She's Here!

Our baby girl is here! I realize that I wrote approximately 0 posts during pregnancy (other than the announcement), so just so I can remember, my pregnancy was quite a breeze. I would get a little nauseous during the first trimester but nothing that couldn't be subdued by quickly eating a little something. The rest of the pregnancy I felt like a rockstar. I didn't have any sleeping problems or achy body and I continued to exercise pretty much up until the end.

Also, we are back in America (I'll get around to changing the banner someday..) but initial plan was to stay in Taiwan to have the baby because the medical expenses would have been SO much cheaper there. Well, while I was in the process of signing a new contract with the school I was working for I told them I was pregnant (against the advise of a few of our friends there.. I should have listened!) and they decided not to let me re-sign since I would be having the baby in the middle of the semester. My work was the one providing us with resident certificates and health insurance so that basically booted us back home. But I'm so glad that is how it worked out after all is said and done. There's nothing like being around family, especially when your having a baby.

Anyway, back to the good stuff! Sweet baby Charlotte came on December 9th, 2011 at 6:27am. She was 8lbs 2oz and 18 inches (pretty sure they measured that wrong.. she was 21 inches at her first Dr. appointment) Here she is! Birth story to come.

Then comes...

Zack and Amy sittin' in a tree...

K - I - S - S - I - N - G!

First comes LOVE.

Then comes MARRIAGE.

THEN comes a BABY in a baby carriage!

Due to arrive on December 16th.

SURPRISE! *clothing not an option.

I have been really busy at work with finalizing some contracts. It always seems like everything comes in thirty minutes before I'm supposed to go home, and so it turns into a mad dash to finish before six. Friday was no different. . . At around 6:10 Amy called and asked if I was on my home and I told her I would be a little late. She said it was a bad day to be late because she had a surprise. I finished as quick as I could and left the office in a hurry. I turned the corner and there was this super hot chick with a big backpack on! Amy had reserved a hotel in the hotsprings town that we like to go to, and packed up everything so we could leave straight from work. A pretty sweet surprise!

It only takes an hour or so to get to JiaoXi on the bus. The hotel we stayed at was pretty cool and the weather cold and drizzly, perfect for hot springing! Our hotel had everything you could ask for...

Hot Springs Pools

Complementary Ninja Bath Robes

 Even a collection of rare pheasants on the roof for "inspecting look."

There were also Japanese style hot springs. Basically they are separate bathhouses for men and women. Clothing is "not optional" (aka you must be in the nude) which was kind of weird at first, but turned out to be super relaxing. No pictures for this one...

On Saturday we spent the day with our friend Ted, he was back from school in Beijing for the Chinese New Year. He took us to a traditional arts center where we learned about the amazing properties of charcoal, and then looked at a traditional house of an old Kungfu master. Later we went over to Ted's cousins house to make some "Chinese Burritos." They were really good and we are excited to make them in the future. 

 Finally we went and ate seafood with a bunch of Ted's relatives. It was a great weekend! I think that those spontaneous little trips always turn out to be the best. I'm glad that I have such an awesome wife full of surprises!

New Job

About a month ago I was leaving my internship and held the elevator for a guy, we started talking and the conversation went just like 90% of all the conversations I have here,  and ended in a job offer (also not uncommon), except this time he actually called the next day! The company is called Colmac Company. They are a Distributor of Food & Beverage Industry equipment and products. My job is as "International Department specialist" and "Assistant to the General Manager." Basically any communication and troubleshooting issues with foreign companies and Colmac goes through me. Most of our suppliers are in Europe, and most of our customers are in China, Taiwan, and Japan.

It has been interesting getting used to the Asian work environment. Its different than anything I have ever experienced. Everyone is extremely focused and intense the entire day.  I have already learned a lot and am excited to see what else is in store!

Happy New Year!

Chinese New Year, that is. We spent a lovely day celebrating in the WARM weather! We started our day venturing around downtown Taipei by foot. This is Taipei 101, the second tallest building in the world. It's pretty darn tall.

 Zack works right next to Taipei 101 in this fancy building. It's the World Trade Center building. His internship was here and his new job is here as well. We spend a lot of time in this area.

We found these sweet bikes to rent and went for a little bike ride around town next.

We enjoyed some TGI Fridays for dinner and ended our night with none other than Monopoly Deal. We love this game--thanks Cale and Hailey!

Warm weather and no work makes for a great day. Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

Taiwan's Crazy Weather

Today, February 1st, the weather has been a sunny, perfect, 65 degrees. I went to this cute little park by our house to enjoy my lunch and the beauty of the outdoors while soaking in a few UV rays.

But before you start getting too jealous, let's remember yesterday. I have no idea what the temperature was but it felt to be around 2 degrees. Maybe -2.  I spent 70% of my day huddled on our couch wearing my heaviest coat--hood on, beanie, sweats, wool knitted socks, and my leopard snuggy. Every time I thought about getting up to do something (eat, clean, go to the bathroom, anything other than click "refresh" on facebook every 5 mins.) I remembered how cold it was and I just couldn't bring myself to do it. A few times when I felt really motivated I was able to get my legs on the floor in preparation to stand but no sooner did they leave the comfort of my little burrow than they felt the frigid chill in the air and found there way right back in. Luckily I can hold it for a long time.

Taiwan has crazy winter weather. It goes through cycles of being warm and cold. And seriously, when it's cold, IT'S COLD!!! Not necessarily colder than Utah winters, but here's the thing... Taiwan doesn't seem to have any kind of central heating... anywhere.  So in the U.S. when it's really cold outside, you just walk really fast to get from your warm house to your warm car or from the warm car to the warm grocery store, post office, restaurant, etc. Here, when it's cold outside, it's cold inside too. There's no way to escape from the coldness! I was non-stop cold for about a week. And I hate being cold. My all-time favorite thing about winters back home is sitting on a heater vent with a blanket and my dad has the heating bills to prove it. You see, the blanket captures all the heat so you are just sitting in a cocoon of warmth. Ahhh the warmth. Anyway, I've been able to survive with lots of hot chocolate, hot showers, and some nice snugs with Zack :)

Speaking of Zack, he got a new job! He will need to be the one to share with you what it is all about, but we are really excited about it and it is an amazing learning opportunity for him, not to mention he gets paid. I have two weeks of work off for Chinese New Year. I spent my first day off (yesterday) huddled under a blanket on my couch as I mentioned above but the warm cycle started today (wahoo!) so I was able to get out a bit more. I bought some fruit and vegetables at the little market pictured below. The fruit in Taiwan is really delicious and usually pretty cheap. Although today is the first day I went without Zack and it seemed a bit more expensive. I think he gave me the special clueless foreigner price.

Zack gets work off starting tomorrow for the rest of the week so we have some fun little trips around Taiwan planned. I'd like to get better at documenting our experiences here so you should be seeing posts about those trips soon.

Christmas Pageant

Every year our church's English congregation here in Taipei puts on a Christmas pageant (it's kind of a big deal). . . There are legit costumes, sets, and a real horse, which is hard to come by in Taiwan. The horse was named after President Reagan and was blind in one eye. I was riding him around the church grounds before the pageant started and he ran right into a tree on blind side. Amy and I were Joseph and Mary, so the whole show was riding on our ability to guide the blind horse with an over active bladder down a 4 foot wide aisle of spectators and flash photography without incident. It was a fun start to the Christmas season.