Sunday, May 16, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Happy Mother's Day
To My Mother
You were there, and you gave me life -
Your heart stopped,
And started,
So you could be my mother.
You were there, and you watched me -
My first smile;
My first step;
My first words were for you.
You were there, and you taught me -
About faith,
About love,
And finding joy in life.
You were there, and you comforted me -
Rocking me
Back and forth,
Even when I was too big.
You were there, and I felt your strength -
Not in your arms,
Or your voice,
But in your very soul.
You were there, and I watched you -
Your prayers;
Your hard work;
Your growth was for me.
You are here, and always will be -
My support;
My example;
Forever my mother and my heart.
To My Mother-in-law
When I was small, I disliked my name.
The R's made me stumble – My tongue would not tame.
My cheeks blushed red hot whenever I spoke.
My name, I thought sadly, was just a cruel joke.
But as I grew up and learned how to speak,
My feelings for my name became much less bleak.
My mother had chosen my name, and I learned
The right to this name was something to earn.
A woman of faith, of loyalty and love;
A woman who looked for strength from above.
This was my mother's favorite tale
In the Bible – A story I now knew so well.
My name grew to mean so much more to me;
A name to be proud of, to stand up, to be.
Now you're in my life, and I've learned even more -
Because of you, my name means more than before.
My mother could not know, when she named me so well,
Of my mother-in-law, and my love for Liddell.
Now the lines that I read have taken new life,
Since the very first day I became your son's wife.
The words are for you now, they speak of my love.
I know you and my name were gifts from above.
Ruth 1:16-17, “And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for wither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me."
You were there, and you gave me life -
Your heart stopped,
And started,
So you could be my mother.
You were there, and you watched me -
My first smile;
My first step;
My first words were for you.
You were there, and you taught me -
About faith,
About love,
And finding joy in life.
You were there, and you comforted me -
Rocking me
Back and forth,
Even when I was too big.
You were there, and I felt your strength -
Not in your arms,
Or your voice,
But in your very soul.
You were there, and I watched you -
Your prayers;
Your hard work;
Your growth was for me.
You are here, and always will be -
My support;
My example;
Forever my mother and my heart.
To My Mother-in-law
When I was small, I disliked my name.
The R's made me stumble – My tongue would not tame.
My cheeks blushed red hot whenever I spoke.
My name, I thought sadly, was just a cruel joke.
But as I grew up and learned how to speak,
My feelings for my name became much less bleak.
My mother had chosen my name, and I learned
The right to this name was something to earn.
A woman of faith, of loyalty and love;
A woman who looked for strength from above.
This was my mother's favorite tale
In the Bible – A story I now knew so well.
My name grew to mean so much more to me;
A name to be proud of, to stand up, to be.
Now you're in my life, and I've learned even more -
Because of you, my name means more than before.
My mother could not know, when she named me so well,
Of my mother-in-law, and my love for Liddell.
Now the lines that I read have taken new life,
Since the very first day I became your son's wife.
The words are for you now, they speak of my love.
I know you and my name were gifts from above.
Ruth 1:16-17, “And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for wither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me."
Friday, May 7, 2010
Date Night
I love going on dates with Joe.....who wouldn't? Tonight we decided to go up to Seoul Tower (also called Namsan tower, because it is on top of Namsan mountain).
There is a hiking trail all the way up to the top, 
but we didn't have time to do that so we took the cable car up the mountain most of the way, and then hiked to the base of the tower. We climbed enough stairs to be glad that we didn't have all the kids with us.
The reason why we chose to go there for our date - we were ready to make a SERIOUS commitment to each other. True, we were married for time and all eternity just over 10 years ago, but I'm talking about a Korean soap opera style commitment (serious stuff). At the base of Seoul tower is an observation deck with a chain link fence around it. A couple of years ago, a few locals had put padlocks on the fence as a symbol of securing their love to each other. Similar "Locks of Love" can be found throughout the world, including at Tokyo tower. This is what the fence at Seoul Tower looked like back in 2007 (I found the photo on the internet)
It's kind of hard to find a place anymore. You can't see the view through the fences anymore (too bad, short little kids).
The fences are starting to bend because of the weight of the thousands of locks. Here is our contribution.
If you can't tell, the silver one in the middle says Joe + Ruth (in a heart) locked on 5/7/10. It's official now.
Did we throw the key over the side?
No. I guess a lot of people do though, and that's why they put up these signs (yellow sign at the bottom).
Can you imagine being down below and getting hit on the head with a key? ouch.
There is a hiking trail all the way up to the top, but we didn't have time to do that so we took the cable car up the mountain most of the way, and then hiked to the base of the tower. We climbed enough stairs to be glad that we didn't have all the kids with us.
The reason why we chose to go there for our date - we were ready to make a SERIOUS commitment to each other. True, we were married for time and all eternity just over 10 years ago, but I'm talking about a Korean soap opera style commitment (serious stuff). At the base of Seoul tower is an observation deck with a chain link fence around it. A couple of years ago, a few locals had put padlocks on the fence as a symbol of securing their love to each other. Similar "Locks of Love" can be found throughout the world, including at Tokyo tower. This is what the fence at Seoul Tower looked like back in 2007 (I found the photo on the internet)
Then a crazy thing happened, I think in 2008. Two popular Korean celebrities were on a reality show called "We've Got Married", and for their anniversary they came to Seoul Tower, put a padlock on the fence, and threw the key over the side. This unleashed a frenzy of formerly unexpressed love. So now I don't think that you're really committed to each other until you've locked your love at Seoul Tower. Here are the pictures we took today.
It's kind of hard to find a place anymore. You can't see the view through the fences anymore (too bad, short little kids).
The fences are starting to bend because of the weight of the thousands of locks. Here is our contribution.
If you can't tell, the silver one in the middle says Joe + Ruth (in a heart) locked on 5/7/10. It's official now.
Did we throw the key over the side?
No. I guess a lot of people do though, and that's why they put up these signs (yellow sign at the bottom).
Can you imagine being down below and getting hit on the head with a key? ouch. P.S. if you were still not sure about coming to visit us in Korea, this should totally seal the deal. Don't you want to lock your love at Seoul Tower too? Let me re-issue our open invitation to one and all to come stay with us (free room and board - come on people) and see this amazing city.
After that we took the elevator up the tower to the big observation level on top. Here was the view.
In this first picture you can see our apartment complex right in the middle, in front of the river. All the green, sparsely populated area in front of that is the base. And here's the rest of Seoul.
It just keeps going on and on in every direction. Sometimes we forget that we are living in one of the largest cities in the world. There are almost 10 1/2 million people who live in Seoul - over 1 million of us are foreigners:), but Seoul is only about 233 square miles (so that's almost 45,000 people per square mile). For my UT people, that's like if you took everyone who lives in the state of Utah, and moved them all to Orem and Provo. Enjoy.
In this first picture you can see our apartment complex right in the middle, in front of the river. All the green, sparsely populated area in front of that is the base. And here's the rest of Seoul.
It just keeps going on and on in every direction. Sometimes we forget that we are living in one of the largest cities in the world. There are almost 10 1/2 million people who live in Seoul - over 1 million of us are foreigners:), but Seoul is only about 233 square miles (so that's almost 45,000 people per square mile). For my UT people, that's like if you took everyone who lives in the state of Utah, and moved them all to Orem and Provo. Enjoy.After the tower we grabbed a bite to eat at this little Korean place (Pho Auntie).
It was sooooooo good! I'm going back.
It was sooooooo good! I'm going back.
P.S. (again) If you come to visit us, I will take you to this restaurant, and you will like Korean food.
It was a good date.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Bookworm (disambiguation)
My new online friend (Lady Mary of the Lists - I just made that up) has challenged me and all other bibliophiles to compose a reading list for the summer, so here is mine in all it's humble glory. Please note the following:
1. This list does not include the textbooks I will have to read for the two classes I am taking this summer.
2. These books were chosen, in part, because of what is, and is NOT available at our little library here.
3. I LOVE our bookclub discussions here.
4. There is never enough time to read....not even in the summer.
"A Girl of the Limberlost" by Gene Stratton-Porter (for book club)
"Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy (book club)
"The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows (book club)
"Blood Work" by Michael Connelly
"Jinx" by Meg Cabot
"World Without End" by Ken Follett
"Farenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury
"The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane" by Katie Di Camillo, Bagram Ibatoulline
"Fairest" by Gail Carson Levine
"Leven Thumps and the Eyes of the Want" by Obert Skye
What will you be reading this summer?
Sunday, April 25, 2010
I Forgot to Blog
I forgot to blog. My nephew sent us his Flat Stanley project, so Alex and I took a two hour walk one day and got a bunch of pictures of our neighborhood. Here are some without Stanley.
You can see how yellow the sky is, and that's the yellow dust we get here every year. It blows in from the deserts of China and Mongolia, and it's so yucky. It can affect you like bad allergies, give you pink eye, etc. On bad days like this they keep the kids inside for recess. On really bad days they advise people to stay inside. Sometimes you'll see a thin film of yellow dust on the cars and everything outside. I got a really bad cough that stayed with me for a while. Nastiness.
I forgot to blog. This was a particularly bad day last month.
You can see how yellow the sky is, and that's the yellow dust we get here every year. It blows in from the deserts of China and Mongolia, and it's so yucky. It can affect you like bad allergies, give you pink eye, etc. On bad days like this they keep the kids inside for recess. On really bad days they advise people to stay inside. Sometimes you'll see a thin film of yellow dust on the cars and everything outside. I got a really bad cough that stayed with me for a while. Nastiness.I forgot to blog. JT's class got to make some pottery at school before Spring Break. They had some professionals come in, with a pottery wheel, and "help" each of the children create their own piece of pottery. I wasn't able to be there, but one of the other mom's took some cute pictures of JT.
Now, I'm looking at that last picture there, and I'm wondering how he came home with this 
It doesn't really look anything like what he was working on. But he assured me that he was the one who put all the squiggly lines in it (which I believe, because that is exactly something JT would do). Plus, on the other side it says "I love Mom". You can't ask for anything better than that:)
It doesn't really look anything like what he was working on. But he assured me that he was the one who put all the squiggly lines in it (which I believe, because that is exactly something JT would do). Plus, on the other side it says "I love Mom". You can't ask for anything better than that:)Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Does anybody know where my Two-Year-Old Went?
Alex turned three years old this week. 1...2...3 When you count it out, it doesn't seem like much - but IT IS! 
For example: A three year old isn't a baby any more.
A three year old is like a terrible two, but with additional intelligence, experience, and talents.
A three year old has to be potty trained.
A three year old can talk more.
I can tell already - three is going to be quite the ride.
We celebrated three with Burger King and Ding Dongs.
Three year olds have the hang of blowing out the candles.
I tried to think of a present that met the following criteria:Something that has no small pieces that can be put in the mouth and/or scattered throughout the house.
Something near indestructable.
Something that he won't mind sharing with his siblings.
Something that doesn't require batteries.
Something that doesn't make annoying noises.
Something that I don't have to "help" him with.
This is what I came up with.
I like Step 2. Hey, isn't that kind of like an advertisement? Shouldn't I get paid for that? The other present Alex got for his birthday was not from me, but a blankety-blank Culicidae. My Alex is allergic to mosquito bites, and the ones around his head tend to swell up the most. On his birthday, he got one on his ear.
You can see the difference in size, even though the picture is sideways for some stupid reason that I am unable to figure out. And her it is from behind.
It actually got a little worse after I took this picture, and it was bright red. Don't worry, a day later and it's looking much better. It didn't ruin his special day.
You can see the difference in size, even though the picture is sideways for some stupid reason that I am unable to figure out. And her it is from behind.
It actually got a little worse after I took this picture, and it was bright red. Don't worry, a day later and it's looking much better. It didn't ruin his special day.What can I say about Alex? He's crazy. He--Is--CRAZY! In a totally adorable, endearing, drive-me-up-the-wall kind of a way. We are constantly shaking our heads in disbelief at the crazy that he comes up with. I seriously can't get enough of him....and sometimes I can:) My three older kids are in school now, and it has been so much fun with just the two of us at home. When he's around the other kids, his crazy usually escalates by a billion, so it's nice to have the mellowed out side of him all to myself. I love you Alex. I love you and all your crazy....times a trillion gazillion.
Monday, April 19, 2010
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