china: american care package edition

*not pictured a small bag of Cheetos and a Hostess fruit pie for jg



One of the best parts of prepping for my trip to China was getting together a little care package of American goodies for meggie. During all the email exchanges during trip prep I continually asked if I could bring her anything from the US. I always received the same response---nothing! Okay, she did ask for a couple of necessary items that she had shipped to me from drugstore.com. And eventually, she did joking ask if I could bring her a diet Mountain Dew.

Well, that request got me thinking......and happened appears above. I just wanted to do my best to take all of meggie's favorites from America. It was so much fun figuring what to take, how to pack it and what meggie would be most excited to get. I was almost as excited to give meggie all her treats as I was to get to China!

When I saw meggie and jg at the airport, jg immediately grabbed my bag. I was so worried he would comment about how heavy it was and question what I had packed. Luckily, I didn't ask any questions so i didn't have to worry about ruining my surprise for meggie.

After we arrived in Yangshou, I could hardly wait to give meggie all her treats. We headed to their apartment to drop off all my stuff before heading to dinner. I started to unpack and give meggie the items she had requested. I then tossed her what appeared to be a hand towel stuffed into multiple ziploc bags and told her she should open it. When she opened it, she discovered the diet Mountain Dew.

I then proceeded to give her the other items pictured above---lots of meggie favorites! One of the best items I was able to take her was some dill pickles. Thanks to Wendy I learned that you can get dill pickles in little individual wrapped snack sizes. It was so awesome to had those to meggie. She is a lover of dill pickles and it is something she can't find in China.

I love that I was able to take a surprise and a little piece of America to my sister living in China. And, my bag weighed about 15 pounds less after emptying all of meggie's treats.

oh the jet-lag!

As soon as my sister (meggie) and brother-in-law told me they were moving to China, I knew I had to go visit them. I'd never been to China and figured this would be a once in a lifetime opportunity. Back in January, they moved to the south of China; to a small town called Yangshuo. Sadly, I would be nowhere near the Great Wall, the Forbidden City or the Terracotta Soldiers, but I was going to visit a beautiful area of China.

After what seemed like a week, (but was really only 2 days) I arrived in Shanghai. I had about 17 hours in Shanghai before catching another flight to Guilin. I arrived late at night and headed to my hotel. Rather than change my clock, I figured I could just calculate when to set my alarm. Well, if you know me and math, it will come as no shock that I set my alarm to get up at around 7am (not 9am as I had anticipated). Oh well, I felt great so decided to get up and head out to do some sight seeing.

I wandered down toward the People's Square. It was so interesting to see several groups of people doing various forms of Tai Chi. There were people with fans, swords, scarves and just themselves. It was fascinating to see all the people up and about at that time of day. I wandered over to The Bund. If I was going to be in Shanghai, I had to see this area. It was so beautiful!

After walking through the city for about 2 and a half hours I was getting a bit tired and definitely hungry. I decided I'd better head back toward my hotel. Just around the corner from my hotel was a great area of all sorts of street vendors. I wandered looking for something tasty to eat (I knew my mom would not approve of me eating from a street vendor!) I found this yummy looking sesame filled pancake looking thing (yes, that's its official name). I bought a couple of pieces of fruit from another vendor. Then went to a little store and bought some water and juice to round out my meal. It was definitely delicious!

After packing up my stuff, it was off to the airport for another flight. By now I thought I'd be through with flying, but I guess the thought of seeing my little sister soon was enough to get me back on the plane. I must say, I like flying in China--they don't make you take your shoes or jacket off when you go through security. Quite a change from travel in the US! I couldn't wait to get to Guilin.

After getting my luggage, I walked to the lobby area and witnessed the most beautiful sight! There jumping to look for me was my sister! I was so excited to see her and jg. I was also lucky that one of their co-workers had some business in Guilin and was willing to give us a ride back to Yangshuo. It was only a 1 hour 45 minute drive and I would be to my destination. (for those of you keeping score, I traveled for close to 24 hours to arrive in Yangshuo) As soon as we got in the van, I could wait no longer---I had to give my sister one of the many American treats I brought her--Cheetos!

We headed to meggie's favorite mei fun place for some delicious dinner. Mei fun is a delicious noodle dish, served in broth with pickled radishes and spiced green beans. It was after dinner that things began to get fuzzy--I was exhausted!

Here's an example of just how "fuzzy" I was: On my last night in Yangshuo as we were headed back home, I said I wanted to stop and get a beverage. meggie and jg said we'd just stop at the same place we went the first night I arrived. I thought, great. When we arrived at this mysterious store I had no recollection of ever having been there before. I swore up and down that I had not been to this store, but a different one. meggie and jg assured me that we had been there. We all agreed that my memory was not to be trusted as I could hardly walk straight I was so exhausted.

I had no idea that around the world travel could take it out of you. My brother-in-law was determined to keep me up until 9:30pm (and he barely succeeded!)  I didn't want to spend my vacation sleeping. So I decided that it was just mind over matter to get over my jet-lag quickly. Ha! I had no idea.

**stay tuned for the American gift basket, me v. a piece of limestone and many other adventures. sorry if these posts seem a bit tedious, but i'm using them as a journal of my adventure.

**sorry for the lack of pictures. i'm on the road ,but wanted to start posting before i forgot everything. as soon as i return i'll post all my pictures to an album for your viewing pleasure.

room with a view

After several hours on an airplane, I finally arrived in China. Now, this is the view from my window every morning I wake up. Gorgeous, no? 

I got to spend a bit of time exploring Shanghai on my own before heading out to Yangshou (where Meggie and jg live) I was so excited to see the two of them waiting for me at the airport in Guilin. Unfortunately, the weather has been nothing but cold and rainy since I arrived. Hopefully it will soon clear and we will do some climbing and exploring. In the meantime, I'm eating every delicious food I can get my hands on, and there's a lot of it here! We've done some shopping and some indoor bouldering. There will definitely be more to share. But for now, just be jealous of my amazing view!

sisters, sisters......

Every year around Christmas time, my sisters and I watch "White Christmas." It's one of my favorite holiday movies. The performance of "Sisters, Sisters...." is one of our favorite. We're often heard singing it to each other throughout the year. I really love my sisters and feel very blessed to have them as sisters.

The other day when I attended the Jingle Jam with Wendy, I became a bit envious. All of Wendy's kids and her sisters kids attend the same elementary school. And, they all live within about a half mile of each other. As if that weren't enough, they all meet at Wendy's house each morning with their kids to finish getting ready and take the kids to school. There was definitely a pang of jealousy in me when I learned that.

I adore my sisters and wish that I got to see them everyday. My closest sister lives about 250 miles away in Hurricane, UT. I see CJ a handful of times throughout the year. I stay with her twice a year when I do the St. George tri and the Kokopelli tri. If I ever decide to do the St. George marathon again, she'll provide me with lodging for that as well. She also comes to Provo a few times a year--usually involving the Hurricane State Football championship game or some other sports related event. Sadly, when I see CJ it is only briefly and it is rare that her kids (and sometimes even her husband) are around. I wish they were closer so I knew those nieces and nephews better. I will take what little time I get with CJ as she is a busy mom of 4 teenagers.

My next closest sister lives about 280 miles away, at least for 10 more days. When Meggie got married, Jonathan took her away! Yes, he still had school to finish and his school was BYU-Idaho. But, still, we once lived within 5 miles of each other and spent a good deal of time together. I did go visit them in Rexburg over the summer (and ran a half marathon while I was there). Jonathan has been great and brought Meggie down to visit several times. Each of their visits are so fantastic and I've grown to love Jonathan more and more with each visit. Now, not only has Meggie left Utah, she will soon be leaving the country. She and her cute husband and heading to China for several months. It's an exciting adventure for them, but Meggie will be dearly missed. The best part, I have an excuse to visit China now! I can't wait for that.

And then, there's Mandy. Mandy lives 1200 miles away in Texas. I go visit her every year and she is good about coming to Utah. But, gone are the days of diet coke and a crossword puzzle in the history department. And, now that Mandy has 2 adorable kids, it will be even harder for her to make the trek to Utah for some sister time. I went to visit Mandy for Thanksgiving this year and boy was that trip not what we had planned. We were both looking forward to some good sister time; Mandy's last hurrah before baby number 2 came along in January. Well, Lucky's brother had other ideas and he just didn't want to wait until January. That cutie-pie decided November was a better time to arrive. I had a fantastic time with Lucky, but Mandy and I missed out on some good sister time. We did the best to cram a week's worth of playing into 24 hours, but it just wasn't enough.

As Wendy told me about the fun with her sisters, it really did make me a bit jealous. I thought how fun it would be to live within a mile of all my sisters, to see each other everyday, to have our kids (well, not that all of us have kids or any school aged kids for that matter) attend the same school, to enjoy play dates at the park. I miss having my sister's around to watch a good (bad?) made for TV movie with me. I'd love to see CJ and more of her kids' sporting events. I wish I was around to help Mandy right now and spend time with Maddy watching Monsters, Inc and playing outside. I wish Meggie was around to help me feel hip and cool and do fun crafting projects. Hopefully one day we will all live closer to each other. Until then, I will just have to enjoy what little time I do get with them. And, at least we can talk all we want thanks to mobile-to-mobile minutes.

jingle jam

The original plan for today called for me to meet Wendy at Pizzeria 712 in Orem. When we talked last night she told me, "I know there's something going on but I can't for the life of me remember what it is. It must not be that important otherwise I'd totally remember it." She completely forgot it was the Jingle Jam at her kid's elementary school. Oops! Just blame it on chemo brain.

So, instead of an uneventful lunch at Pizzeria 712. We grabbed lunch from Flour Girls & Dough Boys and headed over to her kid's elementary school. We met up with her sisters, who also have kids attending the same elementary school and prepared ourselves for some mind blowing entertainment.

Here are the highlights (er, low lights) of the event:

• I was accosted! OK, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. However, the woman sitting behind me had about 15 different cameras and recording devices. Once her child had completed their performance, she decided it was time for her to leave. She loaded up her camera bag that weighed about  37 pounds, turned to leave and bonked me in the head with it. Who knew a kids concert would be such a dangerous place.
• It was interesting to note the different ways parents recorded the performance. One parent on the video camera, one on their phone, snapping still shots with a phone, DSLR, point & shoot or anything else they could get their hands on. There were even people with tripods set up. I had no idea that a kids concert elicited such professional documentation.
• I was sitting with the cool kids. Seriously, Wendy & her gang are pretty rad! We laughed, we joked, we had a great time. We were completely entertained by their kids and the antics of all the other kids in the school.
• I ran into a former neighbor who I hadn't seen in about 6 or 7 years. It was so nice to chat and catch-up. And to learn that her oldest son has turned in his mission papers. I'm always amazed at how these youngsters grow up---especially since I don't seem to age a day.

I forgot how much fun a kids Christmas program could be. I'm so glad that our lunch turned into "lunch and a show." I always have a great time with Wendy, but this event definitely took the cake! Even if (very briefly) I did feel like I was being held hostage.

i choose to believe

I have a 9 year old niece who still believes in the wonder of Santa Claus. Not having children, I don't know at what age they quit believing and start to question. However, I think there is something special about this child. She is the most logical and rational kid you'll ever meet. Seriously! She once convinced her mom to let her have cookies for breakfast (true story!) She was 6 at the time and she wanted cookies for breakfast. Her mom informed her that cookies were not a breakfast food, but rather a dessert. She immediately shot back that they have donuts for breakfast sometimes and they also have donuts for dessert sometimes. How were cookies any different than donuts? She got cookies for breakfast that day. So, it is shocking that this brilliant, rational child still believes that a fat man in a red suit travels the world on Christmas Eve and delivers presents to all the children of the world. On some level, I think she knows it isn't possible. But ultimately, I think she wants to believe; because there is something magical about believing.

Believing isn't always easy. There is lots in this world that makes me not want to believe. There is so much hurt, pain, heartache and sadness in this world. I've definitely seen my share. It sometimes seems that there are only those awful events and experiences to be had in life. Life can be hard! Some days it just seems easier to give up, to quit believing and just accept a miserable rotten life. I've definitely felt this way in my life and certainly over the past few weeks. But even amongst all the sadness and heartache I still believe!

I realize as a grown woman it my be corny to still believe, but trust me I do. I believe in the goodness of people. I believe that I can make the US Olympic team (even though I'm not an expert at any sport). I believe that someday I will grow 2 more inches (because I've always dreamed of being 5'10"). I believe that someday I will make perfect cupcakes (because I already make perfect cookies!) I believe that someday I will find my soul-mate, my perfect match, my dream guy and I'll marry him. I believe (even as a woman of my age) that I will be blessed with a child of my own. I believe in magic and fairy tales and pixie dust and unicorns and the happy ending.

While the notion defies all logic and rationale, much like my niece, I believe in Santa Claus. Maybe not the literal being, but all that he represents. You see, I'd rather believe in happiness, hope, kindness, love and even a little magic. And so, everyday I choose to believe!

my first published work

I know, I've been terrible about posting to this blog, but I have a good reason; I swear! About a month ago I was approached by a friend who is working with an online triathlete resource. They post articles, product reviews, race reviews--everything a triathlete needs to race better & faster in one location. They asked if I'd be willing to write an article about my experience with trail running.

Well, that article got published! I know that technically, I am already "published" every time I post to this here blog. However, to have someone else ask me to write and then to actually use what I wrote is the best. I'm so thrilled and hope to do more writing for them in the future (do you hear that @triathletesedge?)

Here you go: read all about how I take it to the trails!