noah and the whale

Last week I pulled out my iPod and gave Rachael an earbud. She suggested I turn on Noah and the whale. I turned it on and every song after that was so good. We were in a van leaving the retreat. All of our bags were stuffed into the back and a Chinese man was driving us to Shanghai.
That whole next week in Shanghai we listened to it non-stop.
On Sunday morning Rachael and I headed out into the city. We listened to it on the bus and on the subway.
We plugged my iPod into a speaker and danced around to it at home.
Yeah, we like them.

Now whenever I listen to them I'll think of Rachael and my week in Shanghai. It's weird how songs do that... you can literally turn it on and you can picture yourself in a certain place or with certain people.
I think Katie explained it really well in this post. Basically exactly how I feel.
And now it's not even so much that I cannot stop listening to the music but it's that there are memories tied to those songs and I love each one so much.

Ignore the fact that my arm is in an awkward position and just look at us sisters. Picture taken by Becca.

Here are several of mine and Rachael's favorites. 

Life is life

Wild thing
Just me before we met

It was our little "week of noah and the whale".

Love, me

p.s. 1 more day. My stomach is turning a little.

iced tea and snickers

Today I am thankful for:

Iced Tea and Snickers.

Fans. Although it wasn't hot today, a couple of days ago it was... oh baby it was warm!

Suitcases.

French Fries and soup.

New blogs.

Left to right: My Mom, Jean Paul, Me, Rachael and Becca. Picture by Becca Jones.

And here is a picture of our week in Shanghai with Jacques and Jean Paul Molyneux. They were the best company.

Love, me

p.s. Four more days.

5 days time

I'm home again.

It's oh-so-good to get home after being away for a time.

I miss my small, daily routines like jumping on a bus by myself, grabbing a couple of groceries for my Mom and picking up three Coco drinks for my sisters and I.

Joking around with my big brother and laughing with my whole family.

Anything like that is "miss-worthy"to me.

My week in Shanghai was wonderful. It was so worth it to stay a couple of extra days to meet up with our new friends once more. We spent Monday walking around a huge park, drinking coffees, talking and eating with a couple of amazing people we just met. I/we had the best time.

After our lovely day my big sister brought Becca and I to the train station and we said goodbye to her. She's simply the best big sister in the world. 

On the train ride home, Becca and I goofed around together. We wrote black mustaches on our fingers and she took pictures. We laughed a lot and tried to be a little weird just for fun. My suitcase was broken so I had to hold it the whole time and it was heavy! It's fine though because it added to the fun and was definitely good for my arms. Boo-yah!

We're back in Suzhou now and my bags need to be packed.

Sunday night we'll board a plane and I'll be on the same plane for 13 hours and when we finally land in America my oldest brother will meet us there. 

I can't wait.

Sorry for the lack of pictures. I still don't have a memory card for our camera and I absolutely need to get one! The last few months have not been photo-less though. My two younger sisters have cameras and so there has been plenty of snapping. We're documenting everything pretty successfully. Thank goodness.

Love, me

just plain super

Today is Sunday, May 6th. Last Sunday my family and I left immediately after church for our "church retreat". We spent Sunday, Monday and part of Tuesday there and had so much fun. Good food, hanging out with new friends, listening to my Dad's best college friend share, sleeping in my own huge bed and sharing a room with just sisters is pretty fantastic. Then add in late night Apples to apples games and really great talks and it's even better.

I enjoyed it so much and whenever I leave someplace like that I always feel a little depressed. It's weird. 

On Tuesday we left the retreat at about 11:30 am and headed straight for Shanghai. As of yesterday my family went back to Suzhou and now it's just Becca and I left here. We decided to stay a couple of extra days so we could hang out with some friends before returning home. 

Oh and America is a week away! I'm screaming my lungs out right now. 

So I'm enjoying nice weather, family, friends, and in a couple of days I'll pack up my suitcase... oh but another thing... I'm coming back to China. If anybody got confused as to whether we are coming back or not, we are.

A couple more things:

I got new green pants and several new pairs of raybans :)

Yay.

I'm pretty sure my family in Suzhou will read this so "I miss you guys!"

Talk to you all soon.

I still love you.

One more thing: I think there will be some changes pretty soon to my blog. Hopefully, hopefully.

Love, me

my party day

Hey, hey, hey! So I had my party. Sorry I didn't tell you my plan beforehand like I said I would... hehe. It was amazing.

So anyway on Sunday afternoon (April 15th) my Dad and I, along with my two sisters and big brother packed up and took the 115 to the train station. I love taking trains and buses. They make me excited. I don't know how they couldn't. Lydia and Leah came and they brought their Dad. (I wouldn't go without those two girls).

We got to Shanghai and met up with my older sister at the subway station. We walked on the Bund before we ate and took pictures and Leah gave me her gift. It was a gorgeous, pearl ring and she even "purposed" to me. It was the best.
 Uncle Jon and my cousin Aaron met us at THE restaurant. Lost Heaven to be precise (I've mentioned it before) and it was a blast. The whole place was dark which made it way more fun and quite fancy.
The food was amazing. Thanks Dad.

After our ginormous dinner we walked along the Bund and took Birthday pictures. We also laughed a lot like always. My favorite part (I think?) was the dessert. My uncle Jon brought us to this really nice hotel right on the Bund and ordered cake, coffee and hot chocolate for everybody. He ordered a special piece of cheesecake for me and the waiter guy put a candle on it. Everybody sang happy birthday to me in both English and Chinese as I turned red and smiled. It was all too good and I felt so blessed and loved. I'm pretty sure it was a huge hit with everybody.
After the whole shebang we took taxis and cars back to my Uncle's house, where we stayed up late talking with my cousins... whom are so sweet.
I loved it all.

We spent the entire next day shopping and eating at the fake market. I bought a pair or red raybans, and another pair or those bracelets I like. We were all pretty tired but had a ton of fun together. After the fake market expedition we jumped back on the train and zoomed into Suzhou 20 minutes later.

Lost Heaven!

The five of us girls. From left to right: Bethy, Me, Leah, Becca and Lydia.

My Dad and I right after we danced around on the balcony.

Just eatin'... you know how we be.

"Birthday" photos :)

We're happy.

Yeah.

It's night time... and we have glasses on.

The whole group.

All pictures taken by Elisabeth Jones with her very own camera. 

Love, a