Ringing in the New Year...


With all that's happened over the last week (hard to believe Christmas was just 7 days ago), I'm not sure how to adequately sum it all up and I'm majorly lacking motivation to chronicle the journey in detail. So I thought I'd jot down a few highlights:

Three generations! My Aunt came to surprise my grandparents- it was so great to see all of them!
  • Christmas in Florida was so sweet. Lots of laughter and joy. Very little discord (not always the case, we are a normal family!). Great food. Incredible weather. We felt so blessed.

  • Travel on the busiest day of the holiday season during a major snowstorm all went perfectly. Our short time in San Francisco with one of R's oldest friends was great. 
best friends for almost 25 years!
  • Our Shenyang apartment is HUGE. Bigger than anywhere we've lived as a married couple and I really couldn't ask for more. It's a little barren at the moment without our stuff in it but as our belongings trickle Eastward I know it will feel more and more like home here. 
    Lights out our window. Very pretty & cold.
  • We ate hot pot on day 1! The welcome we've received has been warm and the people at the consulate (who also live on our floor and the floor above us among other places) are wonderful. We even had people to ring in the New Year with at a fun little party. 
  • It has been so fun to watch R engage with China again. He loves these people and this place so much, and it makes me love it to watch him strike up a conversation with an old man in a noodle shop during lunch. 
    sunrise this morning
  • The sun shines in Shenyang and it's beautiful. I may have cried yesterday because of the cold (wind chill was -11 and I've got a sore throat and runny nose), but while the weather is not ideal, it's not depressing either. I assumed China winters were all grey and foggy, but they're not. Definitely wasn't expecting that! I'm referring to Shenyang as the Vermont of China and that's not too much of a stretch of the imagination (I have never visited Vermont just watched White Christmas 50 times).
A new year is supposed to bring hope and a fresh start. I definitely feel like I am working from a blank slate with all new surroundings and a new community, but I'm hopeful too. Feelings of being overwhelmed have flooded my heart numerous times since we arrived, but I continue to look back at the year that's just past and how faithful the Lord has been to us and peace takes over. Praying for peace in your new year with the changes you face too! Happy New Year! 新年快乐！

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