Halfway through!

We've made it to the halfway mark for our time in Vancouver! The past week we've been blessed by beautiful weather, finally! After weeks of rain it's been sunny and warm as evidenced by our slightly tan skin. Judah is now obsessed with playing at the park and will at least tell us five times a day "I pay pawk!" = I want to play in the park! The parks here are really nice too with lots of toddler friendly playground equipment including slides, swings, see-saws, sandboxes and more.

Judah is now 23 and a half months old! His vocabulary gets larger every single day and he's forming short sentences. It's so cute to watch. He can mimic anything you say and has even started picking up some words that I didn't realize I said so much like "yep" and "gosh". He's learned how to eat with a spoon by himself without spilling and is almost ready to start potty training. Hard to believe his 2nd birthday is in just a few short weeks!

Before coming here people told us A. how beautiful it was, B. how much it rained, and C. how good the food is. All of that has proven true! Thomas and I both really like all sorts of ethnic food and since Vancouver is so multicultural, there's no lack of ethnic food choices. Since we've been here we've had: Korean BBQ, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, Indian, Thai, Chinese, Middle Eastern and Greek. Vancouver is also big on food trucks so our plan is to check out some of those too when we're in the right areas to run across them. That can probably be a post in and of itself.

From top left: Fassil Ethiopian, Street hotdog, Memphis Blues BBQ,
Sophie's Cosmic Cafe, Bento Box at Top Sushi in New Westminster

Last weekend for Mother's Day we rode the SkyTrain to downtown Vancouver and after walking around a while we went inside Chapter's Bookstore to relax a while. Chapter's is pretty much like Barnes and Noble with tons of books and places to sit around and sip a coffee. The kids area is what really blew me away though. There were little nooks all over the area with different toys to play with. Judah had so much fun going from section to section playing with everything. There was a little table with a tea set, a place with big bean bag chairs to plop down on, a little scooter car, a train set and his favorite was a miniature shopping cart full of wooden produce. I think we were there for over an hour!

We've really enjoyed being back in a city again after having lived in Seoul for over a year. Thomas and I both love discovering the different neighborhoods and areas of the city, each with their own distinctive personalities. Another advantage Vancouver has besides it's parks, awesome public transportation and great food is it's beautiful mountains that you can see from all corners of the city. Below are just a few shots around town from the past few weeks.

This week is extra special because it's friends and family weekend and my mom and dad are coming! Wahooo! They arrive on Thursday and we can't wait to see them and give them both a big hug. My mom has already informed me that Judah will be bunking with them for the next four days so I better get used to the idea. :) I'm sure he'll have more cupcakes, cookies and ice cream than he'll have for the next year, so he better enjoy it while he can! He'll be spoiled rotten by the time they leave. So this year instead of soaking up the rays on the Ocean Lakes beach we'll be seeing the sites in Vancouver for Memorial Weekend. Not too shabby!

BTW for those who are interested, (ie. close family and friends) there are a lot of new videos of Judah on our YouTube and Flickr pages. Check 'em out!

Making Falafel

Did I mention that everything here is expensive? Thanks a lot 12% tax! Anyways, I've been trying to cook a little more when I can find the time/energy to plan out a meal and not just resort to a bowl of cereal or pb&j (sorry Thomas!)

We've been exploring our neighborhood here and came across a Middle Eastern grocery store a few weeks ago that had falafel mix. I talked to the lady working in the store and it sounded easy enough to make so I thought I'd give it a try. For those of you that don't know, falafel is essentially ground chickpeas with spices that you form into balls and fry. You can eat them by themselves with tzatziki sauce or in a pita like a sandwich.

They were easy to make and turned out pretty good! We had them with all the toppings and tzatziki sauce which is made from yogurt, cucumber, oil, salt, garlic, lemon juice and spices. We love food from all over the world and I'm looking forward to trying my hand at some more ethnic dishes. Yum!

Make it Vancouver!

Last weekend some friends and I went to an awesome craft fair called Make it! We had a great time shopping and seeing all the cool, handmade goodies that were for sale. We even met a girl from Texas that worked for Etsy at their booth. If you haven't heard of Etsy you should check it out. It's a great website where you can get all kinds of unique handmade gifts by local artists. That's where Thomas got my NC necklace for Christmas this year and I love it! A lot of artists at this type of craft fair have shops on Etsy's site.

I treated myself to a few things while we were there, I just couldn't resist! Top left is a cute little bowl with a green glaze and a bird on it by Dirty Girl Clayworks. Next was a simple but unique pair of silver earrings by Marnie Burton Jewellery. I talked to the artist and she said she likes to create things that are different, but simple enough to wear every day – just my style! Next was Big Bulgin' Belly Butter by Element Botanicals. Her shop was really cute. She had a rockabilly style with tattoos and jet black hair and all her packaging had a vintage feel. When I was pregnant with Judah I used this amazing Burt's Bees Belly Balm and didn't get any stretch marks, but it's been discontinued BOO. So I'm hoping if/when we get pregnant again, this stuff will do the trick. Not to mention, it smelled wonderful! Lastly was this little, quilted change purse by Noei. I loved her choice of color and pattern combinations.

Vancouver!

Our apartment

After our week in Cherryville we flew to Vancouver, British Columbia where we'll be spending the next three months. Everyone had told us what a beautiful city it is and they were right. The mountains can be seen from many different points around the city and there are parks and lakes everywhere. The Canadians we've met so far have kept up their reputation for being super nice.

We don't have a car so we'll be taking the bus, SkyTrain and sometimes the Sea Bus, as our main forms of transportation. When we were in Korea we didn't really miss having a car so we're not minding it so far. It does make doing some of the most basic things take a lot longer though. If you miss a bus in our neighborhood you'll be waiting another 20-30 minutes until the next one. Another difference from Korea is the addition of navigating a large city via public transport with a toddler, stroller and all his stuff in tow. No more running up or down the stairs to catch a train, it's now taking the elevator or carrying the stroller down the stairs!

Catherine and Richard! Thanks for a great time

Last week our friend from Korea who's Canadian, Catherine, and her husband Richard came to visit. We haven't seen them in a while so it was lots of fun to reconnect and catch up! They have other family in Vancouver so we got to meet them and go out to dinner one night. We went to a Korean all you can eat restaurant downtown and it was so good! Afterwards we went to the La Casa Gelato International which boasts 218 flavors of gelato (Italian style ice cream). They had lots of flavors you'd expect like chocolate, strawberry, mango etc. and lots of flavors you would never imagine like garlic, curry and maple bacon! They let you sample as many flavors as you want so it was fun to test out some of the unique ones. I hate I didn't get a picture in there!

Another night we went with our friends to another area of downtown to try out the Canadian classic dish, poutine. Poutine is basically french fries, smothered in gravy and sprinkled with cheese curds. It sounds kind of gross but it wasn't too bad!

Getting ready to eat poutine!

After dinner we drove through Stanley Park. There was a little section with some totem poles and a great view of the city from the lake. 

Totem poles at Stanley Park

View of the city at dusk

We were warned it was going to be rainy and it has been. It was also kind of a bummer going from 85 degree weather to 50 degree weather again. We're getting used to it though and always remember (after learning the hard way) to keep an umbrella on hand. On the days it hasn't rained we've tried to get out and visit some of the parks so Judah can run around and get out some energy. He recognizes the parks from the bus window now and will point and shout, "Play! Play!". He makes lots of friends on the bus by saying hey to everyone and playing peek a boo with them. Thankfully he helps us get into many conversations with people, which is what we're here to do!

Playing

 

One night he was totally full of himself while we were eating dinner. I'm glad I was able to catch a few of his faces on camera.

Having fun at dinner

Another thing that's different here is that things are expensive! We love going out to eat and trying different restaurants, but we're not going to be able to do that as much as we've been used to in the past. That being said, I'm trying to cook more. One day last week I decided to try this yummy recipe from Real Simple's website. I got everything ready, spread out my sauce in the Pyrex dish, placed my shells stuffed with cheese and spinach and popped it in the oven. What in the world!? The dang thing EXPLODED. The sides of the dish literally blew off inside the oven and we were left with a huge mess and no dinner. Luckily there's a Pizza Hut across the street. :)

Pyrex Explosion

A few interesting things about grocery shopping: you have to "rent" out your shopping cart, you have to bring reusable shopping bags because if you don't you're charged .5 cents a bag and lastly you can buy things in bulk. I tried this out the other day and got a few things.

Shopping in bulk, grated parmesean cheese

Well, that about covers the past two weeks. We've finally gotten out of our suitcases and have settled in a little bit. We're learning our way around and are looking forward to the next few months exploring this beautifully multicultural city. For now here's a few highlights of Judah. He's so funny! At 22 months now his personality just shines and his vocabulary continues to grow. More on that later ;)

Cupcake on his mouth, bed head, kissing Dada, Signing "more" and bathtime

Have a great weekend!

A week in Cherryville and saying goodbyes

 

I can't believe it's been 3 months since I last wrote on our poor blog! During our time in Virginia we didn't really have consistent internet access since it was only available in certain buildings on our campus. You don't realize how nice it really is having it in your own house/apartment until you have to walk somewhere else to get it. Especially at night when the little one is in bed and you're in your pjs. Anyways! Now we're back to the land of constant internet so hopefully this thing won't be so neglected anymore. That being said, here's an update on what's been going on with us!

We finished up our training at the end of March and headed back to Cherryville for one week. Thomas's parents were able to come home from Africa and bring our nephew Christian with them. It was awesome to finally be able to meet him in person. Zeb's son is only a couple months younger than Judah and we were so excited to see how they would be together. They quickly hit it off and every morning Christian would wake up and go running through the house yelling, "Judah! Judah!" It was really cute.

Together for the first time

Eating Breakfast 

Bathtime!

Judah and his Mamere!

Watching videos with Coco

Our week flew by at the speed of light. We were so busy packing that it was hard to really spend good, quality time with people. I was able to visit some family and we had good visits with Thomas's sister Mary, who was able to stay with us for the week, and with my brother Brent who came home for a long weekend.

Judah with my dad, Papaw Ben and Uncle Brent

Riding the tractor with Papaw

That Saturday, Renee's brother Jimmy and his wife Valerie had a pig pickin' at their house to celebrate David and Renee being home and also as kind of a goodbye party for us. We invited some of my family as well as a few friends.

Christian and Judah driving GG Pa's truck 

Proud Babu with his boys

Us with Mamere and GG

 

Having fun with my Aunt Phyllis and Uncle Tim

My family

Saying goodbye to my parents was literally one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. You just can't  put into words what it's like really. Growing up I was rebellious and pushed them away, but after becoming a Christian I had a greater appreciation for how much they love and care for me and our relationship has grown very strong and deep over the past 10 years. I know we'll stay close and talk a lot over Skype. I know the hardest part is saying goodbye to Judah. He talks so much about his Papaw and Mamaw...yelling their names every time I open my laptop or pick up my cell phone. No matter how far away we are, there's no distance that can take away the love I know he'll always hold in his heart for his Mamaw and Papaw. (And of course for his Babu and Coco too! And Mamere and GG!...And all his family, geez saying goodbye is hard!)

Mamaw and Papaw

The good thing is, my parents are going to be able to come visit us in a month so we'll get to see them again soon, hooray!