China

The day after we came back from Taiwan, we headed of to China to visit the rest of Andy's relatives. Let's just say it was quite the adventure...just makes me even more grateful that we live in America. It also makes me LOVE my house even more!! I don't mind the fact that China is a little bit dirtier or the squatter toilets. However, I don't think I could ever get use to taking a shower standing above the toilet. It just gives me the chills. Other then that, it was great meeting everybody. Also, everyone was very nice. We had our own room to stay in and they had even bought a new bed for Andy and I to sleep in. I thought that was very generous of them.

Anyway, we were in China from Friday night until Monday noon time. Here's a brief overview of our trip:

Friday: We go to the border around 3:30 pm and walk from Macao to China. We then take the bus to Lat Lau and arrive there around 8 or 8:30 pm. We eat dinner, talk and then go to bed.

Saturday: We went to go Yam Cha in the morning and then just hung out at the house. Around 5 or 6 pm we did the Tea Ceremony then went to eat dinner. It was fun because I got to meet several of Andy's cousins. The 2 girl cousins spoke Mandarin so I was able to talk to them. It was also interesting to watch everybody. They aren't members so drinking wine and tea at the table was common. Luckily, nobody drunk too much. :)

Sunday: Went to visit Andy's other relatives in Shui Cheng. We went there to specifically to visit his grandpa in the hospital. He seems to be doing pretty well. I think they said that he would be home for Chinese New Year. That night, we went to eat dinner to celebrate. This time it was only 1 table, but it was still interesting to watch everyone. I guess in China, drinking wine and smoking is the only way to do business.

Monday: Hang out with family and then took the bus back to the Macao border. We then went shopping in the underground mall to buy stuff. Everything was sooo cheap and there was soo much to see! Too bad my visa only let me go to China once or we could have gone again on another day.

Anyway, that's basically it. I'm glad to be back in Macao and to be able to use a clean bathroom. :)

Taiwan

Andy, Andy's mom, and I were able to visit my parents in Taiwan for 4 days. I'm really glad we went because we had tons of fun! It was Andy's mom first trip to Taiwan so she was really excited to go. Plus, we were able to take wedding pictures there...I have always wanted to be able to take those pics since I saw them on my mission. They're really really pretty! Here's a basic break down of our stay in Taiwan:

Monday: Arrive in Taiwan at 3:05 pm. Mom and Dad meet us at the airport and we arrive in Taipei around 4:30/5:00 pm. We then look at all the wedding picture places and make an appointment. We then eat dinner and then choose the outfits for the next day.

Tuesday: 9:00 am we go to the picture place. They do my make-up and hair and we take tons of pictures until 4:30 pm. It was a long day! I had 5 different outfits and with each outfit they touched up my make-up and changed my hairstyle. It was a lot of fun but we were definitely tired by the end of the day. 5:30 pm we go and look at the pictures on the computer. We then ate dinner with my mission trainer and her fiance. It was fun talking to her and catching up. I'm excited for her wedding...she's getting married on Feb 3rd..so I would have just barely missed it. After dinner, we go back to the wedding place to finish choosing pictures. It was hard cutting pictures out because we liked a lot of them. We also had to re-negotiate the price and package since there was some miscommunication at the beginning. I think it all worked out in the end though. I'm excited to see the finished products!

Wednesday: We went to the morning market with Mom and Dad. Then Andy and I were able to be the witness couple for the missionary endowment session. We didn't know what to do but it worked out. I'm glad we were able to attend the temple. We were going to attend the Hong Kong temple but it doesn't look like we would have been able to make it. While we were in the temple, mom took Andy's mom around to buy stuff. I'm glad she had fun. After the temple, we went to the 101 building and then to the night market. It was fun! I wish we had night markets in America.

Thursday: In the morning, we went out to a place called Dan Shui. It was really pretty. We didn't get to stay long because we had to catch the 12 o'clock bus to the airport. It was nice to just stroll around the ocean/river...I don't remember exactly what it was.

Anyway, that's basically our trip. We all enjoyed ourselves and we were able to stay in the patron housing..which was nice because we had our own room and bathroom..plus, it was really big...well, just bigger then the room we have now. :) Anyway, we were just happy to spend time with mom and dad!

Macao: Day 7

It's official!! I have been in Macao for a whole week! Time sure does fly. Anyway, since today is Sunday, we really didn't do much. Church was fun. Several people spoke Mandarin so I was able to talk to them. I feel like my Mandarin has tui bu...or gotten worse...but, they could still understand me so I guess that was good. Then we just stayed at home...Andy helped his family clean up the house and throw away a lot of the junk...his parents don't like to throw stuff away. Very much like my parents. :) But Dorothy definitely took care of that. Hehehe. For dinner, we went over to Andy's other aunt's house and had hot pot. Afterwards, we came back and packed for our excursion trip to Taiwan to visit my parents and to take wedding pics. I am soo excited to see them and to take the pics. I just hope they turn out.

Macao: Day 6

Today was a pretty relaxing day. For the past few days, we haven't been able to sleep past 7 am. We actually slept in till about 7:30 am. :) Then we out to the basketball court. Andy was playing basketball with his friends. Afterwards, we went and watched a Chinese movie...I forgot what it was called but it was pretty good. I believe it was the same people who did Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Anyway, it was about the Emporer and what he did to get the thrown and then showed what he did to keep it. Then we just stayed at home. Andy was fixing the computers at home..as usual. :) For dinner, we met with Andy's family that was here in Macao...we ate some Portuguese food at a nice restaurant. The Before we went to dinner, we were able to walk around the Macao Tower. It was very pretty. I'm glad that we were able to relax and enjoy ourselves. :)

Macao: Day 5

In general, today will be known as Andy's day...we basically spent the whole day meeting his friends. Of course, since I can't really speak Cantonese, I just sat there and listened to everyone else. You're probably all thinking, "Poor Tanya, she must have been sooo bored." It wasn't all too bad, but it was weird to not really talk the whole day. Andy had a lot of fun though! He hadn't seen his friends for 3 years so they had a lot of catching up to do. It was fun seeing him interact with them. We did do a little bit of shopping in between visits with his friends, but that's about it. We also ate a lot of food today...we ate potstickers, mango drinks, chong you beng, some milk dessert, Japanese food..and probably some other stuff..Andy is determined to gain wait, me on the other hand, would like to lose weight...so I'll probably have to go on a diet when I get home. I will probably try the one that my sister in law is doing...sounds like she has had some success..even though I don't think she needs to lose anything.... :)

Macao: Day 4

Today the weather was much much better. Still overcast but at least it wasn't raining. So, Andy showed me around little Macao. We went around on his Moped. It is soooo scary to drive in the traffic here. It's TERRIBLE! The mopeds just squeeze in and out of cars and they don't really follow the traffic rules. Needless to say, my eyes were closed almost the whole time! I really enjoyed seeing the landmarks of Macao. It is really pretty. Then, went shopping and found some cool stuff. :) In the afternoon, Andy's parents took us site seeing. He drove us around Taipa and we ate the famous Portuguese dan tat. It was pretty good. That night we stayed the night at Andy's aunts home and ate dinner there. Her house is sooo nice. I have never seen such a fancy house in Asia.

Macao: Day 3

Today it rained ALL DAY! It was sooo gloomy that we wanted to just stay home. But, luckily we didn't. We decided to go out and walk around and go shopping. We didn't have too much luck since we weren't in the mood to shop but it was still fun looking at everything. That afternoon we took a long nap and then we took Andy's family to eat Korean food. It was pretty good, but we still like Sam Hawk in Provo Utah. We haven't found a place that is better than it. Anyway, that night we went and visited Andy's aunt. Her place was really really nice..you can tell that she works very hard!

Macao: Day 2

Yeah! Success with the travelers checks. We found 2 banks that would accept them with out a fee. However, I need to have my passport. Which I won't get back until Thursday. So we'll have to wait till then. Anyway, today we basically finished our 'to do list'. It feels good to cross things off. We finished the stuff at the bank, got my new glasses ordered, and found out about wedding pics and tickets to Taiwan to visit Mom and Dad. The tickets weren't too bad so I'm excited to go. ;)

Anyway, the weather the last few days has been very nice. The perfect spring weather. I hope it lasts. We've also had very good Chinese food....we went to yam cha and other stuff. Yummy. :) I'll hopefully be able to post pics later.

Macao: Day 1

Today was basically errand day. We got a lot done! We got my China Visa application submitted, Andy's ID card changed to the current one, and got his bank information all settled. It was a very busy day and we walked everywhere! Macao is definitely not a very big place. We basically walked from one end to the other in like 30 minutes....okay, maybe not that fast, but we it sure seemed like it. The traffic here is also very crazy...it's just like China and Taiwan. Pretty scary and no one follows traffic rules. Definitely gotta watch out for the mopeds and cars.

We also tried to cash in the traveler's checks that we brought...definitely not as easy as we thought it would be. It appears that the place that was suppose to accept them for free didn't accept them any more. Luckily, we have our credit cards, and some extra cash. We'll have to search around. :)

In Macao!!

After several "tribulations," Andy and I have finally arrived in Macao. First of all, the night before we were scheduled to leave, we found out that our flight from Rochester to Minneapolis was cancelled. Luckily, our friends were headed up to the city to attend the temple. So, they were able to give us a ride to catch our flight there. After 12 hours on the plane, we arrived in Japan. It wasn't too bad...we watched 2 movies and I slept most of the way. Then, after an hour lay over, it was another 5 hours to Hong Kong. When we landed, Andy opened the luggage area and next thing I knew, I was hit in the arm with a pretty heavy plastic bag. Luckily I had moved over or else I would have been hit in the head. :) Then from there, it was an hour bus ride to the ferry and another hour on the ferry to Macao. As we were boarding the ferry, the handle on our larger suitcase broke. Then, after we got off the ferry and going to catch a taxi, the front right wheel on the same larger luggage broke. We finally arrived safely at Andy's home at about 2 or 3 in the morning. We were glad to have made it safely and have a good nights rest!

In the airport

On the ferry to Macao

Recent Adventures...

We took a trip up to the Twin Cities Saturday and stayed the night. It was a lot of fun! We went to an art musuem and a zoo. The art musuem had some really cool asian collections and some nice conservatories. The best part was that they were both free!! All in all, it was an awesome trip! I love exploring places with my husband. :)



Christmas day we explored the southern part of Rochester. We ended up driving by the Mayowood Mansion and they had this beautiful lake by their house.

Donating Blood

I've never ever donated blood before but I decided it was time to do it to help others. Also, here at Mayo, if you or your spouse is employed by Mayo and you donate blood, you won't be charged for blood if you or your immediate family ever need it. So, I decided to donate blood yesterday. I was nervous at first because I wasn't sure if they could get enough out of me...my veins are small so sometimes I have a hard time filling up a small test tube. Luckily, we didn't have a problem and it really wasn't that bad. Plus, they said you can save 3 people by donating once. It feels good to know that I have helped 3 people and possibly save their lives. Anyway, maybe I will donate again sometime in the future.

**Christmas**

It was so nice to be able to sleep in..granted, we went to bed pretty early so we were still up by 8:30am...but, in general, it was nice to not have to rush off to work. We actually got to eat breakfast together too. Andy woke up and cooked hashbrown and scrambled eggs for me. It was one of the BEST breakfasts ever. :) Then, we opened up gifts. I got Andy and new ergonomic wireless keyboard and he bought me a Greg Olson painting of Christ. The painting is so beautiful and is perfect! Afterwards, we just started working on our many projects that we have. We really haven't had time to do them so we've fallen behind. Hopefully, with another 3 day weekend coming up, we can get some more things done. Later that day, we went and explored the southern part of Rochester. It was a lot of fun. :) I'll be sure to post some pics later.

Christmas Card

So, I decided to put our Christmas card up on our blog because I know I wasn't able to send or email one out to everyone. If anyone would like an actual card or email next year, please let me know what your address and email are. :)

First Anniversary!

Wow, I can't believe I've been married for a year! Time sure does fly. Since our anniversary fell on a Wednesday, we weren't able to do too much, but we still had a lot of fun! Andy took the night off from his Bishopric Meeting and I took the night off from scouts. We went to eat dinner at a Japanese restaurant called Jepanchi..it's a tepanyaki place where they cook in front of you...it was a lot of fun! Then, we went and watched the new James Bond movie-Casino Royale. It was actually pretty good.

Anyway, it was nice to be able to have a free night during the week were we could spend time together. We are also planning on staying up in the city one night...we love exploring so I'm looking forward to that. :)

**Camping in November**

So, since the weather during Thanksgiving was really nice, we had decided to follow through with our camping plans. Friday night, we went camping at Whitewater State Park with Craig and Jaclyn Whetten. We had a lot of fun! Plus, we got to eat tin foil dinners..YUMMY! Unfortunately, we were all really tired from our Black Friday adventure and it was really dark, so we went to bed pretty early. Anyway, that night it got really cold. So cold that I don't think any of us slept really well. The next morning, there was frost on EVERYTHING! Luckily, we still had some wood left to start a fire.

Another GREAT Book

Eve's Daughters by Lynn N. Austin is another book I HIGHLY recommend! It's a story about four generations of women and the effects their choices have had on their lives. The four generations of women include the great grandma, grandma, mother, and daughter. It definitely made me look at how my own parent's choices have influenced my own life. It's definitely a MUST READ book. If you do choose to read it, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Pictures from Black Friday

Black Friday - Round 2

So, this year Andy and I participated in Black Friday for the 2nd time. However, this time Andy did most of the hard work. I dropped him off at Best Buy around 11 pm and joined him at 4:30 am...just before they opened. My poor husband waited out in the cold for 6 hours..Luckily, our friends Chris and Craig wanted to join in on the fun and met Andy at Best Buy around midnight. Also, the weather wasn't too cold...so they were okay.

The line in front of the store was REALLY long, but luckily, Andy was there early enough to get the big items he wanted...they handed out tickets for the big items. Anyway, as it got closer to 5 am, a new crowd started forming near the doors and everyone literally yelled at them to 'get in line.' Which is understandable..it wouldn't be fair for them to cut in when people have been waiting all night. Finally the doors open and the madness begins. Everyone rushes to the different areas to grab their items before they're gone. Andy and I and our 2 friends were successful in getting everything we wanted....we had some friends in Provo who had waited in line since 5 pm the day before and they still weren't able to get what they wanted...I felt like we were very lucky. I also think participating in Black Friday is a lot of fun! They definitely have good deals. Who knows, maybe it will become a tradition. :) Luckily, the employee parking ramps at work were open to everyone so we caught a quick nap at home before coming in to work... :)

Well, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I'll post pics up later.

Thanksgiving!!

Thanksgiving was such a GREAT day! Andy and I just stayed at home and did absolutely nothing....well, I made luo mai fahn and Turkey....other than that, we just relaxed at home. It was awesome! The turkey turned out pretty well...I was pretty proud of myself.

Around 6 ish, we had friends over for a light dinner, had a ballroom dance party, and played sequence. Fun Times! I only wish we could have had family around...I'm looking forward to seeing eveyone when my parents come back from their mission. :)