this morning

I live in the prettiest kitchen. Or rather, I spend so much time in the prettiest kitchen.

This morning in particular I ate my breakfast and drank my coffee in matching blue and white striped dishes.

I ate at the wooden table with my back to the window.

White flowers in a mason jar stood on the table near my arm.

I ate by myself and the quiet was perfect after so much stimulation and company.

And somehow coconut oil, a good nights sleep and a peaceful morning made my sunburn fade. I'm loving this American sun... but maybe just a little too much ;)

Only one more day here in California and I know just how much I'll miss it. 

Can't wait for Colorado though!

Picture taken by me on Beth's iTouch.

x, a

bliss

More than a week has already gone by. California has been so perfect. I'm just going to share a bit about what I've been doing and how good life has been.

Picture this.

Everyday I wake up and turn over to the California sun. I get out of bed when I want to and walk down the creaky stairs of this house that I get to call home for a while.

I sit down in the bright kitchen. Bright because the sun followed me down the stairs.

I look around for someone (most likely a cousin) who might have a cup of coffee and then I take the french press from them and fill my little, green mug. The one that I've used every Summer I've come back here for a visit. 

My backyard has a pool in it and a hot tub on the side. Throughout the day people go in and out of the pool and find spots on the hot concrete to lay down and gain back their brown skin. There is this one palm tree next to the pool that I constantly want to take a picture of. Last night as I sat in the hot tub while the sun went down, it stretched out against the blue sky and the moon stood still next to it. 

Clean, sweet smelling clothes (man this California air), dinners with the whole family, bike rides to Starbucks a block away with boy cousins, late night talks with big sisters whom I haven't seen in 8 months and this gorgeous house to live in and even lots of new friends... it all keeps me smiling.

I know the reason why I'm having such a good vacation too. It's because God loves to bless his kids and since I'm one of them, I'm blessed. Not that he doesn't give me bad days too and not that it's easy to feel close to Him daily (surely you know what I mean) but he's given me so much and he's made me feel so loved. 

Picture taken on Becca's camera. It was a rainy day but everything turned out perfectly. We were only missing one sibling. Andrew, we miss you!

Taken by Becca.

So yeah, I've been here 11 days and so far my theme word is bliss ;)

I'll try to be back soon with another blog post.

x, a

Summertime

 In just two days I'm off to America. I can't really wrap my mind around the fact that it's been a whole year since I've been there. It seems like yesterday that I was counting down the days until I'd see everybody there again. Sometimes time just goes by too fast. But at the same time, I like how fast it goes by because it makes the distance and the goodbyes not so hard. 

I'll be posting when I can but I'm not sure how often that will be.

I'll be on instagram (when I get there and get it on my iPhone), facebook and tumblr if any of you care to keep up with me though! ;)

I'm really going to miss Suzhou this Summer. It's been so beautiful around here and the longer I live here the easier it is to call it home. 

Summer ponytails. It gets so hot and humid here so I have my hair up for the majority of the day... which is okay with me ;)

 I hope you all have an amazing Summer and that you feel blessed to call wherever you live home. 

Suzhou, I'll be back in not too long ;)

x, a

p.s. this is where I'm headed! Pasadena CA. :D

songs and pictures and missing people

Let Your Love Be Strong.
Yesterday.
Blue Velvet.
Why Not?

These songs remind me of them.
Mainly because they're songs that I listened to over and over again in the days right after they died. Malachi and Kellie are never far from my thoughts and the longer they are gone the weirder life seems without them. I guess I've gotten used to the reality of not having two of my best friends around but still, everyday it feels like something is missing and often my mind goes back to that day when they left. I just need to keep writing "their song" and hopefully it'll be my best one yet. Because for them it has to be.
Overall the hurting gets better and everyday it's easier to just remember the happy times we all spent together and how they are in a perfect place now but still, I don't think the pain will ever fully go away. How could it disappear when everyday you wake up and they are still gone?
God is so faithful. He never leaves even though life often gets hard. I've been reading Psalms lately and every verse is so good. One in particular is Psalms 3 though so if you want to be encouraged, read it ;)

Oh and one more week and I'll be flying to California! I can't wait for everything that's to come and I'm ready for a break :)

L to R: Me, Kenzie and Kellie last Summer which was the last Summer we spent together.

x, a

the people

The people here are so beautiful. Same as any other country I suppose but when you live somewhere for a long period of time they become part of you. You can understand them without speaking their language perfectly and you can love them because He made them. And they're not any different in His eyes.

I like it how the buses here are a common mode of transportation for everybody... not just the poor, the homeless and the lower class people. When I get on a bus anywhere in my city, I'll be squashed between business men, young women in high heels, cute college guys and little street sweepers returning home after a long day in the sun. So I feel perfectly welcome ;)

Like all countries though, any type of person can bug you. When someone starts snapping pictures of you with their big camera from the back of the bus or when someone spits (wayyy too loudly) right in front of you, it makes you want to... uh, yeah just leave. At least for a few days.

But you get over those things (or just get used to them if you can) and accustom yourself to the beautiful parts of leaving with another race and in another country completely different from your own. 

It's pretty great guys. And the experiences I've had are like none other.

And in case you were wondering what I think, Asian (this means all of Asia ;)) guys are hot. 

x, a

p.s. I redid the blog a bit! I'm diggin' the faded blues and blacks with accents of brighter colors thrown in. And it's good to freshen things up every now and then ;)

the lake, the city and the people

In the middle of our city there is a lake. And I've probably mentioned it more than once ;) It makes for a really nice city and I wouldn't want it any other way. Most days if I take a bus I go by the lake and every time I do I listen to the same song and I always think about how much I'll miss it when I go.

So, a couple of days ago I took my littlest sister and we took some pictures. Next post I'll share all the "people pictures" I got. 

I'm lovinnnn' the warm weather and it's glorious wearing shorts and t-shirts again.

Suzhou, you got it going for you.

x, a

the last time it was hot

See that green, checkered bracelet? That's the one I got on the last day I saw Kellie. I wore it for about 2 months straight and then it fell off.  Now it's safely in my closet :)
The first and the fourth pictures are of me.

I was looking back through some photos from last Summer and I had a little editing spree of sorts. I love all the bright colors and the way you can tell that it's 100 degrees outside. As good as last Summer was, I think this one might be even (way) better. And it's finally getting hot here in Suzhou too!

Malachi and Kellie won't be there to greet me though... and I think it's going to hit me really hard when I see all my American buddies again. It's been two months today and I still can't wrap my mind around it. I'm always missing them <3

x, a

p.s. I have two gorgeous younger sisters. My older sister Rachael? Ohhoho. Same.