:)

Yesterday, I received 9 kisses, lots of snuggle time to the cartoon Tom & Jerry, and hugs like you couldn't imagine.  I would consider myself lucky. 

Zhangjiajie: Home of the Avatar

Welcome to the land of the Avatar!  So on my birthday weekend, (it happened that we had our last vacation opening that week) we decided to hit up some mountains that were supposed to have been filmed in the movie Avatar.  We celebrated by watching the movie, well half of it, before we made the dreaded 14 hour train ride there.  Like any other train ride, it was horrible but it is amazing how much more tolerable I have become to them.  

Our first stop was Tianmen Mountain.  We supposedly took the longest tram in China or something like that, but it was a good 10-15 minute ride up the mountain.  

At the top we got to walk the dreaded glass staircase.  It was fun, but not as scary as some made it out to be...and I blame the smog…you couldn’t see much!

If you squint, you can see the staircase on the side.

Ok, it may have been a little scary. :P

It was super cold, but it was a good time! 

After we finished at the top, we made our way to the middle of the mountain.  Here was the eye of the cave, and a whopping 999 stairs to the top of it.  Did we climb them all?  Why of course we did!

We got a little hot on the way up :P

 That pretty much ended our adventure at Tianmen Mountain.  So we headed back to our hostel with shin splints, and hungry tummies.  :p  The next day we got to see the Grand Canyon...China style of course!  This was my favorite day, just because it was super beautiful and peaceful down there.  

We got to walk down so many more stairs! 

Too pretty not to stop and take it all in. 

We also got to take a marble slide down the canyon.  It was fun, and maybe hurt a little bit!

:)

We had to wear gloves and these weird butt covers...we thought it was funny. 

The best part of the trip were the waterfalls!  I loved them so much!  We had fun with Johanna's umbrella, and rocked some poses.  

I see a crazy person in the background :P

LOVE this picture!

Of course your not in China if someone doesn't ask you to take a picture...Usually I avoid the pictures, but I must say that this one is one of my favorites.  

The rest of our day ended with calm lakes, caves, and a boat ride!  

The last day Anna, Kaytie and Emily went to Zhangjiajie National Park to see the actual Avatar Mountains.  Since I didn't have the budget for it, and it was cold I decided to stay at the hostel with Johanna and watch movies.  :)  I heard they had a good time though.  

I stole some of their pics :)

Happy Avataring!!  :)

Cause I’m Grateful for Many Things

This year has been a year filled with lots of adventure, trials, and blessings that Heavenly Father seemed fit to put in my life.  I can say that I am grateful for all of it, and wouldn’t trade my experiences for anything.  I was blessed to be in a foreign country at this time, and sometimes it’s good to remember the blessings that you have been given, especially when times get a little harder than most.  Here is my “30 days” of gratefulness even though it would take many, many more to put a dent in what I have been given.  
 

1-      I am grateful for the 43 kids that I get to see, hug, kiss, and teach here in China!  They are my joy beyond measure.

2-      My family.  8 crazy people put together in one household, with 8 totally different personalities, and 8 totally different looks…yet somehow we make it work, and come to love each other in the end. 

3-      The Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Cause it gives my life meaning and direction, and love, hope, peace, clarity, happiness…and the list goes on! 

4-      The blessing of being born in a country that lets me worship, study, and think as I want. 

5-      Laughter.  Enough said.  :)

6-      I am grateful that I have been given the opportunity to go to college, and further my education. 

7-      I am grateful for food that goes into my stomach, even though it may not be the best tasting because someone, somewhere would want it.

8-      Hot showers in cold weather. 

9-      Doctors who study diligently to go to school to help poor people like myself when they are miserable. 

10-   Nature.  I am grateful for sunsets, and sunrises, autumn leaves, rainbows, and other of God’s amazing creations. 

11-   Hot chocolate with marshmallows on top.

12-   Technology.  Without it, I wouldn’t be able to communicate with those I love most, listen to General Conference, or Skype into church every Sunday.

13-   My body and the ability that it has to function properly.

14-   The power of prayer.  Because no matter how lost I am, I always seem to find my way. 

15-   For my niece and nephew.  They are so amazing, and I cannot wait to see them in a couple weeks! 

16-   Good plumbing.  Who doesn’t like a shower and a flushable toilet?

17-   Cameras.  I love capturing moments that mean the most. 

18-   Womanhood.  I am grateful for the opportunity I will have to create, and raise my own family. 

19-   Letters.  Cause who doesn’t love a little love sent in the mail. 

20-   Music that seems to know my emotions better than myself.  I love this hobby. 

21-   Books.  Even though I don’t read nearly as much as I should, I love that I can learn things, and read about a great story whenever I want to.

22-   Warm clothes.  Because my body doesn’t store the heat like it should!

23-   Warm fudge brownies.  Oh man.

24-   All forms of transportation, because without it I wouldn’t have gotten to see a fraction of the things I have seen. 

25-   Good movies and popcorn. 

26-   Eyes and smiles.  Because they are both beautiful on every person! 

27-   Clocks/Watches.  Cause it drives me crazy when I don’t know the time. 

28-   Gardens.  Flower gardens, vegetable gardens, they are all awesome, and something I admire to do in the future. 

29-   Temples.  Something that I can’t wait to get back home to, and perform ordinances which are sacred to me. 

30-   The color orange.  Just because it makes me happy. :) 

WC-Toilets-Commodes-Whatever You Want to Call Them

So I love China in more ways than one, but of course there are just some things that I will never learn to like.  For example, the bitter root/ginger chunks they put so often in my lunch…gross.  The cockroaches; nasty.  Guys with crazy long fingernails; yuck.   Even though I dislike these things very much, it doesn’t come close to the hate that I have for the public toilets here.  

My first toilet experience comes from the McDonald’s I ate at before I left for Guilin on the bus.  I mean the food was good, so the bathrooms have to be good too right?  Wrong.  The bathroom was actually set up ok, it was just the smell…I wish I could describe it to you, but just think of the worst smelling bathroom you have been in, and times it by 100,000,000 and that will yield my result.  I tried to be tough, and at least try to pee because I knew that I wouldn’t have anywhere else to go for a long time, so I stepped into the stall, but as soon as I stepped in, I stepped right back out.  A word to the wise, you can’t pee while your gagging over a disgusting smell, you just can’t do it.  Well, I guess you could, but I chose not to!

They have a variety of different toilets but the most common one is the squatter.  It took me awhile to figure the whole thing out and ask questions like, “Do you take off your pants?”  “Which way do you face?” It all was just very complicated, and luckily our coordinator gave us the 101 on toilet training. 

Pretty decent one.  Why I wear flip flops here is even a mystery to me...

A really nice, clean smelling squatter!

 

 

The McDonald’s was the first encounter with a squatter, but they also have these toilets that look like troughs.  Go me, I was introduced to this toilet at 12 in the morning on our way to Guilin.  I’m not really sure how to even describe this bathroom, because again once I stepped in and I stepped right back out.  This one was a trough, and it ran all the way across the room, and I am pretty sure the floor was dirt.  The catch?  There were no doors, no curtains, no walls, just a room.  And you squat.  In front of everyone!  The women coming in the bathroom would stand and wait, and watch the others while they did their business, and when one got up, they popped a squat in their place.  I just couldn’t do it.  

A very smelly, but ok trough.  No door, but at least it had some coverage! 

So you squat and pee, but at least there was a garbage can. 

Even though these experiences haven’t made the best memories, it still gets worse.  While in Xi’an visiting the Terra-cotta Warriors, one of my teachers and I had to use the bathroom and even though we try to avoid them as much as possible, sometimes you just have to go!  So we actually had to pay to use this bathroom, although no toilet paper, soap, or paper towels were provided.  We give the guy at the door our money and stand in line to wait.  Since it is China, and it was a National holiday it was packed to the brim, so we waited for quite some time.  I noticed the closer we got to the door, the worse it started to smell…so I pull out a tissue to cover my nose to keep from gagging.  Well when we finally made it inside the bathroom, I just witnessed way too many things that I wished I didn’t have too.  Lined up on one side of the wall were the toilets, (they had doors) but on the other side of the wall were 5 gallon buckets…yup.  Woman were sitting on 5 gallon buckets, and peeing in them.  No curtains, no walls, and no insecurities.  To make it worse, a mom was holding her baby up in the air and letting him pee right on the floor.  That’s when I noticed that I was standing in a good centimeter of “wet” stuff.  I threw away those shoes for the record!  You see babies in China don’t wear diapers they just have slits in their pants like this…

I stole this gem from the ILP page...

I took this one at the Forbidden City.  Not as good, but the mom's face... :p

So when they think their baby has to pee, they lift and spread their legs where ever they may be, and they do their business at the closest bush/sidewalk/bathroom floor.  (My babies will wear diapers!)  Anyways, after the buckets, and the baby, and trying not to gag myself to death, it was finally time to use to bathroom.  Now while I was standing in line, I noticed that I was in the European toilet line, because I hate squatting and I thought it would be nice!  But honestly, if you ever have a choice, always squat in China, because you will still end up squatting over the other ones anyways.   This one was d.i.s.g.u.s.t.i.n.g.  There was no trash can, so the tissues girls had been using were in a mountain in the corner, and when I say mountain, I mean mountain.  Pee on the floor, bloody napkins open on the floor, the toilet was brown and not from stains people!  It was nasty, nasty, nasty!!  

Thank goodness for clean, American Toilets. Now enjoy your supper. :)