"Reality is like a fine wine . . . it does not appeal to children."
- Donald Miller, Searching For God Knows What
one of my favorite all time quotes. i feel like i didn't really learn about reality until after college. i could go one, maybe i will later. but the two other americans are out of the office this week, so it was a long day today and i need to go to sleep.
"Reality is like a fine wine . . . it does not appeal to children."
- Donald Miller, Searching For God Knows What
one of my favorite all time quotes. i feel like i didn't really learn about reality until after college. i could go one, maybe i will later. but the two other americans are out of the office this week, so it was a long day today and i need to go to sleep.
i am having fun messing around with youtube.com, so here is another video. this is from me, Shen Rong and Matthew's trip to Xishuangbanna. we were riding bikes one afternoon. saw an awesome sunset this day. this was in october.
"Sin is more than turning our backs on God, it is turning our backs on life! Immorality is much more than adultery and dishonesty; it is living drab, colorless, dreary, stale, unimaginative lives. The greatest enemy of Christianity may be people who say they believe in Jesus but who are no longer astonished and amazed. Jesus Christ came to rescue us from listlessness as well as lostness.He came to save us from flat souls as well as corrupted souls.He came to save us from dullness. Our culture is awash in immorality and drowning in dullness.We have forgotten how to dance, how to sing, and how to laugh.We have allowed technology to beat our imaginations into submission and have become tourists rather than travelers. Television dominates our time, alters our values, numbs us to life in all of its wildness.We have been stunted by mediocrity."
-Mike Yaconelli
Brent's blog.
SR's bday was on February 13 (many of you may note that that is the day before Valentine's day). She got a new cell phone for her bday; otherwise we just took it easy. we cooked dinner and i baked a cake. it was my first time making a cake from scratch. thanks to mom and dad for the betty crocker cook book. so it took me most of an afternoon, but i thought it was pretty good. SR decorated it. with some chocolate sauce and strawberries. most chinese cakes have a lot of fruit on them.
i saw lindy say she spends a lot of her time baking. so do we. we cook almost every night now. we rotate chinese and western. SR is usually in charge of chinese with me assisting, and michael is in charge of western.
-elias
can you deny
there's nothing greater
there's nothing more
than the traveling hands of time.
-son volt, tear stained eye
i am a big fan of short quotes from books or lyrics from songs. i am always underlining short passages in books, but then i always just forget about them. i am going to try to start putting some of them on here; you guys should add your own. there is something powerful in a short statement that presents a truth or a new perspective on something or something that offers a little hope is some way. reading these types of things just make you feel a little better about the world.
-elias
many of you are already aware of this, but we got a cat about a month ago. his name is Mooch, or Macgyver, or Mac. he is great. kind of a mental case, but a lot of fun. our hands and feet are his sworn enemies. we paid about US$15 for him at a market that sells pets and flowers. he is super energetic and likes to play a lot. these pics are from when we first got him, it is now about a month later and he is already a lot bigger. he is now attacking my fingers and not letting me type. he hasn't been too much trouble so far, and i would say orion and i have done a surprisingly decent job of taking care of him, and SR has helped out a lot too.
i hear abi is thinking of getting a cat - i say do it! if david will let you. then we can exchange cat stories!
-elias
virtual dorks
file://C:/Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\My Pictures\2-4-2006
HOLA!! That's how we say hello here in Texas SR. This is Lindy and I'm here with my number one prima, Annagraciella the Fincher. It's a lovely Lubbock day, and yesterday was even sweeter because it was my birthday. Annagraciella came down last night, and we've had a rip-roaring time so far. I'm throwing a party for myself tonight. The theme is DIAMONDS: Celebrating Lindy's past, present, and future. I invited Matthew and I told all my guests to frost themselves with bling.
Lindy taking the bench.
Annagraciella signing in.
Well, things are exciting in our lives. Lindy has boy in her class, who has been eyeing her. He thinks he smooth, but his moves do nothing for her. As Lindy says, "He has the small guy complex," which is really the little man snydrome. I have young fourth grade girls who sneak of to the bathroom to make out with their boyfriends, unfortunately there is no joking around about this. Student teaching has overtaken our lives, and this is all we can talk about. The big news that is happening is my life, is my new beau! Haha, I figured this is big news for me and EVERYBODY should know about it. Well his name is Jordan, he is a football stud!
Annagraciella signs out.
Lindy substitutes in.
Ah, yes. Student teaching is now our life. I do have a bad boy in my class. I give the evil ice queen eye and some harsh chiding, and the problem is solved. Yes Annagraciella is seeing a young man. It is true, he is a football stud. She tells me he is so much bigger than her. That's good news. John is running his little tail off. He also has a small child in the form of a pup. Sophie is her name and she is his one true love. What other news for Lindy, you ask? Not a whole lot my friends, but times are good. I have been painting pictures and baking the days away. I also painted a chair in my room a pink shade that was called 'Sweet William'. It's really beautiful.
Lindy, down for the count.
Annagraciella checks back in.
Well, we tried to put a picture on the site, but we do not know if it worked. Well we are about to eat at Fuddruckers, finally, we have been waiting for John. He was spending some much needed time with his girl, Sophie.
Lindy and Annagraciella leave.
I just tried to post but I must have done something wrong because it didn't come up so I'll try again. Things have been busy at the Finchers but just with everyday stuff. Jeremiah just got back from a weekend in Lubbock visiting cousins John and Lindy and checking out TT again before joining the ranks of the college bound. JD's busy with Red, Rhythm and Blues. They performed at the Paramount Theater before a production of Peter Pan. They sounded great and it's always fun for me to see and hear them! Both Jeremiah and Annagrace are at Super Bowl parties with friends so Mike and I will have a party of our own with King Crab legs and guacamole. Go Seahawks! Aunt Mickey and Bodie were in Lubbock visiting also and Jeremiah gave a good report about Mickey's health. She seems to be having more "good" days lately and we are so grateful to God for that. Jeremiah is busy with Senior things and the moms are getting together this week to plan a big senior bash for the boys! Annagrace is very busy with student teaching, still working at the Country club and trying to manage her social life. The 7-7 working days are killing her! She's not sure she likes the "grown up " world. Mike turned the big 50 and we're planning a trip to the U.S. Open tennis tournament in NYC over Labor Day to celebrate. He was excited to win a tournament in Houston last weekend. He and JD are playing a tournament this weekend together - a good father/son bonding time. My life at school has been a little discouraging with heartbreaking home issues of some of my kids. However, after a couple of parent conferences, things seem a little better. We're looking toward the Houston trip for Mickey's surgery on the 15th and we're praying for great results. I love reading and seeing tidbits about Elias' life. I'll send pictures when I figure out how. I hope the rest of the family will start posting soon. It's great fun! Love, Aunt Patty
Just a short post from my trip with Grandad to Georgetown for Matthew's 2006 baseball banquet. We drove down Sat morning and got there about 12:30. We attended the alumni game (see picture with Matthew, Matthew and I) and saw all his friends. Banquet was nice (as alwys) and I think Grandad really enjoyed. I am sure the baseball coach thinks Matthew is from a split family since something has kept Kathy from being able to go for all 3 years. She is not happy about it and says that she is going next year no matter what.
an account of what SR and i did over chinese new year:
so we had a nine day holiday for Chinese New Year, which happened to fall on my birthday this year (january 29). chinese people all go home for the new year, so SR and i went back to her hometown to hang out with her parents. they live in a small town about an hour and a half from shanghai and close to Suzhou. the town is small (you can still pretty much walk anywhere you need to go) but is growing fast with the help of many new factories that have been built there. there are at least two KFCs and one McD's and wal-mart is building a store there.
i am not exactly sure what chinese people did traditionally for chinese new year, or spring festival, but nowadays it is mostly a time when families get together and eat a lot. the new year also initiates a confusing time when chinese people start talking of dates in terms of the lunar calendar, so new year's day is the first day of the first month, etc. it gets pretty confusing (we came back to shanghai on feb 3, but SR parents always said the sixth) for a week or so until everyone goes back to using the normal calendar.
there is a big meal on new year's eve (see the sideways picture to the left), when they make much more food than anyone can eat, which is supposed to allow them to eat leftovers and not have to cook for the next few days so they can rest at the start of the new year. after dinner, most chinese now have the tradition of watching the New Year's Gala, a four hour show that is pretty much terrible. a lot of chinese people also think it is terrible, but it is usually playing somewhere in the house anyway. there is a lot of celebrating china and the communist party through song and dance (this year there was a strong focus on the two pandas that china wants to give taiwan, though of course there was no mention that taiwan will likely not accept the pandas), though there are some funny skits thrown in .
then at midnight, everyone in the country lights off firecrackers. it sounds like WWIII outside as everyone rings in the new year. we of course did our part.
over the course of the next few days people visit relatives and eat a lot more. several of SR's aunts and uncles and cousins came to see us. we also visited her 80-something maternal grandmother. i had met most of her family before, so it was pretty normal.
we spent most of the six days we were there eating, watching TV (there were NBA games on almost every morning), taking naps, reading and talking to her parents.
i had a few of my own goals for the week: to take a nap every day and to finish one book. i didn't meet either of them. i took a nap every day except the day before we left, and i made the fatal error of starting on a less interesting book before switching midweek to walking the bible. while i did make good progress, i did not complete my mission.
they bought me an nice big cake for my bday.
this year is the year of the dog, which is SR's year. this means it should be a pretty good year for her. and she is supposed to wear more red (a lucky color). she recently bought a big red down coat, so she is doing pretty well so far.
so that was Chinese new year. nothing too crazy, but a restful and relaxing six days.
when we got back we had another taco night. our friend michael's parents were in town, he is from San antone, and they brought mounds of mexican cheese and tortillas, and they even bought some exorbitantly priced avocados to make guacamole with. we of course had our homemade sour cream and roasted green peppers, and it was an excellent time.
we also had a few snow flurries yesterday.
got to go back to work tomorrow. we are now counting the days until our next weeklong holiday in may.
-elias
