Skip to main content

Tessa's Birthday

 This beautiful girl turned 16 in China.

I don't think that's the easiest thing to swallow.  She'd like to be home getting her driver's license and enjoying other things might be part of her life.  But she doesn't complain.  It is hard, but she has a good attitude and I'm thankful for that.  

I made her one of her favorite meals:  purple sweet potato raviolis with seared steak.  Just coming out of quarantine, and still without the green health code required to ride the subway to Sam's Club, we had to order online.  They picked the steak, and it surely wasn't what I would have picked, but just coming from quarantine food, thin cut steak tasted better than it might otherwise.  And since this in China, acquiring good cheese is impossible, so the browned butter sauce for the raviolis was not quite the same, but I did find some fresh basil, so it was quite lovely!  And I figured out how to make creme brulee for dessert so there was lots of food happiness.   (Forgot to take pictures 😔)

Chandler picked out a pair of expensive Nike's for me to find fakes.  She would have never gotten these $970 shoes otherwise!   (Only like $30 for the fake...)

And she was super happy about a guitar.  Good times all around, even in China!

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

While We Are Waiting: Temples!

I love the temple.  When I first learned of the possibility of us moving to China in December 2019, one of my first questions was "How can I leave the temple?"  That question was answered in part during the closure of temples in 2020. However, when the joint venture was signed and Tom was officially offered the position in China in November 2020, I began fasting and praying that I would be able to attend the temple just once before we left.  Our original flights were for July 7, 2021 and just a few weeks before that, our temple opened up and miraculously we were able to get 2 appointments for baptisms and 4 other appointments for Tom and I before our departure date.  I can't express my deep gratitude for those 6 precious appointments.  Then when we didn't obtain a visa in time for those flights and access to nearby temples was given, I took up a new hobby.  Temple scheduling.  The girls teased me it was a bit of an obsessed hobby; but since we will go ...
2 comments
Read more

Bamboo Forest

There is a bamboo forest nearby.  A few weeks ago we paid it a visit. It was about an hour drive and after we got off the freeway it was a meandering road through some cute villages.  I started getting excited for some hiking and a lovely nature experience. I should have known better.  This is China.  If people will come, they will find a way to make some money.  The bamboo forest was no different---it was a tourist trap. That didn't mean we didn't enjoy it.  We did. It was a lot of fun.  But our expectations were shot down yet again.  (Pro tip, Darcee, drop all expectations, you're in China!) At the bamboo forest, you can see shops,  get a hot dog at "Fatty Dogg WestCoast Hot Dog",  (perhaps I should try it, my expectations may be happily surprised; but I highly doubt it) get measured 3 times,   (in China, children's prices are determined by your height, not your age.  When we came to China, both girls were under 150cm so they...
1 comment
Read more

Underarm Odor Census Notice

I just got this text message from Changzhou City. I can't quite imagine what an inspection would entail. (And to "enjoy" an inspection!) In a country where you can't buy deodorant, what would the treatment be?  I wish them well on their census efforts!
Post a Comment
Read more