Happy 39th!

I was up but not early... So... the run was not a pleasant one... but I did it!

After a shower, I decided to work on my talk... 

Alan and Isaiah went to play tennis and got back at around 11am. At 11:45, Alan and I left for our luncheon at a new restaurant, Poetry! Our friends took us out for our anniversary and the food was fabulous and expensive! We would not have gone there... I think the tab was well over 6,000NT$! And we didn't even order a lot...  We sat and chatted until 3pm!

When we got home, we were all ready for a nap... but first I made tamale filling and Mexican chicken. Both came out fabulously delicious! I layered the tamale filling and the Mexican chicken and cheese... WOW!

We were all feeling lethargic so we didn't meet up with our friends from the UK until 8pm at NingXia Night Market, one of Alan's favorites as it has fried oysters egg pancakes! Our friends are leaving tomorrow... and it was fun to hang out with them. The night market was crowded as it was a nice evening... a bit warm... but still.

I am still trying to communicate with GOTOGATE... Please pray! God is going to work something out... I am trusting Him to do the impossible. They gave me a new itinerary but I won't be getting to Frankfurt until May 8th!

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

A Different Way to Celebrate

I was up but not early enough... hence the run was tortuous... I finished... 10.6K. Tomorrow... I will run 10 and I'll finish the week with 60!

After a shower, I took the clothes down and put everything away. Alan wasn't back yet, so I sat and read. I will start writing my talk for 4/26!

I took out the shirt that Alan made me as a final surprise on the night he proposed almost 40 years ago... I thought it would be fun as tomorrow is our 39th anniversary.

We went to Costco as the tires needed to be changed... there was a 50US$ discount if we changed all four and we needed to change all four! While that was being done, we ate at Costco and then went and shopped! All four tires were changed in less than an hour for 500US$!

I wanted to deposit the rent money into Isaiah's account and the wait was so long that I had to send Alan home as we had meat and ice cream in the car! He came back to pick me up and then we went to get our car aligned and did a car wash on our own at a self serve place... Wow... That was fun! 20NT$ for the bubble spray... 10NT$ for the water spray... 10NT$ for the vacuum. Of course, everything was on a timer and things shut down after a minute... or maybe it was two minutes. We then headed home... exhausted! ha, ha, ha...

Isaiah came home and hung out at home as Fenny came back and headed down to Kaohsiung as one of her friends is getting married tomorrow. 

We had a nice evening!

Daily Lovely InsightL

 

Seek Him First!

A Busier Than Usual PR Day

I was up early but went back to sleep... thus... my morning started later than usual...

After Alan and Isaiah went off, I started on a few things that I wanted to get done: get Abby's room back in order, put things away in Isaiah's room, put away the heaters and take out the fans (yes, the weather is getting warmer and warmer!), look through the books and prep for my afternoon tutoring (new students who need intensive sessions as they are planning to study abroad in an international school), set the iRobots to work and go for a run.

I did run 10K... in the heat... and then after my shower, I sat and read and napped! I did not want to get up... but by 4pm, I turned on the WiFi. 

We had heard from Abby earlier... I was up at 4am and she had arrived in San Francisco and walked to the gate to board for Chicago. Then we heard that the flight to São Paulo was delayed but she got on without a problem. So, she's on her way back to Brazil!

I left early to get things copied and to drop off things for a friend.

The tutoring session was at church, which was perfect. I had organized it so that they had things to work on while I worked with one gal at a time. I have only 10 sessions with them as they are planning to leave on July 10th... Please pray for a miracle that they will be able to do well in the international school which starts in mid August!

Alan had basketball at Soochow! Isaiah had to work until 7:45, so he didn't make it to basketball. He needs to exercise more... oh well... 

Prayer time at 8:45!

And I heard back from GOTOGATE... Please pray... they are putting me on a flight on May 7th which will get to Germany on the 8th. I'm requesting to be put on an earlier flight... maybe May 4th! I want to be in Heidelberg before the 7th... I want to spend the day on the 7th REFLECTING! I know God has this in His hands... and I saw that they do have a flight to Beijing on the 4th of May... and hopefully with a short transit in Beijing before flying out to Frankfurt. If that works out, then I'll look for a simple place to spend the night in Frankfurt or Heidelberg or even Mannheim... God knows... I trust He has this trip planned!

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

 

A Sad 8th!

I was up early and I expected the day to be long! And it was...

I baked and cooked and gathered things together for Abby. She and Alan went to the Brazilian Consulate and I went for a short 8.6K run. I was home and took a quick shower and left to ride my scooter to school, reminding Abby about the items she had in the bathroom sink.

I wanted to set up the room for my afternoon Bible study, but they were having a meeting in there. So, I messaged Abby and Alan, thinking they were heading out. Well... they did... but Abby forgot her things that were around the bathroom sink!!!!!!!!!! So, they had to go back to pick those items up... and they finally came at 11:22... And I knew we were going to be rushing... 

The check-in lines weren't long... but still... and we were praying as all her items were over the weight limit... even her carry on! God did it... two were 23.5-23.7 and she let them pass. The last one was 25.3 and we took a few items out and I had a Trader Joe's bag and she didn't ask to weigh the carry ons!!!!!!!! We then went to buy pineapple cakes because we didn't have time earlier. They were expensive... I spent over 1000NT$! For three small boxes... And she was off... and we rushed to get back to Soochow. 

I was late... I didn't get there until 1:55... the time flew by!

From there, I went to tutor... and that hour flew by.

I rushed home and ate and went off again. Tutoring at 6pm. I finished that and rushed home... 

Time to clean up the house... I have more to do tomorrow!

But it was so good to be home... 

Prayer time at 8:45... 

The miracles of the luggage... the miracle of God providing me with a bottle of water... the miracle of His sustaining strength... 

And I forgot to mention that Abby was feeling quite frustrated that she had so many things to carry... and that carry on and her backpack were really heavy... At the gate, they asked people to volunteer to check in their carry on! WOW... she was like... this is God! So, she did and felt so relieved... less things to carry... and we don't know if God worked to give her a 'not so crowded' flight... we will find out tomorrow. She flies to San Francisco and then to Chicago and then to São Paulo! I miss her already!

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

The 7th!

I was up early and the Lord blessed me with rain and breeze. I ran slow... but it was nice to be out! The warm weather is just around the corner!

We have everything out in the living room as we are now in the midst of getting Abby packed. Yes, we bought an extra piece... for 200US$! That's cheaper than trying to mail 23 kilos of stuff to her!

Alan and I went off to the Brazilian Consulate as she did have to get a stamp even though we went and had it notarized! What a hassle!

I went off to catch the MRT and Abby met me there as we headed out to lunch with one of my Bible study groups. The food was WOW! (Sorry... we didn't take pictures!) Expensive... Classy... A place I won't go back to... It was definitely a treat! The ladies ordered all of Abby's favorites!

At 2:30 we headed off: Abby to do her nails and I had a massage! WOW... 

Alan went to exchange a pair of shoes and then workout at the Neihu Sports Center.

Isaiah came home at around 6:45 and we had a nice Family Time at home... Our last before Abby heads off and we're back to online Family Time... WAHHHHHH...

This was TUESDAY'S... I did forget to hit publish!

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

Another Family Day Outing!

I was up early and we had a lot of ideas as to what we'd do this day.

It's been a tremendous blessing to have these four days off... and that Fenny went to Australia, so that we can have Isaiah... Abby likes hanging out with Isaiah... we all do... 

We had thought about going out to YiLiou, but the morning was cloudy and raining. 

The rain turned into a drizzle and Alan and Isaiah went out to play tennis and Abby and I went out for a run. It turned hot and humid very quickly. I ran home and Abby went and played a bit of tennis.

We were all home by 11:20 and called Mom Bea to wish her a happy Resurrection Sunday and to chat. It was really really nice!

After that, everyone took turns to take a shower and then we were off... We decided to go to a Cantonese restaurant and then shop at the shoes store and walk around for snacks and drinks... then we were off to PX Mart and Costco and got home at 5:10. I put everything away while everyone else took a nap.

At 5:45, I went and laid down. It was so good to nap!

We went to church at 6:45 as we had our monthly meeting and prayer time at 7pm.

When we got back, it was time to start packing. We had thought about going for a massage... but Isaiah has work tomorrow! And Abby still has errands to run... plus packing... and her nail appointment... Alan has Tuesday and Wednesday off... but I have a full day of commitments on Wednesday!

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!

Resurrection Sunday!

I was up early... and I knew it was going to be a long day!

Abby went for a run. Alan went to play tennis... and Isaiah joined him later.

I went for a simple walk... and two miracles happened...

One of my neighbors was riding down and was going to go to her office. She stopped to talk and I said it was Resurrection Sunday and she said: I guess I should go to church... and she went to church instead of going to work!

Then I went to HiLife to pay a bill and another neighbor walked in.  She knew I was a Christian and she told me she had recently become a Christian and wanted to know how to pray and grow in Christ. We stood there for 30 minutes talking about God! That was fabulous...

We got to church and I worked at setting up... coffee, snacks... the Lord's Supper! Isaiah shared the message. Abby was the worship leader and the translator. I had ordered the Love Feast and it was perfect! I was also in charge of cleaning up... WOW... I was so exhausted!

Glad it's a holiday tomorrow!

And we never got to packing for Abby!

Daily Lovely Insight:

Seek Him First!