the ROSENBLOG

Ouchie

2012-01-09T17:33:00.006+08:00

Yesterday James took a hard fall on the basketball court. He jumped to block a shot, collided with the other player mid-air, and got knocked to the ground. Sort of. He managed to slam his head into the hoop's post, ram his back and ribs into the pole's metal base, jam his elbow against the corner, and sweep the pavement with his left hand all before landing in a heap beneath the basket.

James came back to the house looking like he'd just left the scene of a nasty car accident. After waiting a few hours, we decided that his left wrist was probably broken and made a trip to the local hospital to get it checked out. X-rays show that he has a hairline fracture between his index finger and thumb, but that his wrist is just badly sprained. James refused the hard cast, but took the "herbal aerosol spray" that the doctor prescribed.

His overall take on the accident is that "The game was so awesome! We played great. I was making nearly every shot and had this great three-pointer... And we won!"

Boys.

Ribbon Jell-O

2012-01-04T17:03:00.001+08:00

This Christmas we got together with some of our foreign friends in town for a yummy pot-luck. We'd just received a ton of Jell-O packets in a recent care package from our wonderful Aunt Teri, so Laura decided to make Ribbon Jell-O for a dessert. Now, Ribbon Jell-O has been a long-time Thanksgiving tradition in the Chapman household and is excellent for testing how level the refrigerator is. Ours, apparently, sits pretty straight because it turned out awesome! It was a complete hit. Thanks Chapmans!

So yummy.

So striped.

Notice that James coordinated his outfit to match. And little Nate coordinated with James. Haha, so festive.

X-Mas in China

2011-12-27T13:49:00.002+08:00

cock-a-doodle-doo

2011-12-22T08:30:00.003+08:00

Our downstairs neighbors were recently given a live rooster by their grandparents. It's a traditional gift for Chinese New Year. Unfortunately, the bird is going to live in a coop right outside our bedroom window until January 23. It's screeching in the morning isn't the most pleasant thing to wake up to--especially at 4 AM! Good grief. It's so loud it's hard to believe it's not actually in bed with us! James keeps mentioning to our friendly neighbors that their rooster is very fierce and crows very early in the morning. They always laugh heartily at this very good joke!

It's beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS!

2011-12-16T12:31:00.009+08:00

At least, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas inside our apartment. Outside it still looks like China. No snow, no yard ornaments, no light displays, no town square nativity scenes or Santa huts. But James and I have enjoyed making our living room look as Christmas-y as possible! And I've loved the excuse to spend some time crafting! Here are some pictures of our handiwork.

These pretty 3D stars look so beautiful hanging over our dining table.

To make this sign I cut out squares of cardboard, covered them with white paper, painted each piece red or green, and then stenciled on block letters. It turned out cute, I think.

We cut out a flurry of paper snowflakes to tape up in our front window. It's almost as cheery as the real thing!

Here is our scraggly little Christmas tree! We found it in a local market and looks so much cuter than anything we expected we'd be able to put up this year. It's fun to have a real, live Christmas tree, potted and all. As long as we don't kill it, we should be able to use it for a few years! (And aren't our lumberjack stockings cute!? Love 'em.)

These origami ornaments were slightly tedious, but they turned out great.

And these 3D paper ball ornaments really helped fill out the tree.

Our last decoration is this antique nativity scene that we purchased this summer and brought back with us. It reminds me so much of the set my mom always puts out each Christmas! I am really looking forward to using it to tell the story.

And now I just want to sing "Deck the Halls!"

turkey, dog, and pumpkins

2011-12-06T18:07:00.004+08:00

Though the title of this post includes all things that you can eat here in China, I assure you no dogs have been eaten by us since we've moved here. Rather, we wanted to update you on a few happenings this Fall/Winter. First off, we had a great thanksgiving with some ex-pats in town. We hosted 16 adults and 10 children. Everybody brought a ton of food and we ate our brains out. I even downloaded last year's macys parade and fooled everybody into thinking it was this year's.

Next we got Laura making some delicious acorn squash cookies. They were sssooo delicious!

Below we have a picture of Maggie. She is some kind of Yorkshire Terrier from Chengdu. The owners of this dog are busy having a baby in Thailand so we volunteered to watch her while they're gone. She a bit of a hassle, but for the most part very mild.

And last we have a picture of a wedding Laura and I attended two weeks ago. The bride is a member of the Pumi minority group and the groom Mousu. It was our first wedding to attend in China which made it extra special for us.

Other than that we've been enjoying X-mas decorating and receiving fun packages from the States. School is still session. We have another 5-6 weeks left of class (with one day off for the holidays, haha). We are seeing a lot of improvement and continue to enjoy our teachers.

Happy holidays!

Two Years Today!!!!

2011-11-07T08:06:00.000+08:00

It's our two year anniversary! Honestly, I can believe it! It seems forever ago we were standing at the altar in Dennison, Ohio. So much life has been shared in these last two years. Blessing after blessing has been heaped on my undeserving head--the best of which is my husband James.

We took a little road trip this weekend and got to celebrate in snow! It was magical.

China's driving test

2011-10-28T22:23:00.014+08:00

Recently, a friend of ours bought a new truck and said that we could use it for special occasions. It's nothing fancy but it is a diesel truck with a low gear ratio which makes it easy to get up and down the tough dirt roads around our city. We were very excited about this and wanted to make full use of the new truck. But first things first, I needed to get my Chinese driver's license.

Here in China, a foreigner can get a license 1 of 2 ways. If you don't have a driver's license issued from your home country, then you most go through the process a Chinese person would. You have to take classes and pass both a written and driving test. The cost could be upwards of $600. If you already have a driver's license issued from your home country, then all you need to do is get the right chops (google: chinese chops) and pass the written test. Easy enough, right? No.

The written test is notorious for being badly translated into English, lacking common sense, and downright hard to memorize. Many people here in our city have attempted to pass the test, but have come up short. For example, one of our close friends in town took it 4 times before passing it on his fifth. The test is compromised of a random 100 questions out of a possible 1300. There are about 40 true or false and 60 multiple choice. You most get a minimum of 90% to pass within a 45 minute time frame. The questions range from understanding street signs to knowing how to stop the bleeding from someone's flank (yes they use the word flank). There are two ways to study for the test. 1) get the paper study guide which consist of all 1300 questions and their answers, review, and memorize, or 2) download the ipod app (yes someone made an app) which breaks down all the questions into categories and let's you take practice tests.

I wanted to pass the test on the first try, so I downloaded the app and studied like crazy. Last Tuesday I took the test and scored a 97%. Woohoo, it's official. Now I just have to learn how to drive on these crazy Chinese roads :)

As I was studying for the test, I came across some really funny questions that I wanted to share with you. Below are pictures I took of some of the most bizarre and funniest questions I came across. I broke them up into four categories, 1) bad translation, 2) courtesy, 3) comical, and 4) just weird. Enjoy!

Weird:

(you would think the answer to the above question would be (D), but it is actually (A) :)

Funny:

Courtesy:

Bad Translation:

sad october

2011-10-08T20:21:00.011+08:00

This past week was the "national holiday," which means everybody gets off school the entire week; well at least the foreign students. The Chinese students here in Lijiang have to make up two days worth of the holiday on Saturday and Sunday. Why don't they just use the weekend as part of the holiday and have class two days of class during the week? No one knows why, it's just the way it is.

So what did we do for our break??? Well, Laura is currently in Indonesia. Her best friend Sheila is also on her vacation and decided to spend it in Indo and asked Laura to tag along.....so Laura did....for 12 days! Yes, I know what you must be thinking, "How is James gonna survive 12 days without Laura?" That's a great question. I've already lost 8 lbs, I can't find anymore clean clothes, and I have a mild case of pneumonia because I get too cold at night! But seriously, I miss her. I knew it was going to be hard, but not this hard! But she's having a great time in Indo. She'll tell you more about it when she gets back.

So Laura wanted me to post some pics of our finished (almost) apartment. The process of "making home" has taken forever. It's hard to find things you like and harder to get them to LJ when you do find them. But here are some pics of what we have so far. Enjoy!

James & Laura unwrapping the furniture we ordered:

Patio, dining table, entry way:

Living room:

Kitchen:

Guest bedroom and bathroom (wet bathroom, no division):

Master bedroom (still unfinished):

Master bathroom:

Photo Booth

2011-09-14T15:57:00.002+08:00

our first (real) home

2011-06-11T10:41:00.006+08:00

About two weeks ago, Laura and I moved into our first real home together (I say real because we feel some permanency here). The process of getting into this home has been a lot of máfan, but we are glad to make it our home, an oasis of America in a sea of Chinese.

We first agreed to rent the house when it was still being zhuāng xiū (a word that means something like decorate). All houses here are bought completely empty; cement walls, pipes exposed, no finishing what so ever. Since we caught our landlord in the middle of the zhuāng xiū process, we had a bit of say into how we wanted the house to be finished. But to no avail, we couldn't get everything we wanted. As it stands now, there are 7 different kinds of tile (white, blue, green and brown, etc), and 5 different kinds of wood color (dark, light, medium, red, etc) scattered throughout the house. But don't hear me wrong, our house is beautiful. We have an outdoor patio, a big open layout, three medium size rooms, two full bathrooms, and really friendly neighbors. In fact, our neighbors are so friendly, that if we leave the front door open, they will walk in and check out the place. This was a bit alarming at first, but now we find it inviting (until they start asking how much we paid for things like lights, chair, etc. and continue on about how we paid too much and they could of got it for cheaper). Our neighbors directly across the hall are especially welcoming. They gave us a house warming gift of raisins, almonds, and a "really cute" tea set (as Laura says it). She invited us over for lunch in which she cooked up a feast; fish from Hunan, pork, and 4 other vegetable dishes I couldn't put my finger on, but it was good. She also has a dog named kělè, which is cola in Mandarin. The dog is a brown haired poodle, cute but an ankle biter.

We haven't finished our own personal zhuāng xiū yet. We have couches from Ikea coming next week (thank you aaron and stacy in Chengdu for ordering and shipping those for us), we have a full kitchen coming at the end of the month, and we are furnishing everything else as it comes, màn man lái. You're probably wondering how we're eating or what we're sitting on. Well, we have a makeshift kitchen set up of a single burner and refrigerator (we do dishes in the bathroom!). And we are currently using our bed for just about everything, office, sleep, eating, and I'll stop there.

School is still moving on. We finished Phase I of GPA and are moving on to pīnyīn (the Latin pronunciation of Mandarin) and other grammar topics. We can feel the progress we are making, but some days are much harder than others. Still though, we are enjoying our classes and especially enjoying our teacher. We are grateful for our school.

Here are some recent pics:

Laura and I were walking through a quiet part of Old Town when we saw some white folks in pairs with backpacks and big cameras. I said, "Laura, this looks like the Amazing Race," and she replied, "Look, and there's the clue box!" We asked them what version of The Race they were filming but they wouldn't tell us. Based on their accent, I would say it is the Australian version (yes there are multiple versions of The Race, maybe 4 or 5 total).

A confusing pronunciation lesson.

Local fried cheese (not sure what kind) sprinkled with sugar.

Cute little walrus street dog. ("Walrus" because of the splay-footed paws.)

Who would have thought?

staying busy....

2011-04-27T22:14:00.002+08:00

Life keeps on moving forward here in Lijiang, though sometimes it feels like we are at a stand still. Classes have picked up in difficulty as now we are speaking full time. I'm starting to realize why Mandarin is the hardest language to learn for English speakers. There are a few pronunciations that are just about impossible to create with my mouth. This is OK, I don't mind speaking with an accent. At least that's the way I feel until I hear the Chinese person at the grocery store say "Sank you," instead of "thank you."

Below is a picture of one of our lessons. We put out a 100 or so of the 400 flashcards we've learned and attempted to say them all. It was tough.

Life is becoming more and more normal. Our routine has kicked in and we are learning how to survive in this culture. Not everything is foreign to us here in Lijiang. Some things are very familiar, but not completely familiar, like this picture below:

And there are other things that I'm sure we'll never get used to:

One thing that will definitely contribute to us making China our home is our first apartment. We just signed a three year contract starting May 1. We are the first renters and have had a lot of say on the remodeling process. We are excited to make it our first home together. We'll upload some pics of the finished apt soon.

on the way to school....

2011-04-02T14:10:00.002+08:00

Today on the way to school, we saw:

-a toddler pooping on the sidewalk
-a Naxi nǎinai throwing up in the street
-a cat tied up to a pole eating grass
-a dog getting busy with another dog

We also got stuck in dead-stop traffic; which meant we had to get out and walk the rest of the way. All this before 9am during our 25 minute trip bus ride to school. What fun! If nothing else, it provides some variety in our lives!

a "wall" of chinese

2011-03-30T13:59:00.009+08:00

Learning Chinese is difficult. Our friend told us that when we first begin studying, all you hear is a "wall" of Chinese coming at you. But as you progress, you start to disassemble that "wall," màn man zǒu (slowly), by picking out words you know and listening carefully for phrases within a context. Well right now, the "wall" is punching me (us) in the face. But progress has been made, and we've been able to take out little pieces of the "wall" to see the Chinese culture on the other side. The bus on the way to school has been a good measure of the progress we've made. The automated recording that spits out where you are in the city, how to get off the bus, etc. is becoming more and more familiar. At first, she was just a "wall" of Chinese, but now I can understand 30% of what she says. First I recognized the word "door," then "please," then "back door," then it all came together, "please exit using the back door." Well, that's 30% in 10 lessons. Maybe by the end of the semester, I'll be at 90%.

Below is a picture of Laura and our teacher Melinda. We use these flash cards to learn new vocab words. Well this week we've been camped out on clothes. Vocab topics can often lead to off subject discussions. For example, in this picture Laura and Melinda are discussing their favorite shoes, etc. (Oddly enough, Melinda and Laura are quite similar; they both think tights are cute, but not on them, they don't like wearing heels, and ballet flats are their favorite shoe).

the ups and downs

2011-03-22T18:20:00.018+08:00

We were forewarned about the infamous "ups and downs" that come with living in a foreign country, especially during the first 6 months. Well, Laura and I are no exception to the infamous and maybe even lean more on the "down" side most days. It's no easy task moving your life away from the unfamiliar and into a tornado of newness, but the "downs" are a worthy sacrifice for the the bigger picture :) We want to share with you some of the ups and downs that we experience on a regular basis.

Ups:
1) Tài piányi le! Cheap! Most things here are inexpensive:
-bowl of noodles = $.75
-bus ride = $.15
-2 hour massage = $8.85
-fixings for a salad serving 6 people = $2.28
-a pair of legitimate converse allstar shoes = $7.45
-rent for a 4 bedroom/2 bathroom apt = $213.62/month
*a microwave is an exception to this rule, the price range we've seen is $50 - $500.

2) Lots of attention! (this is also a "down")
-Whether we're walking to the corner liquor store to grab a snack or walking around the tourist area, we're bound to hear a "hel-LLOOOO!" coming from somewhere. The funny part about this is that most people will say it and duck down as if hiding from an offense.

3) Movies!
-Have you ever wanted the newest DVD releases without paying an arm and a leg? Growing impatient waiting for a movie to get out of the theater and onto DVD? Well China is the place for you! New releases on DVD for $1. We don't have movie theaters but we do got bootleg DVD shops....I'm not sure which one is better.

4) Humorous sights and rip off items (see images below)

Downs:
1) Glitter!
-From bed sheets to flowers, you can't get away from the glitter & glam:

2) Sewage
-No waste treatment plants. Everything just runs downhill, somewhere. City maintenance crews will also open up a manhole, stick a hose down into it, and pump out raw sewage to water the public plants. Also, kids and pee and poop where every they want....yes poop.

3) No gummy candy!
-I am a huge gummy candy guy, and I can't find a thing here. I found a dried fruit called haw that they slice into thin strips and sprinkle with sugar that is pretty good, but I can't find anything else! No gummy bears for me! But here are some pics of more common Chinese snacks:

the first day of school

2011-03-08T17:50:00.007+08:00

When I was a kid, I remember being so excited for the first day of school that I would lay my school clothes out on the ground ready to be thrown on in an instant's notice, as if school might start any minute and I didn't want to be left behind (I remember one time when I actually wore my clothes to bed). This childhood excitement slowly wore off as toys started to disappear and nap-time became book-report-presentation time. Then when finals starting rearing it's ugly head into the curriculum, I knew for sure academia wasn't for me. Don't get me wrong, I did tough it out and get a college degree, barely, but it was a struggle. All this to say that I've been on a 5 year classroom-free streak and it's been bliss.

Well, yesterday was the first day of our Mandarin class, and as you can tell by the introduction above, I wasn't very excited about being in a class room for three hours a day. Well, my worries were in vain because there has been some fortunate game changing events that have made language learning a completely enjoyable experience!

We are at a teacher's college in town that houses 4,000 Chinese students and about a dozen foreign students. There are 4 Chinese teachers that help the foreign students learn Mandarin at whatever level one is at. The traditional way of learning Mandarin at this college is the typical textbook style, chapter-by-chapter, scolded when mis-pronouncing tones style of learning. You can imagine how excited I felt. No foreigner studying here truly enjoyed this traditional method because it took forever to get through material and you learned more about the Beijing opera than you did about items in the market.

So, some of our foreigner friends at the school suggested to the faculty a new way of learning Mandarin that Laura and I have never heard of. It's called the "Growing Participator's Approach" or GPA. It's designed to help the student learn more like a child and to take a more hand's on approach to learning. For example, the first 4 weeks of class you don't do any speaking, only listening. After the first phase (150 hours) we will have over 500 words in our iceberg. GPA chucks the traditional way of memorizing vocab to perfection and insists on recording the lǎoshī speaking the vocab and listening to it over and over out of class to get it in the "iceberg" as they call it. The tip of the iceberg being words you have mastered and the lower part of the iceberg being words that are stored away and will eventually surface. To paraphrase, GPA says that one would spend a great deal of time and energy mastering 300 words only to find out that 200 remain at the tip. Whereas, somebody else might expend the same deal of energy putting 1,000 words into the lower part of the iceberg (the goal being to understand them when they are again heard in context) to discover that 200 or more have already risen to the tip of the iceberg. It's a really cool way to learn and study. The faculty has agreed to take on this curriculum with excitement.

We spend 2 hours a day, mon-thurs with our lǎoshī (teacher) learning a new set of vocab and action words. Today we learned kitchen and household items. We combined this with vocab from yesterday and we were able to understand and point to a picture describing an action our lǎoshī would choose. For example, "the man put the apple on the table." We already knew man, table and apple and we just learned "to put" because of the context of the picture. But remember, no speaking until week 5. This is very difficult for me as I want to practice everything I learn out in the market or with our neighbors. Class has become a real joy as our lǎoshī gives us an action word and we physically have to act it out (jump, or sit, or leave or come back). And since class consists of only Laura and I we can get all the attention we need to understand the material.

Trust me, I've never been this excited about school since I used to wear my school clothes to bed. It takes a great deal of work (2 hours of class in the morning and 2-3 hours of review in the afternoon), but it's been so great to see such progress after day 2! I am excited to learn Mandarin, and though we've been warned that there will be times of great despair (yes, tears and all) I am enjoying it now. It's actually funny, Laura and I have been telling each other to remember these times of excitement, because they won't last forever.

Apricot Pruning Video

2011-02-20T23:06:00.007+08:00

We just got done pruning 435 apricot trees up in the mountains. Eight Texans and two friends from Chengdu came out to help. It's the dry season out here so everything is brown. The weather was mild; 60's during the day and freezing at night. Enjoy the video!

2 weeks

2011-02-03T09:56:00.008+08:00

We have made it to mainland China! Woohoo! And we've been here for two weeks! Time is just flying by!

It was tough saying goodbye to family and friends, but we've been preparing to move on and start our life as Chinese students. Thanks to all who have been giving us support and love through our time of transition. We are so grateful!

The last two weeks have mostly consisted of apt shopping. It is not a renter's market right now, but we have been able to see some places that are suitable. We will be taking over our friend's lease for 6 months until we can find a place of our own. This is a huge blessing as we don't feel rushed to sign a lease that we don't want.

We start mandarin classes at the end of the month. We're excited to get a grip on the language and practice in the markets. And maybe we can begin to understand what people are murmuring and laughing about as they walk by us on the street :) We stand out like a sore thumb here. Laura has blond hair blue eyes, and I'm 6'3'', you could imagine.

We just celebrated the New Year and I compiled a little video for your enjoyment. Thanks for reading.

Goodbyes

2011-01-14T02:24:00.004+08:00

Some mutual friends and long-time workers once told James and I that the life of a worker is a life of goodbyes. This is a truth that has already become a reality for us. We have been saying our goodbyes for nearly three months now, and none of them have been easy. It is a cost that we counted and are now paying. And it hurts. A ton.

We know that it’s not only our sacrifice, but yours too. Thank you for sending us. Thank you for supporting us. Thank you for praying for us. Thank you for letting us go.

Please know that it’s our desire to stay in touch. Please keep us involved in your lives! Our life can be very isolating—we would love it if you would keep us up-to-date on the baby’s first word, your case of flu, who last won at bones, and how sunburnt you got on vacation. We will miss you, but we don’t want to miss out!

Dec 26, 2010

2010-12-26T23:00:00.005+08:00

Another successful Christmas at the Chapman house. Gifts were given, food was ate, and songs were sang. Laura bought me a sweet winter coat from H&M, a domino set, and some new collared shirts. I bought Laura a sweet winter coat from H&M (not matching), and a deck of cards with custom pictures on the backs of each. Andy and Susan got a fire pit from the kids. Jon got a new charcoal grill. Mark got a new 4-in-1 printer. Kim got a "bird bag!!!" And Mina got a new chew toy.

Here are some pics and a video of our celebrations. The video is at the dinner table of our lobster dinner on Friday night . The pictures are of Laura I looking very Christmasyyy, and of Jon and I wearing our new matching collared shirts bought for all the men in the family. Merry Christmas!

Life around Dover

2010-12-20T22:19:00.006+08:00

Currently we are spending the month of December in Dover, OH with Laura's parents. Being from suburb SF bay area, Dover seems like an extremely small town, but not without a lot of charm.

There's appx. 13,000 people living here, which makes for little traffic and fun mom and pop businesses. For example, we have Softies a few miles down the road that offers delicious soft serve ice cream, milkshakes, and hot dogs. Softies is only open seasonally, an odd thing for a business to do coming from CA. Then we have Uncle Primos, a pristine house converted italian restaurant with some great toasted garlic bread. You wouldn't think one would need a reservation for a restaurant in a town the size of Dover, but this place is packed on Fri and Sat nights.

Finally, we have my favorite business. I didn't catch the name of the store, but the advertising on the front of the store says it all. What I'm still trying to figure out is how a store like this found a market in a county of 98% white demographics with no night clubs to speak of.

Another thing about Dover is that it's freezing cold here in the winter months. If you've been following the weather, the entire mid-west has been getting pounded with snow. Since I only see snow once every few years, and hardly ever when it's following out of the sky, I caught a quick video of the wet sticky snow coming down at the beginning of the storm.

Still homeless, but loved

2010-12-17T22:41:00.011+08:00

So we are in the middle of week three with the Ohio parents. Being homeless definitely has it's perks: Susan and Andy have been feeding us tasty food (turkey sausages with sauteed onions and peppers last night), we have a x-mas tree decorated, we've made wassail, sugar cookies, and gingerbread men. Life is good.

Laura and I quit our jobs back in October and left life in San Diego to start the road to East Asia. In early November, we were able to spend some time with a Church in Oregon. Here's a pic of the family's three little girls we stayed with:

We were able to spend Thanksgiving with my parents in which we ate a delicious traditional Thanksgiving meal:
Next we drove down to Phoenix to see our dear friends Vince and Verity get married. They had a beautiful outdoor wedding with some great food. Verity looked beautiful and Vince looked, eh, alright :)
After the wedding we flew to Dover, Ohio where we met up with Susan and Andy (Laura's parents). We have planned a busy December and were excited to get to it. We hosted a few desserts for friends, baked cookies, and played with Mina:

We also spent time with Laura's cousin and husband Jan and Dan Landis and their weimaraner Coda. We met them up at a cabin in Seven Springs, Pa. It was snowy and cold, but tons of fun! We played games, ate tasty food, went hiking (and hunting), and enjoyed the fireplace. Dan is a stud. He cooked just about every meal--homemade chili, spaghetti with venison, and a hearty breakfast. Here are some pics of our time with them (and a fun video!):

I hope this paints a little picture of our life these past few months. Thanks for reading!

freezing in ohio

2010-12-08T06:41:00.004+08:00

Laura and I arrived in Dover, Ohio a few days ago and are settling in nicely. Well, I have settled in nicely--Laura still has her stuff spread around the guestroom. We were greeted warmly by Mina's slobbering jowls, Andy's bear hugs, and Mom's kisses. The weather here is, eerr, a brisk 25 degrees in the middle of the day (I'm freezing!).

So we went out to pick a Christmas tree today. Our first stop was a Christmas tree farm. We walked up and down rows and rows of giant sized and greatly thinned out trees. The selection wasn't that great. But I did manage to nearly freeze out there. At one point I couldn't feel my face and at another point I'm pretty sure my eyeball froze. We headed next to a little house that rounds up trees from a nearby farm and sells them in their driveway. We found a nice big ole tree that we thought would like great in the living room, though Mama Chapman nearly crunched it as she attempted to park her car in the garage with the tree still on the roof! Uh-oh! The damage was moderate, btu I think the tree will survive...maybe. Here's a pic of the tree pre-crunch.

I unfortunately don't have a pic of the tree stuck in between the garage door and the attic, but you could imagine what it looked like as she started backing up once she realized what she had done.

That's all for now.

It's been a long time.

2010-11-21T04:53:00.004+08:00

Hello to all who still check this lost neglected blog! I (James) take full responsibility for the lack of substance here in the past....eerrr 4 months? Ouch, that has been a long time. Well, once again, my apologies for any of you who have been wondering where the Rosenbergs have been.

The update
Laura and I have quit our jobs, sold 90% of our belongings, moved out of San Diego, and are currently living with my gracious parents through Thanksgiving in Concord, CA. It was great quitting our jobs, easy selling our belongings (thank you Craig's List and to the Iraqi guy who bought my junky car for $900), hard to say good-bye to friends (especially pregnant friends), and good to re-connect with parents.

Fund-raising
As of now, we are still in the middle of support raising. Family and friends (and strangers) have been very gracious to us. We just spent a weekend up in Oregon where Brian Kruse and his Church covered all of our expenses and gave us time to speak during their Sunday morning service. Another Church here in Concord just committed to funding us at a monthly rate. Not to mention all the countless friends and family that have been so encouraging to us with their time and money. We are making a lot of progress and we look forward to meeting our goal by the end of the year.

The Plan
After our time here in Concord is up, we will be heading to Phoenix for a dear friend's wedding! Vince Garvey that is! After those festivities we will be heading to Ohio to spend the month of December with Laura's family. We hope to return to CA in early January to pack up and get ready for a mid-January departure.

Once again, thanks to all of you who have been supporting us along our journey as newly weds. We look forward to keeping this blog a lil more updated as we head overseas.

My Little Sister is Married! (by Laura)

2010-07-24T13:29:00.004+08:00

Kimberly & Jon Chleboun are hitched! We stinkin' love 'em. And marriage. It's great.

The Scariest Things

2010-07-24T12:54:00.007+08:00

For Laura, it's jellyfish. It's the ultimate nightmarish creature. Have you ever dreamt that your limbs are impossibly sluggish and you can't outrun what's chasing you? That's how Laura feels when she sees a jelly appear in the top of a wave. She knows it's coming for her. She can't stop it. It can't stop itself. Blob bobbing, tentacles dragging... She can't get out of the water fast enough.

For James, it's hairspray. It's the only thing worse than glitter. The aerosol can comes out of the bathroom cabinet, and James is hiding under his towel and fleeing for his life. It's like a mist of stickiness you can't escape. Shudder.

And for you readers who are trying to decided which is worse, c'mon now. One stings and kills people, the other destroys the ozone. Is there really any question!?

For James' Pretty Long Lashes?

2010-03-02T12:18:00.003+08:00

Humongous mascara wand, or excessively chic toilet brush? We were confused.

Differences of Opinion

2010-02-16T10:02:00.006+08:00

C'mon Laura. Egg shells go in the trash, not down the sink disposal.
Oh yeah? Better than those lime seeds you washed down the drain.

James careful! Don't spray the pan right over the burner!

Laura, you only filled the ice tray up halfway.
But that's just how I like my ice cubes--skinny!

Hold on James! Sweaters don't go in the dryer. Except that one. Oh and that one's fine too.

James, don't forget to close the fridge door.

Laura, why is every single light in the apartment on?

Let's put the lamp in this corner.
But I kinda' thought it'd look nice over there in that corner.

Laura, your hair is all over the tub.
James, your hair is all over the sink.

Look at all these tests we have to take for Pioneers! This is gonna' be awful (james).
Oooh scantrons! Fun! (laura)

A Little Quiz (by laura)

2010-02-02T13:44:00.002+08:00

Today James had an orientation for one of the security companies that have offered him a job. After watching some training videos, filling out a bunch of paperwork, picking out a suit, etc., they gave him this quiz:

What job would you like? Circle the best answer:
a.) guard at a downtown apartment complex 3 pm - 11 pm MTThFS
b.) guard at a downtown apartment complex 4 pm - 12 am ThFS
c.) no job at all
d.) stall until you're offered option e
e.) guard at a pharmaceutical company 8 am - 5 pm MTWThF
f.) both d & e

If you circled f, that's because you're wonderful, thoughtful, and smart like my husband!

Laura's Top 10 (by laura, of course)

2010-02-01T07:15:00.002+08:00

Okay, okay! But it's no fair that James got to list his first! Otherwise, that James cleans the long blond hair out of the tub drain would've been on MY top 10 list. Haha. Here they are:

1. Cans and jars are much easier to open.
2. The top shelf has suddenly become more reachable.
3. The kitchen smells like fresh coffee every morning.
4. Showers are way more fun.
5. I get lost a lot less frequently.
6. I feel continually cared for, protected, and safe.
7. My hand never gets lonely.
8. One-man chores have turned into two-person playtime.
9. I, too, have an amazing example of Christ living with me.
10. AND, I get to spend the night with my best friend every night.

top 10 things about being married to laura (by james)

2010-01-24T04:59:00.013+08:00

(in no particular order....)

1. my clothes have gotten magically softer.
2. i have twice as many options of what soap i want to use in the shower.
3. there is always somebody to hang out with.
4. my dresser matches my wardrobe closet, which matches my night stand, which matches our bed frame, which matches our desk, which matches our dining table! i've never had so much coordination before.
5. no need to buy pre-made cookie dough to munch on.
6. food keeps mysteriously showing up in the fridge and cupboards.
7. need to vent, cry, laugh, or share with somebody? no problem, i got laura at my side.
8. i get to keep up on my plumbing skills every week by unclogging the drain of long, tangled, blond hair.
9. i have a great example of how to be like jesus living with me!
10. do i really have to say number 10?

Coasts (by laura)

2010-01-22T01:18:00.005+08:00

Last weekend I was in North Carolina visiting with the Chapman girls. My little sister enjoyed James and I's wedding so much, she thought she might get married herself! (Actually, we had to talk her fiance down from proposing to her until we had our wedding out of the way, haha!)

Mom, Kim, and I planned a full weekend of dress shopping and wedding planning, but Kim had her mind made up after trying on a mere six dresses! Two hours into a four day shopping trip, she was done! The dress was ordered and the bride-to-be was all smiles! She's not messing around folks!

We still shopped, trying to find "professional attire" for my recently accepted position at a law firm. I think I'd be wearing a paper bag to the office today if it wasn't for their help picking out an outfit or two. I loved being with them. My heart ached for it! The talking especially. Face-to-face girl gabbing is so much better! I love my mom and sister dearly. They're ridiculously wonderful to me.

Nevertheless, the only good part of leaving James for five whole days was getting to come home to him! I think next time we'll have to shop on the West coast. Whataya say gals?

has anybody seen my wife? (by james)

2010-01-19T04:57:00.016+08:00

laura! my wife! my beautiful beautiful wife!!! where have you gone?!
it's been 4 days and i am wretchedly lonely, starved, and depressed!
without you here, i've had no one to feed me! to love me! look after me! i am absolutely lost without you!
even the most basic of needs i cannot fulfill!
i have no one to keep me warm at night! no one to help me make sandwiches to eat! no one to hand me a piece of gum when my breath stinks! no one to show me where the extra toilet paper is! seriously, where is the extra toilet paper!

has anybody seen my wife, laura?
here is a picture of her:
she has blond hair, blue eyes, and is about average height. she's amazingly gorgeous and has most recently been spotted on the east coast, around the carolinas, apparently with a huge new pair of shoes.

please please laura come back to me!
my life is miserable without you!
i need you!

finally settling in (by james)

2010-01-15T10:23:00.013+08:00

laura and i have been married for 9 busy weeks now! it's amazing how fast time flies. we got married and had our honeymoon in november. then we moved across the country, quickly found an apt, started hunting down jobs and spent the holidays up north with the family in december. we dedicated january to finding a job.

well, it's the 14th now and we both found suitable jobs that can pay the bills for now. laura got an admin job downtown at a law firm. i know fancy, right? she'll be taking the trolley everyday to 5th street to enjoy the hustle and bustle of the city. i got a job as a security guard and am still hunting down an EMT position. i haven't found an ambulance firm that is hiring EMTs right now so i feel like the security guard position might be useful for a month or two.

laura and i also finished our formal sending agency application. after all our references are turned in (wink wink, you know who you are), we can move forward to the next phase, orientation.

so married life has been great, way better than i ever expected. not to mention that i've been learning tons about how to love laura truly and wholeheartedly. i literally learn something new everyday. let me see, the most valuable thing i learned this week about marriage was: don't sneak pieces of cookie dough out of the mixing bowl without your wife's permission. haha, which i responded with a, "but i'm just being a good husband, don't get angry." and her response, "and i'm just being a good wife, now get out of the kitchen." haha, awesome!

being married is great, single life is for the birds.