Mid-Autumn Day

This Sunday people all over Asia celebrate Mid-Autumn Day. Traditionally this day marked the end of summer harvesting for farmers. The date for this celebration is different every year b/c it is based off of the lunar calendar, so every Mid-Autumn Day celebration closes with a beautiful full moon. Only one bad thing about living in a place that's constantly covered by dense clouds and fog, you don't get many glimpses of the moon. :) But we did get to celebrate with a few friends tonight by eating a special treat that's only made/sold once a year...Moon Cakes! And I got to treat our friends to homemade frappuccinos!

FRAPPUCCINO RECIPE:

(Makes 2 "Grande" Drinks)

COFFEE FLAVOR
3/4 cup double-strength coffee, cold
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup low-fat milk
2 cups ice
1. Make double-strength coffee by brewing with twice the coffee required by your coffee maker: That should be 2 tablespoons of ground coffee per each cup of coffee. Chill before using.
2. To make drink, combine all ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed until ice is crushed and drink is smooth. Pour into two 16-ounce glasses, and serve with a straw.

CARAMEL FLAVOR
For this version, add 3 tablespoons of caramel topping to the original recipe and prepare as described. Top each glass with whipped cream and drizzle additional caramel over the whipped cream.

MOCHA FLAVOR
For this version, add 3 tablespoons Hershey's chocolate syrup to the original recipe and prepare as described. Top each glass with whipped cream, if desired.

Waterfalls

I'm not sure how high the waterfall count got up to b/c around nearly every curve in the path we came across one!So here's the waterfall exhibition...

How gorgeous! What a MAGNIFICENTLY WONDERFUL Maker!

Adventures in the Wilderness

Some of our older friends (older as in age) piled us up in their car and took us out on an adventure yesterday. We had no idea where we were going when we took off, we just knew to bring food and comfortable shoes for walking, and to be ready to enjoy a day of beautiful creation!So farther and farther away from the big city we went...til we found ourselves riding through the countryside way up into the mountains.We finally got to our destination and set out on a hike...which turned into quite an adventure through the "wilderness."

What we thought was a small trek through the mountains turned into a 7 kilometer hike! But it was nothing but breath-taking sights and pure delight from beginning to end! Even though we did start getting a little delirious about hour 4 1/2! :)

Because we were following the path of the river through the mountains we had to cross the river several times...utilizing everything from swinging bridges, stepping stones, to planks supported by rubber tires!At one point we even went through a cave!Oh and don't worry...we took lots of little stops along the way to take a short rest...and to re-nourish! Nothing like gnawing on chicken feet, eating boiled eggs, and drinking pepsi while you're hiking (our friends packed these little treats).

And our friends taught us that there's only one way to cross a swinging bridge...run across it!!! So I gave it a whirl...

I just got to give thanks, not only for his glories, but also for renewed health...what a precious gift good health is!

Zhu Ni Sheng Ri Kuai Le!!!

We just celebrated Joy's 24th birthday! And as I thought about it, I realized that I've had the blessing of spending every day with her but 2 throughout her 23rd year!So I attempted to make Joy's cake into a piano, but most of our friends couldn't really tell what it was! Joy plays the piano oh so beautifully but the chances to hear her play have been few and far between.Lisa finally caught on and started to hum tunes and pretend like she was playing. I love you Joy, and I love journeying with you!

South of the Border

Some of the sites/sights from our trip south of the border:Buddhist figurines and idols can be found on every street corner.We got to take a boat taxi down a river.And see lots of incredible architecture like this along the way.I noticed that Joy and I seemed to be surrounded by monks during the entirety of the ride down the river...but it wasn't until we were just about to exit that we noticed that we were standing directly under this sign:Haha! We saw may statues of elephants, but never expected to walk out of our hotel (which was across from the hospital) and see a real elephant on the street!

It's so great to be back now, and to feel so refreshed! Only about 6 more weeks here in our city, I look with a heart full of anticipation for marvelous things!!!

Med Update :)

Thanks for your thoughts as I've been battling various health problems throughout the past month! I'm feeling so much better, PTL! I finally got in touch with the dentist and headed south of the border a little under 2 weeks ago, where I ended up getting all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed! It was a somewhat traumatic experience, :) but I'm so thankful I got to have it done and to get some R&R time! The dentist even let me keep all my teeth in a baggie! GROSS!I was so thankful to meet up with one our friends while we were down south, and have her host us around the city.And meet up with some of her friends.Sweet baby!!!We got to see all kinds of glories in the sky...Same rainbow, just hard to capture all at once on film!

Them Some Tall Boyz

In honor of the Olympics, which is now just one week away, I thought I'd do a little sports-related post! :) While Joy and I were out runnin errands a couple of weeks ago we ran into this:The NBA Jam Van! There was loud music thumpin' and a plethora of young NBA wannabes competing in 3 on 3 and slam dunk contests.I had to take advantage of the opportunity to snap a pic of some East Asia guys who've got height on me!