Snapshots of Rainy China

Guess what?! I finally have pictures to show from Neil's trip to China! He took over 100 and a big majority are from the car, but nevertheless, they ARE FROM CHINA! He caught some great stuff and I find it very interesting. I also have found myself thanking God that I live in the free and beautiful country that I live in. I had him put his pictures on flickr so he titled them and described them himself, so they're all in his words. Enjoy his view of China. (click here!)

A few pictures from last week while Neil was away in China

* A surprise gift that I got in the mail from a friend in Chicago so that we could keep busy (isn't she the greatest?!)

* At these twins' home, I walked in the door and saw this and could hardly believe my eyes.

* Here is one sneak peak into another shoot I did. Something totally different for me!

* While Neil was gone, I experienced a lot of these with Maia. Many of you got emails of panic and frustration from me during this time.

* And here is the color we painted, and the final result. What do you think?!?

* The ketchup Neil brought me back from China

* To see more of my basement and others from this set (which I think contain some fun pictures), view them here!

HE IS HOME!

Neil arrived home about 30 minutes ago just as I was getting online to see if his flight had arrived in Chicago on time. :c) The kids are thrilled, and of course so am I :c)

Unfortunately, after it taking 36 hours for him to get home from China, he didn't arrive home with his luggage. It's lost. He said about 10 people that arrived in Chicago with him were also on the flight from China. All theirs is lost, too. I don't have any experience with lost luggage, and neither does he. Will it get back to us?!?! I hope so because daddy has some gifts for the kids and guess what?! He found me some Chinese ketchup!!!!! (Woot!)

I made him call his mom as soon as he got in and settled. (I'm such a good wife and daughter-in-law, teehee :c)) I knew she was a little worried whether he'd have troubles staying awake on his drive home from Chicago. But he said he slept 9 hours on the flight from China to L.A. and another 2 to Chicago. While talking to his mom, I heard some other interesting facts that he encountered while on his trek overseas.

* There is one major highway around Beijing and Shanghai (neither are anywhere near each other, but this holds true for both) so when it snows, the cities are basically shut down because they don't have snowplows. At all. Crazy, eh?!
* If a town has less than 1 million people, it's not on the map. And those towns (which would be cities to us) are called villages. Is that even more crazy?!
* If people in the country and villages weren't pleased with the way they were living, they would move to the big cities making them even more polluted and crowded than what they already are. So the government basically asks these people "What can we do to make you happy and keep you here?" and they say "air conditioners and TV's". So that's what they get and that's what makes them stay.
* Because they don't use their heating systems in buildings in the cities to conserve money and energy, instead of trying to stay as warm as possible, they open up the windows because they say if they can't be warm, they may as well enjoy fresh air. (Oh my goodness!!!!!)
* Things he ate: pigeon (twice), geo duck (a big clam), salted fish (which he said was the most disgusting thing he's ever eaten -- said it literally tasted like poop), Peking duck, chicken was served whole with the head, goat, his friend had snake, 1,000 year old egg, noodles were served for breakfast, and the list goes on.
* He visited 7 cities in 7 days, driving up to 8 hours in a day to get from place to place. (Nothing is close.)
* One of his customers gave him a Chinese foot massage for a gift.
* While on an elevator in a hotel, a Chinese boy about the age of 12, got on and stood under Neil looking up at him with his jaw opened the entire time. He said the translator said the boy was saying "so tall, so tall" over and over about 12 times. Is that not funny?!
* He said that the Chinese people were really rude. They smoked like chimneys and didn't care if it was bothersome to you and he said they butt in front of him all the time.

Oh I am so glad he is home. So glad. I feel like a part of me is back. I can tell the kids feel the same, especially Noah. He can't get enough of daddy as I type this. Happy weekend to you all!

Wow Val, VOW?!

Ok, so I just made up that title to grab your attention. I hope it worked. I'll get to the reason for the title in just a second.

Neil got to south China safe and sound today. He flew on a puddle jumper plane from where he was to an area 2 hours outside of Hong Kong. He said he was the only white guy on the plane and he got a lot of looks from Chinese people who, keep in mind, are at least a foot shorter than him. So he's not only getting looks for being caucasian but for also being 6'4" and blonde with blue eyes :c) I think it's funny.

On a different note, I'm so proud of him for traveling alone like he is in such a large country that he's getting to experience a lot of. But again, I'm glad it's him and not me :c)

He said he is so happy to be in a area that isn't so uncivilized. He said it was pretty bad where he was. I forgot to mention in my "China, oh China" post, that none of the factories or restaurants that he visited were heated. They had heating but just didn't use it because they didn't have the funds to. So he said when you're inside you're in coats and sweaters and in restaurants you are served by waitresses with sweaters and scarves on. Is that not hard to fathom?! He said he's so so happy to be in a warmer part of the country just for that reason alone. I am happy for him, too!

3 days and he will be back home!!!!!!!!

Okay, so on to my Wow Val, VOW?!

I have some of the most exciting news ever to share. This might even sit above the revamping of my website and logo. I'm so so so so so excited about this!

Last week I was contacted by an editor for a magazine who said this, "We are still accepting submissions for our upcoming Spring/Summer 2008 issue of Wedding VOW magazine in the Champaign, IL area—and I wanted to see if you had any photos you want to submit."

So I submitted a few pictures from an August wedding and a December wedding not thinking I would ever in a million years get chosen, but today I got two emails saying "I'm happy to inform you that we've selected the attached photo to be used in our 'I Do' section for our upcoming Spring/Summer 2008 issue of Wedding VOW magazine" and, "I'm happy to inform you that we have selected the wedding of Holly & Brandon to be highlighted in the 'Real Wedding' section of Wedding VOW magazine. Congratulations!"

This means, (okay, so imagine me screaming this part as you read it . . . ) I will have a photo in the "I Do" section of the magazine and also I will have the main highlighted section of the entire magazine in the "Real Weddings" section!!!!

I am so absolutely thrilled. Not so much on the publicity, because I'm not sure I want to shoot more weddings, however maybe this will give me the chance to shoot more creative ones. But mostly, I'm just really happy and proud because I never ever in a million billion trillion years thought 1) I would own a business, 2) I would be a photographer, 3) I would be the sole owner and photographer for a business for over 5 years or 4) I would actually make strides in doing all of the above. I'm just really happy and proud that things have went as they have. I didn't even try to get my name submitted. That's when you know it's God allowing you to be who you were created to be.

I'm also slightly excited because, as you'll see in the example of the current "Real weddings" section, the featured photographer is my main competitor and my former boss. I think this probably is the icing on the cake :c)

I am so so so so excited and absolutely could not keep from sharing.

:c)
This is the current "Real Wedding" feature (not mine . . . yet) :c)

China, oh China.

I have to say I'm glad it's Neil there and not me.

I love love love to travel. I haven't been anywhere out of the country but Brazil, but it was an amazingly awesome experience, that I can't wait for the day to travel like that again. But China. Not on my list.

I talked to Neil this morning at 8:30, which was 10:30 p.m. his time. He was really tired yet very chatty about China and his experiences thus far. I have to share itwith you.

I'm glad I'm hearing about it all, will get to see his pictures, yet never have visit. And here's why:

* It's crowded. Very crowded. He said what they call the "countryside" of Shanghai are houses on top of houses and you can not see any bare land. It was basically called the "countryside" because there weren't any high rises there. Wow.
* Shanghai had 20 million people. The "small town" that they went to had 11 million. (yikes.)
* Yesterday Neil was in wherever-it-was where there were 7 million people. He said there were no street names. He said nothing has an address. You get around by calling people and finding the nearest landmarks. He said it takes a "hell of a long time to get anywhere" because of it.
* He had to visit a soap-making plant (Uni-Lever) as one of his stops. They have a glycerin (his product) department there. He said it was astonishing. They had equipment and machines that made the soap but workers who put the soap into the soap boxes individually. Individually, people! That is millions of boxes by hand! Unreal.
* Speaking of these factory workers, which most people in China are either factory workers or farmers. The average person in a good factory job makes $100/month. And this is considered a really good job! Can you imagine?!
* In most factories, the workers live there. The factories are a lot of times in the bottom of high rises and the factory workers live above the factory. People pay for their own food, rent, etc., but are expected to live where they work. Could you imagine that either? Maybe that is why a lot of Chinese people here in America live at the restaurant they work at?
* It appears that the government, even though it's not communist anymore, still is very near being so. The government regulates everything so strictly still. They are in control of building homes and buildings. The economy is very wealthy and growing like crazy, but their people stay very very poor. And the roads are brand new and very nice, yet people ride bikes or walk. Not many people have cars. Just the more wealthy ones do. And he said he's seen a lot of Chinese driving Buicks!! How funny is that?!
* Also, no one gets bills, like we get our Visa bills, etc. They always have to pay in cash. Another way the government can stay in control, I guess. (Wow.)
* He said at one point he saw some high rises, which they were still building, and counted 30 of them that were exactly the same. People are moving into the cities like crazy to find better work, yet it's making these cities so populous and dirty.
* He said he's never seen such a dirty place before. When were in Brazil, we thought it was dirty. But he said this is nothing like Sao Paulo. So it's hard for me to imagine. He's seen signs all over that say "no spitting" (the Chinese spit a lot because they don't believe in swallowing their saliva?!) but he said he's actually not seen anyone spitting (maybe because the signs say to not do it? -- ha!). But he said everyone smokes. He said he couldn't see well tonight because his eyes still felt so foggy from all the smoke he sits in every day. I so can't imagine that, either. (I hope he'll be okay).

So that's some of Neil's experiences so far.

What bothers me the most when he tells me these things is then knowing what the adoption policy for international adoption is there in China. I've done so much research and now it's starting to make some sense!

Just recently a new policy has been added with a lot of regulations. They want their children going to (basically) the best-looking families in the US. You have to be of a certain weight, BMI, a certain age, have to have been married for a certain amount of time, neither parent can have had any surgery before, neither parent can be on anti-depressants, neither parent can basically have any illness to speak of. Plus a hand full of other "rules". It's just crazy, I think. The people of China have the lives like they do there, yet they feel their children can't live a good life in the US if their adoptive parents aren't perfect to their standards. It's China's way of still having control even when their babies leave. It just dismays me. I wonder if a c-section is considered a surgery to them? Probably so. Oh my goodness, it's just crazy.

So these are the kinds of things Neil is experiencing over there. I think he liked Japan a million times better. At least he's now seen both worlds. I'm happy for him. But now I'm ready for him to come home. :c)

Big airplanes, bright colors, and a big country

I talked to Neil this morning 3 times. He got to Chicago and checked in at O'Hare in about 2-1/2 hours, so he had a whole 4 hours to kill! I think he was pretty bored, but being he's flying business class, he was able to sit in the Red Carpet Lounge, so he got free coffee and snacks. (Coffee and drinks is the least he should be getting with a $15,000 ticket! Not kidding on the price, either!) He then called when he had boarded the plane. He was on the top deck in the plane. I didn't even know they had such a thing in airplanes. Apparently in 757's they do! It is a straight flight from Chicago to Shanghai. He is suppose to text me on my phone when he touches ground in China around 1 a.m. our time. Hopefully once I hear from him I'll be able to sleep.

He really surprises me sometimes. In the mail today I got a card and I know it is from him. No return address, but it's his hand-writing. I haven't opened it yet because I know it will probably make me bawl. When he writes things, it's always short and sweet, but what he says in just a few words speaks volumes to me. I think I'll wait till after I put the kids to bed before I open it just in case my tear ducts explode :c)

Nothing big going on around here and I really don't have anything worthwhile to talk about which is why my topic of post is Neil's travels again. He pretty much has the most exciting life in our household! But I am kinda looking forward to this long weekend as I bought my paint for the downstairs and I cannot wait to start painting. Painting my house another bold color makes me feel like my life is semi-exciting for the moment!

This makes me giggle. I got an email from my interior designer friend named ERIN (hehe) who couldn't stand that I hadn't told publicly what colors I chose. She is so funny. I love painting and it's such relaxation for me. My neighbor volunteered to take my kids while Leann and I paint our hearts out, so Monday should be a productive day, unlike how I feel my days normally are. And hopefully very soon after Monday, I will post the colors. I can't wait to hear what you all think!

And in regards to decorating the downstairs, I got a fabulous new set of shelves for the over the weekend at IKEA which I love love love and am dying to show you, but I want to wait till the paint is on the walls and it's all how I want it. Finally finally finally my house is starting to feel like "home". Neil will be pleasantly surprised when he gets home if I get everything painted the way I have it envisioned.

8 more hours and Neil will touch down in the big ol' country of China!

Check out this map and you can see where exactly my hubby will be journeying to.

He will be flying into Shanghai, the purple and white star. He'll be there for Sat, Sun and Mon. He then drives to Huaian, the orange & purple star, and then to Nanjing, the blue & purple star, on Tuesday. On Wednesday he flies to Guangzhou, the yellow & purple star, and on Thursday he drives to Jiagmen, the pink & purple star. Finally, on Friday, he takes a ferry to Hong Kong, the green & purple star, where he will then fly to L.A. and then on to Chicago on Saturday.

Because I'm goofy like this, in lieu of Neil and his next 9 days in China, I found some Chinese proverbs I like. Here's one:

I see, I forget. I hear, I remember. I do, I understand.

Hope you all have a nice weekend. Thank you for all the support with my husband's travel and my discouragement as a mom while he's away. You all are the best blogging friends ever.

"Are we going to eat there in China?"

I reminded Noah a few minutes ago that daddy leaves for China tomorrow. This is how our conversation then went.

Noah: Are we going to eat there in China?
Mommy: We aren't going there, Noah, daddy is.
Noah: Why aren't we going to eat there, mommy?
Mommy: We aren't going there, daddy is going by himself.
Noah: Is he going to work and going to stay there at work?
Mommy: No, well, kinda. He's going to get on a plane and fly there.
Noah: An airplane is coming to his work and going to fly there?
Mommy: That's right, Noah. So it's going to just be you, me and Maia for 9 days. Will you help me take care of Maia.
Noah: Uh-huh. {Then after a long pause.} We have to go to the airport and go with him next time.
Mommy: Yeah, maybe we can go with him next time.

And then he went back to coloring.

I do think he understands he'll be gone again. I think it's going to be hardest for this person here ----- me.

I still have lots of days "open" but I have came up with some things to do. Here's my list.

* Saturday - I have 3 shoots. Twins and their brother, then a portrait session of a man with his guitar, and then a session of a 9-month old boy. O'ma is coming over to watch the kids as I work most of the day. (Thank you, O'ma.)
*Sunday - going to church with my mom and dad, then going to her house to help her with computer issues. Kids will be occupied by grandpa, hopefully!
* at some point I am going to go get new glasses and hopefully without children!
* Monday - paint our family room, play room and my office. I just bought the paint last night. What colors you ask? Secret! I'm not telling!
* Tuesday night - we are going to Heather's so Noah and Cole can play and *I* am going to relax if at all possible. Maybe order pizza.
* Wednesday morning - Heather is going to come over and we're going shopping while Noah is at school. Afterwards we're going to hang out and talk her wedding.
* Thursday night - Noah's friend, Kristin's 5th birthday. We're going to her house so the kids can play and we're eating dinner with them.
* Friday - no plans; if I can make it work, I might find someone to watch my kids while I go with Heather to talk to her florist. (I really want to go!)
*I am sure I won't get all done painting Monday, so at some point I will have to finish. That's my goal, anyway.
* Saturday late morning - Neil gets home!!! I am doing a maternity shoot when he gets home.

So things are pretty filled which is good. Good for the kids and good for my sanity.

As I wrote in the comment section of the previous China post, Neil just found out that ADM has scheduled him a private scenic tour of Shanghai, which is awesome. He also has a road journey part way along the Great Wall. That's the only thing I had asked him to do for me - get a picture of that amazing piece of architectural history. I'm excited for him to see it. Hopefully this will make his journey more exiting for him as the last few days he's told me he's been really anxious, and that's very unlike my husband.

Missy, unfortunately, Neil said that where he will be is at least 800 miles south of Beijing so there probably won't be any English signs or much of anything (if at all) in regards to the Olympics. Which stinks because after you told me that, I was really hopeful!

I do, however, think this is an incredible opportunity for him, but it's hard to be 100% excited for him when you have a family. He's traveling by himself which I think accounts for his own anxiety. Well, that and leaving the kids. Maia is more attached to him now than ever. That's got to be hard leaving your baby girl.

Anyway, we'll see. Hopefully this will be the most exciting travel he's done yet. I am quite excited that he'll get to add this one to his passport. It's something I know I'll never experience!

Thanks again for all the tremendous support. It's just nice to know you have friends who care and who are praying for the good of us all. I know this is not the hardest thing we'll ever face in life, but it's definitely not easy. Like Christy stated, he's my other half. He really does probably half of the work just here at home. But he's also my best friend and so thinking about saying goodbye to him for 9 days makes me begin to cry. I'm so blessed that I found the best husband in the world. I pray that God keeps him safe and brings him back to me. {{xo to my friends}}

Just 2-1/2 more days . . .

. . . and hubby leaves for China. {deep sigh}

I'm so nervous. Very very nervous. Don't ask me why because my answer consists of a half-dozen different reasons. (Just ask Alexis.) But I feel guilty for feeling how I feel because so many women suffer way more than I do when their husbands leave for months or years at a time. I feel extremely blessed in that way because I know that will never happen to me. But selfishly I am really nervous and scared. Scared for him, not me. I know I can handle it. It will be harder than normal and my work will have to stop for 9 days, but I know I can do it. And it's not that I don't think Neil can't handle the travel and China itself. I know he can. But I'm scared about the things not in his control, like his safety and health. I am also scared for myself in the way that I am not sure I can mentally handle my kids 24-7 for that long. Yes, I am a stay-at-home mom, but when Neil gets home in the evenings, I begin working about 6:00 and when I start working, I work. And I'm in my office. And Neil plays and takes care of the kids. It's my only break in the day. A break I need. And I'm a little afraid about how I will handle not having that break for 9 days. I love my kids more than anything in the world, but I also like to be mentally, emotionally and physically able to take care of them as I should.

Anyhow, 2-1/2 days before he leaves on an 18-hr flight to China. (Yeah, I'm counting that 1/2 day.) Please keep Neil (and selfishly, me also) in your prayers come Friday. He's going to be clear on the other side of this Earth for 9 days. When I say that, I think, "yep, it's just a dream. He's really not going." But I'm pretty sure he is.

When Neil left for Germany (for 6 days, I think it was), I shot these pictures of him and our kiddos as he was getting ready to leave the house. I love these pictures.

Matthew 11:28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

I Peter 9:7 "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."

Random-ness in the New Year

I'm not full of anything interesting and blog-worthy at all these days. I feel like my brain is just dead. I am also so so so so tired. I think it's the weather and the time of year and the fact that my daughter is not sleeping well these days and I am woken up 4 times a night (that may be a big part of it) so it feels like I have a newborn suddenly again. Ugh. It's so not fun. At all. So a combination of all of the above has me feeling so . . . at a loss. So here's the random things that are in my head right now and random-ity going on in my life. Not very blog-worthy, but at least it gives me something to post.

* 6-ish years ago I did yoga just about every day. At that time in my life I was in the best shape I think I had ever been in since high school weight training (I also hadn't ate meat in over 6 years so that, too, helped me out a bit, I think). The good news is, I'm back in yoga and it's nice. Really nice. I love yoga and how it makes me feel. Always have. And it's something that doesn't take much coordination like aerobics (which I don't have), but balance and a little endurance (which I do have). Neil has even been doing it with me some and the kids attempt to. It's so cute! (Maia is actually really good at it!)

* I have my first wedding of the year on Saturday. It's a big one, too. 8 attendants on each side and over 400 guests. Thankfully we're doing all the pictures beforehand, which will help A LOT and makes me feel a tiny bit less overwhelmed. The neatest thing about this wedding is that it's completely black and white. Their invitation even requested that all the guests wear either black or white (<-------yeah, that says white). It will look awesome in pictures. I really look forward to the event. Snow on top of that would be amazing, but I'm afraid it's going to be too warm for snow. Shoot.

* Neil isn't a big traveler like he use to be, but when he does travel, it's far-away places. This time, in 2 weeks, he's off for China. Yep, China. He just got his VISA back so it's pretty official. I'm not sure how long he'll be gone yet, but it will be at least a week. I'm just not use to these long travels anymore. He's had every shot in the book now to prepare for it. I think he's ready, but I'm not. I get really anxious and nervous thinking about it. Thankfully I have friends here who have already volunteered to have me live with them for a week, and even if I don't, I know they'll be stopping by every day. I just don't do well without Neil here. He's more than just the one who brings home the bacon. He is the greatest daddy in the world and is a pretty amazing Susie Homemaker. (I really am blessed and when he is gone it reminds me how blessed I am and how amazing he is.)

* I bought some new photography books last week and last night I almost finished one of them. I haven't read anything other than maybe a recipe or a Christmas newsletter (?!) in probably 6 months or more. To finally have the time to do so after about 6 months of non-stop running and working, is just so very nice and so rewarding. Hard work does pay off and there really is light (and a break) at the end of the tunnel :c)

* My cousin who will soon be 40 just announced that he is going to be a daddy again later this fall! He will be my oldest cousin with the youngest baby! I think it's kinda neat!! Congrats Clint and Stacy!! We're so happy for you!

* I bought Annie, the musical, and watched it today with my kids. Maia was mesmerized and it reminded me how mesmerized I get watching it. I love love love that movie. Probably (in my opinion) one of the best movies ever, ranking up there with The Sound of Music, The Parent Trap and The King and I. I'm such a sucker for musicals, Disney movies, Classics or all of the above. Okay, fine, a.k.a. corny movies. I love corny movies. But they sort of bring me up into the clouds into a fantasy world and I love that feeling. And there's something about catchy songs like "It's a Hard Knock Life" or "My Favorite Things" that just really make you happy (even if they aren't the happiest of songs like the Hard Knock Life). My husband thinks I am the queen of dorks with the love I have for these movies and I don't deny that! :c)

Speaking of "happy" . . . Happy New Year! Hope it's a really really great year for all of us.