loading all of my groceries into it, and then finding a taxi (or getting on the bus) with two little kids was just too much once upon a time. Thankfully, it's just part of the routine now.<br />
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124/366: One of my bucket list items has been to visit the National Museum of Contemporary Korean History because it has the longest museum name known to man. Haha. No, I've just always wanted to take a night view shot of one of the palaces (or gates as they're called) , and this museum provides a rooftop view of one of the biggest palaces. I figured that with Nancy and Michael here, it would be a good chance to go check it out. It's definitely one of those touristy-worth-seeing things, but it's got the I'm-here-with-a-local feeling. I was up there for awhile trying to get everything just right--light streaks from the moving cars as well as the colors in the sky and the lit palace--so they had some time to peruse the museum for a bit, as well.<br />
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125/366: We've been taking them on the world food tour, which basically means all of my favorite restaurants that we get to go to one last time before we leave. And, of course, no world food tour in Korea would be complete without galbi and bibimbap!<br />
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Kennedy woke up sick this morning with an earache and ended up throwing up, so we're sitting here relaxing while Reece naps and Eric, Cade, Michael, and Nancy headed to school for the annual staff picnic. They also loaded up the school van with boxes and plants and drying racks to get rid of at the school rummage swap, so I'm feeling a little better about the amount of stuff around here. But, I'm starving and looking forward to their return, so I can finally celebrate Cinco de Mayo (one of my fave holidays) on May 6 with a little On the Border! (Look at us hitting another country on our world food tour!)</div>
Chelseahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473492522891027172noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149337715971297274.post-84663472555860397012016-04-30T22:11:00.001-07:002016-04-30T22:11:35.802-07:00Reece 15-18 Months<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's been awhile since the last official Reece update, and I think <i>all of the changes</i> have happened in the past three months. Haha. Okay, he couldn't possibly have changed as much in the past three months as he did in his first year, but it feels like we've turned a corner. For real.<br />
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This kid finally sleeps well--through the night, every night! (Strangely, I'm not even scared to type that...) He's now met so many of the milestones that I had been waiting for, that I'm kind of thinking he could just stop getting any bigger now. He walks everywhere now--remember how long I've been waiting for him to be able to walk from the car to the elevator? He's been doing it for a couple of months now, and it's just as great as I thought it would be! In spite of the fact that he can walk everywhere, he's also still pretty chill and will hang out in the stroller just watching whenever I want or need him to, which is really handy when there are two soccer games in one afternoon.<br />
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It's fun to look back at these pictures from over the course of the last three months and see how much he's grown. His hair is getting long and has to be swept out of his eyes several times a day. Eric says it's time for a haircut, but I'm not convinced. It only bothers Reece when the wind is blowing and his hair is flying everywhere. He'll put his hands on his head to hold it down and whine because he can't hold it all at the same time. So funny!<br />
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He talks all the time, though most of the time we're not sure what he's saying. He has a distinct toddler vocabulary, though, including: thank you (sounds like dank do), hi (with lots and lots of iiiis usually), hello, wow, ow, muah (kissing), all done, bye, uh uh, there it is, 1, 2, 3, Gooooo! and the end. Some of those are more clear than others. You know, it takes a mom's ear.<br />
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Last night was probably the first time I'd heard him cry in the middle of the night since we returned from Guam. We're all sick with colds again, plus we took him to a friend's for dinner last night and kept him up about two hours past his bedtime, so I wouldn't say I was surprised he didn't sleep well. Typically, I would say that he sleeps about 11 hours--from about 7pm to 6am-ish. But, he usually goes down about 6:45 and gets up about 6:45-7, so I'll take it. As long as he's in his crib for about 12 hours, I'm happy. (And so is he.) <br />
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I think it was probably sometime in February that we officially switched him to one nap per day, starting early, and planning to move it closer to the afternoon. Afternoon naptimes just haven't been in the cards for us, though, and he's been pretty content to go down around 11ish. He will usually sleep about 2-3 hours, with 2 1/2 being the norm, and I'm pretty content with it now, though it did take some getting used to. I will say that on Friday, I needed to be at school by 12:30, and he was happy to sleep from 10-12, and even survived the long afternoon. On Sundays, he can't nap until after church, though, so he always falls asleep in the car on the way home. Ugh.<br />
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The one and only negative turn that we've had in the past three months is that his once semi-picky palate has now turned into an extremely picky palate. The kid doesn't eat anything anymore, it seems. Cheese, yogurt, and crackers. He still drinks plenty of milk. Some days he'll eat carrots or cucumbers. He still likes most fruit, but not all. From time to time, he'll squish a tomato in his mouth. Maybe an olive here or there. He's hard to predict. Thankfully, we picked up lots of veggie pouches in Guam, and he'll usually eat those when we're out and about (which is a lot these days!). If I'm lucky, I can mix some fruit and veggies in with oatmeal in the morning, but overall, I just try to remember what Gigi says: He won't starve himself, so don't stress about it.<br />
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With the last cold and the trip to Guam, came Reece's first set of molars, and we've enjoyed the reprieve from teething for the past couple of weeks. The canines should be coming in any time now, and then hopefully we'll have another break before the last set of molars come in (with any luck we won't notice those?).<br />
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Generally, he's in a pretty good mood, so I wouldn't mind being through the whole teething stage. He has started to get a little shy and sensitive around strangers, but it can be hard to predict. The last time we dropped him off at the church nursery, he was really upset, but today wasn't as bad. Last night, he only scowled at "Aunt" Shelli (a friend who is on Eric's 8th grade team), but last week he walked to her with open arms. All this to say, it's hard to predict what his reaction will be when we get home in six(!) short weeks, so don't take offense if he takes his time to warm up, but don't be surprised if he doesn't, either.<br />
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All in all, he's a whole lot of fun these days. He walks, "runs" and dances, climbs stairs, and goes down the slide. He loves to read books--almost as much as his big sibs--play peek-a-boo, and get tickled. He has a contagious little laugh that takes his whole body. He's pretty easily entertained (I think a stack of post-its can keep him busy for an hour), fairly predictable in terms of needs (food, sleep, or stimulation), and a great flyer. The tantrums he got into a few months ago have eased for the most part (though it is funny how he wants to do the full-on toddler-lay-on-the-floor-banging-my-head tantrum, but realizes it will hurt so he just pretends to!), and he's generally a pretty happy kid.<br />
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At this point, with the biggest transition/upset to routine just about six weeks away, I can only pray that we don't ruin the spirit of this kid. Because, to be honest, none of us knows what to expect.<br />
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He's about to move into his third home (and when I say "about to," I mean three months-give or take) and second country in less than two years. This may be the last time that he ever lives in the country in which he was born--how many of us can say that? And, in three months, he'll be immersed in another culture, community, and lifestyle that none of us are really prepared for. Pray for us, will ya? </div>
Chelseahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473492522891027172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149337715971297274.post-90515120225841005512016-04-27T23:01:00.001-07:002016-04-27T23:01:03.079-07:00366 Project: Week Seventeen<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Week seventeen of fifty-two? Are you fo' real? I've barely even made a dent in this thing! Although, I will say that it's a whole lot easier to remember to take a photo now, at the end of April, than it was a couple of months ago. Unfortunately, though, this week there are a whole lot of iPhone snaps. Whatyagonnado? The best camera is the one you have with you, and while I thought about bringing the big camera a couple of times this week, I probably wouldn't have used it anyway. The iPhone is the more inconspicuous way to go.<br />
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113/366: When it comes to an inconspicuous shutter noise, the big camera is the way to go since you can't silence the shutter on a Korean iPhone. Nonetheless, the minute he heard the camera, the quiet, peaceful moment was over. He was done reading and off to get himself into more trouble!<br />
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114/366: We spent Saturday morning at the Awana games on base. Cade wasn't sure that he wanted to go; he was afraid all of that running would make his tooth hurt, but five minutes into it, he'd forgotten all about that tooth!<br />
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115/366: Sunday night, we had dinner on a friend's rooftop to celebrate another friend's birthday. As always, we were the only ones who brought kids, but our kids like to mix it up with the adults. It was a beautiful night for a dance party on the rooftop! (photo cred goes to Eric; apparently he's wanting the recognition now!)<br />
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116/366: On Monday, I was all about the "eating down," so I made a vegetable barley stew (which only made a slight dent in the barley and cost a lot in vegetables = eating down failure), so I also made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (made a good dent in the oatmeal and the chocolate chips = eating down success!).<br />
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117/366: We had friends over for dinner on Tuesday night, which was a ton of fun because they're hilarious, but with a baby and two toddlers (plus the big kids), it's always a little crazy. I remembered to load them up with LOTS of things they may or may not need, but I did not remember to take a picture. I did, however, remember to take a picture of the glorious spring day we were having on my walk to the grocery store. It was 85 on Tuesday! Woot!<br />
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118/366: Because we've lived in this neighborhood and complex for such a short time, I'm finding myself putting in some effort to document it. That's the side view of our building.<br />
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119/366: On Thursday, Reece and I took what I hope will be our last trip to the hospital here. He needed one last vaccination before we leave (since I opted out of the Japanese Encephalitis vaccine). Actually his next vaccine is due the day we fly out, so that's convenient, right? Anyway, I have hated nearly every trip to this hospital, because even after all of this time, it just doesn't all make sense to me. Why can't my baby and I just stay put and have everyone come to me like I'm used to, instead of us running around, forgetting where to go and in what order to do everything? Yet strangely, as I left today with official immunization records in hand, I found myself getting a little misty-eyed leaving the hospital where my baby was born, never to return again. Explain that one to me, will ya? <br />
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This weekend, we'll be heading to KAIAC soccer games, as our school is hosting the girls' soccer tournament, and my friend that I used to coach with is in town. We'll also be going to a middle school dinner, doing homeless ministry on Sunday and trying to get the house cleaned up and cleaned out for Nancy and Michael to get here on Wednesday and the school rummage swap on Friday. Things will no doubt be a little quieter here next week with company in town, but I'm going to try and get Reece's 15-18 month post done before that completely escapes me as we enter Crazy Town (otherwise known as May!). Hope y'all are having a great week!</div>
Chelseahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473492522891027172noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149337715971297274.post-25779518082638179392016-04-25T22:36:00.003-07:002016-04-25T22:36:19.540-07:00Things We're Not Going to Miss<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So, at this point in the year, with roughly six weeks left here in Korea, it's safe to say that emotions are running high. Kennedy had many, many breakdowns over the weekend--some more easily explained than others--and as Eric and I watched the calendar fill up, it got real for us, too. Suddenly, I feel like every conversation is more nostalgic than the last. Everything has a bit more of a "last" feeling than it did a month ago. One day it feels like six weeks will fly by in a blink, and the next day it feels like time is standing still. Of course, we all feel like this at some point, but this year it feels like it's on a grand scale. And so, it felt like it was time to put together a little post on some of the things from this life that we're not going to miss...(in no particular order)<br />
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1. Apartment life: there is no getting around it. We do not love apartment life. And to be honest, we've had it pretty good. We lived for four years on the first floor--praise God! Because the last year of living with upstairs and downstairs neighbors? It hasn't helped my graying hair any. Trying to keep the kids semi-quiet in the mornings is torture. Listening to construction, and couples fighting, and kids screaming at all hours from upstairs is miserable. Just as we make our downstairs neighbors miserable (minus the construction). The in-apartment announcements are more rare in this complex, thankfully, but they still wake Reece up every time they happen, and since I can't understand what's being said anyway, it's just annoying. Having to go up ten flights every time you need to get something out of the car can be infuriating. When you forget something minor, trust me, you just leave it.<br />
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2. Cars and driving: I could probably break this up into about four categories of their own, but instead I'll just make it one long one. I'm so sick of incredibly tiny parking spaces and not being able to open car doors. I go out of my way to find spots where we can open the doors on the driver's side (and therefore Reece's car seat is on that side, too), only to get out and discover that there's a post blocking Reece's door! Agh! Parking lots in general are annoying because whatever the floor is coated in, makes for extremely loud noises when cars are backing in to spaces (because that's what you do--always); it's just one of those noises that grates on your nerves. Secondly, The fact that streets are intended to be two way, but they are lined with parked cars on either side, leaving space for only one direction of traffic are infuriating! The way I weave in and out of parked cars is enough to make me carsick! And then there are the intersections with no rules. What would be a four way stop in the States is just an intersection with no stop signs. You just inch forward until there's space to make a break for it. And if you don't do it quickly enough? You'll get honked at, of course. Whatever you do--don't yield! Lastly, there are the motorcycles that use sidewalks as a street, and the cars parked on the sidewalks, so that there isn't room for any pedestrians at all, let alone those pushing a stroller!<br />
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3. Air quality: I gripe about this one all.the.time, so I won't go into it, but I'm really excited to live in a place where I don't have to check the air quality before sending the kids outside, opening a window, or figuring out our plans for the day. Sure, weather affects all of those things, but I'm pretty accepting of that. What I can't stand is when you have the perfect weather (for whatever activity you're hoping for--namely biking at this point), and have to alter your plans because it's not healthy to be doing any sort of athletic activity outside. Yuck.</div>
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4. The smells: I'm pretty sure this one pertains to any foreign place you visit; they're just not the smells you're used to. Here, it tends to smell like sewage from time to time (where I grew up, it smelled like manure quite often!), garbage is another regular smell (see #6), and another one of the perks of apartment life is smelling what everyone else is cooking. So I could be baking cookies, but the neighbor is caramelizing onions. There are several Indian families who live here, and if you're not already aware, Indian food has a strong smell! (Though I'll admit it comes from our place about once a month, too.) Koreans smell like kimchi, cigarette smoke, or perfume (which seems to always be flowery--not one of my favorites), and so the elevator often smells like one of those or all of them, combined with some food garbage. Lovely. (ps: Koreans think Americans smell like butter and cheese--and apparently that's a problem for them! Can you imagine?)<br />
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5. City noise: Another given. And also not exclusive to Korea, of course, but I am just so sick of living in the city and being overstimulated by noise noise noise all the time. Sirens, honking, traffic, singing, music, dogs barking, babies crying, noise in the hallways, the noise from the elevator/stairwell (though it's a million times better in this apartment!), neighbors arguing. Give me all the cows and chickens. I'm so done with city life!<br />
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6. Garbage: This is one of those things that we've gotten used to, but we definitely won't miss! All of the trash sorting, the special garbage bags, having a closet full of recycle (at least you can't see through the doors in this apartment)...we are not going to miss this! Give me a garbage can and a garage (of my own), please! The lack of garbage cans in public--so I feel like I'm always holding onto some piece of trash, or more likely, throwing it in the diaper bag. I won't miss that! In fact, it was one of the <a href="http://stanwoodtoseoul.blogspot.kr/2011/07/whats-difference.html" target="_blank">first things I wrote about</a> when we got here. (Remember when my posts had no pictures? Sad.)<br />
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7. Messy closets: Okay. I'll admit this one is really stupid. But I'm so sick of Korean closets. There are no shelves (though again, our new apartment is vastly superior to the last in the area of closets!), and they're usually not built in. So, Kennedy has this huge wardrobe with one shelf. Our closets are a mess all the time! We've tried various ways to organize them (especially Kennedy's), but nothing works very well for long. I just can't wait for normal bedroom furniture!<br />
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8. Celebrity status: The good news is that as the kids have aged, this has become less and less of a problem. The bad news is we had another kid just as the big kids were outgrowing this. I will say that no one has handed Reece hard candy yet (knock on wood), and no one has taken their picture with him yet. Everyone still comments on how cute he is and they do like to touch him, but he's cute in any country, right?<br />
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9. Spitting, coughing, and chewing: I really probably shouldn't comment on this one. Actually, I probably shouldn't put it out there at all because it's a cultural thing, and it's their thing, and who am I to say there's something wrong with it? Yet, here I go. It just grosses me out. Koreans show their appreciation for and enjoyment of food by chewing it loudly, slurping it loudly, just plain eating loudly. It's such a part of their culture that you'll even see it on Korean dramas. It's just what they do. And it also translates to gum chewing--loud, smacky, bubbly. It gives me the chills just to think about it. I have (an older adult) friend who admitted that if her taxi driver is smacking his gum, she'll pay the 3,000 won (about 3 dollars) and get out of the cab and wait for another one because she hates it so much! And she's cheap! Spitting is also a constant among Korean men, and it's disgusting.<br />
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10. Grocery shopping: This is another one that we have just gotten used to over the course of the last five years, but I'm still not going to miss grocery shopping here. Whether it's Costco (still stressful!), E-Mart (just inconvenient), or the neighborhood store (that never has everything you need and always includes a walk uphill both ways), I'm just not going to miss it. There's always this mental battle--can I get everything I need and still be able to carry it all home? What are the rules for buying produce? What needs a sticker and what doesn't? What day/time is it? How packed is the store going to be? Do they have the international ingredients I need? Do they have the kinds of milk I need? Just this past Sunday, I drove to two different stores that were both closed before finding one that was open, but they didn't have everything I needed, and I had to park a ways away and juggle heavy bags. Nope. Not gonna miss it.<br />
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I don't really know whether or not writing out this kind of stuff is healthy at this point. As much as I have been reading about repatriation, I am confident that I'm not doing all of the prep work "right"; we're still going to have a mess of a family to put back together in the coming year. But, I know that this <a href="http://www.myblending.com/15-things-koreans-do-that-shock-foreigners/" target="_blank">article </a>cracked me up (as poorly as it was written...poor guy writing in a second language), and I know that there are going to be days when it seemed like life in Korea was easy--way easier than life in Texas is at the moment--and I'm going to need things like this to look back on. I'm going to need that validation that life was not always easy here, just as life will not always be easy there. Life just isn't easy. Anywhere. But, boy, the grass is always greener, isn't it?<br />
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(I thought these pictures of the beautiful sunset in Guam might calm me as I wrote all of this out, but it didn't really work. Or maybe it's the yelling and honking outside the window. Maybe they'll calm me when I look back on this six months from now!)</div>
Chelseahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473492522891027172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149337715971297274.post-71052618705449570852016-04-21T03:44:00.001-07:002016-04-21T03:44:03.848-07:00366 Project: Week Sixteen<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The crazy train has arrived, people. I was just glancing through the calendar and realized that we have plans every weekend until we leave. I suppose that shouldn't surprise me...this isn't my first rodeo. (Don't tell my students about all the cliches, okay?) That's just how life is this time of year, and I'm sure that it isn't unique to us. It's just kind of surprising how quickly it sneaks up on me. One minute, we're filling in the calendar with dinners with friends, and the next minute we're booked six weeks out, and we still have plenty of things to fill in. Whoops.<br />
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106/366: Friday was a professional development day, so the kids were home. They had been talking about having a picnic with our friends/neighbors for months, and they were finally able to pull it off. It was a perfect day for it, too!<br />
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107/366: Saturday was the senior game for soccer, the final sports season. I started coaching these girls in the fall of our first year; it's bittersweet seeing them as seniors!<br />
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108/366: The third grade held a market day on Monday, so Kennedy and I spent Sunday afternoon making popcorn and packaging it in cute little bags to sell to her friends with their "3D bucks," We made pumpkin spice and buttered, and they were delicious! It was a fun little activity with my girl!<br />
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109/366: The benefits of what a friend calls "eating down" (when you stop buying groceries and instead come up with crazy meals to finish everything left in the fridge and cupboards), are making things like cookies. We had a last 1/2 cup of shortening and an unopened bag of Hershey Kisses, so Peanut Blossoms were the obvious choice!<br />
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110/366: This kid continues to floor me. I was blown away by him as he read his book to me on Tuesday. First, he explained how he was able to identify the main character because he changes, and then he pointed out the repeated phrase in the book and how it was used in different contexts. Lest you forget that he's a #firstgrade boy, he chose to read to me from the top of the dryer, of course.<br />
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111/366: Lilacs are in bloom, and I couldn't pass up a chance to take pictures of another flower!<br />
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112/366: We'll call this #wheninTexas. A friend from church heard we are moving to Texas, so he brought this bolo tie for Cade. The best part is that he wore it to school on Monday (all day!) with his school polo. That kid.<br />
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Four out of seven taken with the big camera--it's been a while since I've managed that! Nonetheless, I still haven't edited anything on the computer...I'm really going to have some catching up to do to get the collage done. But now, it's time to rest before we head into a busy weekend!</div>
Chelseahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473492522891027172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149337715971297274.post-83088674903905324102016-04-18T22:12:00.000-07:002016-04-18T22:12:02.839-07:00Then We Came Back from Guam<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Our second full day in Guam was a little more slow to start (not because the kids slept in or anything!) because the weather was good, so the kids were pretty content to hang out at the pool as long as we would let them!<br />
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(I had to document how funny our room setup was...Both rooms had two beds that were bigger than twins but not as big as full. They were great for the kids, but Eric felt the need to push ours together. The crib that finally showed up for our last night was to the right, basically at the foot of our bed, and it wasn't a pack'n'play, but a full size crib. Bigger than the one we have here in Korea! I took pictures of Reece's previous makeshift bed, too, but I must not have edited them...)<br />
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After we all spent several hours in the pool, it was time to head back to the room for lunch and Reece's nap.<br />
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And, then the kids and I headed back to the pool. Because we were in Guam. It's what you do. It's what you should do.<br />
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After we came back, then Eric headed back out with the kids because Reece was still asleep. Probably not the smartest thing in terms of sun exposure, but what can you do? We were in Guam.<br />
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After Reece woke up, we got cleaned up, picked up some snacks, and then hit the road, heading north this time.<br />
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We first made a stop in Tumon to find the Guam Coffee Company that I had seen our first night when we were looking for somewhere to eat dinner. I had originally wanted another Starbucks mug to add to my collection, but when I tried looking up directions, I found there are no Starbucks on Guam. They're afraid that they would shut down the little coffee shops, so I was on the lookout for a little coffee shop. It turned out that it really was little, and there is only one location of Guam Coffee Company. After driving both directions down the road, I was ready to give up and move on, when Cade spotted it for me. I was so proud of him! My new mug doesn't exactly fit in with my existing collection, but it does have a story to tell!<br />
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We drove up to <a href="http://www.twoloverspoint.com/legend.htm" target="_blank">Two Lover's Point</a> to see what could be seen. It's a big tourist spot with a kind of "Romeo and Juliet" love story, a legend of the Chamorro people, natives of Guam. It was very popular with the Koreans!<br />
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There were even walls of locks that reminded us of <a href="http://stanwoodtoseoul.blogspot.kr/2012/01/destination-seoul-tower.html" target="_blank">Seoul Tower</a>; we felt right at home!<br />
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Eric really wanted everyone to stand and pose for the camera...<br />
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And it worked out so well! haha!<br />
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After Two Lover's Point, we headed for dinner at the restaurant that we looked for the first night but were unable to. We had driven right by it a couple of times. Whoops.<br />
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<a href="http://mesklados.com/menu-category/meskla-dos-menu/" target="_blank">Meskla Dos</a> is a Chamorro fusion restaurant that has big, unique burgers, as well as some of the more traditional Chamorro foods. So, Eric, of course had a burger. The french toast slammer. A hamburger patty between two giant slices of french toast and topped with a fried egg. Served with a side of maple syrup and garlic aioli. Of course.<br />
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I had the tasakos (Chamorro barbecued pork) served with red rice and finadene dinanche (a spicy sauce to eat with the pork) and cole slaw. <br />
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After dinner, we were headed to the Chamorro Village market, which happens every Wednesday night, but only Wednesdays, so it was kind of a given that we would have to go.<br />
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On the way, we were able to catch the sunset over Agana Bay as we drove from Tumon to Hagatna. It was pretty incredible, and I'm so glad we stopped!<br />
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It would not have been the same from the road, though we did continue to enjoy the various colors in the sky for the remainder of the drive. We needed to get back on the road, if we wanted to be able to spend any time at the market before Reece hit his wall, though I think the kids would have been content to play in the ocean for as long as we let them.<br />
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The market (and parking lot) was already packed by the time we got there, and it was a little tricky to maneuver around with the stroller. I'd read that would be the case, but it was just too hot, and he was too heavy to put him in the Ergo, so we made the stroller work.</div>
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Most people were eating there, but we were stuffed (and while all of the food looked good, I was glad we'd done what we had--standing and eating is just not worth the battle with the kids!), so we settled for fresh fruit smoothies to keep us cool. They were delicious!<br />
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The kids got to pick up their souvenirs made by local artisans (a rubberband gun for Cade, of course, and little bags for Kennedy because that girl likes her bags!), and that was by far, our biggest interaction with local people as the market is full of locals and tourists alike. I did feel like the biggest downside to our renting a car was the lack of interaction with the locals. When you ride public transportation, you're surrounded by all kinds of people, you hear the local language, and you hear how everything is pronounced, but we left without having had much of that. (I will say we saw very few white people--maybe 2 or 3 families? There were a lot of locals at the Inarajan Pools and at the Chamorro village, but aside from that it seemed we only saw Japanese or Koreans at our resort and at Two Lover's Point.)</div>
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Our last day was spent packing up, swimming in the pool, taking some pictures, and getting to the airport. We accidentally got lost (not really, but we drove way out of our way and ended up with little extra time), and ended up having to eat at Jack in the Box before returning the rental car. Lucky for Eric, returning the car and getting the shuttle to the airport were quick because after we checked in for our flight, but before we checked our baggage (must be a Guam thing), he discovered that he didn't have his phone. After more than an hour of him running all over the airport and trying to make phone calls (while I sat with a very, very cranky baby!), he finally returned to us with phone in hand (it had slipped out of his pocket in the rental car and was underneath the seat!), and we were still able to get on our flight in time. It was pretty stressful there for awhile, but all is well that ends well!<br />
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By the way, the flight itself was okay. We ended up bribing the big kids to sit together in front of us with half a Snickers bar, so Eric and Reece and I had three seats. Reece was really sick and miserable by this point, which actually made things a little easier, I think, because he had no desire to get down and run up and down the plane aisles. He still wasn't really eating anything, so after an hour of just being tired and miserable, we gave him his milk, strapped him in the Ergo, and he slept for the duration. The only problem was how stinking heavy he's gotten, and the fact that the Immigration line was well over an hour long! The hardest part was definitely after our plane hit the ground, but all in all it was a really great trip, and I'm incredibly grateful that we got to go on one last trip!</div>
Chelseahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473492522891027172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149337715971297274.post-6403420745420032922016-04-17T03:59:00.000-07:002016-04-17T03:59:17.153-07:00366 Project: Week Fifteen<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Whoa. Have y'all noticed how many times I've blogged this week?! It's crazy, I tell you! (Did you also notice my use of the word y'all? Trying to practice my Texas-speak.) I spent this week capturing a couple more lasts (I hope!) and enjoying the fact that we are comfortably into the 4th quarter routine now that no one is sick and after school activities have started again. I've gotten a couple of workouts in, delivered more stuff, and filled a few boxes of things to get rid of, and it feels so good!<br />
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99/366: I have a love/hate relationship with this calendar. I love that it keeps us all organized and that the meals for the month are planned, but it's such an eyesore. I originally bought it for my classroom (and I loved filling it out then--I know, I'm such a nerd), and it was the perfect size. But for our kitchen? Not so much. Anyway, it's filled out to the middle of May (payday to payday) and with the last few weeks being so crazy and needing to get rid of stuff like this, I won't be filling it out again. Yahoo!<br />
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100/366: Kennedy really wanted to go to Costco in Korea one last time (why??? I have no idea!), so we went on Saturday morning. I took a couple of pictures, but this one of the food court, packed at 9:00 in the morning, was especially entertaining to me. Who else eats hot dogs, "kimchi," and pizza for breakfast? A culture that always eats the same things for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, of course.<br />
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101/366: Kennedy and I finally got haircuts--which we'd been needing for awhile--and honestly, it's so much cheaper here (though the price has doubled since we've lived here...sheesh!), that it made sense to get one last one here. I do look forward to being able to communicate with a stylist about how I want my hair cut, but if I'm honest, I don't miss the small talk. It's been especially awkward the past several years when I always go somewhere different, and so the conversation begins with the usual "where do you work/where do you live" questions. After the initial shock and story about a friend/relative who used to live somewhere in Asia, then we're done. Nothing more in common. Ha.<br />
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102/366: Last week, I was talking with friends who have older kids and they asked if Reece is in that "toddler phase." You know the one. When they're into everything all the time? I ignorantly told her that he hadn't been too bad lately. It had been a few weeks since he'd been into the dump-out-the-spices and pull-off-all-the-toilet-paper phase. He was right back into it this week, though. Tearing a Kleenex into thousands of pieces...<br />
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103/366: and climbing onto the dishwasher door to spin the spinner thingy (is there a name for that?!).<br />
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104/366: This was my first cheat of the entire year. More than 100 days in before I pulled from the archives, but since we don't really have any tulips in Seoul, I did it to remember seven years since we lost Mom. So.hard.to believe.<br />
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105/366: The morning routine this week consisted of a whole lot of Reece playing peek-a-boo in the living curtains. The blue skies, though? They were rare this week!<br />
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I've gotta admit, I'm pretty proud of myself for the number of days I got out the real camera this week. I guess routine will do that. But I'll admit that they were all still edited on my phone, since I only edited Guam pictures on the computer this week. Hopefully, I'll be better about it this coming week!</div>
Chelseahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473492522891027172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149337715971297274.post-25142449630746030222016-04-12T22:15:00.001-07:002016-04-12T22:15:08.726-07:00We Went to Guam<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Oh boy. So, so many pictures of Guam. Especially for the amount of time we spent there! I swear I didn't think I'd taken that many pictures (and compared to some trips, I know that I didn't!), but the editing has still been a little overwhelming. I think I took about 400 pictures that I narrowed down to about 90 in the first cull, and closer to 75 the second time through. Now, I have to figure out how many of those to actually post. And to be honest, no else thinks my trip photos are exciting as I do, right? I could post an album of 75 pictures and some of you might click on it, and look at the first 5-10 and then be done. Most of you wouldn't even click on it! And yet, I edit all of them. I guess it's just for me and that's okay.<br />
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Now, the thing about this trip was that it was very impromptu. And short. We flew out Monday morning and flew back Thursday evening, and because of that (or in spite of it--I'm not sure which), I spent an inordinate amount of time planning our short time on the island. Way, way more time than I spent doing any research for our trip to <a href="http://stanwoodtoseoul.blogspot.kr/2015/04/spring-break-in-cebu.html" target="_blank">Cebu </a>this time last year.<br />
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Of course, one of the biggest differences between these two trips was the fact that we didn't have a 4-month-old, but rather a 17-month-old. We let having such a young baby hold us back in Cebu, but we were fine with that. We were looking for a lot more relaxation than we were adventure on that trip.<br />
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I wouldn't say that we were particularly adventurous on Guam, either, but because we found that it was cheaper to rent a car than get a shuttle from the airport (and public transportation is not great there, either), we had a lot of freedom in terms of leaving the resort whenever Reece happened to wake up from his nap.<br />
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Since I'd spent time researching beforehand, I already had a pretty good idea of where I wanted to go (and I should add that a significant amount of this research time involved looking stuff up on Google Maps and then taking screenshots so that we would have driving directions), as well as the restaurants where I thought we should eat. But, of course, best laid plans...<br />
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The flight went pretty well considering the only food we were given on a five hour flight were some very Korean snacks that Kennedy wouldn't even touch. Picking up the rental car went smoothly, as well, and soon we were on the road. I thought we were going to be good to go, especially considering I was able to get wifi at the car rental place and was able to get directions from where we were to the restaurant, as well as the grocery store, on the way to the resort. We were all set in our cute little Rav4.<br />
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Unfortunately, we hit the road and <i>very</i> shortly discovered that what Guam has in blue skies and perfect temperatures, they are lacking in road signs. It was the strangest thing. As it turned out, nearly everything is signed in highway numbers but our directions were provided in strange street names that didn't seem to reflect anything we had seen. As a result, we were not able to find the restaurant we were trying to find. We did, however, quickly acquaint ourselves with the tourist district of Tumon, found a Subway, and headed out to picnic on the beach of Tumon Bay.<br />
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It was starting to get dark when we finished eating, and we figured since we had to find our resort in the mountains with no street signs, we'd better get on the road. Because we were staying in more of a condo than a hotel, we had a full kitchen, so we also had to stop at the grocery store to stock up on breakfast, lunch, and snack stuff. As it turned out, we were much more successful in finding the resort than we were the restaurant--what a relief that was!<br />
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The next morning, the kids were up early, excited to head to the pool. Unfortunately, it didn't open until 9am, so Kennedy and I had time to scope out the actual hotel (that we weren't staying in), pick up my wallet that the grounds crew found early in the morning (it had fallen off the luggage cart the night before when we were unloading in the dark!), and get a cup of coffee while checking out the pool and grounds in the beautiful sunshine. As luck would have it, by the time we were heading to the pool, the clouds had rolled in, and it was pouring down rain! ha!<br />
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It didn't bother the kids at all since the temperature was still pretty comfortable, but Eric and Reece and I weren't really up for a swim in the rain. So, after an hour or so at the pool, we headed back to the room, had some lunch, and loaded up the car to drive to the <a href="http://theguamguide.com/inarajan-pools-beach/" target="_blank">Inarajan Pools</a> at the southern end of the island.<br />
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One nice thing about the location of our resort was that as soon as we started driving away from it, the weather cleared up and was warm and beautiful again! It turned out that I was actually grateful for that little rain shower, because it meant that we were more motivated to get out of the pool and on the road! (And there was no more rain for the remainder of our trip.)<br />
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The pools are naturally formed allowing fresh water to combine with salt water and providing nice calm pools to swim in, as well as lots of opportunities for exploring! Eric and the kids swam through the pools to the other side where coral blocks the crash of waves from the ocean. They made the unfortunate choice to sit on the coral and wait for a huge wave to come--which then knocked them off the coral and covered all three of them in a variety of cuts. They all came back bleeding and ready for some rest in the shade. Reece and I had just been hanging out in the shade, since he wasn't feeling great and had no desire to even get out of the stroller. Upon their return, I finally got a chance to go for a swim and was able to explore without coming back bleeding.<br />
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After our swims, we trekked up onto the bluff to get a glimpse of the view, which was pretty spectacular.<br />
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And then we were back in the car to find dinner at Jeff's Pirate's Cove, a unique little place on the eastern coast of the island, on our way back to the resort from the pools.<br />
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There was a basketball court for the kids to run around on while we waited for dinner. The kids' meals were unimpressive (hot dogs--yuck!), but Eric had one of many "Guam's best burgers" and I had the fish of the day--parrot fish. One I'd never heard of, but it was pretty good!<br />
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It turned out that we timed everything pretty well, as the restaurant was closing just as we were leaving, and Reece was able to stay awake until we returned to the room rather than having to attempt the dreaded "will he stay asleep?" routine. (Although, due to a lack of communication, our biggest snafu of the whole trip was that we didn't have a crib for Reece for the first two nights. Rather, he slept in the closet (of course!) with a toddler bed rail keeping him inside. He wasn't a fan.)<br />
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We had a great first full day in Guam, though yes, the kids did get pretty good sunburns on their cheeks after the lengthy trip around the Inarajan pools. Aside from that, and Reece's nasty cold, we were doing pretty well, though! And hey, look at me. I narrowed this down to just a portion of the day's photos!</div>
Chelseahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473492522891027172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149337715971297274.post-73481152115407717142016-04-10T22:42:00.001-07:002016-04-10T22:42:28.388-07:00Cade's Birthday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This poor kid. His birthday always seems to be the one that gets overlooked on the blog. I did okay last year, but probably only because I still felt so guilty about the previous year. Remember when I didn't blog about his <a href="http://stanwoodtoseoul.blogspot.kr/2014/05/cade-turned-5-about-3-months-ago.html" target="_blank">birthday </a>until May? Is that why moms blog? So we can have one more thing to feel guilty about when we don't do it quite right? No, I don't think so.<br />
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The fact of the matter is that life has been busy, and well, pictures of a crazy party with crazy kids and crazy lighting just aren't that much fun to edit. So, they've just kind of been sitting there while I've been making it a priority to keep up with the 365 project. I really would have preferred to just edit those Guam pictures, too. The light is nice in those!<br />
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And, of course, this little blog that I began years ago as a way to communicate with everyone back home about what our lives are like here, has really turned into more of an online journal/record book for the kids. Since this was the last birthday party we'll throw here in Seoul (hallelujah!), and since it was full of the kids friends from this season in their lives, I really wanted to make sure that there was (photo) documentation of it.<br />
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So, there were a few little hindrances with this party. The first one being that Eric and I struggled to find the time to actually nail down a date for it. It ended up being scheduled a little farther from his actual birthday than we would have liked, but such is life.<br />
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The best part was that the kids had come up with all of the ideas and the "theme" for the party months before, though I was not privy to details. I had thought it was supposed to be a Nerf war party, but later found out (after the party had actually started!) that it really wasn't Nerf at all, but more of just a war theme in general. It's probably best I didn't have that detail. And I'll just admit that we kind of bare-bonesed it. (I just made that word up. It means we got away with the bare minimum. I'm not up for buying stuff in this season of clearing out!) Thankfully, none of the adults stuck around to see how ghetto we were!<br />
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They began with an epic game of the card game War, followed by some target practice with the Nerf guns that were provided as party favors (see why I thought it was Nerf themed? that was my job--find Nerf guns!).<br />
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After pizza for lunch, the kids created their own "bombers" (paper airplanes). Eric had a couple of ideas for competitions with the planes, but it ended up raining throughout the entire party, thwarting many of our plans.<br />
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So instead they did some decorating of said bombers...<br />
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And after blowing out the candles and having cupcakes...<br />
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we were left with that hour that was supposed to be spent outside.<br />
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And so, we got out the Legos. Because what else does one do when you have a house full of kids that have been running around screaming and shooting one another with Nerf guns and you discover you still have one more hour? I believe there was some sort of competition that began with castles and moats and walls to keep out the enemies, but it ended up being a bunch of kids with a bunch of Legos who were quiet and perfectly content to build whatever they wanted.<br />
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And once everyone was gone and the house was somewhat cleaned up, it was time to head to the store to get more wine. Somehow, I'd forgotten to pick that up in my "7-year-old birthday party planning" mode, but I won't make that mistake again! #makingmemories</div>
Chelseahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473492522891027172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149337715971297274.post-78077974424772113792016-04-08T21:35:00.001-07:002016-04-08T21:35:22.419-07:00366 Project: Week Fourteen<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I realized today that I still have photos from Cade's birthday and party to edit and post, in addition to Guam pictures, and with Eric's aunt and cousin coming in about month, I'd better get to work on those before I have a new set of photos to work on! I also shot a baby dedication on Easter that I just finally managed to get done, and I have a newborn and family shoot coming up in about a week to keep me busy! It is a fun season for photography, though, with flowers in bloom again!<br />
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92/366: On Friday afternoon, I brought the babies to school to pass off, so I could leave on the first annual YISS women's retreat. After a long subway trek, we arrived at the retreat center and found the first cherry blossoms of the season.<br />
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93/366: "It's about an hour." That's what they kept repeating to us before we took off on our hike on Saturday afternoon. I was told that I probably wouldn't need water because it wasn't going to be that long, and that I probably shouldn't bring my camera because there would be a little rock scrambling at the end. Well, a little turned into a whole lot, and while we definitely left from the right spot, we did not end up where we expected to! One hour turned into about four by the time we were done, and we spent a whole lot of time scrambling up the mountainside. I ended up spending most of the hike with these two ladies, and while each of us decided we'd made it far enough several times, we took turns encouraging one another to go a little further until we reached our final peak, dubbed "ACK" for Ali, Chelsea, and Kirstan.<br />
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94/366: Koreans have mastered the art of instant coffee. This is like an instant version of French press coffee; it's like a tea bag that you open to pour hot water over the grounds. Then, you just lift it out using the tabs on the side.<br />
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95/366: Another #onlyinKorea moment...I had to try the cherry blossom latte (because a friend said that it didn't taste like soap and she was right!) in a cherry blossom cup from Starbucks. Because I may never get that chance again!<br />
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96/366: The azaleas are also in bloom in our apartment complex. Sometimes, I feel like my best chance for a picture of the day is on the walk to the bus stop!<br />
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97/366: Since I have this head cold and wasn't feeling great, I decided to skip Zumba on Wednesday and instead take the kids to the soccer games. Our teams are doing really well this year, and it's so fun to watch! Between games, Reece headed straight out onto the field to participate in warm-ups; he doesn't always realize he's a little tiny human still!<br />
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98/366: The weather has been beautiful this week with highs in the low 70s and lows not much below 50, and with some decent air quality, we were able to spend time outside. On Thursday, I took the boys to Yongsan Family Park to see the cherry blossoms one last time in Korea. It was bittersweet, as I ended up chatting with a mom whose kids were just accepted off the wait list at YISS and I had the chance to tell her about how great our school is. It's a little hard to believe that this stranger's kids will be at YISS next year and our kids won't.<br />
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Unfortunately, right now I sit looking out over a nasty, smoggy Seoul. We had big plans today to pack a picnic and hike Namsan or bike to Yeouido to see the cherry blossoms today. I also really wanted to go to the seniors' final home soccer game, and we'd also talked about finally going to see a Seoul E-Land FC game, one of the professional soccer teams here (a few of the coaches have kids at our school), but now none of that is happening because the air is just too unhealthy to do any of those things. I suppose I should embrace an afternoon of quiet and relaxation that I hadn't planned on, but it's easy to be disappointed and frustrated, too. I can't wait to live in a place with clean air!!! </div>
Chelseahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473492522891027172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149337715971297274.post-66428150144124740262016-04-05T22:13:00.002-07:002016-04-05T22:13:54.969-07:00The Announcement<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Since my original post about looking for a <a href="http://stanwoodtoseoul.blogspot.kr/2015/12/new-community.html" target="_blank">new community</a>, I haven't really commented on what life will look life for us after we leave here in June. Truth be told, I think I've been avoiding blogging, so that I can avoid making any announcements. We've spent much of the last few months in the "we don't know anything" stage, and so there wasn't really anything to share. There are still a whole lot of question marks in our lives right now, and some of them are scary enough to think about without actually writing it out. But, considering we could use some prayer and we finally have some answers, I figured it was time to put it out there.<br />
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To be honest, I've been putting off the "announcement," itself, I think. There was a brief period where I was just excited that we know where we're going next, and I wasn't yet worried about the unknowns, but that time was very short. I'm the kind who doesn't like to share news until I have the answers to all of the inevitable questions, and so I'd rather wait. But, now that we've told our immediate family, and the information is starting to leak, I figured I'd better make it official. Even though we <i>definitely</i> don't have all of the answers.<br />
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We are officially moving to Texas--north of the Dallas/Fort Worth area. That's still weird for me to see in print. I'm starting to wonder how long it will take me to actually push the publish button on this post. Once it's out there for all the world to see, it will be real.<br />
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Strangely, I think I'm more scared of moving to Texas than I was of moving to Korea. When we moved here, there were so many things that were already figured out for us--housing, specific jobs, childcare, our house. Those things are still up in the air at this point. We still have our rental house in Stanwood, which on some days seems like a dark cloud looming over us. Most of the time, I can't see past the cloud, and so my mind stays stuck in what has to be done in Washington before we can make the transition to Texas.<br />
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Of course, before we can start in on the projects in Washington, we have to finish life here in Korea, and that isn't an easy task, either. We've started getting rid of things (which feels great for me!), but there are still many more things to pass off. And then there are the goodbyes, which I am truly dreading. Already I feel like I'm in way more conversations than I want to be that start with "I understand why you're leaving, but I'm sad to see you guys go..." And I just want to scream "No!!! It's not time to start goodbyes!"<br />
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But, before I end this post with the hard stuff, I want to take a minute to look at all of the good reasons why we're moving, and more specifically, why we're moving to Texas. I'm just going to write a list because that will make it easier for me to look at when I need these reminders in 3 months or 6 months or 18 months or whenever it may be.<br />
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(Not in any particular order)<br />
1. We will be returning to the States, but because we're not returning to Washington, we won't expect everything to be the same. This means that the difficulty of our repatriation <i>might</i> fall a little more in line with our expectations. Maybe. We'll see.<br />
2. The kids will get to continue in Christian education. This is both a positive and a negative for us at times, but it is something that Kennedy is really excited about. When she found out that she could not attend an international school in her passport country, she really wanted to be able to go to a Christian school (our public school stories probably did not help her with this!).<br />
3. The adventure continues. We are able to repatriate, but we're still moving to a new "country," in Texas-speak. We have done almost as much research about moving to Texas as we did about moving to Korea. It should be interesting!<br />
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We are still lacking details--we don't know when we will have to be down there, but we know it will be sometime in July, and we're praying it's near the end. We're planning to do some work on our house and put it on the market when our renters move out at the end of June. Then, we'll load up a U-Haul and pray the Expedition makes it to Texas. We will probably end up spending a few months in an apartment while we wait for our house to sell and find a new one to buy.<br />
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As of right now, Eric will be starting a high school math lab, and I will be working in the high school office, but there's a good chance that Eric will end up teaching Geometry, and I will be teaching 9th grade English. We're really excited about those opportunities! We've spent a lot of time reading over the school's <a href="http://www.libertychristian.com/page" target="_blank">website </a>with the kids, and we're excited to become a part of this new community!<br />
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These were just a few pictures from our trip to Guam last week; there are many, many more to come!</div>
Chelseahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473492522891027172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149337715971297274.post-69832868513815991282016-03-31T05:23:00.002-07:002016-03-31T05:23:13.431-07:00366 Project: Week Thirteen<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Since I don't have time for editing and blogging these days, I'll try to provide a tad more detail on my picture descriptions this week. This was a crazy one for sure! Our good friends and neighbors asked me to help them with their kids this week because grandma, who usually watches them, is out of town. Their preschooler spends most of the day at school, so it's pretty much just their 8 month old that I have to worry about. Unfortunately, he has been hit hard by the separation anxiety bug (Reece still hasn't encountered that!), as well as a cold, and is in general not the happiest baby on the block. It has ended up being harder than I expected, but it's almost over now!<br />
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85/366: The face of a child who napped for three hours, but could have kept going. He'd fallen asleep around bedtime-ish on the plane the night before, but then had to sleep through landing, the world's longest line at Immigration, a quick trip to baggage claim and Customs, a ride on the shuttle to the long-term parking lot, a long cold walk across the parking lot, a transition into the car seat, the car ride home, and finally the transition into his bed. So, while he probably slept about 11-12 hours, it was not the same quality of sleep one would normally get! What a trooper!<br />
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86/366: One of the expat blogs that I read is called <a href="http://velvetashes.com/" target="_blank">Velvet Ashes</a>, and one of the things they're known for is their connection groups. They give women overseas who may not have a way to connect in person an opportunity to do so with other women in similar situations. Obviously, we have a huge expat community here, and so I'd never felt too much push to join, but this time around, with transition looming, I thought it might be a good way to force myself to process it, rather than ignore it. My friend, Malia (left), suggested it, and I happened to be put in a group with Emily (center) who was in Malia's group the last time she participated. As it happened, Emily made a quick trip to Seoul last weekend, so we all had dinner together.<br />
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87/366: My focus is way off on this one, but I haven't had time to edit photos, so, here it is. We had a nice quiet Easter, and Reece thoroughly enjoyed his first Easter egg hunt, in spite of Cade stealing most of the eggs that were within his reach.<br />
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88/366: It turned out to be a rough week to have another baby around. Both boys are sick, and Reece hasn't really eaten since before we left for Guam. At this point, he's down to grapes and cheese. In this picture, he wouldn't even eat grapes. And he wouldn't let go of that dog, either. Just wanted his mommy. Probably because she was holding a crying 8 month old with separation anxiety. Oof.<br />
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89/366: Day two of two babies didn't go much better. At this point, if one started crying, then the other one started crying. Reece couldn't stay awake past 9:30 in the morning, which meant they were both awake at the same time most of the day, too, which is a problem when everyone is crying. Reece spent a fair amount of time getting as close to the front door as possible without actually turning his back on the "evil" baby.<br />
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90/366: There's a story behind this mug, but at this point, I was simply documenting the fact that I only had to reheat my coffee three times before I actually got to drink it. And that was a sign of how much better our day was going. Success in my book.<br />
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91/366: This was--by far--our best day of the week. Both boys were in pretty good moods, even though Elliot didn't nap as much as he normally would. And, even though Owen's bus broke down and we stood outside waiting for it for quite a while before his dad called to say he would have to come get him and take him to school. The day wasn't perfect, but a huge improvement over the first couple of days!<br />
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I'm sad that I didn't the monthly collage done, since it would have been perfect with the month ending at the end of my thirteenth week, but considering there were probably only about 10 pictures taken with the real camera this month, it was more labor than I was up for tonight.<br />
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This weekend, I am off to a retreat with about 20 other women from school at one of nastiest retreat centers in Seoul. Oh, does that sound negative? Well, it has been almost five years since I've been there, so maybe it's improved. Or maybe it will just look a lot better since I don't have kids in tow. Either way, I'm going to try to get some editing done during our "craft" time because editing is about as crafty as I get these days, but without internet, the blog will remain quiet for just a bit longer. (I know. I keep saying that. One of these days!) And now, I must get some sleep, because I still have one more day with these two, and they keep me busy!</div>
Chelseahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473492522891027172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149337715971297274.post-31985307267725954912016-03-26T05:01:00.005-07:002016-03-26T05:01:51.441-07:00366 Project: Week Twelve<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We are back in Seoul, and we've hit the ground running hanging with friends, and trying to get ready for the busy week ahead. I still have photos from our trip to edit, so I will grace you with some lovely iPhone photos from the past week until I finally have time to get some work done.<br />
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78/366: It was 60 degrees on Friday, our first afternoon of spring break, and we all enjoyed the chance to get out in warmer temperatures!<br />
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79/366: Kennedy and I got new nail polish at the baby shower we attended last weekend, and she was excited to paint her toenails for our trip.<br />
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80/366: We were so excited to be packed for our somewhat spontaneous trip to Guam.<br />
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81/366: Ready to get on a plane!<br />
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82/366: The walk to the hotel pool wasn't too bad, I suppose!<br />
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83/366: The sunset at Chamorro Village was pretty amazing!<br />
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84/366: After a great few days in Guam, we were headed home to cold smoggy air. {Insert sad face here.}<br />
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This coming week is going to be especially busy as I'm watching the boys of a friend for the week, so don't be surprised if it stays quiet around here for a little while longer!</div>
Chelseahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473492522891027172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149337715971297274.post-5370842977618389102016-03-17T03:31:00.001-07:002016-03-17T03:31:17.922-07:00366 Project: Week Eleven<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Things have been busy lately, and yet again, blogging has taken the back burner. We are deep in the throes of cleaning house, and I'm so excited to finally start purging, but it's going to be a lot of work! Next week, is spring break, and after that, it gets real.<br />
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71/366: We had dinner with good friends on Friday night (and I had obviously forgotten to take a picture...and my lens needed to be calibrated, so I couldn't get it focused properly...gah), and Ross, who is a classic TCK, asked the kids some really good questions and their answers were hilarious.<br />
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72/366: Cade didn't want to brush his teeth because he didn't want to stop reading, so he took the book with him and perched it, so that he could read while he brushed.<br />
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73/366: Kennedy got out the Resurrection Eggs, and they provided Reece with hours of entertainment while he carefully took each item out of the eggs and they attempted to put them back together.<br />
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74/366: I feel like I've been taking pictures constantly, but most of them are shots of our belongings. Not exactly 365-worthy. But, I liked the reflection in this one.<br />
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75/366: Two of the four molars (one top and one bottom...grrr) are through, and this kid is starting to return to himself again. I'm sure it won't be long before the other two teeth start to break through, though.<br />
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76/366: We are deep into #toddlerlife. Today, it was toilet paper (though I had removed it from the holder, he put it back on, so that he could unravel it all!). Yesterday, it was dry mustard all over the rug. The day before it was cupcake sprinkles all over the pantry. This kid!<br />
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77/366: This quarter was Kennedy's first in "competitive swim" rather than just swim lessons. This meant that we paid less, she swam twice as often, and she worked twice as hard. It was quite an adjustment for her in the beginning of the quarter, but it paid off. She's stronger, has more endurance, and even a little pride in her abilities now, I think.<br />
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And tonight, we told the kids that they will get to show off all of their new skills in the pool next week when we're in GUAM! They were so excited!! I'd had this idea floating around in my head that if we had jobs for next year by spring break, then we should get to go somewhere warm for a few days, but I never thought Eric would go for it. The next day, he was booking tickets, and here we are just three days out from being warm! I can't wait! So, it will continue to be quiet here, but I promise...an announcement is coming. Just as soon as I can make myself hit "publish." #kiddingnotkidding</div>
Chelseahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473492522891027172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149337715971297274.post-65137073938371934592016-03-09T22:33:00.001-08:002016-03-09T22:33:41.791-08:00366 Project: Week Ten<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This has been a crazy busy week! It's been more than a week since Eric and I have both been home (without company) in the evening, so he's going to stay home from his usual Thursday night stuff tonight because our weekend won't be any quieter. We all have bucket list people to spend time with, and some of that is starting now, so we can fit it all in. It's good, but it's going to make for a busy spring!<br />
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64/366: We officially made the decision as to where we are headed next (announcement still to come), and so I thought it would be a good time to start a journal to write back and forth with Kennedy. This girl has got lots of thoughts and feelings and sometimes our oral communication leaves something to be desired. So, hopefully this will allow us to communicate a little better through this transition.<br />
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65/366: We've thrown our last birthday party in Korea; what a relief! The weather did not cooperate with our plans, so we ended up with six kids and six Nerf guns in our apartment for three hours. The Lego castle building competition was the only backup plan I could come up with that required them to sit for awhile.<br />
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66/366: If you asked Reece, he'd tell you he's been walking for months, not weeks. He's got the strut down.<br />
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67/366: He would also try to tell you that he only needs to nap for about 90 minutes a day, but we're all much happier if he sleeps closer to three hours.<br />
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68/366: And I know that we can all agree that the only thing worse than teething with molars is teething combined with a cold. He is a drool factory because of the teeth, but combining that with a stuffy nose means that he is a wet, nasty snotty mess right now!<br />
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69/366: Cade has made some huge gains in the swimming pool this quarter, and I'm so excited for him to not only be over his fear of the water, but also to be finding some pride in his new skills!<br />
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70/366: We were finally getting a few more smiles in spite of the teeth, but the dog and binky are never far away these days.<br />
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We had some nice weather in the past week--some days nearly 60--but it's back to highs in the low 40s, and I'm so done with it. I'm ready for real spring to be here--our final season in Seoul. We're only a week away from spring break; the countdown to the end is on, as we leave three months from today!</div>
Chelseahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473492522891027172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149337715971297274.post-25460420842721354822016-03-03T19:24:00.002-08:002016-03-03T19:24:12.348-08:00366 Project: Week Nine<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Things are progressing in the job department, but no big announcements yet. We have two more interviews this coming week, and we continue to be amazed at the doors God is opening for us. As hard as it is to not have all of the details nailed down yet, we have to remember that when we said we wouldn't be returning back in November, we thought there was a good chance that we wouldn't have jobs until June, so we're grateful for the progress that has been made so far.<br />
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57/366: Cade and Mr. Adams after having cupcakes. I've already gone on a bit about how fun this was, so I'll leave it at that.<br />
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58/366: Another last. I took the kids to the spring musical--Fiddler on the Roof. It was another great performance, of course, and I may have been a bit broken-hearted when they announced that we couldn't take pictures at all. We (or I) have been to at least one YISS play every year since we got here, and we've loved every last one. After the play, I took the kids out for hot chocolate.<br />
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59/366: We had a great day celebrating Cade! It was really busy because Eric had a meeting after church, and then he and Cade took off to see a movie while Kennedy and I spent the afternoon preparing homemade pizza for dinner. It was late by the time we sat down with the birthday treat he picked out. A donut cake. Because we're just that classy.<br />
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60/366: Eric and the kids had Monday off for another Korean Independence Day, so Kennedy and I got to go see Zootopia, too. This was probably our last movie in Korea, so I figured I should document it in some way.<br />
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Another month down! Yahoo!<br />
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61/366: Kennedy had been begging me to do a "practice" pack. I can completely understand her desire; how else are we supposed to know whether everything will fit in our suitcases? The chore sounds too daunting to me since mine is on a much larger scale, but she had fun with hers and was relieved to find that most of what she wants to bring fits in her suitcase.<br />
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62/366: I take pictures of the boys in the bathtub all the time, so I'd been wanting to try to figure out a way to capture Kennedy. Eric thinks it's creepy and a little stalker-ish, but it was the best I could come up with.<br />
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63/366: Cade volunteered to help with the laundry yesterday, and it was the perfect opportunity to capture the hilarity of our washer/dryer situation. I don't complain because I'm not pregnant, I'm tall enough to reach in without climbing, and I'm just so thrilled to have a dryer (and one with close proximity to the washer; we have lots of friends who have them on opposite ends of the house), but it is kind of funny to the outsider.<br />
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It is finally spring in Seoul--a high of 60 today with a whole lot of haze. The air quality is only "unhealthy for sensitive groups" though, so I guess it could be worse (and it's supposed to be in the coming days). You know when we tell our kids that we never checked air quality before moving here, they don't believe us? It's kind of like that "we walked uphill both ways to school" speech that our parents gave us--except that in Seoul that's true, too! Who knew you really can walk uphill both ways?! Nonetheless, I look forward to the day when we don't have to check the air quality alongside the weather!</div>
Chelseahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04473492522891027172noreply@blogger.com0