2018 Goals

Hello! How have you been lately? I feel like we haven’t caught up in ages ;).  We just survived a very rocky first 24 days of January! Jet lag, Scarlet Fever and tons and tons of work ruled our first few weeks of the new year, but we also got to fit in a trip to the playground, the Science and Technology Museum, gymnastics class and even a date! Will be back to share those pictures with you very soon :).  But before we have new pictures from 2018, here are a few of my goals for 2018.  They are not big and grand, but just little things I want to accomplish along the way.

One. Learn how to edit movies in iMovie.  Have you seen those cool video montages that have lots of little clips pieced together? I want to learn that and do that! I think the girls (and us, of course!) would have so much fun looking at a little video whether it is just our ordinary days together or a video of our vacation – I am going to try to do at least five this year.

Two. Invite people over more frequently. Building a community is the most essential part to enjoying an expat assignment (in my opinion).  This was admittedly more difficult and challenging than I initially thought it would be.  I have realized that no one that we know here is incredibly busy, they are mostly in the same position as us and looking for friends and when you invite people over or out for a play date, they say yes.  This year, I want to do more of this. Yes, it is more expensive and we have to deep clean our house more frequently, but it is also so much fun! Every time we have people over, we always feel energized and have a great time.  My goal is loosely once a month we will have people over (hosting a birthday party would count!).  We are having our first family over on Sunday and then next weekend we are hosting Emma’s birthday party so I think we are off to a great start on this goal. 

Three. Floss every day. I came back armed with my favorite flossing sticks (they are life changing by the way).  I am set and ready to go.

Four. Find a skincare routine that is doable.  I am not getting any younger (I turned 34 while we were in Texas!) and I have realized that I need to take better care of my skin. I ordered a few test products while we were in the US and I am trying to figure out what I can realistically maintain long term (just to give you an idea where I am coming from – I washed my face about every other day…disgusting, I know).  I am now starting (most) mornings with a gentle cleanser.  Any product that you love that you feel I should know about?

Five. Travel. Did I mention to you that we extended our assignment in Chengdu?  Probably not ;).  We are staying through June of 2019 (for a variety of reasons) and we are trying to firm up our travel plans for the next 17 months.  Up immediately are Xi’an (March) and Australia (April) and we are so so excited about these trips! There are a handful of other places that we want to go to before we leave, so we are looking at our schedule and mapping it out. 

Six. Embrace a year of little shopping. You guys, I cleaned house when we went home for Christmas.  We all have new clothes, new shoes, new pajamas, new snacks, new everything (oh and 25 pounds of flavored coffee ;)).  We should be set for a long while.  During the next 17 months, I am not saying we won’t buy anything, but I will buy significantly less. And this will be good for us.

In case you are wondering why this list does not contain any financial goals (I am an accountant after all!), I keep a very targeted list of financial goals for us as well.  Wes and I will typically talk about it at the beginning of the year, set our goals and work on execution.  I keep a spreadsheet (hello, I can be a nerd!) and check in on a weekly basis to make sure we are enabling a strong financial future, not only for us, but for the girls too!

Ahhh, it feels good to be back to blogging. And to put my goals out there to the universe internet.  

Four Random Things

One. This is the first picture I took of life in 2018. And I think it sums up life pretty accurately.  Wes and I were just chatting about how we are going to look back on this period of our lives of dress up and make believe so fondly.  I think we only have one or two more years of this so we are embracing it :).

Two. Everly is doing so much better! I am not sure I have ever been more worried about in her in my life (how easily I forget the fact that she was horrible at taking a bottle and sleeping for the first 21 months of her life ;)), but I am so relieved that she is 100% on the mend (in case you missed my first post of the year, she had a spider bite, strep and scarlet fever over the last three weeks).  We had a play date at the Science and Technology museum on Saturday and she had the best time playing with all of her friends!

Three. Emma is in full on birthday mode.  On Saturday, we went to take a look at the trampoline park where we will have her party and she was describing the exact Moana theme she has been envisioning along with the rainbow cake she wants me to make (wish me luck!). After gymnastics on Sunday, we let the girls do a craft and she immediately picked out the birthday cake (because she is almost six!, duh!!).  All she can think about/talk about has been her birthday lately :).  We are so excited to celebrate her soon!!

Four. Craft kits are the best. And these are the worst pictures, trust me, I know ;).  My mom asked me what she could get the girls for Christmas and we decided that craft kits might be the best - it allows for a lot of free form crafting and it really has been so fun for the girls.  She filled the kits with all kinds of supplies and various mediums and every day during the rest of their holiday break, they made all kinds of creations. I am going to blame the jet lag on the fact that I don't have better/more pictures.

Happy New Year!

Does anyone else need to push the reset button on 2018?

For the last three years, we have been a hot New Year's mess of jetlag plus year end close.  This year was even more of a doozy because we flew for 24 hours (so hello jetlag), I still had year end close and poor Evsie's got strep plus scarlet fever (and had a spider bite back in the U.S. that she is still healing from).  We were not a bag full of fun the first week of 2018 - to say the least.

However this weekend we pressed the reset button.

I got myself a tea kettle (only my family will understand this reference ;)).

We made plans with friends and had the best time at our indoor playground (the playground date turned into lunch and afternoon plans), we went back to gymnastics class (so cute to see the girls reunite with their friends), we got pizza and our Starbucks is nearly open. We snuggled, cuddled, kissed and reset for a week full of school or work. 

I took an unintentional break over the last six weeks. We had the best time exploring Cambodia and Thailand, flew back to China for two weeks and celebrated Christmas with friends here before leaving for the U.S. for three weeks where reuniting with our family and friends was the best of the best. I cant wait to share so many more details with you, but just want to give you a heads up that January is mybusiest month of the year so I will try to pop in from time to time, but most likely I will see you on a regular basis in February :).

Happy New Year!! 

Thankful

Every night before I go to bed (well, most nights), I lay there and quietly think about three things I am thankful for that day.  As much as I appreciate the grander adventures in life (travelling, living in China, having my parents come visit us just to name a few!), I really think it is all of the small things that I will look back and be thankful for.  The small things (or little things as I like to call them here on the blog) is what weaves our family unit together, it is what I hope the girls look back on and remember from their childhood.  Here is just a small sampling of the little things I am thankful for…

… bright blue skies

… trips to feed the fish

… watching the girls beam at their holiday parade

… couch snuggles every night

… reading books together

… playing hide and go seek

… lunch dates with Wes

… Emma walking me to the car every morning when I leave for work just to get one last smooch

… the smell of Wes firing up the grill

… getting out my ‘big’ camera and taking pictures

… trips to the playground (be it indoor or outdoor)

… hearing, ‘momma, I love you’ or ‘you are the best mom I could ever ask for’ – there are no better words

… coming home and seeing the girls waiting in the driveway

… watching the girls learn something new (roller blading, gymnastics)

… baking banana bread with the girls

… watching Wes and Everly put a puzzle together

… watching the girls dress up in their princess costumes

… the smell of freshly baked cinnamon rolls

… podcasts that make me laugh

… late night survivor watching sessions with Wes

… waking up to texts from my sister

… watching/helping the girls with their craft creations

… our Sunday morning gymnastics routine

… holiday cups at Starbucks (plus toffee nut is back in Chengdu!)

… for my blog that allows me to share pictures and stories with our families

… friends to celebrate milestones in China
... home cooked meals
... facetime with my mom and dad

November Little Things | First Half

And with this, I will officially be all caught up on pictures (excluding the fact that we are on vacation right now ;)). Ahhhh, it feels so good - I really can't remember the last time I was all caught up!!

^ November 1st was the most perfectly sunny day - we just wished we could have swapped it with Halloween day (which was sooo dreary!). ^

 ^ after school I found my little bats (that thought they were witches) still in their costumes). ^

^ the sky that day was just so pretty! ^

^ we went down to eat noodles/dumplings one night and Emma found her new favorite dish. ^

^ on my way home from work, I spotted that our neighborhood put up a Christmas tree! ^

^ the girls are loving playing hide-and-go-seek and this is their current favorite place to be found! ^

^ on Saturday morning, the girls worked on cards for Nonni - they thought that if they put the cards in the mailbox, Nonni would mail them presents.  luckily, I still had a few things from Nonni so she was able to deliver on their wishes ;). ^

^ about mid-morning we headed to a one year old birthday party. Ev's was delighted that they had a cupcake bar right when you walked in!! ^

^ Emma also found herself pretty tickled! ^

^ they had a lot of entertainment for the kids which was fun for them while the adults feasted on lots of local sichuan cuisine and red wine :). ^

^ I went way outside my comfort zone and tried pig's feet!! ^

^ after we rested, we took the girls to the playground and petted every puppy that would let us close :). ^

^ on Sundays the girls insist on dressing like twins to go to gymnastics class - and this time, they also insisted on some pretty funky hair do's. ^

^ my little hams! ^

^ sister smooches - I love love love how they always grab each others cheek. ^

^ I caught them in a mid-giggle sesh and I am obsessed with this picture. ^

^ three girls! ^

^ playing before gymnastics class. ^

^ working on her skilz ^

^ I think Ev's donut expression matches the one in the background (she could definitely be on a donut store ad)- girly loves herself a donut! ^

^ then, they worked on a craft. ^

^ rainbow bunny! ^

^ they also have a magic sand area there and the girls love playing with it after they finish their craft. ^

^ I despise SpongeBob (like do not like that show at all), but Emma insisted she needed to make this so we went for it, I didn't even ask for that peace sign, but it cracks me up! ^

^ bus stop pictures!! ^

^ I went with some of the team to my favorite noodle place and we tried a different kind of noodles in addition to my favorite noodles and it was delish!! ^

^ Emma has the best teachers - she made them paper crowns one night and they wore them the following day, the whole day (I sent them a thank you note because Emma was so pleased).  we have been so incredibly blessed by the school here. ^

^ Saturday, the 11th, was the best best weather day we have had in forever - it was cool but sunny outside.  Everly chose this dress and shoes and she looked so cute, I asked her if she wanted her picture taken for her book/blog (I am making the girls a book with their pictures in it for Christmas). ^

^ the moon was still out! p.s. isn't that a super pretty blue color :). ^

^ she got right to work on her model pose ;). ^

^ these boots have been favorites of both girls! ^

^ her smile and trying to capture her real smile is my favorite. ^

^ my favorite!!! I am thinking this might actually make the cover of her book :). ^

^ how did she get so big?? ^

^ those big brown eyes! ^

^ Emma turned into Princess Rosia (always when she puts her flower crown on) and wanted her picture taken too! ^

^ sisters! this picture cracks me up :). ^

^ never not twirling. ^

^ we went out in the backyard and tried to capture some of the sunshine and I just love how it makes her look like an angel. also it makes her look sooo grown up - much older than 5, I think. ^

^ then lion got in on the picture taking action. ^

^ trying to figure out how we will take care of our 'shy' plants in the winter.  have you guys heard of these? if you touch the leaves, they act shy by closing up.  the girls picked these up at the flower market and have had so much fun with them. ^

^ eating a banana blueberry salad and wishing Nonni was with us! ^

^ we ate lunch at Peter's (no pictures!) and then headed to our favorite indoor playground.  these two spotted a treble clef on the way in - Ev's music teacher taught her how to draw and she has been loving it! ^

^ so much playing going on - we stayed for nearly 6 hours, the girls love it so much! ^

^ another Sunday, another gymnastics class :).  you can't tell here very well, but the girls were dressed like twinsies again :). ^

^ still working on our cartwheels! ^

the week after this before we headed on vacation was spent resting - there has been HFM and colds going around the girls school.  we seem to be lucky and didn't get the HFM, but we all had mild colds and found ourselves in bed before or at 8pm almost every.single.night.  here is to a good Thanksgiving vacation - we have so much to be thankful for :).