Rick Prefontaine

A new era has been birthed, one that I am super proud of. 

Last weekend, my father, on the eve of his 5x birthday (where x is = or greater than 6 but no more than 8) finished a half marathon.

Finishing 13.1 is a big deal - most people haven't done it. I've never done it. But my dad, a self-professed "non-runner" got it done. And he did it just because he knew he should.

Growing up, dad and I ran together. And when I say ran, I mean that the two of us suffered through a 1.5 mile loop together, one time around. And we would usually quit before the loop was done. For years, the two of us helped each other run just enough to foster a serious dislike for running.

See the smiles of two non-runners through the years:

Before my high school prom, 2001

One-week visit back in America, 2011

Not only that, he and I ghost ran a Thanksgiving Day "Turkey Trot 5K" two years ago and dad had a hard time finishing. I think that experience motivated him to make running more of a priority, and now, two years later, he's done more than make it a priority: he has set goals, pushed himself, trained consistently, and achieved. I am so proud of my dad. Well done dad!

Pounding pavement.

Dad and Eliza in the race.

He's a runner now.

三周年

I don't really blog about serious stuff. But today, me and Stace's third anniversary, I'm feeling like a little photo-celebration of the past three years is in order. I am way into this little cutie I married.

The fun begins...

Traveling.

Mountain lakes. Delightful.

Delicious. In every sense of the word.

Snacks, my favorite.

I married a True Blue angel.

Who did I marry again?

Yeah, she's a model.

The fun just keeps coming.

week in review

Really it's the last week+.


Asian Kate took me to Haagen Dazs.  It was unbelievable.  It was my first time actually ever eating Haagen Dazs, and I think it is just as good here as it is in America.  Maybe even better, because it's been quite a while since I had ice cream.

I got some curtains in the mail from my mom & stepdad for aaron and my anniversary!  I have been wanting these curtains for so long (or at least it feels like so long).   and i love them.

Cute babies actually posing for a picture.  That's right, she put her arm around him just for the picture.

We hung out with some friends who are moving out of town soon.  Waah.

We went out for hot pot (cook your own meats and vegetables in boiling water at your table), where Aaron and I ate the intestines of the pig, the cow, and the chicken.  It surprisingly wasn't as disgusting as I thought it was going to be, since intestines are not the kinda things I choose to make at home.

2 different broths to cook the food in - 2 non spicy, two super spicy

one of my teaching assistants and her husband

me & phyllis

And to end the week, tip off weekend started on ESPN with Carolina playing Michigan State in the Carrier Classic.  My husband was literally jumping up and down saying, "it's Carolina and it's America!  This is AMAZING!"

He puts on as much Carolina stuff as he can find

Making dumplings

I feel like every foreigner who lives in China eventually has this experience - making 饺子 jiaozi (dumplings) with your local friends.


You may remember Asian Kate.  She's was our real estate agent, and is currently our neighbor.  She works ALL the time.  The realty office that she works at is right beside the gate of our complex.  She and her husband run the business, so they are literally there 24/7.  Twenty four hours a week, 7 weeks a year.


Actually they're there every day (Monday through Sunday) from 9:00am to 9:00pm.  When her husband's around, Asian Kate works all day long and has no time to hang out.  BUT when her husband goes to Hong Kong (his hometown) to visit his mother, Kate is free to hang out.


For months she has been telling me, "When my husband goes to Hong Kong, we can make dumplings together." "When my husband is gone, we can go shopping!"  But I was never really sure when her husband actually went on these trips.  Then about three weeks ago she knocked on my door to say, "He's going to Hong Kong November 1-5th!"


So Wednesday, Kate and I went to the market to buy fillings for dumplings, then brought them back to my house to stuff the dumplings, steam them and boil them.  It was a lot of fun to finally get some time to hang out with her, and super fun to finally learn how to make dumplings.  Kate kept saying, "I think making jiaozi is fun!"  Her mother apparently is a great jiaozi maker, and it is her family tradition (actually a lot of Chinese families' tradition) to make jiaozi together and eat them at Chinese new year.  Maybe next blog I'll write about this tradition and what I learned about the "legend" of jiaozi from my chinese teacher.


There is a specific way to make jiaozi look pretty when you are closing up the dumplings, and it took practice for me to get them done well, but by the end, Kate told me I could open up an "Jiaozi Made by an American Shop."

steamed jiaozi

making the fillings

teaching me the proper way to wrap them

Let me clear my throat.....

Okay, so this post is completely random, not at all anything about our lives here, except for the fact that this is what I have been enjoying today.

Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake have done 3 versions of the history of rap (I think the latest one was done last week).  Part two is by far my favorite.  And I wanted to share.  At least 40% of these songs I'm pretty sure I've either danced to or sang really loudly with my college roommate, Jessica.  Some of y'all may have even been privileged enough to see our "hey ya" dance.

I love that rap music brings us things like the stanky leg, the dougie, soulja boy, air force ones, ghost ridin' the whip....the list goes on and on.

I had a dance party by myself today, even though I've thrown up every night for the last three nights -just a little bug, that I think I dougied out of my system today...