A poem for Valentines day...

There was once a girl who fell for a boy; she couldn’t help it, he was charming and coy.

Even though he was silly and ran into trees; being around him gave her heart an incredible squeeze.

 

To her surprise, he asked her to dinner; she then saw he was really quite a winner. 

 

It didn’t take long for her to know love is what she had; that’s why five months away from him was so horribly bad.

 

When he said “goodbye” her heart felt empty of all luck; she decided to fill the void with a cute little duck.

 

Dilbert made her laugh as he waddled around; but couldn’t replace the wonderful man she had found.

 

Then Mid-August he decided to come back; it took a lot of courage, but courage he didn’t lack.

 

It took a year and 4 months of dating bliss; to seal their love with a groom and bride kiss.

 

They then packed up their bags and headed Far East, where they’ve grown even closer to say the least.

 

They learned to cope together through thick and thin; he leaned on her as she leaned on him.

 

They cried when they were sad and laughed when things were funny; he even bought that girl a sweet little bunny.

 

Through the learning months their life has been filled with joy; so much love between that girl and that boy.

 

Together God has blessed them for over three years; yet still their life is to be filled with laughter and cheer.

 

God didn’t stop at giving them each other; You see, that bunny is now going to be the big brother.

 

That boy and that girl celebrate with a dance; because there is now going to be a tiny little Vance. 

 

 

The family petting zoo.

I feel like any time I think about my blog or begin to type all I feel is guilt. I'm not cut out for the blogging world. So I'm not going to start this post off with another "sorry its been so long"...because I'm just over that. :)

The Vance Chinese household has been a zoo the last couple of weeks...literally. We've enjoyed and also have been tormented by the petting zoo that is gradually expanding in the guest room.

The month of February is a big time for the Chinese culture. It is when they celebrate their "New Year", (not really sure why the rest of the world's new year isn't good enough, but to each his own) and they also celebrate the start of their spring season. The celebrations involve a month packed full with old traditions, activities,and time to spend with your family. So all of our friends from Fuzhou have packed up and hit the train tracks back to each of their own hometowns leaving the pets behind.

Over the last two weeks and for another  two weeks to come we will be the guardian of Brigsby (of course), a small kitten named Sugar Cookie, 7 hamsters (Ding Ding, Dong Dong, Sneaky, Midnight, Peaches, Hammy, and Suzie), 5 fish (Goldy, and no idea what the other 4 are named), 2 Turtles,  and a partridge in a pear tree.

Needless to say our house is a "hoppin" place and we decided to start charging admission for anyone who wants to come see....And we will pay for anyone who would like to come clean up the mess that comes along with having 16 pets. :)

Brigsby is an angel like always. However, the hamsters smell bad and bite (it creeps me out)...I don't deal with those wretched little demons...I leave that up to my brave husband. And Sugar Cookie is the devil himself in cat form. She is excessively needy, Meows (a blood curtling scream like meow) CONSTANTLY, and bites at my ankles when I walk around the apartment. I may or may not have kicked her across the room the other day to try to get the message across that I don't appreciate what she is doing to me. To top it off, the other day she climbed up on my body and tried to bite my neck...I'm convinced she was going for the Jugular.

I would be lying though if I didn't admit to the fact that watching Sugar Cookie interact with Brigsby is a riot. She started off following him around the house and keeping a safe distance...after a few days she worked up the courage to pounce on his back. Its precious especially because she has been "de-clawed" and Brigsby is oblivious to the little monster.

I could watch that for days and it would still crack me up. I guess I just will have to do just that. For the next two weeks. Yippie.

The Bible: A dummies guide to achieving cheerfulness.

Time in America was wonderful. Time spent with family was, as it always is, a blessing. Time was spent hugging, recapping our lives over the past 5 months, laughing, putting together a ridiculous 2,000 piece puzzle, dancing games, board games, more hugs, a lot more laughing, building basement rooms, putting up decorations for Christmas, dinners, eating lots of candy, football games, massages, movies, taking down Christmas decorations, New Year, even more laughing, fondue pots, more puzzles, sleepovers, high school basketball games, making flubber with 30+ Kindergartners, and then laughing a little more.

Though all of that (and lots more that wasn't mentioned.) was wonderful, the best part of it all was simply enjoying each others' presence and being in the same hemisphere, the same country, the same state, the same city, the same home. You don't realize how far away you are until you travel for 26 hours by car, train, and plane to be in the same room.

Unfortunately time ran out. Its amazing how 3 weeks worth of time turns into a fragment of a blink.

Now here we are 26 hours back away and that was a hard hit for my little heart to take. I've been finding myself counting down to the summer but also severely discontent with doing that...whats the point of just suffering through with a mopey attitude? Fortunately... there is hope.

I was reading today and God spoke to me through Proverbs 15:15
He said-

"Leslie all the day's of the afflicted are evil, but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast."

If we walk around feeling afflicted, we are. If we go through our days playing the victim of God's will, we will be.  If I walk around feeling cheated of time with family, I am.

Attitude, attitude, attitude my friends. Its all about our attitude. Yes, we will be afflicted,  there never has been a promise of affliction's absence...but if we look at affliction with a fighting cheerful heart, we will grow.

Yes, God has a will for each of our lives, and with that will comes a lot of "Whys?"...but if we look at God's plan for us with a curious cheerful heart, His will is an exciting journey that comes with a treasure map.

And if I look at the time away from my family with a thankful, cheerful heart filled with memories, an insurmountable amount of love, and prayers...I can be more content about the time I do have rather than bitter about the distance.

"-a cheerful heart has a continual feast"

God never says "sorry, but you are stuck in affliction so all your days will be evil"  Friends, we have a CHOICE. Cheerful is a choice... Affliction or feast. Not just any feast but a CONTINUAL one! A continual feast over affliction...yes please!!

This has been an uplifting discovery this morning for me so I'm urging you to keep this verse close to all of your cheerful hearts as we all muddle through the afflictions that this world shoves in our faces....And choose to be blessed, choose to be cheerful!!

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.