Good morning to you too.

Normally when Josh wakes up he waits patiently for me to wake up too, or snuggles up to me and accidentley-on-purpose wakes me up.Normally he also gives me a kiss and says "Good morning sweetie!"

This morning things went a little differently...

This morning Josh woke up, rolled over, looked at me and said "Leslie....Leslie.....LESLIE!" I finally answered with a groggy half sleeping/half awake growl "mmmhh."

He looked at me and asked "Do you know what I really like?" I was sleepily confused (that's the worst kind.) Without hardly waiting for an answer he said "bacon." Then rolled over and went back to sleep.

I would really have liked to know what he was dreaming about.

No shame.

"What is today?" I asked. "Today is I'm crazy today" he answered. "No, Tuesday, today is Tuesday." Within 5 minutes the boys were crawling around on the floor, running outside and back in, pouring water on the floor, screaming at the top of their lungs, and flickering the lights. It was going to be a rough class. Today was not the day for sit down and work learning. I pick my battles.

I decided "answer the question tag" would be the solution to all our problems. They practice their English, I don't have to try to control the little beasts, and we all get some good exercise. They run around like mad men and Josh and I run after them. When tagged they have to freeze and answer a question before they were set free. It sucks the energy right out of them.

So there we were, playing tag, practicing English, and having a blast when I tagged one of the boys. He froze and I asked him "What colors do you like?" He looked at me and paused a moment, it was then that he pulled down his pants, whipped out his little p.p. and took a pee right in front of me.

I guess that means "yellow."

I'm not posting any pictures because not only would it be inappropriate, but also the only one I have is in my mind. And I can't get rid of it.

Christmas vacation can't get her fast enough.

Gift for two.

Last week, Josh, ever so sweetly, bought me a bunch of my favorite flowers to celebrate our 11 month wedding anniversary...I'm loving this "monthaversary" thing! He met me at the gate of the kindergarten, flowers in hand and kiss waiting...the perfect end to my work day. He is so romantic!

We got back to the apartment and the flowers were placed in a vase on top of the desk so that I could admire and smell them for many days to come.

Now, I know many people do not appreciate carnations, I've even heard some venture to claim that they are "ugly," however, I believe such people couldn't be more wrong. I think they are the most beautiful flowers in all the world.

Carnations are little explosions of fun and vibrant colors that you can't find in most other types of flowers. Not only is it the colors which make them unique but also the fact that there is never any rhyme or reason to how the petals grow, which gives them their spontaneous glamor.

Carnations have been my favorite ever since I can remember. They are also one of the cheapest flowers on the market. For this reason, both Josh and I are thankful. It means both less money spent, and flowers bought more frequently...win win for sure. I just never thought he would find them on the other side of the world. From what I hear it took a little extra effort to track them down...but my man delivers!

So the next day, I was sitting at the desk working on the computer and admiring my beautiful gift when I had a little rabbit jump into my lap wanting some love from his mother. Nothing new...he does that often. I pet him, lovingly, and was not surprised when my adventurous Brigsby jumped up onto the desk, which is something we are still unsuccessfully training him not to do. Before I could grab him he hopped right over to my flowers and was smelling them. For a brief second I thought to myself, "How cute! My bunny loves the smell of carnations too!" But before I could realize that this was an absolutely preposterous idea, my thought process was interrupted by a huge "MUNCH" from Brigsby...

I guess Brigsby does love Carnations as much as I do, just not quite in the same way. Result: Relocation of the flower vase, a frantic rabbit who still is spending hours on end trying to get back to the place where he found his special treat, and a gift that keeps on giving...

You see, I always hated throwing away the flowers once they started to wilt, now I have a little flower disposal who does the job gladly.

Sweatpants.

You know that stage you go through right around middle school where you really want to look cute everyday for school? Wanting the cutest clothes, trying makeup for the first time, and waking up extra early every morning to fix your hair. I went through that stage for sure, but then I realized that no matter how hard I tried I still felt self conscious about how I looked every day, ducking into the bathroom every chance I got to make sure everything was in place and usually pulling my hair back because it looked just too frizzy.

I was never by any sort of a long shot the "cool/beautiful/popular" girl at school, and to be honest, I didn't really envy those girls because I had a taste of how much pressure it was to keep up your image...It was right around my freshman year when sports began getting really busy that I started choosing that extra hour of sleep over the vain struggle to be seen as "so pretty." It was then that the sweatpants ruled the closet. God began teaching me that He doesn't see me for my "adorning" on the outside, but the condition of my heart, so then I began wearing those sweatpants with my head held high...

The only problem was that Satan likes to attack a young girl's fears and I was constantly fearing that God was the only one who would see me for more than a sports girl, and that no boy would want a girl who never looked cute at school...and who never had time because of her countless practices.

There were a couple of heartaches in high school that maybe went unnoticed but God taught me through and showed me the perfect love that I was so desperately looking for, and I count myself blessed for it, not many people are given the opportunity to experience God to that magnitude in high school.  

Then college. The only people I had time for was my team. It was okay though, I loved them, these incredible girls that became my sisters. They understood. Everywhere I went I was with at least a couple of my teammates by my side representing the sweatpants right along with me. We cherished the times we had when we actually had enough time to try to look like girls.

I still struggled with the thought of never finding that guy who could appreciate me and my sweatpants.

Then junior year of college came along, and with that came Josh. He tells me now that he remembers me as the "pretty volleyball player who was really busy." We became good friends and after a little bit of hesitation on his part, 5 months to be exact, he decided that my busy schedule wasn't enough to keep me away.

Josh, who happens to be the most extraordinary person I have ever met, very quickly became my best friend, the best friend most people hope to find in their lifetime. Today I can say that I have been married, for almost a year, to the man who saw through the "volleyball player" and miraculously came to love me.

The other day I walked out of the room and, unknowing of any of my past sweatpants insecurities, Josh said innocently and surprised..."Hey, sweetie, you are wearing sweats! You haven't worn them in so long! I love it, I've always thought you look so beautiful in them." 

Thank you God. You really did have the perfect man waiting for me and my sweatpants.  

Mom is always right.

I remember being little and standing in our linoleum floored kitchen over a freshly spilled cup of milk, and how my little brain remembered that mom had just mopped the day before. I quickly wiped up the crime scene and was somewhat devastated when I found that the floor was sticky. Mom came in and saw the evidence of my destruction and said with a smile and a roll of her eyes... "It never fails you mop and something gets spilled." She never was angry about how talented we kids were at ruining her freshly cleaned masterpiece, she just would "shoo" us out of the kitchen and try again.

Now I have a floor of my own that I like to try to keep clean. Saturday I mopped. I mopped real nice. Here in China its almost impossible to keep a floor looking somewhat clean, I sweep 3 times a day and get disgusting piles of dirt and dust every time, but I have to tell you our floor was lookin' good! We were expecting a group of people the next morning for our "gathering" and I wanted the place to look presentable for them. Mission accomplished. Last thing on the agenda was making the Kool-Aid. Now, because water over here is a little sketchy you have to boil it first...so I made a batch of scalding hot black cherry goodness and was extra careful in transporting the pitcher over to the tiny fridge, all the while keeping mom's words of warning in the back of my head...I WOULD NOT LET IT HAPPEN!!

I placed the pitcher down and closed the refrigerator door...success. I felt like I had really accomplished a great victory. Place was clean, food was ready, and Kool-Aid was in route to becoming a cool refreshing beverage for our guests.

Then it was Sunday, game time. 5 minutes in I had a thirsty visitor who decided she wanted some of that irresistible Kool-Aid. Problem: parents were occupied otherwise and the pitcher was almost as big as she. Bigger problem: none of that could stop her. She was determined....Minor misjudgment by the 4 year old that resulted in a major fail. That pitcher took a nasty spill. Literally. Refreshment gone, clean floor tarnished, little girl still thirsty.

As I crouched over the black cherry casualty sopping it up with a towel, (good thing floors are tile!) her mom came over with a quick "I don't know what she was thinking, I'm sorry." My insides began crying as I thought about how sticky my flawless floor would now be, it was then that I thought back to the day when I honestly believed that I could pour that gallon milk jug on my own, I gave an involuntary and subtle laugh as I said, "Oh no problem, it happens."

Then she said lightheartedly, "I guess it gives you a good reason to mop."