myretroperspective

Criss-crossing the city of Taipei turned out to be an excellent way to spend a long Memorial Day weekend. A welcome getaway from the everyday and a much needed escape from the mainland. With 4 nights and 4 days in Taipei we barely scratched the surface. We left planning return trips to check out a few sights we missed this time around and even get out of the city to the coast. our first night loving taipei food! We were slowed down a little by R's recent knee injury (wherein we don't actually know what he did or when just that his knee hurts). You would barely notice his limp, but it does change the pace of life. He has been trying to keep off it as much as he can, which isn't much in Asia. So we were forced to skip out on all the great hiking suggestions we received. "Next time, next time," we said. My biggest disappointment was that the gondola that takes you from the Taipei Zoo up into the tea plantations on the mountside of MaoKong was out of service for the l...

Today we travel to Chongqing where R & I first met, dated, and got engaged. I have wistful memories of winding taxi rides through the gray drizzle and long afternoons learning to drink tea at a hillside homestay together. Chongqing is known as a foggy mountain city, but we have such bright memories there! Fall of 2009-dating. river cruise on the yangtze/jialing rivers We're looking forward to this trip to see friends, get a break from the cold (did I mention it snowed AGAIN Sunday night and most of Monday?) and relax some since R has been working really hard lately. Friday he did 100 visa applicant interviews in 4.5 hours (yes those ARE in mandarin). Yikes! hot pot deliciousness Not to mention the spicy cuisine of the south that we so desperately miss. REAL sichuan food is the best cuisine, maybe in the world, and it's just not the same  nearly as good outside of southwest China. I'm trying to convince R that he does NOT need to participate in the 3-in-1 hot pot challen...

photo complements of a friend from my frist year in Asia Many friends have asked with kind concern over the stresses on our marriage during this time of transition.  Heck, I've wondered myself about how we will weather moving our life literally around the world every few years as a part of this lifestyle.  R and I make a pretty good team and while tensions have risen at points in recent months, with so much of our life being in flux, we remain committed to understanding one another. We also always seem to balance each other out- when one is discouraged the other can find something to cheer them up. While this whole foreign service thing is quite the test, my (re)learning mandarin might be the ultimate test of constancy.  You see, I am painfully insecure about my mandarin. This insecurity slowly developed as I was dating R the second half of my time in Asia. I was competent and able to relate on the heart level with friends in chinese, but whenever I was with R I let him o...

Today we celebrate the covenant we made to God & one another to be devoted in service and love for the rest of our lives- it's our wedding anniversary! I know 2 years doesn't seem like much but we have experienced a few significant milestones and I'm certain there are more on the horizon. I am so thankful the Lord both brought R and I together, and sustains us to love one another and remain one even as life gets real. I am also thankful for so many wonderful family members & friends that celebrate along with us- 2 years ago was a incredible celebration and we haven't stopped!

So I am a delinquent blogger, I know! It's that catch 22 I told you about- when there are things to blog about, you don't have time to sit down and write. I might try to do some post-dated posts to catch you up on what I've been up to, but I figured I'd start by posting some fun pictures from our anniversary weekend. We celebrated ONE WHOLE YEAR yesterday and as I posted on twitter- if I'd known anniversaries were so much like birthdays (you DO know I love birthdays, of course), I would have gotten married younger. Not really, I think the Lord's timing was perfect and I really enjoyed my single years, but it was a SUPER fun weekend. Thanks to friends and family who celebrated from afar with us! I know 1 year is merely a milestone before many more, but we still made it special. R drove us down to the home of my Alma Mater- Gainesville, FL. On our way home to Indian Shores, FL from ATL in the past, I've required a stop-over for sushi or Satchel's ,...

I do realize the subtitle of this blog is "sincere thoughts about our life" and so far the depth of sincerity has not been great. I think we are finally getting some distance from all the transitions of the past year and being able to process their effects and how the Lord is using them. I ran across this article from the resurgence on twitter yesterday and it has stuck with me. The author contends that one becomes an excellent wife over time knowing Christ and living to serve rather than just showing up on her wedding day excellent. On the forefront of my heart these last 9+ months has been the question of if I'm a "good wife" and despite R's and others' encouragement, I constantly come up short. This author brought me renewed hope in the process of becoming who Christ has (re)made me to be.

This weekend marks a year from when R asked me to be marry him. Can it have only been a year? So much has happened in 12 months and while marriage has been an adjustment I still have a hard time imagining life if we hadn't gone down this path. We have moved 3 times. I have taken 10 flights (half international). We have found a church, found a job, made a home. We have exponentially more worldly possessions (in the form of generous wedding gifts, a craig's list sofa, a hand-me-down bed & loveseat and the long-awaited kitchen table & chairs). When I stop and think about all this change I usually am not sure how we got here, and so I know it must be the Lord. He continues to provide and draw us close to Him. He continues to humble us and show us our need for Him. He is guiding us in as we learn how to "be". The night R asked me to marry him changed our lives forever and I will never forget it. I was truly surprised even though I hoped it was coming. W...